Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Dubious Ideas Department...

The armed forces are looking into recruiting foreigners with a promise of citizenship upon completion of service.

Ah...y'know, the Romans tried this, recruited German mercenaries for their legions on the Rhine, they turned around and made a Hun Emperor.
Likewise the Greek and the Italian city-states made heavy use of paid foreign troops to fight in the field...The results were to say the least indifferent.
Hell there was a time when Spartan infantry could be bought out by the highest bidder.
Nicolo Machiavelli rails against the use of paid mercenary troops in his renaissance era treatise "The Prince".
My thoughts on this are simple, citizenship and the franchise aren't conditional on military service for the native born so why should they become an incentive for our perpetually meat hungry army?
What no one wants to acknowledge here is that if the Pentagon is conjuring with such outlandish notions, then yes, we ought to admit we have a manpower crisis in the ranks.
If that is the case, then I'd just as soon confront the issue squarely and reinstate the draft so long as the levies are raised honestly with no exceptions based on wealth or connections.
At the very least this would reconnect the Middle Class to the realities of American Foreign Policy and force everyone to reconsider current priorities.

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