WASHINGTON -- The armed forces, already struggling to meet recruiting
goals, are considering expanding the number of noncitizens in the ranks
-- including disputed proposals to open recruiting stations overseas and
putting more immigrants on a faster track to US citizenship if they
volunteer -- according to Pentagon officials.

Foreign citizens serving in the US military is a highly charged issue,
which could expose the Pentagon to criticism that it is essentially
using mercenaries to defend the country. Other analysts voice concern
that a large contingent of noncitizens under arms could jeopardize
national security or reflect badly on Americans' willingness to serve in
uniform.

The idea of signing up foreigners who are seeking US citizenship is
gaining traction as a way to address a critical need for the Pentagon,
while fully absorbing some of the roughly one million immigrants that
enter the United States legally each year.

The proposal to induct more noncitizens, which is still largely on the
drawing board, has to clear a number of hurdles. So far, the Pentagon
has been quiet about specifics -- including who would be eligible to
join, where the recruiting stations would be, and what the minimum
standards might involve, including English proficiency. In the meantime,
the Pentagon and immigration authorities have expanded a program that
accelerates citizenship for legal residents who volunteer for the
military.

And since Sept. 11, 2001, the number of immigrants in uniform who have
become US citizens has increased from 750 in 2001 to almost 4,600 last
year, according to military statistics.

here for rest of article:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/12/26/
military_considers_recruiting_foreigners/

____________________
So the government knows that a draft in this country will result in
demonstrations...so they will use our tax money to pay mercenaries to
fight in our name...DOES THIS BOTHER ANYONE??
IT SURE BOTHERS ME!!!....

Well, your own countrymen won't sign up to carry on with the war your
President started and sees no way out of.

That's why the Pentagon is pushing the Immigration Bill to be approved
ASAP.

The hypocrisy of it all...

In one hand you don't want immigrants, because they are taking your
jobs, and blah, blah, blah... in the other hand: go ahead and send those
immigrants to fight a war they have nothing to do with, a war nobody
wants to fight because it's so wrong.

Maybe I am just being naive, but, isn't that a bit of a double moral?

Let all the imigrants that want the citizenship, go to Iraq and fight
if the come back give it to them. If they can cross the border with out
being caught can you believed what they can do in Iraq.



Izzy

How foreign are you talking ABOUT ??? I realized that a lot of americans
didnt know that canadians are serving in Iraq....YES WE ARE
THERE!!!!

"And since Sept. 11, 2001, the number of immigrants in uniform who have
become US citizens has increased from 750 in 2001 to almost 4,600 last
year, according to military statistics"
********

And of those 750 that made it back to become citizens, how many went in
to start with?

And of the 4,600 that became citizens last year, how many went to Iraq,
for starters?

Of those new citizens, how many came injured, maimed? Who will pay for
their recovery and treatment? I hope you won't say the VA, because even
living outside the borders of the USA we know what kind of a mess that
is.

Do you think that citizenship is way too high a price to pay to a person
that is risking his/her life in a war?


Maybe I'm still being naive

yep..I agree it is hippocritical and immoral in my eyes...
and possibly unconstitutional...just another example of the president &
the congress selling us out...it's amazing we tolerate this
crap...

well interesting

maybe they should bring the draft back

and instead of just drafting some

make mandatory for all

this should get a response

Draft the White House Twins!

Well, everyone, don't forget that we have been hiring mercenaries to man
the occupation of Iraq since day one. We call them contractors, but they
are mercenaries with the gloves taken off, and are responsible for some
of the worst atrocities committed against the Iraqi people.

Of course, for the companies that hire and farm out the mercenaries it
is amazingly lucrative.

There is a very large procurement that is going forward for companies to
supply intelligence services to the US military in Iraq. We will hear
horror stories leak out of Iraq about abuse of Iraqis resulting from
this procurement.





Oceans

the same contractors that will be patrolling our streets during the next
emergency...like Katrina...Wake up!!!

yep

when your military has no loyalty to the

"""people"""

and are not of the

"""people"""

what is to stop them

from attacking the

"""people"""

just a thought

but hey what do i know

If I am correct, the President needs approval both from the Senate and
the Congress to go to war. He found a way around it. To institute
mandatory drafting will require approval as well. Although I am not
quite sure the average US citizens will accept it quietly.

There is another idea: In every place in the world that the US Armed
Forces have had military bases, there are children left behind. Fathered
by American G.I. that never took responsibility for them, and the US
government fails to make them assume their responsibility. Even more,
the US Government will not acknowledge these children, and won't even
provide the mothers with suitable means to prove that the child is
indeed a child born from an American father.

They are so willing to grant citizenship to anybody that will fight in
the Armed forces, regardless of their country of birth, political
affiliation, educational background, etc. why don't give it to a few
children that will be grateful for the opportunityof having a life?

Just my humble opinion.

actually congress approved going to the middle east

they do not get a pass

---------------------------------

well when the peple of this country are actually enslaved
because of their not wanting to fulfill the responsibilities that
come with being free (it is happening already) i am sure they
wont like it neither

-----------------------------------

but hey its the children and grandchildren that will get it the worst

so who really cares anyway

----------------------------------

but hey what do i know

they've already lowered standards for service...I think I read that
people with convictions can now serve...and also theyre accepting people
up to 42 yrs old ?....I think if they instituted a draft and people
began to be herded off to service...then people would wake up...what a
mess the service has become....

The program has been going on, and they only mean green card holders.
The key word is expand the program, which doesnt make any sense since
participation never reached the current limits!!

Old news put a different way is all. The level of competency in the
Armed forces is going down. The pentagon wants to initiate a partial
draft to increase troop level and quality. They claim since lowereing
the enlistment standards quality has went down. One senator has
suggested to keep up with the times that they even draft women. Others
say any draft will lower the quality even more, and others point out the
stress to the NG and reserve forces are sapping States of needed
manpower in the event od Natural disasters!

The Senate Armed Services Committee heard testimony Tuesday that
increasing the size of the Army and Marine Corps may not resolve severe
and growing personnel problems. There was even talk of returning to the
draft to fill the ranks.

“If the United States is going to have a significant component of its
ground forces in Iraq over the next five, 10, 15 or 30 years, then the
responsible course is for the president and those supporting this
open-ended and escalated presence in Iraq to call for reinstating the
draft.”

The draft, though, is one of those political dirty words that most
lawmakers don’t want to hear.

Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, an international relations professor at the
U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., described what he sees as the
“disastrous state” of ground forces, a broken commitment to troops
because of broken equipment, missed training and his sense that the
95,000 increase in Army and Marine Corps personnel planned over the next
five years isn’t fast enough to provide relief.

“Ten percent of Army recruits are of low caliber and do not belong in
uniform,” he said, noting that the number of moral waivers has
increased, the percentage of high school graduates has dropped, and the
average age of first-time enlistees is rising.

Andrew Krepinevich of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments
said was to “welcome” foreigners to serve in the U.S. military in
exchange for citizenship.

Lawrence Korb, a former senior Pentagon personnel official now
affiliated with the Center for Defense Information and the Center for
American Progress.
Korb had two suggestions beyond the draft, both controversial. One would
be to drop the military’s prohibition on openly homosexual people
serving in the military.

Second, Korb would drop gender restrictions on some direct-combat
occupations.

“The idea that women who possess the requisite mental and physical
skills should somehow be protected from the dangers of combat fails to
acknowledge the reality of the modern battlefield and the role women are
already playing in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Korb said.

Fanta, what is a "moral exemption"?

Oceans

there should be no moral exemptions for service

those with a moral objection could serve in a non-compative position

a medic or supply side

many things they could do and not have to be on front lines

Different things like having no one to take care of ones children,
Homosexuality, conscientious objectors (sounds strange, but some join
just for the benefits) different things oceans.......

The 10, 20, 30 years gets me!!! open ended??

whats that about???? I thought they were bringing them home!!!

This is from The Marine Corps Times!!
Dated April 27, Just what if's I guess, round table discussions???

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/04/military_groundforces_draft_070417w/

What date is yours devinci?
I wonder is it still being considered?