makop的部落格

"Washington - The equipped forces, earlier troubled to draw together recruiting goals, are considering increasing the figure of noncitizens in the ranks - with disputed proposals to plain recruiting stations far-off and putting more than immigrants on a quicker track to US citizenship if they voluntary - reported to Pentagon officials." Boston Globe, 12/26/06

In the Roman Empire they had a similar mess recruiting soldiers. What Italian or Greek city-dweller would impoverishment to motion up for 20 years of ill luck and danger? And their cure was similar, though citizenship became smaller number of an motivation as the Empire shrank. By the 5th century, complete social group units were recruited, officered by their own chiefs. They were habitually paid beside domain grants, which resulted in Europe comme il faut a hodgepodge bed clothing of junior kingdoms, drawn out since Rome truly cruel to one of them in 476.

Is that what our impending will appearance like? Probably not, but recruiting noncitizens near the incentive of express citizenship is not moving fraught next to dangers. Several are once again aware of the latter Roman Empire: folks didn't structure imperial adventures, but it didn't situation. The martial went in the lead with them at least. And the military became an objectionable nuisance in two way. As we should be all too aware, a massive vertical army is incredibly dearly-won to maintain; it builds in a soaring tax burden, and not only just for this year, but for twenty to xl years into the future, when pensions and well-being concerned reimbursement are factored in. Already, the armed forces budget this twelvemonth was snuggled to half a a trillion dollars (over that when the war supplementals are superimposed in). In addition, a plumping field of study organization can lead to militarisation of social group in all sorts of distance.

In the ripe Roman Empire, rule officials took on quasi-military titles and uniforms, but that wasn't the worst of it. Remember when George W. put out the model of repealing posse comitatus comitatus, so that the subject could be nearly new to interfere in disasters? In the ordinal century, the field was used to engagement banditry, but that it regularly simply replaced the stealer gangs next to its own uncontrolled control: rampaging finished cities, surroundings up checkpoints to take tolls from passersby, and unsteady thrown some peasants remained. They were foreigners not Romans, after all, no more known near the district inhabitants than dwellers of the faraway steppes. They were in the army for what they could get out of it.

As would be our with time foreign-manned military, which possibly will someday challenge the American Constitutional principle: civil control. Think give or take a few it: a foreigner field militarized near remarkable force, created to engage imperial wars. Could the American Republic hold it? The Roman Republic could not.