Immigrant Soldiers in Iraq Get Citizenship

[Judi Lynn]

Immigrant Soldiers in Iraq Get Citizenship
News Report, Olivia J. Quinto,
Philippine News, Aug 07, 2005

NEW YORK – Fifteen Filipinos were among 147 foreign-born U.S. military personnel serving in Iraq who were granted U.S. citizenship on July 25 in a mass ceremony in Baghdad’s Camp Victory.

The ceremony, held at a former palace of Saddam Hussein, was led by Lt. Gen. John Vines, the commander of the Multinational Corps in Iraq. He praised the soldiers as “great young men and women who are about to receive a title that is perhaps one of the most desired titles in history: American Citizen.”

Those sworn in as U.S. citizens came from 46 countries. The biggest number was from Mexico who had 27. The others were from, among others, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Nigeria, China, India, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The military requires recruits to be legal permanent U.S. residents to join the service, but citizenship is not a requirement. Almost a quarter of the foreign-born personnel in the U.S. military were born in the Philippines.
(snip/...)

http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=8e5f7aa59c829b6a1027b8c59115232a

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. OMG!!! Mexicans who weren't citizens?? Serving in Iraq??

Where were the Minutemen to protect us from them???

[XanaDUer]

4. Sitting on their asses.

on the border.

[ConfuZed]

5. OMG! Africans were allowed to live and serve here without citizenship?

Wow things has really improved since my dad came here

[Robert Oak]

9. Good Fucking God

ILLLEGAL is NOT LEGAL!

These are LEGAL immigrants and damn straight they should get citizenship if they are going to risk getting their asses blown off.

Why do you people insist on trying to lump together the two different categories?

ILLEGAL DOES NOT EQUAL LEGAL!

[thecrow]

2. "Si, Senor"

And they thought they had a language problem with the Iraqis..
but hey! They can get millions to enlist this way.
If we have a draft that could mean Murikan Cidzens might have to go!

[rene moon]

3. There are so many undocumented people serving in our armed forces

And there always have been, since WWII. Amazing that so many people don't know this little tidbit of information.

"Come die for a country that isn't yours and if you make it through, then we will think about letting you stay here legally!"

[VegasWolf]

6. ahh, we are such a nice nation, welcoming the poor with open arms. puke.

[expatriot]

7. The New Rome: Citizenship to the Empire by joining the warrior class. nt

[PATRICK]

10. Rome to Raj to Iraq

The shrinking lifespan of Empires has many causes but sometimes the signs of decay and dissolution come still too slow to the perpetually proud and ignorant repeat offenders. Foreign levies, franchising invincibility while assuming control and retreating from responsibility are not only premature signs of aging but of eventual doom.

A society that no longer morally or physically backs up its actions cannot stand, is a natural victim of terrorism(these days), becomes blinder and fatter on the loot and creates its own barbarians at the gates as it dissolves in the center, the drama of internal civil competition or strife an ever more enfeebling drama as quality flees outward, freedom disappears, culture and education shrivel.

And then someone like the Goths, the Japanese or a holy man in a loin cloth(Gandhi) just take a breath and blow it all away.

[wli]

8. Roman-style foederati, brilliant

[AlCzervik]

11. immigrant soldiers doing the job that young chickenhawks won't.