didn't matter. The military went ahead with them anyway. And the military became an intolerable burden in two ways. As we should be all too aware, a large standing army is very expensive to maintain; it builds in a high tax burden, and not just for this year, but for twenty to forty years i

"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." Boston Globe, 12/26/06

In the Roman Empire they had a similar problem recruiting soldiers. What Italian or Greek city-dweller would want to sign up for 20 years of hardship and danger? And their solution was similar, although citizenship became less of an incentive as the Empire shrank. By the fifth century, whole tribal units were recruited, officered by their own chiefs. They were often paid with land grants, which resulted in Europe becoming a patchwork quilt of petty kingdoms, long before Rome actually fell to one of them in 476.

Is that what our future will look like? Probably not, but recruiting noncitizens with the incentive of quick citizenship is still fraught with dangers. Several are again reminiscent of the later Roman Empire: people didn't support imperial adventures, but it didn't matter. The military went ahead with them anyway. And the military became an intolerable burden in two ways. As we should be all too aware, a large standing army is very expensive to maintain; it builds in a high tax burden, and not just for this year, but for twenty to forty years i

ey volunteer - according to Pentagon officials." Boston Globe, 12/26/06

In the Roman Empire they had a similar problem recruiting soldiers. What Italian or Greek city-dweller would want to sign up for 20 years of hardship and danger? And their solution was similar, although citizenship became less of an incentive as the Empire shrank. By the fifth century, whole tribal units were recruited, officered by their own chiefs. They were often paid with land grants, which resulted in Europe becoming a patchwork quilt of petty kingdoms, long before Rome actually fell to one of them in 476.

Is that what our future will look like? Probably not, but recruiting noncitizens with the incentive of quick citizenship is still fraught with dangers. Several are again reminiscent of the later Roman Empire: people didn't support imperial adventures, but it didn't matter. The military went ahead with them anyway. And the military became an intolerable burden in two ways. As we should be all too aware, a large standing army is very expensive to maintain; it builds in a high tax burden, and not just for this year, but for twenty to forty years i

gh citizenship became less of an incentive as the Empire shrank. By the fifth century, whole tribal units were recruited, officered by their own chiefs. They were often paid with land grants, which resulted in Europe becoming a patchwork quilt of petty kingdoms, long before Rome actually fell to one of them in 476.

Is that what our future will look like? Probably not, but recruiting noncitizens with the incentive of quick citizenship is still fraught with dangers. Several are again reminiscent of the later Roman Empire: people didn't support imperial adventures, but it didn't matter. The military went ahead with them anyway. And the military became an intolerable burden in two ways. As we should be all too aware, a large standing army is very expensive to maintain; it builds in a high tax burden, and not just for this year, but for twenty to forty years i

ll to one of them in 476.

Is that what our future will look like? Probably not, but recruiting noncitizens with the incentive of quick citizenship is still fraught with dangers. Several are again reminiscent of the later Roman Empire: people didn't support imperial adventures, but it didn't matter. The military went ahead with them anyway. And the military became an intolerable burden in two ways. As we should be all too aware, a large standing army is very expensive to maintain; it builds in a high tax burden, and not just for this year, but for twenty to forty years i

didn't matter. The military went ahead with them anyway. And the military became an intolerable burden in two ways. As we should be all too aware, a large standing army is very expensive to maintain; it builds in a high tax burden, and not just for this year, but for twenty to forty years into the future, when pensions and health related costs are factored in. Already, the military budget this year was close to half a trillion dollars (over that when the war supplementals are added in). In addition, a large military establishment can lead to militarization of society in all sorts of ways.

In the late Roman Empire, government officials took on quasi-military titles and uniforms, but that wasn't the worst of it. Remember when George W. put out the idea of repealing posse comitatus, so that the military could be used to intervene in disasters? In the fifth century, the military was used to combat banditry, except that it often simply replaced the bandit gangs with its own lawless control: rampaging through cities, setting up checkpoints to extort tolls from passersby, and shaking down whatever peasants remained. They were foreigners not Romans, after all, no more identified with the local inhabitants than dwellers of the faraway steppes. They were in the army for what they could get out of it.

As would be our increasingly foreign-manned military, which might someday challenge the American Constitutional principle: civilian