Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Fewer dead Americans than you (or I) thought
Early today I wrote the latest in a long line of posts about the number of people, Americans and otherwise, who have died in Iraq. But it turns out I was wrong. Why? Because, as we learn here, while around 100 of those who have died were members of the American armed forces, they weren't Americans, they were non-citizens serving in the armed forces.
And it looks like that number may well expand. Until now, only legally resident non-citizens were eligible to serve; now, the U.S. military is so desperate that they're actually considering setting up recruitment stations in other countries!
Here's the sentence I love from the article which describes this possibility:
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."Essentially"? Well, I guess that's no more inaccurate than "defend the country."
