BRIBING IMMIGRANTS WITH CITIZENSHIP TO FIGHT IN IRAQ

I've never heard of Ruben Navarrette Jr. but he's some dude who has written something for CNN.com and that something is basically propping up the idea of telling immigrants (illegal ones, too) they can have US citizenship in exchange for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. First off, this has already been happening for a few years now. As USMil recruiters fail to reach their goals they have to get more creative. So, they've started doing this. Of course, Navarrette seems to be unaware that this has been going on for a while already. What's worse is that he thinks it's a good idea. Check it out:

Roping illegal immigrants into military service could accomplish two goals at once: helping alleviate the military's recruitment worries while giving the undocumented a chance to prove that their commitment to this country extends beyond a paycheck.

That was from an August 13, 2007 opinion piece at CNN.com.

Now, just fixate on what Ruben says there for a sec. Giving these guys a chance to fight a war for America will give them a chance that "their commitment to this country extends beyond a paycheck."

What if the immigrant believes war is wrong? Perhaps he's interested in going to America because so many freedoms are guaranteed here? So, now we ask him to compromise his beliefs for a quick entry to the country he wants to live in. Does that make any sense at all?

Navarrette goes on:

The idea appealed to a reader in upstate New York who called me to gauge my reaction. I told him that I hadn't made up my mind, but that the concept did fit with my view that any conferring of legal status be laden with onerous conditions so that it really is earned. To earn it, illegal immigrants should have to do everything but walk across broken glass.

It's this kind of American that I despise.

Sure, it makes sense for people outside the US to have to go through incredible hardship to really earn US citizenship. After all, most of us, just had to be, you know, born here.

I mean, what's harder than that?

Then, there's Navarrette's suggestion that serving in Iraq is not as bad as crawling through broken glass. I've seen a couple videos on YouTube that would suggest otherwise.

Of course, Naverrette's only "con" to his "pro" arguments is that there are immigrants who are criminals and we wouldn't want criminals fighting wars for us.

That is such a joke that I'm almost about to cry.

Here are his exact words (the Carranza he refers to is a bad fellow and an immigrant):

Twice indicted by grand juries, Carranza slipped through the cracks and was released on bail. Authorities say that the 28-year-old construction worker led at least four other individuals in attacking the youths with a gun and a machete. If convicted, Carranza could get the death penalty.

Glad to hear it. If half the things they say about this creep are true, Carranza belongs on death row. But guess what? He sure doesn't belong on an Army recruitment poster, or handling heavy artillery.

Yeah, we really wouldn't want a criminal fighting our wars for us. Well, a war criminal, yes, but a regular old criminal? Nah.

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