Foreign Policy magazine teamed up with the Center for a New American Security and conducted a survey to investigate how US soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines perceive the state of their military.
Some of the findings mirror the general consensus in the media: Iraq is breaking the military; America is not particularly ready for a war with China, Iran or North Korea; etc. 74% thought that the expectations of the civilian leadership were unreasonable. 9 out of 10 thought the surge has increased the potential for victory. Opinions on torture were split fairly evenly. Surprisingly 78% support offering citizenship as a tool for recruitment. Unsurprisingly improving intelligence is thought to be the number one thing needed to win the war on terror.
The survey is very in depth. Check it out in entirety including its methodology at The U.S. Military Index.
In a related note, FP magazine’s blog Passport has recently added a Comments capability. Good luck to Blake, this is probably not going to make his job easier, but it is sure to make Passport better.
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COMMENTS / 4 COMMENTS
Rommel added these pithy words on 26 Feb 08 at 1:05 amI’m not sure why the poll results on service-for-citizenship are so suprising to Foreign Policy magazine and the others involved in the survey.
Many would agree that there’s no truer test of patriotism and loyalty than killing for and shedding blood for one’s country. Add to this the fact that many troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan have served and fought with foreign-born soldiers earning their citizenship that way.
To me it’s a no-brainer, given that we do thorough background checks on said prospective citizen-soldiers. Not only do we ensure their loyalty the best we possibly can, but also the military is a great assimilator.
Michael added these pithy words on 26 Feb 08 at 1:47 amShakespeare said it in Henry V. Something along the lines of
“Whosoever shall stand with me today, however vile, shall truly be my brother.”
lirelou added these pithy words on 26 Feb 08 at 10:28 pmThe military has always allowed foreigners to enlist, provided that thay had been legally admitted to the U.S. to begin with. And they have drafted foreigners who were thus legally admitted. What is needed is a mechanism that would allow prospective foreign recruits to be granted an entry visa specifically for the purpose of enlisting. I had posted somewhat earlier on the 1950s “Lodge Act” that provided for just such a mechanism, so it is not unknown in U.S. legal history.
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