The American Spectator

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The Fighting Spirit

9.2.03 @ 12:01AM

LEGIONNAIRE'S DISEASE
Re: Jackie Mason & Raoul Felder's An American Foreign Legion:

The mindset that inspired the organization of the first Foreign Legion is the same mindset that gave birth to most of the world's political and cultural conflicts whose consequences we are confronting today.

A Legion of expendables would be, as it has been in the past, a temptation to cynical adventurism and opportunism, as well as a political risk in its own right, as the Legion proved to be in its mutiny in Algeria.

As it stands foreigners who intend to immigrate are accepted into the U.S. military; they should be accepted on the same basis as natural-born soldiers, and not as dispensable cannon-fodder.
-- Daniel McEnroe

I read "An American Foreign Legion" carefully, twice -- and I have a couple of comments.

First, this is not a new idea -- I recall it popping up from time to time during the Vietnam War. It never went anywhere then, and I doubt that it will do better now. While America may be a de facto Empire, we do not view ourselves that way at all -- and the American people will not support anything as reminiscent of the old Colonial powers as a "Foreign Legion."

Second, having said that we will not support it, I will note that we do, in fact, have a great many foreign-born soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. The ranks of the Army's Special Forces were well-populated with foreign-born soldiers, even a few from France! (I served on an A-Team with a former Legionnaire from Corsica, in fact). This continues to the present day.

And, finally, aside from the practicality of forming a separate corps of the foreign-born, I noted a very strong tendency in your piece to regard these men as cannon-fodder, suitable for filling body bags that would otherwise be occupied by real Americans. I think this is an unworthy -- and in fact shameful -- attitude. I hope that I have completely misunderstood you on this point.
-- Jack Gold
Anchorage, AK

Of all the proposals that I have heard to improve American military preparedness, your suggestion of an American foreign legion has to be the most reprehensible by far. What makes your proposal so repulsive is the implicit suggestion that our government sanction, in its name, violent military action that would be carried out, for the most part, by the "flotsam and jetsam of the world" and not our own citizens. Your main justification for this idea appears to be that our young men may be increasingly unwilling to tear themselves away from their beer to go off and fight against the harbingers of some possible potential threat in some remote corner of the world. News Flash, they should be!!!

When our own citizens are unwilling to do their own fighting we should not ask others to do it for us. In such a situation the issue is obviously not of value to us as a nation. If our political leaders are unable to make the case for citizen involvement in a military venture the venture should not be made. Consider citizen support as a type of civic check on the promiscuous use of military power. Winston Churchill once said, "The statesman who yields to the war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy." The last thing this country needs to do is remove a barrier, or increase the temptation, for our statesmen to yield to the war fever.
-- Captain T. Leggett, USMC
Defense Counsel
Depot Law Center
Marine Corps Recruit Depot
Parris Island, SC

Defense by foreign barbarians. What a good idea.
-- Arminius

WHO'S PATRONIZING WHOM?
Re: Ben Stein's Spiders With Tenure:

I read Ben's piece on professordom in both the magazine and on your website yesterday. Loved it. As a veteran of 41 years as a college professor, almost all at state universities, I can add a few things to his observations. One is that the liberalism of most academics is rooted to some extent in the fact that they most of them are wards of the state. In the old days when intellectuals depended upon rich patrons for support, they were a lot more conservative. Imagine that. Also, a lot of academics are rather immature people who, like children, love to bite the hand that feeds them. Then the fact that their clientele includes many young people who like to rebel against social conventions tempts them to ingratiate themselves by catering to those rebellious tendencies.
-- John S. Evans

CHEEK TO CHEEK (I)
Re: Enemy Central's The Swing of Things:

How can I be "tongue in cheek" about this?

Letter to the Editor

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