An American Foreign Legion? What are we, French?

Brigadier General (ret.) Kevin Ryan is a senior fellow with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He served in Air Defense and Eurasian Foreign Area assignments for over 29 years. His most recent assignment was deputy director for Army Strategy, Plans and Policy.

Operation Yellow Elephant thanks BG (ret.) Ryan for his service to our nation.

But, what's a really smart, successful great American like BG (ret.) Ryan doing suggesting that America solve its military recruiting problems by creating a Foreign Legion? He proposes recruiting foreign nationals from abroad (not legal immigrants already here, who continue to serve with distinction) to enlist in our military, because our Army missed its recruiting quota by 7,000 last year.

Here's the money quote from the Christian Science Monitor:

America could put recruiting shortages in its past, and the country would gain educated, legal, patriotic, new immigrants who, like immigrants before them, would do the work that many Americans won't - serve their country in its defense.

He said it: Military service is "work that many Americans won't [do]."

Sorry, BG (ret.) Ryan, but a country whose national leadership cannot motivate its healthy, heterosexual men (and some women) 42 and under to volunteer to serve their country in its defense, not even its governing party's strongest supporters, faces some serious problems that a 21st century version of King George III's hired Hessians cannot solve.

A country that has to outsource its national defense is not worth defending.

UPDATE: Letters to the Editor of the Christian Science Monitor on this topic.

SECOND UPDATE: Here's our letter, that didn't make it.