Join the Russian army and get your head kicked in.

 

Join the French Foreign Legion and get a boot in the ass (motivated). The FRENCH figured out how to do it right.  

It is, sort of, funny that French pose as Belgians to join the Legion. "Le Boudin" mentions Belgians explicitly, and not in particularly good way.

 

Just as a btw...

 

The situation in Israel is very different from most of the other examples given. Foreign volunteers receive about the same pay as citizen draftee's, and that's about enough to keep your average smoker in Marlborros...about $200 a month if you are drawing combat pay. On top of that, the IDF really functions based on a kind of unwritten tax on the parents of soldiers. For example, most bases do not have laundry facilities. The assumption being that you will go home for the weekend and your parents will do it for you. Walk through many neighborhoods on a friday afternoon and you will see BDU's hanging out to dry in the sun from windows of many a 4th floor walkup.

 

There are some bene's, soldiers in uniform ride free on public transit, and a lot of shops, especially fast food joints near the major bus stations will offer discounted meals to those in uniform, but in reality the whole structure is based upon the concept that the soldier has a family support system in place. Everyone is pretty clear on this, and its even a rule that an IDF 'Social Worker' has to do a family visit during the first 6 months of service to check up on this. Seriously, some of the standard questions include, 'Do you have your own bed?'. For the 'Lone Soldier', this whole support system does not exist. So there is a whole separate support system for these folks. They get 'adopted' by kibutz's, families, communities, etc. There are several charities that exist only to raise funds to help these folks as well...they called me today in fact.

 

It really is a different world here 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Israel isn't really a good example of what this article's talking about.

As you say, Israel's a microcosm. Its also the youngest successful country going round right now (plenty younger, mostly failed states). Foreign troops in Israel or ones born overseas and newly citizened will make up a huge minority in its ranks. 

This would've been equally true of America in 1830's. Only independent for about 50 years, most citizens being new migrants, foreigners in uniform would've been proportionally very high.

Getting foreigners to serve in your armed forces as a means to bolster your forces used to be much much easier for developed nations. Emigrate in, join the forces, and soon enough you'll get citizenship. Its not a new idea. What is a new idea is the vast social benefits our developed nations have now started dolling out for no good reason to anyone that asks in an annoying enough manner. New migrants to Australia have little impetus to join the armed forces, when they can just sit on their asses and wait long enough for a government representative to come knocking, and start handing out unemployment benefits. We've started going down a very stupid and dangerous path. Historically the reasons the welfare states started were founded enough. What they've become is a joke.

Why should Mohamed, newly emigrated to Australia bother to join? It benefits him not at all. His wages won't be significantly higher than drawing welfare. 

 

Im not a republican, but when Regan said 'the most dangerous words a person can hear is that I'm here from the government and I'm here to help' he wasn't just peddling air. Thatcher's 'the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other peoples money' isn't far behind. 

Like many ideas that look good on paper...   it can backfire.

 

Yeah he is a first generation American, but he's close enough to be an exemplar of what's wrong with the idea.  

 

Remember what I said about RELIGION?

 

This maniac was a board certified head shrinker quack. That he was befuddled can be determined from his correspondence with ANWAR AL AWAKI.**

 

**The same American that Barack Hussein Obama had murdered by HELLFIRE, because he was a successful propagandist? The same guy. Curiously the US Army went out of its way to state that Nidal Hasan was not a terrorist because his act of treason was 'work related violence'. The fact that he was indoctrinated, passed information on to America's enemies, communicated with America's enemies, etc., did not make him a terrorist. Seriously I am not making that STUPIDITY up.    

 

It's alright to blow up a turn-coat American propagandist without due process, a finding or even a warrant, but we can't label a terrorist turncoat who killed his fellow soldiers a terrorist, because it would make the US Army look ridiculous and it would be civilly liable in law suits because they were WARNED about this fanatic and did nothing? 

 

Another example of the STUPID.

 

 

'Le Boudin' is a Legion's march song. It mentions Belgians in derogatory way. There is a bit of history tied to it. I am sure you can find it on Google if you are interested in it.

 

 

Le Boudin' is a Legion's march song. It mentions Belgians in derogatory way. There is a bit of history tied to it. I am sure you can find it on Google if you are interested in it.

 

Franco Prussian War-the Belgians sat out the war and "Ce sont des tireurs au cul." was a line the Legion added for the Belgians' benefit.

 

(My knowledge of the Franco-Prussian War is very limited. Why would the Belgians have be expected, or hand wanted to, join France against Prussia?) 

 

Not exactly that reason is why the Legion sings about the Belgians.

 

When the Legion was recalled from Algiers to fight the invading Germans in 1871, the King of Belgium, Albert I asked Louis Napoleon not to commit any Belgian nationals enlisted in the Foreign Legion to fight the Germans because HE was neutral. Napoleon III agreed and left the Belgian legionaires in Algeria. Now the Legion had lots of SWISS in it. Switzerland was also neutral, but the Swiss government made no such specific request, nor did they need too, because a SWISSER fights as a man of conscience. Neither did any other nation or monarch.

 

The line in Le Boudin actually says something like that there are no 'bedrolls' (blood sausages) for the Belgians because as 'malingerers' you could always expect them en masse to avoid the fight (to literally head for the rear as  'bummers'; another American civil war term for the worthless no-good shirker) so why bother issuing them with fieldgear? (the cowards). The ones who do the actual fighting, the Alsatians, the Lorraine, (the reference there is specifically to the Francs Tireurs or the French free companies of irregulars of the Franco Prussian war with whom the Legionaires found themselves cossetted in that war, hard-bitten fighters the whole lot of them.) the Swiss, they get the blood sausage. An interesting French triple pun on that word le boudin, by the way.