Outsourcing - the new wave !!

First they outsourced their customer service, then their market research analysis, then teaching and then some more.......


Well, if Time is to be believed, the day is not far when we have the US Army outsourcing its 'war on terror' to where else ? - INDIA !! What do these "soldiers" get - US Citizenship. According to "Fast Track" in the August 7, 2006 issue of Time.

"When President Bush visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center last week to witness three U.S. soldiers seriously wounded in Iraq become U.S. citizens, he said that "if somebody's willing to risk their lives for our country, they ought to be full participants in our country." It was an executive order signed by Bush four years ago that allowed this trio, and 35,000 like them, to petition for U.S. citizenship as soon as they donned a U.S. military uniform, instead of waiting the customary three years. So far, 26,000 of them have achieved that goal.

Be it patriotism or the easier path to citizenship, the number of immigrants serving in the military has surged four-fold since 9/11, and is now about 2% of the force. There's even discussion of plucking foreign recruits for the U.S. military even before they've left their homeland. Kevin Ryan, a retired Army brigadier general now at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, raised some Pentagon eyebrows last week when he suggested the U.S. Army open a recruiting station in India's capital, Delhi. By tapping into non-citizens eager to wear a U.S. Army uniform, he wrote in a column in the Christian Science Monitor, last year's shortfall of 7,000 Army recruits would evaporate. "Instead of sitting back and waiting for these people to trickle in," he says, "we could go out and find the ones we want." The Army says it's interested in the idea. "It has great promise," says Major General Sean Byrne, the Army's director of military-personnel policy. "We need to pursue it."


Someone tell me this is all a joke !!
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Comments

Anonymous said…
Well, there have always been mercenary soldiers everywhere. Even the Indian army has its share of Gurkhas.

Plus, people are willing to go to great lengths to come to the US. I'm sure the US would rather have you do something useful and prove your willingness to help than sneak in under a fence.

I really don't see the problem here.
Ujval Gandhi said…
[nb] Thanks for your comments

I beg to differ on a couple of points.

There is no documented proof that Gurkhas are "mercenaries". Gurkhas have been a proud part of the Indian army since independence and have served with pride and valor all through these years.

The problem I have with US "outsourcing" its military needs is the thinking that since we cannot take deaths, let us outsource this party to someone else and in return give them US citizenship. If you recall the ancient Greek city wars, Sparta lost not because of its inferior technology, but because it "outsourced" the military to outsiders. Often, these outsiders were purely driven by economic considerations, not pride for their country.

If the US goes ahead with this route, it is very slippery.
Anonymous said…
Getting soldiers from India? That is not possible according to current laws. To enlist you have to be citizen or permanent resident (green card) and to be commissioned as an officer you have to be citizen. There are no exceptions to this policy. The only benefit that green card holder will have is that he can speed up his citizenship process. Tourists, students, refugees, work visa holders cannot join military.
Its presentation differ from from other posts...
Good...

Regards,
accounting outsourcing services

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