Troops Made US Citizens in Afghanistan

AP ^ | 11/12/2007 | JASON STRAZIUSO

[Tailgunner Joe]

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Sixty U.S. service members from countries including Cuba, Ethiopia, the Philippines and Vietnam became American citizens on Monday during a ceremony in Afghanistan.

Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, congratulated the soldiers on their new citizenship and thanked them for the oath they took to defend the United States.

"Today they will swear a second oath to the country they've already pledged to defend," Rodriguez said at a ceremony coinciding with Veterans Day. "An oath of allegiance to the nation they are supporting as a member of her armed forces, deployed in harm's way, defending the citizens of the world from terrorism.

"There is no better way to recognize the sacrifices they are making here than to grant them the right to call themselves U.S. citizens," Rodriguez said at the main U.S. base, Bagram.

A day earlier, more than 150 American soldiers in Iraq were sworn in as U.S. citizens during a ceremony at the Balad Air Base in Balad, north of Baghdad.

Citizenship is not a requirement to join the U.S. military, but serving in the armed forces is a way to qualify for citizenship, said spokesman Maj. Chris Belcher.

Christopher Dell, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, told the soldiers that their presence in Afghanistan, in uniform, is the "greatest possible testament to your readiness for citizenship."

"As you sit here today you have already sacrificed tremendously for our country," he said. "You have left your families behind, endured difficult training and placed yourself in great danger, all to serve America before you could truly call her your own."

Dell recounted how Gen. John Shalikashvili, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, traveled to the U.S. from his birthplace in the Republic of Georgia at age 16, joining the military as a private and eventually earning the rank of four-star general.

"As you know better than I, by becoming a citizen you are opening up a door for yourself within the military," Dell said. "Gen. Shalikashvili's story is just one of many tales that inspire us to dream the American dream. It is my hope that today each one of you holds your own part of that dream within you."

More than 20,000 service members have become U.S. citizens since 2002, Rodriguez said.

[SandRat]

Welcome to the American Family.

[jwalsh07]

Earned citizenship by joining the brotherhood. A good thing.

[righttackle44]

Welcome, fellow Americans. Makes me happy to
see you become citizens.

[misterrob]

Not in some peoples’ eyes. Try that reasoning on a rabid anti-amnesty/illegal immigration thread.

[bmwcyle]

Hand Salute............two

[jwalsh07]

I am rabidly anti-illegal immigration which proves or disproves some point I guess.

[jim9215]

Hold on a minute... I would be willing to bet my next paycheck that 100% of those made citizens in that ceremony were legal immigrants with green cards. The ceremony made them US citizens. Most of us object to ILLEGAL immigration. There’s quite a bit of difference between what these patriots did and what ILLEGALS do.

Jim C

[Castigar]

“Not in some peoples’ eyes. Try that reasoning on a rabid anti-amnesty/illegal immigration thread.”

Huh? I think every anti-amnesty, ant-illegal immigration person would applaud these new citizens! I’m “rabidly” anti-amnesty and anti illegal imigration and I applaud them!

[Right Cal Gal]

Welcome, welcome. And relish the freedoms and rights you have already fought for.

[misterrob]

I don’t care for it either but I was in a very small minority who thought that a kid who grew up here because his parents brought him over the border and who wanted to serve in the armed forces should be able to in order to secure a place here. Most thought he should still be told to go home.

[lmailbvmbipfwedu]

Sounds like “Starship Troopers”. In any event I think that if there is a fast track to citizenship this should be it.

[misterrob]

I look at it is if a kid who grew up here illegally but still wanted to serve should be able to earn a spot.

[jwalsh07]

I’d be on your side on that one.

[mdittmar]

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame
With conquering lims astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch,whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles.
From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome;
Her mild eyes command the air-brigded harbor that twin cities frame,
"Keep,ancient lands,your storied pom!"cries she with silent lips.
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breath free,
The wrechted refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

[RonF]

An honorable discharge or, say, 3 years of honorable service should be grounds for immediate citizenship.

[rightinthemiddle]

Congratulations to these true Americans.

[rightinthemiddle]

I am rabidly anti-illegal immigration and anti-amnesty.

See post 17.

[bpjam]

I am proud to have these soldiers and marines and airmen as fellow countrymen. They have truly EARNED they citizenship.

If this were the route being taken by most people who wanted into this country, I would approve of that as well.

[Right Cal Gal]

Okay - then it isn’t just me - I didn’t see anything in the article that said these were ILLEGAL aliens, just that they were immigrants. Is there more to the article?