Rainbow Coalition

Mike Boyer at FP : “At the next [Congressional] immigration hearing, call … Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S.commander in the Middle, to testify. Ask him if he could fight the wars in without the 33,000 non-U.S. citizens currently serving in the military.” Boyer also points to a new study that shows that Hispanic soldiers are doing the dying in Iraq.

Fine as far as it goes, but if he wants to understand the American military as a rainbow coalition, he might look at the resumes of the generals themselves. Just as a quick review, consider: retired Gen. John Shalikashvili, former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff (Georgian/Polish—came to Peoria IL when he was 16); the present chairman, General Peter Pace (“born in … to Italian-American parents”) General Anthony Zinni (“the son of Italian immigrants); General Eric Shinseki (“the first Asian-American four-star general"), Manila-born Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba (a Filipino whose father endured the Bataan death march); Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. , (the “highest-ranking Hispanic” in the military). And, of course, Gen. John (“the mad Arab”) Abizaid himself.

Afterthought.: What’s so surprising here? It’s natural to find the military as an unlocked door on the pathway to upward mobility.