Angry in the Great White North

From the London Free Press:

Actor Margot Kidder became a U.S. citizen Wednesday to avoid possible deportation to her native Canada when she begins protesting the war in Iraq, she said.

"It means I can vote against anyone and everyone in elected office that in any way supported the Bush administration," said Kidder, 56, who has lived in the United States for 34 years and has a home in Livingston, Mont.

This got me wondering how many other non-citizens are moving to the US to make their voices heard on the issue of the war in Iraq. Here is what I found:

About 35,000 non-citizens are currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, while another 12,000 serve in the Reserve Components. The navy has the largest proportion of non-citizens on active duty, almost 16,000, nearly half the total. The Marine Corps has about 6,500, the Army about 5,000, and the Air force about 3,000. The differences are the result of variations in the service regulations governing the re-enlistment of non-citizens. The Navy and Marine Corps place no restrictions, while the Army allows them to stay in for only 8 years of service, and the Air Force limits them to no more than 6. This is to encourage the non-citizen troops to become naturalized citizens. But naval tradition, the world over, has long tolerated non-citizens serving on ships for their entire careers. All services encourage non-citizens to apply for citizenship at the earliest opportunity, and many do. Some aliens in the service have been granted U.S. citizenship posthumously.

Non-citizens appear to make better soldiers and sailors. This can best be seen by their lower attrition rates. During their first three months of service, the attrition rate for citizens was nearly 11-percent, while that for non-citizens was just under 6-percent. At the 36 month mark, the attrition rate for citizens was approximately 32-percent, as against slightly under 19-percent for non-citizens.

Hmmm, 47,000 foreigners eagerly serving with the US military versus one has-been actress protesting the Bush administration.

Let's hope Margot Kidder has 46,999 friends in Canada she can call up and entice to go south of the border.