Food, The New Oil ???

loam, that was an interesting link. Not that there was any doubt that food stores play a part in military operations, but it is usually a supply issue. These boys and girls are a group tasked with, among other things, unconventional warfare. Interesting indeed.

Scramjet,This also ties in to how hard this, and other recent administrations, have tried to tie Canada and the US. All that lovely water in the north must look mighty good to some here in the states. And Mexico has no shortage of exploitable labor. Can you spell N-A-U?

hildar, I agree the squeeze is being put on the poor. But I see it being exploited to a different end. How many re-election votes does someone get for helping America's poor before those of other nations? (Would Hillary use this logic to get re-elected in 2012?) "We're sorry, but we have to provide for our own citizens first, and if anything is left over we can help others." Imagine how popular that would be? And all the money gets spent here at home to reboot the economy.

As a side note. I have heard a rumor from a family member that is disturbing in some ways. Now bear in mind, there are always tons of rumors floating around in the military, and 98% of them are false. But, he has heard that people who join the military and have immediate relatives living at or below the poverty level, will soon get special subsidies to their family members.

Now this is a good thing in that it is something for Americans who are economic trouble. But it would result in a rise of poorer Americans joining the service, thereby placing a greater portion of the bleeding and dying on one segment of the populace than another. Would there be an unspoken pressure for poor families to sacrifice a child to the war machine? Would this result in a situation where the more elite felt even better about wars, since the majority of those paying the ultimate price would be the very ones least loved by the power elite?

reply to post by NGC2736

Scramjet,This also ties in to how hard this, and other recent administrations, have tried to tie Canada and the US. All that lovely water in the north must look mighty good to some here in the states. And Mexico has no shortage of exploitable labor. Can you spell N-A-U?

Considering our struggling economy, longstanding good relations with Canada, and our inability to stem population influx from Mexico anyways... yes I smell NAU. Another example of the political evolution going on throughout the world as we charge towards a type 1 (global) society.

Would there be an unspoken pressure for poor families to sacrifice a child to the war machine? Would this result in a situation where the more elite felt even better about wars, since the majority of those paying the ultimate price would be the very ones least loved by the power elite?

In some ways this started when they eliminated the draft. It's logical for children from more affluent families to have more options available to them. I'm not sure any "the power elite" would even bother to think in such terms (as least loved). I would imagine them as strictly business. Exploitable soldiers from Mexico? Perhaps. As unethical as that might sound, how else do you integrate Mexicans in the "real world." Most Mexicans lag behind Americans in terms of education. Also, the technology involved in modern warfare are slowly eliminating the "cannon fodder" aspect of military conflicts. Military service would be a way for Mexicans suffering from a substandard education, to avoid all the theoretical classes of high education, and learn a specific technical skill or training in the armed forces. As the saying goes, "Not everyone is meant for college."

Also, the NAU might allow the US Government to have more control over drug trafficing.