Remember the furor over the death and mutilation of the four Blackwater, Inc. 'contractors' in Fallujah? The Nation did a longish piece several months ago on their fates and the trajectories of events that led to their deaths. Probably, that single event did more to trigger the battles for and the eventual razing of Fallujah, some weeks later, than any strategic of tactical considerations.
Contractors? Nice euphemism.
Truth? The four men were mercenaries, who sold their consciences. This 'out-sourcing of death, slaughter, and murder--once regarded by most civilized societies as anathema--now is apparently permitted under the rules of contemporary USer militarism, however, if the mercs are working for the USer regime
Journalist Robert Young Pelton has taken up the subject in a newish book, Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror. The United States has encouraged the use of the private sector in all facets of the War on Terror, placing contractors outside the bounds of functional legal constraints. With the shocking clarity that can come only from firsthand observation, Licensed to Kill painstakingly deconstructs the most controversial events and introduces the pivotal players. Most disturbingly, it shows that there are indeed thousands of contractors—with hundreds more being produced every month—who’ve been given a license to kill, their services available to the highest bidder.
Makes ya prahd t'be a Murkin, Ah'm tellin ya...
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1 comment:
Having spent the last quarter century doing accounting work, I'd love to know the premium the US taxpayer has to fork over for a merc compared to, say, a plain vanilla grunt.
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