Guns for hire: Secrecy, torture, religious zeal distinguish mercenaries

[marmar]

from the WV Gazette:


Paul J. Nyden

Guns for hire: Secrecy, torture, religious zeal distinguish mercenaries


Iraq and Afghanistan dominated our news headlines. But our media continue to overlook the growing privatization of military operations — a major historical development.

George W. Bush vigorously backs privatization and frequently awards huge contracts to companies owned by political contributors, such as Halliburton and Blackwater.

During his years in the Oval Office, Bill Clinton also embraced the emerging military privatization.

Today, our government pays mercenaries billions of dollars to fight and kill “enemies,” protect government officials and deliver food.

American taxpayers pay the bill. But few know much about the growth of private military companies, or PMCs.

Two new books — Jeremy Scahill’s Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army and Robert Young Pelton’s Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror — tell that story.

Hundreds of companies, most formed recently, rake in billions of dollars to provide mercenaries for operations, often top-secret, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, to name a few.

“Private forces are almost a necessity for a United States bent on retaining its declining empire,” Scahill writes. “Think about Rome and its increasing need for mercenaries.” .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.wvgazette.com/section/Opinion/200708111