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2019-11-25 -Short Attention Span Theater-

How mercenaries are reshaping the battlefield

[Aljazeera] Private military contractors and the future of war; plus, Saudi Aramco's IPO and OPEC, and Google's Stadia.

Increasingly, nations are deploying private security contractors to troubled and remote parts of the world.

Beyond the scope of democratic accountability, opaque and operating beyond and around international law - they are proving to be useful agents of diplomacy and proxy wars.

But there have been well-publicised failures. In 2007, Blackwater contractors killed 17 unarmed Iraqis and injured 24 others. Blackwater went on to change its name to Academi and continues to provide services to the Pentagon around the world.

Also in Iraq, the Pentagon hired CACI Premier Technology to run the infamous Abu Ghraib prison. The logistics company is alleged to have told military police to soften up prisoners for interrogation.

And it is estimated the US government lost as much as $60bn to fraud by contractors in the early years of the Iraq conflict.

Right now, the industry is estimated to be worth up to $249bn.

More nations are deploying mercenaries to reshape battlefields. Russia has used the Wagner Group in Ukraine, Libya and Syria. And as Nicholas Haque reports exclusively from the Central African Republic, Russia is training government forces at the request of the president.

"The danger of using mercenaries or contractors is that they can get in scraps or fights that can suck others into a larger conflict," said Dr Sean McFate, professor at Georgetown University and author of The New Rules of War. "Mercenaries' accountability and safety have been a problem from the start. Mercenaries are the second-oldest profession. So how do you control mercenaries?

According to McFate, "We don't have a good international framework to deal with modern mercenaries. The international law is very thin and the will to enforce it is very small ... So mercenaries are expanding in the 21st century, yet we don't have any sort of legal framework or norms to competently deal with this problem."

Posted by Besoeker 2019-11-25 01:41|| || Front Page|| [11134 views ] Top

#1 Pension system is cheaper too.

Posted by Procopius2k 2019-11-25 06:51|| 2019-11-25 06:51|| Front Page Top

#2 The mercenary captains are either capable men or they are not; if they are, you cannot trust them, because they always aspire to their own greatness, either by oppressing you, who are their master, or others contrary to your intentions; but if the captain is not skillful, you are ruined in the usual way.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2019-11-25 09:26|| 2019-11-25 09:26|| Front Page Top

#3 Another crap piece. America has used contractors on the battlefields since the revolution. Who guards the embassy's? Not the Marines, they guard the classified documents. And no not the Ambassador, he has another security firm to protect him. The crimes at Abu Ghriab were performed by US servicemembers. And the whole Blackwater event was a fraud, the Blackwater truck were shot to shit, but there was no evidence allowed to show they were shot at. All of the Blackwater brass was used as evidence, but not one other round was allowed in.
There is a big difference between contractors on the battlefield, armed or not, to mercenaries. This is just more slander to the men and women who protect our soldiers and politicians.

Posted by 49 Pan 2019-11-25 15:06|| 2019-11-25 15:06|| Front Page Top

#4 Right now, the industry is estimated to be worth up to $249bn.

I so wish I could ... Sigh... !

Posted by Dron66046 2019-11-25 15:14|| 2019-11-25 15:14|| Front Page Top

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