Private Military Firms

[En_Fuego]

Whether you call them private military firms, private military companies, or mercenaries, essentially they are private-owned industries that offer up their lives for military services. Now, obviously they sign contracts for large sums of money, so they're not just throwing their lives away. And at the same time, many of them are trained professionals who recently retired from the military.

What are your thoughts on them? Personally, I dislike the fact that they promote the violation of human rights through the use of torture and un-warranted murders, but that's just me. At the same time, I dislike how the United States de-legitamizes itself through using them.

How bout you?

 

[fladdermasken]

If they're hired by the government, is there really that much of a difference between these mercenaries and the army?

I'm not too familiar with private military firms, so you'd have to provide specific examples of how they 'torture' and 'murder' people unwarrantedly,
but you make it sound like they're merely additional soldiers in the army, unofficially.

In case of the above, I don't see the problem - as long as they're not vigilantes, which it doesn't sound like since they're hired by the government.

 

[En_Fuego]

If they're hired by the government, is there really that much of a difference between these mercenaries and the army?

I'm not too familiar with private military firms, so you'd have to provide specific examples of how they 'torture' and 'murder' people unwarrantedly,
but you make it sound like they're merely additional soldiers in the army, unofficially.

In case of the above, I don't see the problem - as long as they're not vigilantes, which it doesn't sound like since they're hired by the government.

They're contracted by the government to accomplish certain jobs. They work along side the military, but they're not actually integrated, nor do they directly communicate with them.

Also, it was a pretty big deal here in America when Blackwater (a popular firm we use in the Middle East) was revealed to use torture methods in Iraq prisons. The murder thing was bit more recent, but it was basically just them shooting civilians for the hell of it.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Unlike normal milltry which should have some dicipline, mercs do not and as such they will often commit unnescescary acts during their combat that a normal army would (well should not).

An example was when the US helicopter footage of people gunning civilians was leaked (it should have been leaked ages before), the army diciplined those soldiers in question (or should have).

Now pretend those are mercs, they do not bother recording the footage but still do it so they get away with killing innocent people without any risk of ever going to justice.

Also there are different level of mercs, those which are good at their job and those which are hired to do a job no mater how. In the case of the current news, a lot of the mercs are prety much common people who will do anything for money and do not care about the people they kill. They were paid basically to stop protests, where as some people would use non letal weapons, the level of mercs hired do use lethal weapons.

 

[Zarathustra]

If they're hired by the government, is there really that much of a difference between these mercenaries and the army?

For starters, an army is bound by international law and the laws of the nation it hails from. Mercenaries do whatever they're paid to do.

Second, these "contractors" may not be from the same country as the people paying them. An army is often reluctant to open fire on its own people even if the dickhead in charge orders it (look at Egypt). That may make it necessary to bring in foreign mercenaries, who will do whatever they're paid to do (look at Libya).

I'm not too familiar with private military firms, so you'd have to provide specific examples of how they 'torture' and 'murder' people unwarrantedly

Well, let's just look at Blackwater. That's only one of the myriad private military firms out there. Their founder sees himself as a holy warrior and was implicated in the murder of witnesses against him. That was 2009. Fast forward to today. The same company, renamed Xe, carries out acts impermissible to US forces in Afghanistan. Of course, that's just scratching the surface.

In case of the above, I don't see the problem - as long as they're not vigilantes, which it doesn't sound like since they're hired by the government.

The fact that a company is hired by a government does not automatically legitimize their actions.

 

[Pyramidhe@d]

i think they are just a means to an end.
hire them when you want something done