Mercenary State
What if the USA privatized our military? It would certainly heighten the desire to go to war and to create conflict because it would be even more profitable, right? Whose interests would a private for-profit military serve?
What if I told you that private contractors now comprise a whopping 69% of the Department of Defense’s total workforce?! They do.
The current total US force in Afghanistan is approximately 189,000 personnel (68,000 US troops and 121,000 contractors). The US has spent more than $23 billion on contracts in Afghanistan since 2002.
There is a theory that is gaining support. The idea is that a private military is cheaper than the armed forces which promise too much to enlistees and that this mercenary force can move quicker without regard to law, procedure, or a bureaucracy bound by such conventions. This is not only popular with politicians sucking at the teet of war profiteers. This thought is gaining popularity with the public. Afterall, who wants to actually bear the burden of raised taxes or joining the military?
My big question mentioned above is whose interests does this all serve? As a private mercenary force engulfs the US war machine and bleeds a weakening government dry (via creating more conflicts for profit as well as billing the state for said conflicts), what we will have on our hands is a force larger and more powerful than a (supposedly) democratic state ready to crack the skulls of the resistance that is also sure to grow alongside this mercenary-state.
What if I told you that private contractors now comprise a whopping 69% of the Department of Defense’s total workforce?! They do.
The current total US force in Afghanistan is approximately 189,000 personnel (68,000 US troops and 121,000 contractors). The US has spent more than $23 billion on contracts in Afghanistan since 2002.
There is a theory that is gaining support. The idea is that a private military is cheaper than the armed forces which promise too much to enlistees and that this mercenary force can move quicker without regard to law, procedure, or a bureaucracy bound by such conventions. This is not only popular with politicians sucking at the teet of war profiteers. This thought is gaining popularity with the public. Afterall, who wants to actually bear the burden of raised taxes or joining the military?
My big question mentioned above is whose interests does this all serve? As a private mercenary force engulfs the US war machine and bleeds a weakening government dry (via creating more conflicts for profit as well as billing the state for said conflicts), what we will have on our hands is a force larger and more powerful than a (supposedly) democratic state ready to crack the skulls of the resistance that is also sure to grow alongside this mercenary-state.
posted by shane at 9:44 AM
3 Comments:
What if we required everyone to serve for x years, like germany or sweden (?)? Would this be a viable solution?
OCP, building a better detroit! hahaha ;)
I do kinda think that a state should expect all of its citizens to participate in some sort of military/civil service.
I sure wouldn't want to do anything to support this monster we live in though!
I suppose a more ideal situation would be that military training be made available to a citizenry and that citizenry be armed.
... of course, in a privatized military state, I suppose anyone could join a firm like Blackwater. haha
NYT on Privatized War
Blackwater and The Hurt Locker
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