Sword for rent 121809

Long before there were swords there were warriors for hire. Highly skilled warriors were courted with promises of the best cuts of mastodon and most attractive ladies. The warriors’ job was to defend a group from man and beast. If it failed to deliver on its promises, or was outbid by a rival group, the warrior walked.

When groups became tribes and tribes, empires free warriors’ pay improved and they were called mercenaries, soldier for hire. Skilled mercenary armies were hired by rulers for defense, but more often offence. Professional mercenaries were so effective that opposing rulers often resorted to a strategy that if you can’t beat them, hire them away. Sometimes mercenaries never fought they just kept switching sides for higher and higher pay. During the feudal era epics were penned on the heroic exploits of wandering free warriors. England built an empire with colonial mercenary armies and lost it to the same soldiers.

Americans have also sold their swords. Following the revolution John Paul Jones marketed his battle skills to the highest bidder (Russia). After the civil war many veterans served various nations. During the Spanish civil war Americans were prohibited from serving on the politically incorrect side. During the nationalist era of the 1950-70s a number did support politically correct causes. There are common threads in these examples: mercenaries do change sides; mercenary armies often become stronger than national armies and overthrow their masters. When nations become dependent on mercenaries to fight their battles it is the beginning of the end for their culture.

Recently the Congressional Research Service (CRS) estimated that slightly over half of DOD’s war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan is being preformed by modern mercenaries, contractors. Contractors perform such mundane task as washing dishes to combat operations. The national Army can no longer function without contract support. In the past soldier drivers, cooks and bakers mobilized to hold the line in times of emergency. Civilian contractors can’t perform this task because they lack the skills or it is not in their contracts. Expanding the contract requires prolonged negotiations and compensation.

There is a problem with the CRS report, it measures DOD’s reliance on contractors but other government agencies in the combat zone also rely on contractors for services once preformed by the national army. The report may also underestimate contractor numbers, prime contractors often subcontract tasks to cheaper labor from many nations. The use of contract soldiers provides political cover for administrations since contractor strength and casualties are not imprinted in public view.

The human cost of this war is hidden but the danger is that the real capacity of the nation to defend and protect itself is now dependent on its ability to pay mercenary armies. In the world of cash and carry warfare, economic downturns can lead to defeat. The bottom line is profit not ethics. There is a point where mercenaries begin to fight for their own interest rather than those of the state.