For Erik Prince and Niccolo Machiavelli have very different ideas on the subject of mercenaries. Not that Erik Prince would even embrace that term. His employees are called "private contractors" not mercenaries. This is true in the same sense that prostitutes are now called "sex workers" to avoid the stigma.Mike Vanderboegh examines our friends at Blackwater.
After you've read it, I have a couple questions I'd be interested in gleaning opinions on.
Per Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, Congress has the specific enumerated power to issue letters of marque and reprisal. We know that privateers played a part in protecting American interests in the past. And no less a Constitutionalist than Ron Paul has proposed resurrecting the practice.
What would that look like? Would a Blackwater or other private actor necessarily and always be a bad thing? How would such a system work and what kind of oversights would be needed? How would that differ from what we do now? What do we do now?
Do Blackwater ops fall under military procurement regs? Are there RFPs and bids? Do they have defense contract audit oversight? Do they ever employ government equipment, and if so, do they follow federal acquisition and government property regs, etc.? Or is this a hybrid, or even a creature all its own?
If you have thoughts, please share them.
9 comments:
I have no problems with Blackwater so long as they are used to support our troops off shore. The very second they are used/employeed on U.S. soil by government directly or indirectly they are federal troops on U.S. soil and are criminl under the U.S. Constitution, the highest law of the land.
In fact I believe it would be criminal conduct by Blackwater to train police and anything else along that line. However if citizens want to be trained by Blackwater that is legal because that a right of freemen. If cops don't like it, give up the job and get a non-taxpayer supported job and go to the classes on your own money.
like any situation where the government colludes with a private entity to corner the market on some good, i have to see it as a horribly tainted version of what is otherwise indeed a promising direction (yes, blackwater, how appropriate. an excellent observation, that).
eliminating the government monopoly on force can't be done on the government's terms and it ought not be done violently. they have the "our rules, or no game" attitude -- you want no game, but you want your no game.
as in the situation with gun bans, where one buys more guns and ammo simply to offset the possibility of the most catastrophic outcomes, the appropriate reaction is probably to "join them" -- innundate the market for private domestic security, and compete in good faith.
and i don't mean "get a job at blackwater." perhaps... take control of your local politics. if your police department is already a volunteer force, keep it that way, and go from there.
for me to proscribe, given only my market observation, is counterintuitive -- the best decisions are the ones you make yourself, especially if we see eye to eye.
Its really to bad BW didn't do what should have been done with BATFU on the doorstep.
On to the topic at hand.
BW is a evil that has become neccesary since our .gov feels the need to fight 2+ wars at a time.
IIRC, the Constitution prohibits a standing army/military. So wouldn't BW be the more Constitutional form of our armed forces?
Praetorians. At the beginning, P's were selected from among:Veterans,and listed patricians' sons who needed training and got it from the vets,as a sort of home guard for Rome the city, the country not being that big. As the empire expanded, they were culled carefully by Senators, so if the Emperor got out of hand, the Senators could rely on them to escape the Emperors' wrath.But Emperors themselves quickly subverted the Praetorians for their own murderous business. Senators then resorted to bribes of course and Praetorians then went for whoever bribed first and biggest, whoever that might be.Being so jaded, at times they picked their own emperor, and when Caligula made a horse Senator, they thought it great fun. By the time Alaric arrived at the gates of Rome in 410 A.D. they had already scooted to Constantinople, Romes' walls being guarded by inexperienced conscripts officered by quailing men of questionable loyalty, and the people of Rome threw open the gates themselves, rather than be subject to seige and all that follows. Blackwater sounds like a real solution to a lot of the bureaucrats problems here at home. Enough money, mercs will do just about anything. That, and getting them off the hook for it. Once again, Mike, nail,hit,head.
Mercenaries are a legitimate fighting force, but not when they are paid for with the state's "voluntarily collected" extortion... excuse me "TAX" money. Then they are not mercenaries anymore.
If you want to go fight to protect innocent individuals in a foreign land, go for it, BUT: pay your own way or ask for donations; pay for your own weapons and ammo; and do NOT commit atrocities IN MY NAME.
I know they confiscated guns after Katrina
as in the situation with gun bans, where one buys more guns and ammo simply to offset the possibility of the most catastrophic outcomes, the appropriate reaction is probably to "join them" -- innundate the market for private domestic security, and compete in good faith.
Anon 11:37 am posits a very interesting idea; I always did like a free market. However, two "lookouts" come to mind, so I'll mention them in order to set some of the finer free minds we have these days to work upon them ;-):
First, any provider of these kinds of services in competition with the "approved" providers should expect to face any and all regulatory hurdles, up to and including inconvenient dynamic entries complete with "oopsie" property damage, the entrenched competitors and their patrons in the government can bring to bear.
Second, expect some student eventually to go all Turner Diaries (such things can be arranged, if they don't develop organically in a manner quick enough to suit...whomever might be suited by such a thing), at which point one will get a whole new introduction to the term joint and several liability.
These are not necessarily insuperable obstacles, but problems to be addressed. You know, hypothetically.
AVG JOE sez: "I have no problems with Blackwater so long as they are used to support our troops off shore. The very second they are used/employeed on U.S. soil by government directly or indirectly they are federal troops on U.S. soil and are criminl under the U.S. Constitution, the highest law of the land."
Joe, as Zachary points out (though I did not hit on this in the essay), BW has already been used on American soil during Katrina. Unfortunately the same kind of cowboy behavior they were guilty of in Iraq came with them to "Baghdad on the Bayou." My principal concern with BW and entities like them is the ability of the USG to conduct domestic spying (and black bag ops) through an unregulated backchannel. This has already been a problem with Southern Poverty Law Center and ADL. Contracted out tyranny is still tyranny. You will see in an upcoming chapter of Absolved how I forsee this playing out. -- Vanderboegh
a man for sale is a man for sale and no sales are final.
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