Blackwater USA and the Rise of Private Military Contractors
December 20th, 2006Do we really need another Blackwater Whores of War story? Oh, why not…
Via: The Weekly Standard:
For obvious reasons, the location of the headquarters of Blackwater USA isn’t well-publicized. Officially, the only public trace of the world’s largest private military training facility is a post office box in Moyock, North Carolina, an unremarkable rib-shack pit-stop on the way to the Outer Banks.
But the place isn’t hard to find. From Washington, D.C., head south. As soon as you cross the state line, follow the sound of gunfire until you find an armed compound half the size of Manhattan.
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From a military history perspective, mercenaries generally never have been worth a damn. Little more than self-selecting armed bullies, history shows that any serious resistance is sufficient to put them to flight.
No less an expert than Niccolo Machiavelli (“The Prince”) considered mercenary troops useless and dangerous, “disunited, undisciplined, ambitious, and faithless”. Because their only motivation is monetary, they are generally not effective in battle and have low morale. He goes on to say that mercenary commanders are either skilled or unskilled. Unskilled commanders are worthless, but skilled commanders cannot be trusted to suppress their own ambition. It is far more preferable for a prince to command his own army.
Historically, dependence on mercenaries ruined Italy. During the breakup of Italy, which the Church supported in hopes of increasing its own stature, many townships hired mercenaries because they had little experience in military matters. Since the mercenaries were more concerned with increasing their own prestige and status than with taking risks or accomplishing military objectives, the conflicts between these mercenary forces devolved into a series of ineffective, staged, pseudo-battles, ultimately degrading Italy’s political and military might.
One would be wise to quickly add “opportunistic” to the Machiavellian list of mercenary traits offered above. What ol’ Niccolo didn’t conjure in his high-powered little noodle was what the least ethical among those mercenaries were most likely to do with their skills (see: rape, pillage, plunder) once official hostilities concluded.
From his favorite leather easy chair, a gift from the Medici, he was speaking to the prudent, responsible tyrant when he penned “The Prince”.
They’re not useless, per se. Need a platoon of armed bullies and thugs to guard the palace gates? Bingo. But they are also highly disposed to momentary disloyalty of a capital variety, which is why men of capital have always loved them so.
Such is the centuries-old “triangle of fire” that burns us to this very day: the fuel of finance, crime the oxygen, and the flame of the morally and ethically underdeveloped burning bright and igniting the lot time and time again.
Poking around the Doge’s Palace in Venice, I was struck by the almost tactile similarity between the corruption of 15th & 16th Century early-stage “capitalism” and the depravities of our own century. Plus ca change…
Well said, Miraculix.
Found some interesting reading about blackwater inside this defense indy trade journo, pages 30-31.
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mh/dti1106/index.php
cheers.