January 2010: Adam Ciralsky on Blackwater Politics & Power: vanityfair.com
Blackwater is infamous. It is accused of reviving a practice that has been dead in the West for more than a hundred years. Mercenaries or soldiers for hire was a common practice among many European powers during their imperial periods through the 16th and 18th centuries. The ancient world also used them. In fact, Rome despised Carthage because it used them to fight. The Roman Republican believed that wars should only be fought with one's own citizens. It was the duty of a citizen to fight. Well, the rise of Blackwater and other private military contractors has raised the question of whether we should be relying on them to help fight our battles. This Vanity Fair piece provides a nice account of who Blackwater is.
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