# Should the US Army Employ mercenary Soldiers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 18, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485 "2007-06-18T17:27:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/1 "2007-06-18T17:27:37Z")
Maybe the way to fight unpopular wars is to hire soldiers from other armies. take the British-for years they hired nepalese soldiers 9the “Ghurkas”) who proved to be efficient, capable soldiers. or the french-with their famous “Foreign Legion”. So, would the US Army benefit from having a large mercenary force by its side? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/2 "2007-06-18T17:32:44Z")
I thought we [did](http://www.blackwaterusa.com/)? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/3 "2007-06-18T17:38:57Z")
A huge amount of the people in Iraq are private contractors, who are exhorbitantly expensive and providing a shoddy service in many instances. From what I can tell Blackwater’s service is a fairly good one but they are far more expensive than the military. However, the US has for many years used mercenaries to fight unpopular conflicts. Those fought by mercenaries rarely make the front page in the US. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/4 "2007-06-18T18:05:06Z")
No. We pay more money for our armed forces than everybody else on the planet combined. Why shouldn’t that money buy enough soldiers to do the job? If I were made President tomorrow, one of the first things I would do would be to move to nationalize Blackwater and the other “security contractors” running around Baghdad playing soldier. You wanna play soldier, you gotta play by the rules and get paid the same rate as the other poor schlubs who want to serve their country the right way. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/5 "2007-06-18T18:09:30Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica] No. We pay more money for our armed forces than everybody else on the planet combined. Why shouldn’t that money buy enough soldiers to do the job? If I were made President tomorrow, one of the first things I would do would be to move to nationalize Blackwater and the other “security contractors” running around Baghdad playing soldier. You wanna play soldier, you gotta play by the rules and get paid the same rate as the other poor schlubs who want to serve their country the right way. [/QUOTE] You can’t nationalize Blackwater. Blackwater isn’t a material resource, it’s a temp agency for soldiers. The Chilean mercenaries fighting for the Blackwater in Iraq don’t have to accept American soldiers wages if they don’t want to. Blackwater provides security for many corporate clients as well, and they are often sent on the more dangerous missions because their deaths aren’t reported in American newspapers as casualties for our side. I think if you looked at the history of conflicts America was involved in over the last century, you’d be surprised at how many you’d never heard of because they were fought largely by mercenary forces. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/6 "2007-06-18T19:18:40Z")
Do you have examples of these wars? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/7 "2007-06-18T19:43:49Z")
> **[Laotian Civil War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laotian_Civil_War)** > > Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese victory > Pathet Lao North VietnamNeutralists (1960–1962)Patriotic Neutralists (1963-1969) >  Kingdom of LaosNeutralists (1962–1966) United States South Vietnam Thailand [http://www.serendipity.li/cia/stock1.html](http://www.serendipity.li/cia/stock1.html) [http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11409.htm](http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11409.htm) > **[report.pdf](https://www.yachana.org/reports/colombia/report.pdf)** > > 237.57 KB > **[Bay of Pigs Invasion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Zapata)** > > Cuban victory > CIA > Brigade 2506: > **[Operation Gladio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladio)** > > Operation Gladio was the codename for clandestine "stay-behind" operations of armed resistance that were organized by the Western Union (WU) (founded in 1948), and subsequently by NATO (formed in 1949) and by the CIA (established in 1947), in collaboration with several European intelligence agencies during the Cold War. Although Gladio specifically refers to the Italian branch of the NATO stay-behind organizations, Operation Gladio is used as an informal name for all of them. Stay-behind Accord... Odds are that if there is a conflict there is CIA material involvement. It’s hard to track because it’s about the money trail, and that’s generally hidden. Get a shell corporation to hire mercenaries, funnel the money through a couple of banks in foreign countries and you have plausible deniability. It’s just the way we do business. A good book on the subject is “Confessions of an Economic Hitman”. As with Operation Zapata, more commonly known as “The Bay of Pigs”, we don’t hear about it unless it goes to shit. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/8 "2007-06-18T22:10:16Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] You can’t nationalize Blackwater. Blackwater isn’t a material resource, it’s a temp agency for soldiers. The Chilean mercenaries fighting for the Blackwater in Iraq don’t have to accept American soldiers wages if they don’t want to. Blackwater provides security for many corporate clients as well, and they are often sent on the more dangerous missions because their deaths aren’t reported in American newspapers as casualties for our side. I think if you looked at the history of conflicts America was involved in over the last century, you’d be surprised at how many you’d never heard of because they were fought largely by mercenary forces. [/QUOTE] I have to agree with this, there’s not really any feasible way you can nationalize a private security concern. You can nationalize the actual corporation, if it is indeed a U.S. corporation. Although exactly how you would go about doing that under our legal system I’m not sure, nationalizing private corporations isn’t commonly done in the United States, although there have been some examples (Amtrak) it’s usually done with the cooperation of business interests not in opposition to them. And, even if you nationalize the corporation, that doesn’t mean its employees have to abide by the wages you set, there are private employment opportunities for mercenaries the world over and if you try to pay them the same pay as a U.S. soldier they’ll just go elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/9 "2007-06-18T22:14:38Z")
Anyway, as for the question at hand, yes we should and yes we do. Mercenaries have, throughout human history shown themselves to be valuable at times. The trick is of course making sure you’re hiring the right mercenaries for the right job. Like with any other product or service, sometimes you’ll buy something that doesn’t perform how you want, that’s just the nature of these things. Just because a few mercenaries have proven to be bad eggs doesn’t mean they can’t be a valuable resource. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/10 "2007-06-18T22:29:17Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Maybe the way to fight unpopular wars is to hire soldiers from other armies. take the British-for years they hired nepalese soldiers 9the “Ghurkas”) who proved to be efficient, capable soldiers. or the french-with their famous “Foreign Legion”. So, would the US Army benefit from having a large mercenary force by its side? [/QUOTE] The Ghurkas are an elite force (selected from a vast number of Nepalese that volunteer every year) and have been part of the British Army for at least a century and continue to be today. They are ferocious and loyal, and you don’t want to meet them in hand to hand. They are uniformed soldiers of HM, most definitely not mercenaries. There is also a Ghurka regiment in the Indian Army. The French Foreign Legion is likewise not a mercenary outfit, they are uniformed soldiers in the French Army. They are paid standard soldiers salaries, and after a fixed term of service recieve French Citizenship. Comparing either of these units to the likes of Blackwater, Sandline or Executive Outcomes is insulting. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/11 "2007-06-18T22:35:54Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] > **[Laotian Civil War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laotian_Civil_War)** > > Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese victory Air operations The Laotian Civil War was waged between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government from 23 May 1959 to 2 December 1975. The Kingdom of Laos was a covert theater during the Vietnam War with both sides receiving heavy external support in a proxy war between the global Cold War superpowers. The fighting also involved the North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, American and Thai armies, both directly and through irregular proxies. The war... [http://www.serendipity.li/cia/stock1.html](http://www.serendipity.li/cia/stock1.html) [http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11409.htm](http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11409.htm) > **[report.pdf](https://www.yachana.org/reports/colombia/report.pdf)** > > 237.57 KB > **[Bay of Pigs Invasion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Zapata)** > > John F. Kennedy Robert McNamara Robert F. Kennedy Maxwell D. Taylor Charles Cabell Pepe San Román (POW) Erneido Oliva (POW) Brigade 2506: United States: > **[Operation Gladio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladio)** > > Operation Gladio was the codename for clandestine "stay-behind" operations of armed resistance that were organized by the Western Union (WU; founded in 1948), and subsequently by NATO (formed in 1949), and by the CIA (established in 1947), in collaboration with several European intelligence agencies during the Cold War. Although Gladio specifically refers to the Italian branch of the NATO stay-behind organizations, Operation Gladio is used as an informal name for all of them. Stay-behind Accordi... Odds are that if there is a conflict there is CIA material involvement. It’s hard to track because it’s about the money trail, and that’s generally hidden. Get a shell corporation to hire mercenaries, funnel the money through a couple of banks in foreign countries and you have plausible deniability. It’s just the way we do business. A good book on the subject is “Confessions of an Economic Hitman”. As with Operation Zapata, more commonly known as “The Bay of Pigs”, we don’t hear about it unless it goes to shit. [/QUOTE] That’s not really the same thing. Sure we funded dissident groups, but that’s a long ways away from hiring a bunch of Hessiens to fight our wars. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/12 "2007-06-18T22:37:31Z")
[QUOTE=treis] That’s not really the same thing. Sure we funded dissident groups, but that’s a long ways away from hiring a bunch of Hessiens to fight our wars. [/QUOTE] Who do you think trains the dissident groups how to use the weapons we sell them? ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/13 "2007-06-19T01:38:40Z")
That’s not the difference. Mercenaries are professional soldiers. They fight for money. The groups you mentioned are revolutionary/dissident groups that fight because they want to change the government of their native land. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/14 "2007-06-19T01:40:00Z")
[QUOTE=treis] That’s not the difference. Mercenaries are professional soldiers. They fight for money. The groups you mentioned are revolutionary/dissident groups that fight because they want to change the government of their native land. [/QUOTE] The point is that mercenaries get mixed up in. What do you think the term “CIA contractors” is a euphemism for? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/15 "2007-06-19T03:41:50Z")
The private contractors in Iraq are not-quite-mercenaries in one respect: they do not engage in purely offensive operations, and claim to have no desire to. That said, I do have to wonder just how “proactive” some of their security operations are. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/16 "2007-06-19T15:44:25Z")
[QUOTE=Lumpy] The private contractors in Iraq are not-quite-mercenaries in one respect: they do not engage in purely offensive operations, and claim to have no desire to. That said, I do have to wonder just how “proactive” some of their security operations are. [/QUOTE] Blackwater is most definitely a strike force. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/17 "2007-06-19T16:33:02Z")
[More on Blackwater.](http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070402/scahill) When Bush announced the formation of the new Department of Homeland Security some accused him of trying to create a “Praetorian Guard,” but it appears Blackwater is filling that role. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/18 "2007-06-19T16:35:00Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [More on Blackwater.](http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070402/scahill) When Bush announced the formation of the new Department of Homeland Security some accused him of trying to create a “Praetorian Guard,” but it appears Blackwater is filling that role. [/QUOTE] Talking point anyone? ;p ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/19 "2007-06-19T16:39:46Z")
> [@](#): > > I say, therefore, that the arms with which a prince defends his state are either his own, or they are mercenaries, auxiliaries, or mixed. Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous; and if one holds his state based on these arms, he will stand neither firm nor safe; for they are disunited, ambitious and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies; they have neither the fear of God nor fidelity to men, and destruction is deferred only so long as the attack is; for in peace one is robbed by them, and in war by the enemy. The fact is, they have no other attraction or reason for keeping the field than a trifle of stipend, which is not sufficient to make them willing to die for you. They are ready enough to be your soldiers whilst you do not make war, but if war comes they take themselves off or run from the foe; which I should have little trouble to prove, for the ruin of Italy has been caused by nothing else than by resting all her hopes for many years on mercenaries, and although they formerly made some display and appeared valiant amongst themselves, yet when the foreigners came they showed what they were. Thus it was that Charles, King of France, was allowed to seize Italy with chalk in hand;\* and he who told us that our sins were the cause of it told the truth, but they were not the sins he imagined, but those which I have related. And as they were the sins of princes, it is the princes who have also suffered the penalty. > > - With which to chalk up the billets for his soldiers. > > I wish to demonstrate further the infelicity of these arms. The mercenary captains are either capable men or they are not; if they are, you cannot trust them, because they always aspire to their own greatness, either by oppressing you, who are their master, or others contrary to your intentions; but if the captain is not skilful, you are ruined in the usual way. > > And if it be urged that whoever is armed will act in the same way, whether mercenary or not, I reply that when arms have to be resorted to, either by a prince or a republic, then the prince ought to go in person and perform the duty of captain; the republic has to send its citizens, and when one is sent who does not turn out satisfactorily, it ought to recall him, and when one is worthy, to hold him by the laws so that he does not leave the command. And experience has shown princes and republics, single-handed, making the greatest progress, and mercenaries doing nothing except damage; and it is more difficult to bring a republic, armed with its own arms, under the sway of one of its citizens than it is to bring one armed with foreign arms. Rome and Sparta stood for many ages armed and free. The Switzers are completely armed and quite free. > > Of ancient mercenaries, for example, there are the Carthaginians, who were oppressed by their mercenary soldiers after the first war with the Romans, although the Carthaginians had their own citizens for captains. After the death of Epaminondas, Philip of Macedon was made captain of their soldiers by the Thebans, and after victory he took away their liberty. > > Duke Filippo being dead, the Milanese enlisted Francesco Sforza against the Venetians, and he, having overcome the enemy at Caravaggio, allied himself with them to crush the Milanese, his masters. His father, Sforza, having been engaged by Queen Johanna of Naples, left her unprotected, so that she was forced to throw herself into the arms of the King of Aragon, in order to save her kingdom. And if the Venetians and Florentines formerly extended their dominions by these arms, and yet their captains did not make themselves princes, but have defended them, I reply that the Florentines in this case have been favoured by chance, for of the able captains, of whom they might have stood in fear, some have not conquered, some have been opposed, and others have turned their ambitions elsewhere. One who did not conquer was Giovanni Acuto,\* and since he did not conquer his fidelity cannot be proved; but every one will acknowledge that, had he conquered, the Florentines would have stood at his discretion. Sforza had the Bracceschi always against him, so they watched each other. Francesco turned his ambition to Lombardy; Braccio against the Church and the kingdom of Naples. But let us come to that which happened a short while ago. The Florentines appointed as their captain Paolo Vitelli, a most prudent man, who from a private position had risen to the greatest renown. If this man had taken Pisa, nobody can deny that it would have been proper for the Florentines to keep in with him, for if he became the soldier of their enemies they had no means of resisting, and if they held to him they must obey him. The Venetians, if their achievements are considered, will be seen to have acted safely and gloriously so long as they sent to war their own men, when with armed gentlemen and plebeians they did valiantly. This was before they turned to enterprises on land, but when they began to fight on land they forsook this virtue and followed the custom of Italy. And in the beginning of their expansion on land, through not having much territory, and because of their great reputation, they had not much to fear from their captains; but when they expanded, as under Carmignola, they had a taste of this mistake; for, having found him a most valiant man (they beat the Duke of Milan under his leadership), and, on the other hand, knowing how lukewarm he was in the war, they feared they would no longer conquer under him, and for this reason they were not willing, nor were they able, to let him go; and so, not to lose again that which they had acquired, they were compelled, in order to secure themselves, to murder him. They had afterwards for their captains Bartolomeo da Bergamo, Roberto da San Severino, the Count of Pitigliano, and the like, under whom they had to dread loss and not gain, as happened afterwards at Vaila, where in one battle they lost that which in eight hundred years they had acquired with so much trouble. Because from such arms conquests come but slowly, long delayed and inconsiderable, but the losses sudden and portentous. > > - As Sir John Hawkwood, the English leader of mercenaries, was called by the Italians. > > And as with these examples I have reached Italy, which has been ruled for many years by mercenaries, I wish to discuss them more seriously, in order that, having seen their rise and progress, one may be better prepared to counteract them. You must understand that the empire has recently come to be repudiated in Italy, that the Pope has acquired more temporal power, and that Italy has been divided up into more states, for the reason that many of the great cities took up arms against their nobles, who, formerly favoured by the emperor, were oppressing them, whilst the Church was favouring them so as to gain authority in temporal power: in many others their citizens became princes. From this it came to pass that Italy fell partly into the hands of the Church and of republics, and, the Church consisting of priests and the republic of citizens unaccustomed to arms, both commenced to enlist foreigners. > > The first who gave renown to this soldiery was Alberigo da Conio, a native of the Romagna. From the school of this man sprang, among others, Braccio and Sforza, who in their time were the arbiters of Italy. After these came all the other captains who till now have directed the arms of Italy; and the end of all their valour has been, that she has been overrun by Charles, robbed by Louis, ravaged by Ferdinand, and insulted by the Switzers. The principle that has guided them has been, first, to lower the credit of infantry so that they might increase their own. They did this because, subsisting on their pay and without territory, they were unable to support many soldiers, and a few infantry did not give them any authority; so they were led to employ cavalry, with a moderate force of which they were maintained and honoured; and affairs were brought to such a pass that, in an army of twenty thousand soldiers, there were not to be found two thousand foot soldiers. They had, besides this, used every art to lessen fatigue and danger to themselves and their soldiers, not killing in the fray, but taking prisoners and liberating without ransom. They did not attack towns at night, nor did the garrisons of the towns attack encampments at night; they did not surround the camp either with stockade or ditch, nor did they campaign in the winter. All these things were permitted by their military rules, and devised by them to avoid, as I have said, both fatigue and dangers; thus they have brought Italy to slavery and contempt. – [_The Prince,_](http://home.c2i.net/espenjo/home/fyrsten/prince12.htm) by Niccolo Machiavelli ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485/20 "2007-06-19T16:48:08Z")
**Brainglutton** That applies to a bygone era and not a capitalist system. You’d probably find the life of Erik Prince to be rather fascinating. He seems like a true believer to me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-army-employ-mercenary-soldiers/408485.md?page=2)