It's been a while since I've written about the mercenaries the US is using in Iraq in lieu of a proper accountable armed force, but now they're back in the news. Blackwater, the war profiteering mercenary "business," have been caught a little too red-handed this time in their "civilian shoot-em-up" games, and the US government, the current employers of this mercenary force, is feeling the heat to separate themselves from this gang of thugs.
Not since the days of privateers on the open seas has the US been so dependent on these bottom-feeders of the world's tragedies, and days were when the term "mercenary" had a pejorative connotation, as the British employed their German mercenaries, the Hessians, against the U.S. in the Revolutionary War. Under the Bush Administration, anything goes, though, in this vain bid to secure the oil fields, as even Alan Greenspan now admits is the origins of the Iraq War (I would argue that a good bit of Bush's eagerness to invade also came about through his ridiculous family vendetta against one-time ally Saddam Hussein -- gotta teach those dogs that bite their masters a lesson...). Hey, Billy Bragg (did I mention he was playing the Birchmere October 22?) could have told him that about five years ago:
2 comments:
Oh dear. At least Rock the Vote is stationing itself in columbia heights?
Incredible vid!
Whenever I find myself feeling cynical and/or sarcastic, I realize how draining those states are. I feel sucked dry and helpless/hopeless when I get cynical.
What in the world is supposed to be cool about cynicism??
Thank you!
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