PBS Frontline, "Private Warriors"

[TexasLinda]

Get a look at the (not too distant) future of our military.

Press release at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/press/2315.html.

Check local run times at http://www.pbs.org/tvschedules/.

Also read related BusinessWeek Online article, "The Other U.S. Military" at http://www.businessweekasia.com/magazine/content/04_22/b3885116.htm.

This is scary stuff. Military personnel swear an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution and are generally loyal to and accountable to the American people. Where do civilian contractor loyalties lie? The Bush administration has pushed the use of civilian contractors, especially Darth Cheney's Halliburton and KBR storm troopers, to unprecedented levels. Who are these people loyal to -- the American taxpayers who are the source of their new found riches, or the war-proffiters who are shovelling out the money?

[fryguy]

1. what's an empire without its mercenary army?

and let's not forget, if they use civilian contractors to fight a war they don't have to worry about paying veteran benefits....

:grr:

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Or worry about the Geneva Convention correct

[fryguy]

3. they've already dispensed with the pesky Geneva convention

after all, its regular military who are holding prisoners at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib . . . and we've seen how well they adhere to the convention at both places.

[CitySky]

5. isn't all that stuff now considered

"quaint?"

[silver10]

4. Perfect example ...

of why the repukes want to make such deep cuts into funding for public broadcasting.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

6. Wow, excellent program. Watch the frontline website for it, it should

be available as a streaming view.

[TexasLinda]

7. KEDT Corpus Christi decided to run something else,

so I missed it on TV. :( Guess I'll have to catch it on the PBS website. Apparently KEDT thought a rehash of the 1996 Clinton/Dole election was more important.

[WestHoustonDem]

8. In Houston we got Grand Ole Opry!

[TexasLinda]

9. "Private Warriors" is online

The program can be found online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/

[ThJ]

10. What Machiavelli says about Mercenaries...

From someone who would certainly know about the subject:

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. (Machiavelli, The Prince, Chp. 12)

I could quote more from the Discoursi, but this seems sufficient to show the error in relying on mercenaries.