From: steven linnabary <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Question for you... > > Considering that the US uses several thousand mercenaries (er, > "privatesecurity contractors") in Iraq and Afghanistan, how are > they covered by the > Geneva Convention? > > PEACE > Steven R. Linnabary, Treasurer
Good question. And one that I had not thought about before. Most of them are actually acting as private security (point security and personal bodyguard type stuff). There is very little if any cases of them actually going on actual military missions. They may have in there contract search and rescue type functions for selected persons though. One of the Sargent that I work with said no they would not be covered. But they do wear uniforms, carry their arms openly, have a definite chain of command and conform generally to the laws of war. But I could not say for sure. But I do know that they pay about $200K for a year on the ground there. And the largest contractor is Blackwater Security. Personally and from a libertarian perspective I like the idea of professional and highly paid private army paid for by corporations. It gets government out of the equation and is more lucrative for the individuals involved. Maybe if the Iraqi resistance had contracted with these people to begin with and not dicked around waiting for the US govt to save their bacon it would have been over and done with by now. BWS ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
