The whores of war

The Republican Party has worked for some time to privatize as many functions of government as possible. The one area I would have expected to be immune from this tampering was the military. Going back to Bush I, Cheney and Rumsfeld have been working to outsource tasks that have traditionally belonged to the military to private firms. In Iraq and Afghanistan, this trend has become frightening. Euphemistically called, "contractors," these folk are not carrying hammers and rulers but instead M4's and automatic weapons. They are guarding diplomats, facilities, and escorting convoys of supplies through war zones. There have even been instances where these mercenaries have commanded US military forces. To make it worse, at least in Iraq, they are not subject to military rules of engagement nor are they subject to civilian law... Yes, you read that correctly, they are essentially above any law while being in incredibly stressful situations and highly armed. Currently there are over 22,000 of them operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. They were even deployed under similar rules in New Orleans after Katrina.

Many of these mercenaries are former US special forces people but others, employed by the US government, were former members of Pinochet's henchmen, apartheid soldiers in South Africa, and the worst of the worst from other war torn places.

This industry has quickly grown to being worth billions of dollars.

Here are some of the pieces that really worry me...

They make war easier. As a nation we think twice about committing our sons and daughters in uniform to war. Mercenaries don't elicit the same concern. And the costs of war are not quite so clear. All of this makes it easier to go to war without the input and approval of the population or even our elected representatives.

We are encouraging private companies to build large, highly trained armies that are not accountable to anyone except the folk running those companies and their bottom lines. We are making our national security dependent upon companies over whom we have no control and who have no accountability to the government or the people of the United States.

What happens if their commercial interests or political ideologies differ from the nation as a whole? Or what if a bunch of crazy billionaires say, "Here is more money than you've ever imagined, let's overthrow the government and turn it into the utopia we envision." At the same time, because these mercenaries are paid so well, they are siphoning off many qualified people from our military and from the militaries of our allies.

As an industry, they benefit from conflict and suffer if there is none so they have significant impetus to be sure that conflict continues and to insure that the primary response to a political conflict is violence. Because it is such a huge industry, they have the ears of many in Washington, on Wall Street, and in other places f influence around the world.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky in the House (H.R. 4650) and Bernie Sanders in the Senate (S. 3023), have introduced bills that would prohibit hiring private mercenaries to perform tasks traditionally done by the military. This is essential to our national security. This is essential to our future. Contact your congress people and encourage them to support these bills.

Blogging through The Orthodox Heretic day 25

Overthrowing the Emperor examines power. The emperor rules over a huge empire with an army that inspires fear in the entire world and then he has a dream where he sees his empire in ruins and army destroyed and hears God speak, "There is a power that transcends your earthly power."
He visits the cathedrals and temples. He seeks out all of the leaders of the religions in his empire. He engages in the spiritual practices of the various traditions but experiences nothing. Finally he learns of a holy man who is dying but may have something to teach him. On his death bed, the holy man tells the emperor that the power he seeks is found in the face of the orphan, the poor, the illegal alien, the starving man. God's power is seen in weakness."

God's power is so often misunderstood. Even the scripture that tells us that God's weakness is more powerful than human power is seen as an affirmation that God's weakness is still a power of the same sort humans wield and that the verse is only telling us that the range of God's power is so much above ours that even the lowest edge of it is higher than the highest edge of ours... Pete is telling us that God's power is an entirely different category than ours and truly is found in that which we see as weak. A baby overthrows the principalities and powers of the universe. Peace overcomes violence. The absence of force allows revolutionary change.

I'm currently listening to Jeremy Scahill's book on Blackwater which tells the story of the rise to prominence of his mercenary army but also some of the story of the theocon movement and their quest for power. These are folk who, for the most part, call themselves Christians. As I think of their expression of discipleship, I cannot recognize the Jesus I know. Certainly their lust for power stands at odds with the mission and ministry of Jesus as I understand it.