Get Yer War On!

[caraig]

So I was having a gander at the satirical Get Your War On and following a few of the links around. In the course of it I found AlertNet which is a really interesting source of news about some places in this world that are seriously messed up. If you are squeamish about how seriously messed up man can be to fellow man, and have a delicate faith in the inherent goodness of humanity, don't go to that site.

Anyway, I spotted one article there that made me pause and I head it through. Okay, can someone a bit more in the know tell me WTF is THIS all about? I mean... mercenaries? 'Cause that's what they are. That dude in the picture is a 'bodyguard' but he's carrying a frickin' automatic rifle if not a machine gun. Okay, long tradition of mercenaries, if not necessarily good tradition. Even so, it's kind of weird to see.

Then something else leaped out at me: one of the companies that's providing this is Dyncorp. Dyncorp! I almost went to work for them when I got out of college! I thought they were a company providing crews to oil spill respose vessels, and now I find out they're mercenaries?!

Let's make it odder. To quote from the article:

“It is also worrying that some companies are calling for immunity (from prosecution) in Iraq. We don’t want immunity and we don’t need it. We always go about our business within the laws of the countries where we work.

Uh... no fekking kidding!

Have a look at AlertNet.org, and take a look at some of the things going on. It's really damn sobering and this is NOT your typical extreme-left-wing loonie ranting. This is Reuters. Though at this late hour it's making me despair, and wonder how I could be so foolish as to have faith in the human race.

Comments

[ruggels.livejournal.com]

I get the same news from other sources, because I rad a lot ofnews at work. I never really believed in the inherent goodness of man. I believed in the inherent good of Western Civilization. People are apes. They have to grow up in the right environments with equally indoctrinated parents to produce positive members. Other wise people fall into some form of tribalism, or another, be it actual tribes, or gangs.

As for Mercenaries. there are a number of companies that do that. Executive Solutions kept rebels from continuing the HUTU/Tutsie Massavre, by taking key locations from the rebels by force, and taking no casualties themselves, until the Rebels complained to the U.N. Whereupon the U.N. demanded thatthe government send them away. The U.N. Replaced them with thousands of "Blue Helmets", who did nothing, so the massacre started again.

What brings peace is trade. Unfortunately Africa can't buy computers and stereos, and are too caught up in tribalism to be stable enough to exploit their natural resources.

It basically comes down to "Life is not fair",and "Justice is an artificial concept".

Scott

Scott