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The New Mercenaries

"Mercs, Skipper?" "Mercenaries, man! Bloody hell. What did you think they were? Cars? Thought you could do military." "And PMC, Skipper?"... "Private Military Company... Where the hell have you been all your life?" --John le CarrĂ©, The Mission Song The Skipper's indignant question, "Where have you been?", surely applies to the American media shocked by the spectacularly reckless killing of Iraqi commuters by the hired guns of the Blackwater corporation on the streets of Baghdad this past September 16. "Shocked"…
Bert deVries
December 16, 2007
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The Guns of August 2007

The new weapons "package" and containment strategy that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates have been peddling around the Middle East lately have received a lot of coverage. In light of American policy in the region, the proposal is so predictable that discussing it seems trite; yet Americans' persistence in staying uninformed on the issue makes the deal tragically inane, demanding a critical response. Also predictably, the leading press has been clinical and acquiescent…
Bert deVries
October 16, 2007