The Heroic Face of America

Look, I know that there are a lot of American heroes over in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, etc. I respect our servicemen, surely. Granted, some aren't worth the beef jerky they eat for lunch -- but so it goes for any organization. You take the good apples with the bad, and for the most part assume everybody else is somewhere close enough to the middle for the whole lot of them to get the job done ethically and efficiently. For the most part, they're doing their job. Fair enough.

However . . . this new face of the American military, that of the mercenary / 'security' contractor, is a wee bit disturbing. If this be the modern military of America and her allies, bring back the draft! (Especially, um, when they're wanted war criminals.)

Reminds me a bit of 'Mercenary Song' by Steve Earle:

I guess a man's got to do what he's best at
Ain't found nothin' better so far
Been called mercenaries and men with no country
Just soldiers in search of a war

CHORUS

And we're bound for the border
We're soldiers of fortune
And we'll fight for no country but we'll die for good pay
Under the flag of of the greenback dollar
Or the peso down Mexico way.

Quite.