Soldiers for Hire
 

In an article called, "Making a Killing--The Business of War" in The Center for Public Integrity publication, an 11-part series begins with the following sentence:

"Amid the military downsizing and increasing number of small conflicts that followed the end of the Cold War, governments turned increasingly to private military companies – a recently coined euphemism for mercenaries – to intervene on their behalf in war zones around the globe."

With the great numbers of our regular military, reservists and national guard bogged down in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Bush administration has hired private security firms to guard our own military bases here at home.

It called to mind another time in history. During that era, Rome was the greatest power on earth. It's army, the Roman Legions, led by Julius Caesar, seemed invincible. The discipline and loyalty of the Roman army were legendary. After a pre-emptive invasion, that territory was annexed as a part of the Roman Empire. The Romans even indulged in nation building and parts of Roman built roads are still visible in areas of England. They successfully captured and ruled all of western Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. What is now Iraq was once a Roman province. Rome, which had been founded as a republic was now an empire with a tiny minority ruling with dictatorial powers.

After capture and "Romanization", the spread of Roman citizenship was encouraged. Soldiers from these outer colonies were admitted into the Roman army, once the exclusive domain of elite Roman born citizens. Joining for the pay, these "mercenaries" lacked the nationalistic pride of fighting for the greater glory of Rome and since they placed more loyalty in their own officers, there was soon a break down of the famous Legion discipline. Positions of power and influence in the outlying provinces were sold to the highest bidder.

With their armies so far flung throughout the empire, supplying them posed problems, both logistically and economically. Plagued by inflation and high taxes to support expansion of the empire, Romans began fighting among themselves. Eventually, with their military stretched so thin by deployment throughout the known world, Rome's own borders were left unprotected and vulnerable to invasion, particularly by the Germanic tribes.

And so began the decline of the greatest power on earth.

10-25-03