"US confirms American carried out Syria suicide bombing"

[bryant.coleman]

Sometimes people fight just to fight.  Sometimes for money.  IIRC - there are Russians in Syria who are fighting, because Assad promised them condos on the beach. 

Mercenaries can be found in any nation. They will fight for anyone, in exchange for money. Even during the NATO invasion of Libya, a large number of Russian, Ukrainian and Serbian mercenaries were fighting on the side of Gaddafi.

[Ron~Popeil]

Sometimes people fight just to fight.  Sometimes for money.  IIRC - there are Russians in Syria who are fighting, because Assad promised them condos on the beach. 

Mercenaries can be found in any nation. They will fight for anyone, in exchange for money. Even during the NATO invasion of Libya, a large number of Russian, Ukrainian and Serbian mercenaries were fighting on the side of Gaddafi.

We have them here to. We just call them contractors.

[bryant.coleman]

We have them here to. We just call them contractors.

lol... the private security contractors. At one point of time, some 100,000 of them were serving in Iraq alone. Now they have spread out to other conflict-prone areas, such as Libya and Afghanistan.

[vokain]

We have them here to. We just call them contractors.

lol... the private security contractors. At one point of time, some 100,000 of them were serving in Iraq alone. Now they have spread out to other conflict-prone areas, such as Libya and Afghanistan.

PMCs cost so much more than military dogs, reasoning? Possibilities I can think of is that they can operate outside conventional rules of engagement and privately escorting vital Big Business personnel.

edit: http://academi.com/pages/protect
ah, protecting business interests such as real estate and trade routes as well. and saves quite a bit of political cost I imagine

[bryant.coleman]

PMCs cost so much more than military dogs, reasoning? Possibilities I can think of is that they can operate outside conventional rules of engagement and privately escorting vital Big Business personnel.

Yes. They are very expensive. The average salary ranges from $200 to $1,000 per day. I have even heard about PMCs earning as much as $6,000 per day in Fallujah and Ramadi. But at the same time, the PMCs who get KIA are not counted together with the American / NATO military deaths. And the American military is not responsible for any of their actions.

[Charlie Prime]

PMCs cost so much more than military dogs, reasoning?

Actually, contractors cost far LESS than real soldiers.  American mercenaries get only about $150,000 per year.  To kit one out for battle probably only costs about $60,000 (M16, armored Ford F-250 pickup, boots/radios/mags/etc.)

After six years of use, they can be thrown on the trash heap and forgotten.

State soldiers earn far less per year in base salary, but can lay claim to EXPENSIVE long-term benefits such as government health care, retirement pensions, housing, survivor insurance, and more.

After 2-10 years of usefulness, you are still stuck with them.

Al Qaeda mercenaries are even better.   They are like Chinese peasants stamping out high-profit iPhones.  Salary about $18,000 per year.  Cheap kit of AK-47's, Nike trainers, the occasional .50 cal., an old Toyota, and hand-held crap radios.  Total cost probably only about $5,000 each to field.

The BEST aspect of mercenaries is avoidance of lawsuits when they murder people, and being able to deny that they are even work for you.