Rattlesnake Ridge 
BFF
“Four years after Blackwater’s license to operate in Iraq was revoked over the killing of 17 Iraqis, Xe Services LLC — the company formerly known as Blackwater — wants to return to the country. In an interview published Thursday, Xe President and Chief Executive Ted Wright told The Wall Street Journal that he would like to do business in Iraq again.”Would I like to go back into Iraq?” Wright said. “Certainly.” “Would the Iraqi government accept us in Iraq? That’s really the question.” Wright’s renewed interest in operating in Iraq comes at a time when the U.S. State Department is considering adding 5,000 private contractors to replace some of the U.S. troops that will be withdrawing by the end of the year………..”
Then there are the ‘private’ soldiers, the ‘corporate’ soldiers, the so-called contractors. The well-connected “contract” corporations, the former Blackwater and Halliburton and others, are the ones who receive the benefits of the “stimulus” spending of the wars in the Middle East.
Speaking of private armies: the Roman Republic at one point of its history was dominated by ‘private’ legions which it used to wage its wars. These legions belonged to certain leaders (Pompeii, Julius Caesar, Crassus, etc). These worthies waged war with soldiers that they recruited for their own ‘Roman’ legions, and these legions were loyal to the leader who owned them, mainly because he also paid them. It was also during that period that Rome experienced sporadic civil wars that got worse with time. During periods of civil strife the legions fought on the side of their respective ‘leaders/owners’. Ancient Rome did not have exactly the type of corporate structure that exists today.
Cheers
mhg
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