We could be like France and have a Foreign Legion which gives the French government the benefit of having an armed force that can be used where the general population might object if the troops where French citizens even though there are Frenchmen in the FL they are there because they want to be they where not conscripted.

We have made extensive use of mercenaries throughout our history some fighters and some leaders Von Steuben comes to mind say what you will that man was a mercenary but had a very important effect on our fighting ability during the Revolutionary War.We had plenty of Native American mercs as well.
And in Vietnam we employed many Chinese Mungs and also Cambodians worked with SOG Green Berets and Seals they where either the best or worst fighters depending on their mood and the entire pro American force in Laos where Lao true but also mostly paid fighters as in they did not fight without payment.

They have their down sides but they also provide many benefits also they are the oldest type of professional warrior I dont think they will be going away any time soon.

And the way the majority are employed in the west they are usually hired to to train others on top of that the ones employed by the US and UK are almost entirely former members of
the military many of them are retired SF troops there are guys that fought for the Green Berets and Seals in Vietnam working as mercs today a guy like that has a alot of very valuable experience and is pretty reliable.It is all in how you use them with proper restraint there is no real problem and if you are the type that needs something off the books and every world power needs to do tings off the books sometimes they are useful.

Actually von Stuben volunteered to fight without pay and became a citizen of the country he fought for. That's kind of like the opposite of a mercenary.

It was a great achievement when armies turned from being private business to consisting of soldiers wearing the king's colors. Mercenaries have no interest in peace, because then they make no income. Such an attitude easily interferes with policies of the state favoring peace of wars. Which makes it tempting to infiltrate the government with pro-war lobbyists. As a matter of fact, we already have immense, damaging lobbying in favor of the defense industry - in the US more than anywhere else. And that costs the US probably billions more than if the defense needs would be serve don the basis of real needs only, instead of edlection-oriented opportunism and lobbyism by profit-greedy corporations.

I also remind of the infamous role of Blackwater in Iraq. Their record is anything but a recommendation.

No, we better do not wish the condottieri back. There is this story about John Hawkwood, who was an English mercenary leader and condottieri:

One day, two Franciscan monks met him on the road, who gave Hawkwood the greeting of "Peace" on which he replied: "May the Lord take away your alms." The alarmed monks excused themselves, by saying they " meant only to be kind," and he explained: " Do you not know that I live by war, and that peace would be my undoing?"; and the story-teller adds: "It certainly is true that Hawkwood fought in Italy longer than any other man ever fought, and nearly every part of it became tributary to him : so well did be manage his affairs that there was little peace in Italy in his days."


Mercenary companies, corporations maintaining their own privatised armies? Not with me.

With Tax Comments, Romney Wades Into a Conservative Rift
 

Note: Update record.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/us...l?ref=politics

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Strange it was there when I went into the link, thanks anyway, I should fix it,:hmmm:

It'S still there:

With Tax Comments, Romney Wades Into a Conservative Rift
By ANNIE LOWREY and MICHAEL COOPER
Published: September 18, 2012

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney decided to fully join the battle on social programs, warning in an interview Tuesda... ... ...

:up:

It is possible that his remarks by content touch some truths, but are made at the wrong time (from a campaign manager's point of view), and express something many people do not want to hear. The same could be said about his Palestine-comments: he certainly is true when saying that they have no real interest in peace at all - but it is the wrong time and is an unwanted truth.

I also am in doubt that he came to these conclusions by the right thoughts. Two people can come to the same conclusions, but in very different ways or saying them for different motives.

Anyway, I think the election is done. And the Republicans are not the winners. Obama did not defeat them. They kicked themselves out.

Its just August wearing his "neutral" team R cheerleader shirt again.
Look.....All partisan anti-Republican articles back to 1851 are available through The New York Times Article Archive. 1851 – present. If you can't find what you're looking for we'd be happy to invent something.

He doesn't like the story so attacks the source.
Unfortunately for him all those angles touched in the article have been going through the team R publications and think tanks for over a year already.
Which of course raises a question.
If so many of his backers and staff have been saying "lay off the tax line as its crap" for the past year how dumb was Romney to still try it?
Just for convenience the article contains links to the Republican leaning publications.
Though of course as they are publications that means they are media which means they are all part of a liberal plot:O:

I really hope that if Romney is defeated in November that this will cause the Republican party to re-evaluate its candidates and its positioning. I am by no means a Republican, but I'm not a fan of Obama either who I see as being as strong a president as Jimmy Carter, although that might actually be a tad unfair to Carter...
However the Republicans just haven't fielded a decent candidate in Romney, just like they didn't field one in McCain, just like the Democrats didn't field one in Kerry. The Dems learnt...the Republicans haven't...yet.

If being essentially ousted from government in 2008 didn't do it, I seriously doubt the loss of the 2012 general election will. However, I think your point is a solid one. Obama should be losing, and badly, but he seems to be pulling further ahead. Gaffes from Romney not withstanding, a lot of this is that Americans are still angry with the Republican party for betraying it's own self-stated prinicples of 'responsible government'. They spent like crazy (mostly on defense) and completely mismanaged US foreign policy, leaving us stranded in a no-win situation in the Middle East. And now their own platform says that they want more defense spending and a hard-line in the Middle East. I say no thank you; I've seen this show before and it ended with the US bankrupt and our enemies in the very positions that we were trying to prevent them from attaining.

Especially when it will be easy to point at an incredibly flawed* candidate and blame him instead of the tax-cuts-for-all-y'all message.

There won't be a rethink after November, I think.

* = I mean, in 2008 they nominated the guy who lost the last primary season, and in 2012 they nominate the guy who lost to him

Hm. I used to think Romney has killed himself, and in Europe there also is a lot of hope that Romney will not win. I wonder if maybe we are not too early with such calls. Checking some Us poll numbers yesterday to my surprise revealed that Romney's reputation seemed to have suffered much less than I would have estimated, and that the race, in points, is closer than what we in Europe usually expect and many here seem to wish.

I think it is possible that here in Europe we are messing up wishful thinking with reality.

Not that I hope for the one candidate defeating the other. I find both absolutely disgusting and untrustworthy, and absolutely unelectable. I can only recommend not to share the guilt of having voted for any of the two, but to march in the streets and storm the capital and the hijacked parliament.