A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

"There will come a time when no U.S.
government will be capable of breaking a contract with their hired killers."

The U.S. Justice Department is going through the preliminary
motions of notifying six Blackwater mercenaries that they may be indicted in
last September's massacre
of 17 Iraqi civilians at a traffic circle in the heart of Baghdad. The
proper punishment would be that meted out by the Angolans to four private assassins,
including one American, in 1976: execution. But of course, Angola was exercising
its rights as a sovereign nation in dealing with hired killers, who are neither
soldiers nor partisan fighters under international law - just criminals who
murder for wages and the thrill of it. Iraq has no sovereign government - as
proven by the fact that Blackwater's thugs are still breathing.

Mercenaries are now an entrenched, institutional factor in
U.S. global and domestic "security" strategies. Barack Obama cannot even begin
to explain how he will disentangle U.S. mercenaries - euphemistically called
"contractors" - from the uniformed occupation force in Iraq. The two forces are
nearly equal in size: 144,000 troops and 126,000 highly paid civilians, 30,000
of them armed to the teeth. Washington considers the soldiers of fortune
absolutely indispensable to the protection of key installations and personnel.

On the home front, Katrina - that harbinger of what a future
urban America in crisis will look like - saw hundreds of thugs from Blackwater
and other mercenary outfits patrolling the streets of New Orleans - as if they
were the legitimate authorities.

"The specter of mercenary occupation of American cities
is no longer farfetched - it has already happened."

The day may not be far off when the New Orleans nightmare
becomes a national reality. The specter of mercenary occupation of American
cities is no longer farfetched - it has already happened. The logic of
permanent domestic mercenary deployment is rooted in the historical fact that
the rich created the modern state to protect their wealth, and to harness the
nation as a whole to produce more wealth for their benefit. Mercenary armies
and police forces put the lie to the pretense that the state serves to protect
the general population. As the current corrupt order decays, the rulers find
that due process and other niceties of law - including armies operating under
codes of military justice and civil service police forces - restrict their
freedom of movement. The process of dispensing with the traditional coercive
organs of the state in favor of private mercenaries is well advanced in the
United States, where the privatization of prisons of all kinds is in full
swing.

These are conscious, methodical decisions by the nation's
corporate rulers, rather than emergency measures. At some point, the privatization
of coercive power becomes irreversible, as seems to have already occurred in
the U.S. military.

Despite the many crises caused by Blackwater's lawless
behavior in Iraq, the U.S. State Department claims it can't get out of its
contract with the outfit until next May - when in reality Washington has no
idea how to replace its soldiers of fortune. If privatization of the military
and police functions of the American state continues, there will come a time
when no U.S. government will be capable of breaking a contract with their hired
killers. There will be no one left but mercenaries to enforce the government's
will.

For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford.

BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at [email protected].

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