Roundtable

July 2007: Outsourcing the War

Annotation of

“Outsourcing the War ” by Jeremy Scahill. The Nation. May 28, 2007.

~ The Editors

Mercenaries and Other Ways of Breaking the Law:
Why Our Blood Should Boil
by Judith Blau

“[Blackwater] became involved in the war in Iraq purely for profit—not on behalf of Iraqi welfare, and not for peace. Its business is war and peace is not profitable.”

Can the Next American President Switch the Tracks?
by Harry Kreisler

“Like Rome and Great Britain in the heyday of their power, the U.S. confronts a choice between democracy and empire, for empire requires military power without constraint to police the globe while democracy requires accountability.”

Private Military Industry and the Laws of War
by Mahmood Monshipouri

“War outsourcing has also created the corporate equivalent of Guantanamo Bay—a virtual rules-free zone in which perpetrators of torture are unlikely to be held accountable for breaking the law.”

Rooting the Privatization of War in a Broader Political Context by Ali Wyne

“It seems reasonable to suggest that the President’s hesitation to wage war will continue to diminish as the ability to pursue this course in a clandestine manner increases.”

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