“Have gun, will fight for paycheck” marketplace for warfare

On the Internet, numerous videos have spread virally showing what appear to be foreign mercenaries using Iraqis as target practice, much to the embarrassment of the firms involved.

Dozens of American soldiers have been court-martialed -- 64 on murder-related charges alone -- but not a single armed contractor has been prosecuted for a crime against an Iraqi. In some cases, where contractors were alleged to have been involved in crimes or deadly incidents, their companies whisked them out of Iraq to safety.

U.S. contractors in Iraq reportedly have their own motto: "What happens here today, stays here today." International diplomats say Iraq has demonstrated a new U.S. model for waging war; one which poses a creeping threat to global order.

"To outsource security-related, military related issues to non-government, non-military forces is a source of great concern and it caught many governments unprepared," says Hans von Sponeck, a 32-year veteran U.N. diplomat, who served as head of the U.N. Iraq mission before the U.S. invasion.

"Have gun, will fight for paycheck" has become a globalized law.

[Excerpt of an article by Jeremy Scahill, a Puffin Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute]