A person who participates in a war in exchange for money is called a mercenary.
A mercenary is a person who performs a task or mission for another in exchange for money . At a general level, it can be said that the mercenary is the one who receives payment for his services , although the concept has a derogatory connotation.
A common use of the term refers to the field of war. A person who, in exchange for money, fights for a foreign power is known as a mercenary. A mercenary can be considered to enter a war for profit, and not for ideological or ethical reasons.
The mercenary is not committed to the side he fights for. Their only objective is to obtain personal benefit. Hired killer or hitman are other notions that can be linked to the notion of mercenary.
Mercenaries depending on the country
The definition of mercenary is not precise and depends on each national legislation. In the United States , for example, a citizen who participates in an armed conflict in which the country is neutral can be subjected to criminal justice. However, the North American army hired numerous civilians to carry out its most recent war campaigns ( Afghanistan , Iraq ).
The Vatican Swiss Guard , on the other hand, is a mercenary army that has been active since the 15th century and has a high international reputation.
Mercenaries act with a desire for profit and not motivated by ethical or ideological issues.
Private military companies
There are private military companies that provide labor, logistics and other services required by the military forces. Its employees are civilians who have authorization to join the troops in the various operations they carry out.
Depending on what is observed, it is possible to say that these private organizations act as mercenaries, unlike advisors or security companies. On the other hand, the regulation of their functions and the weapons they have remains in the hands of the governments, ensuring that they are not used on the battlefield to collaborate with the fulfillment of their military activities, reasons why such rating is not accurate.
In the event that contractors actively participate in military operations, it is correct to consider them mercenaries, as well as to call the companies for which they work in a similar way. Some of the companies that were recognized by the media as mercenaries in the 1990s are Gurkha Security Guards Ltd , Executive Outcomes Angola , Blackwater Worldwide , SGSI Group and Sandline International .
Mercenaries in Iraq
In 2004, there was great growth in this industry, largely due to the interest shown by the North American government, which hired various military companies to fill security positions on Iraqi soil . The entire world witnessed the brutal murder of four of the mercenaries sent to Iraq , as it was filmed and spread by various media, mainly the Internet. The United States relied on this fatality to justify the attack on Fallujah , which it carried out shortly after and which caused hundreds of victims.
The United Nations shows a confused stance towards private military companies: although on the one hand they do not view them favorably, it is undeniable that they have relied on their services in some cases. It is worth mentioning, however, that Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General until 2006 , expressed his disagreement with these decisions, choosing to dispense with private military services in the operations in which he participated.
Britain's Foreign Office , for its part, published a report on private military companies in 2002 that noted that one of the reasons for the United Nations and other organizations to choose these services over the use of the army may be related to costs.