Ted Koppel: Time for Army of U.S. Mercenaries?
The longtime TV broadcaster, writing in the New York Times, snarkily suggests that oil companies that have the greatest interest in safeguarding a particular region should pick up the tab for hiring soldiers to defend it.The longtime TV broadcaster, writing in the New York Times, snarkily suggests that oil companies that have the greatest interest in safeguarding a particular region should pick up the tab for hiring soldiers to defend it.
Rock Solid JournalismN.Y. Times:
NEW YORK — Little known to the American public, there are some 50,000 private contractors in Iraq, providing support for the U.S. military, among other activities. So why not go all the way, hints Ted Koppel in a New York Times op-ed piece Monday, and form a real “mercenary army”?
Such a move involving what he calls “latter-day Hessians” would represent, he writes, “the inevitable response of a market economy to a host of seemingly intractable public policy and security problems.”
The issue is raised by our “over-extended military” and inability of the United Nations to form adequate peace forces. Meanwhile, Americans business interests grow ever more active abroad in dangerous spots.
In 2026, amid chaos and the nonstop flurry of headlines, Truthdig remains independent, fact-based and focused on exposing what power tries to hide.
Support Independent Journalism.
A new data analysis shows more than half of U.S. workers over 50 are pushed out of longtime jobs before they choose to retire.
I hear it over and over: They don’t care; our voices don’t count.
Tobacco giants, wary of the effect new government-mandated warnings may have on cigarette smokers, filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, claiming that the labels are unconstitutional. (more)
You may have knocked on doors for Barack Obama, but it's possible you gave money to John McCain. GoodGuide has a tool that sorts donations by party, logo and industry. Tech companies seem to prefer Democrats while food companies love Republicans. The banks, of course, throw money at everybody.
Joining in the unhappy trend of mass layoffs, American Express announced Thursday that 10 percent of the credit card company's work force will soon be cut due to the current economic crisis.
Fine, so the headline was a bit much, but this was one time we didn't mind saying venti instead of large: Turns out that even the top bananas at Starbucks finally realized that they've overextended themselves, and due to the sagging economy, they're closing 600 U.S. retail locations. Great -- so that means there'll be only eight Starbucks stores on every block instead of nine.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.