Cable news host Bill O'Reilly has been pushing the idea of forming an army of mercenaries to take on ISIS and any other terrorist groups that arise in the future. According to Mr. O, this will allow the terrorists to be confronted and destroyed without any government actually having to send its own citizens to do the dirty work.
Now, no one would ever accuse Bill O'Reilly of having few opinions; he lets fly with a steady stream of them on his show. That means that in his many years on television, O'Reilly must have expressed literally thousands of ideas. Nevertheless, this idea for mercenaries has to be to dumbest idea ever from the Fox News host.
Think about it. He wants the United States and other countries to hire 25,000 or more men, to train them, to give them equipment and then to unleash them on the terrorists. And why are these mercenaries fighting? Is it for human rights? Is it to protect freedom? Is it to stop the terrorists from attack other countries. NO. They are fighting for a paycheck. These are people for whom killing is just a matter of dollars and cents. There is no morality, no cause, just a paycheck.
And once this mercenary army is formed, what will prevent some other country or group from buying their loyalties? If these guys will fight for $35 per hour for the USA, why wouldn't they take $45 an hour to join ISIS? It would be nothing more than switching jobs.
Then there's the effect on the world's leaders. They would no longer be constrained from war due to the likelihood of casualties among the citizens of their country. No, the only ones in harm's way would be the mercenaries. The leaders would be much freer to use war as an instrument of policy since the potential costs would be much lower.
The real truth is that if Americans don't want to fight a war, then it is up to the president to convince them to change their minds or else to refrain from entering the fight. We already have the excuse for illegal immigration that these folks will do the jobs that Americans won't do. It is not true, but it is an excuse used every day. O'Reilly's mercenary army would be the soldiers who will fight the war that Americans won't fight. No matter how you look at it, this is a terrible idea.
Now, no one would ever accuse Bill O'Reilly of having few opinions; he lets fly with a steady stream of them on his show. That means that in his many years on television, O'Reilly must have expressed literally thousands of ideas. Nevertheless, this idea for mercenaries has to be to dumbest idea ever from the Fox News host.
Think about it. He wants the United States and other countries to hire 25,000 or more men, to train them, to give them equipment and then to unleash them on the terrorists. And why are these mercenaries fighting? Is it for human rights? Is it to protect freedom? Is it to stop the terrorists from attack other countries. NO. They are fighting for a paycheck. These are people for whom killing is just a matter of dollars and cents. There is no morality, no cause, just a paycheck.
And once this mercenary army is formed, what will prevent some other country or group from buying their loyalties? If these guys will fight for $35 per hour for the USA, why wouldn't they take $45 an hour to join ISIS? It would be nothing more than switching jobs.
Then there's the effect on the world's leaders. They would no longer be constrained from war due to the likelihood of casualties among the citizens of their country. No, the only ones in harm's way would be the mercenaries. The leaders would be much freer to use war as an instrument of policy since the potential costs would be much lower.
The real truth is that if Americans don't want to fight a war, then it is up to the president to convince them to change their minds or else to refrain from entering the fight. We already have the excuse for illegal immigration that these folks will do the jobs that Americans won't do. It is not true, but it is an excuse used every day. O'Reilly's mercenary army would be the soldiers who will fight the war that Americans won't fight. No matter how you look at it, this is a terrible idea.
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