I picked up Blackwater, by Jeremy Scahill (Nation Books, Hardcover, $26.95) yesterday at a new book store. Though I plan to read the whole thing, I skipped ahead to almost the last chapter, which deals with New Orleans and the use of mercenary military personel in that area.
The use of this, and other guns-for-hire companies, in New Orleans is certainly cause for alarm. These people are heavily armed, and not subject to the same regulations (such as knowledge of Constitutional law) as regular law enforcement. This is in itself a sign of trouble- that they are hired by private individuals as well as by the US government adds to the concern. Their guns will be pointed in whatever direction benefits the person paying them. And they do not hesitate to pull the triggers.
An aspect not touched on in this is the future of their recruiting patterns. Though made up primarily of former military veterans from many places, not just the US, they will have a growing pool of potential employees as people come back from Iraq and Afghanistan and attempt to re-enter an economy which is in decline. Given the increasing number of "moral waivers", and exeptions for psychiatric troubles now used by US military recruiters, questions of the stability of these future guards for hire need to be asked.
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