Erik Prince Recruits Ex-Spies to Infiltrate Liberal Groups

Breaking news from the New York Times , everyone's favorite contractor, Erik Prince, has been recruiting spies to infiltrate liberal groups. Groups like teacher's unions. I'd say that's a step down for a Mi6 agent like Richard Seddon. Poor buggar must be bored. It's all for a group called Veritas, a bunch of yuppies that want to play secret agent and try to get dirt on liberals. Talk about the de-evolvement of society. Here's a breakdown of the story from The Slate .

Is there such a thing as a "step down" for once (presumably) honorable men who have already turned into mercenaries?

Is there that much of a difference between rying to control the world by way of military force and/or intelligence gathering for one's country >>> to trying to control the world by way of the same trade craft, but for more money in your own pocket (instead of for someone else' pocket)...?

There are mercenaries, like the Flying Tigers or even Europeans and Americans helping the Kurds . These are people fighting for causes they believe in. That's a far cry from the United Arab Emerites hiring Prince to build a private army of contractors. I would go so far as to say the two terms should remain separate, mercenary and contractor. Although we tend to use them interchangeably. Here's a take on the story

Is it possible that there might ge mercenaries that are "good" and mercenaries that are "bad"?

In that case, we don't need separate nouns, just different adjectives to describe what they are.

Just a language based thought.

Also... what is "good" for some is "bad" for others... etc.

I agree. There are people that work for Prince who undoubtedly believe what they are doing is patriotic. That doesn't mean they're correct. The point of the story is, what is this guy trying to do to our country on the domestic level. The best warriors are apolitical. They are supposed to serve our country and obey our elected officials. It isn't and shouldn't be up to them to make political decisions. Engaging in political subterfuge is just downright dishonorable.

I was actually speaking of mercenaries I more general terms... some are good, some are not so good.

And contractors come in all flavors... from electricians to soldiers to.... etc...

I absolutely agree. Some of the exploits of mercenaries in history are legendary acts of risk and self sacrifice for their beliefs. Eddie Richenbacher for instance. Enest Hemmingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls is a story of an American mercenary during the Spanish CIvil War.

The problem is contractors are more of a grey area. Similar to Russian Mercenaries and Turkish backed militias. or perhaps even Iranian backed militias. These groups work under the umbrella of a government in proxy conflicts. They are not, or at least act as if they are not, beholden to the laws of war. They commit atrocities that are not prosecuted. In the diplomatic sense their actions still are viewed as the actions of the government they are working for. So, in the case of Blackwater in Iraq, they had to be tried for killing civilians (talking about the Nissour Square Massacre). In the years between 1997 and 2007, Prince's company earned $2 billion in CIA contracts. Some of that money was for top secret jobs. These guys operate outside the supervision of Congress and the legal limits set forth by Federal Law through loopholes that should probably be closed. Here's a blog on this topic.

The South China Morning Post is running an article about Erik Prince's company in China. That's right, the Prince of Blackwater is training Chinese soldiers, policemen and security personnel. There are accusations some of these trainees are operating at Uyghur Concentration camps, a claim Prince denies.

Isn't he the artist formerly known as Prince?

LOL. Frontier Services Group headquartered in Hong Kong is one of his companies.
He has a company in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Once called Cheetah Logistics and now Frontier Service Group Congo , financed by Chinese CITIC. Helping China expand it's influence in Africa
The United Arab Emerites has hired Prince to build their private mercenary army. The company, Reflexes Response or R2 also supplies troops to fight in Yemen, Somalia and Libya.
Erik Prince also has approached the Trump administration with a plan to privatize the Afghan War Here's another article on this from The Atlantic

Who needs world police when you have Erik Prince?

Here is a blog post on the Prince of the World Police

If I ever need to call the police, I hope a prince shows up instead.