When I realized that Frank [not his real name] was a mercenary I was stunned.  He is such a nice and down to earth guy!

Forgive my naiveté.  I grew up thinking of mercenaries as the mean Hessians who fought for Britain in the US War of Independence, or I thought of the white Rhodesians and South Africans who would enlist in various African conflicts, such as in Congo in the 1960s.

But I did not think about someone like “Frank.”  He is a 20-something African American with military experience who could not get his job bearings.  The easiest route seemed to be for him to go to work for a mercenary company — what are politely called “security contractors” — and put his life on the line in Iraq, for money.

Frank has told me that his father is beside himself with worry and anguish but Frank seems to look at being a mercenary as if it is simply another way to make some needed cash.  In fact, Frank would never use the word “mercenary” to describe his line of work.

Like many other younger people, Frank as found his options increasingly limited.  Unless one is very wealthy or exceptionally talented, jobs that make a real living salary are difficult to find.  Many of us have, over time, called the result the “economic draft,” which led — until the Iraq War — to many African Americans enlisting in the military.

Yet something else is in operation with Frank.  The politics and criminality of the Iraq war seem to have been separated from his reality such that this becomes just another job.  Like many other people lacking direction, military contracting, that is mercenary work, has become a means to an end, something they can do, yet think nothing of the consequences.

This does not mean that Frank is a bad person; to the contrary.  In his mind, the work he is doing for this mercenary firm is relatively harmless.  Yet, what has actually happened is that Frank has become the successful product of on-going efforts to sanitize warfare, to make it appear to be little more than a giant computer game or a boardwalk amusement arcade.

Seeing Frank’s trajectory reminds me of the importance of anti-war work among African Americans.  It is not just about opposing the Iraq war, but the need to promote critical thinking such that young adults, confronted with very difficult choices in this brutal society, will conclude that there are certain things you do, and certain things you don’t.

Becoming a mercenary for any reason, let alone assisting in an illegal and immoral war, is simply something you do not do.

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member, Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a labor and international writer and activist, and the immediate past president of TransAfrica Forum. Click here to contact Mr. Fletcher.

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