Jose Pacheco
iotarPlease note that when the US employ armed thugs, they're "contractors", while they are described as "mercenaries" when anyone else does it.
This was yr vocab lesson for today.
Chaoddity@iotar yup armed scumbags are armed scumbags. this kind of thing shouldnt be legal in any country because it allows governments to push blame and accountability for some of their worst actions off on dubious third parties.
@chaoddity Totally. And it's such hypocrisy that journalists are enabling by deploying this language with bias.
I even noticed the Guardian briefly call the Wagner group "rebels" rather than "mercenaries". Presumably Moscow now calls them "terrorists" or the equivalent in Russian.
@iotar this is literally THE reason that the habit of governments to attempt to bend and break accountability by putting hired guns above the law… is extremely dangerous. Not just to the soul of a nation, but to it’s very existence.
Your example, Blackwater, is a great example. Theyre directly analogous. These days Erik Prince is attempting to gain control over US politics through different means (espionage within the country’s own borders)
Your example, Blackwater, is a great example. Theyre directly analogous. These days Erik Prince is attempting to gain control over US politics through different means (espionage within the country’s own borders)
Grumpy Grimnir 
@iotar @chaoddity I suspect that Putin is rapidly reconsidering the wisdom of allowing private armies.
EarthOne@iotar Oh, please don't short shrift the French Foreign Legion, since 1831.
@EarthOne I forgot. And apparently most people who joined the Legion also enlisted for that very purpose.
Bynkii@bynkii @iotar Perhaps so, but I must point out that until the Bush Oil Dynasty under W. Bush2 the US govt. hiring a private mercenary company like (Erik Prince's) Blackwater in Iraq was unknown to us Americans.
So I get the "weird" part. We Americans learned about it when Blackwater "security" opened fire on Iraqi civilians going to work one day. A fine lesson in corrupt govt. giving unfettered authority to armed mercenaries with impunity: Trump pardoned them all.
Billionaires run wars.
Avi@ashmueli Ha! Well, we've seen stranger things occuring this year.
Cykonot@iotar Erik Prince just put you on his list, buddy! Better watch out...
xs4me2Guess we should send these to Moscow then… little green men…
KatQ@iotar Either way, always a bad idea.
estarriol@iotar the US has both "contractors" and "militias".
But the the US has white terrorists they never name them as either.
@iotar Well the US couldn't possibly call them mercenaries; that would be naughty!
stux⚡️@iotar Is that the reaper from the tv show Sons Of Anarchy?
@currentbias @iotar Indeed.. 😮
But does it comes from the show or is this a 'symbol' or something?
Matt Palmer@stux @currentbias @iotar so we can add "intellectual property theft" to the list of their crimes...
@womble @currentbias @iotar I guess! Not sure the publisher likes gangs going around with that stuff
Magical Cat@iotar Difference is that if employees of Blackwater kill civilians, they go to jail (even if later can be pardoned by evil Trump, but Trump not often happens in US), while Wagner gets medals and fame for killing of civilians.
sortiusit's the same with oligarch vs billionaire
Laurence Wolfe@iotar refugees are not migrants either…
Bartek Ogryczak@iotar internal law definition of a “mercenary” stipulates:
> (c) Is neither a national of a party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a party to the conflict;
Wagners are called mercenaries not because of invasion of Ukraine, where they fight on behalf of Russia, but because of their mercenary work in Africa, where they organize coups on behalf of the highest bidder.
Bill Woodcock@iotar Huh. And all this time, I thought "contractor" just referred to a particular mode of sartorial failure involving cargo pants and polo shirts and wrap-around sunglasses.
Andreas, DJ3EI, he/him
Trevor Yarnell@iotar No.
Both can be true, you can be a government defense contractor and also a mercenary. I have never read nor heard anyone taking issue with calling the private armies that the United States employs mercenaries.
Kris Samsel@iotar they wanted to hire me as a driver. I was in the army. Told them I knew how to drive a tractor trailer. I don’t care if it’s $100,000 a year or not. It’s not worth it! During Iraq invasion. Can’t spend $100,000 when you don’t have a head!
Sanjo@iotar I was thinking along similar lines myself this morning but you said it better
PatWagner is Russia's Blackwater - Used extensively by American govts is the largest Mercenary contractor in the world founded on December 26, 1996, by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince and has enriched few on the funeral pyres of many.
Anvil of Truth@iotar Funny that!
Amish Super Model@iotar Always find it interesting that Black Water was Erik Prince’s company. He’s a shady operator… oh, and also the brother of Betsy DeVos.
Mrpopo@iotar I see, is it the same as "philanthropist" vs "oligarch" ? American English nuances are very subtle !
sander76@iotar so what are you trying to tell here?
ex or current IDF unwelcome@iotar Ghurkas are mercenaries
@iotar ehhhh.... This is just my personal experience, but most of the people I've seen have been consistent about it. Bellingcat refer to both groups as PMCs (private military contractors), for example
Brian Dear@iotar There’s also an interesting vocab lesson in how and when governments, media, and even the public choose to use the word “migrants” versus “refugees”
John Meadows@iotar The rules are always different for the US.
Ænðr E. Feldstraw@iotar Something similar we find in the use of the word "regime" versus "government," and "dictator" versus "ruler".