Is there a difference between a private security contractor and a mercenary?
Depends on the contract. None of the contracts in Iraq or Afghanistan I would regard as mercenary contracts. However I met plenty of guys out there on security contracts who had worked as mercenaries in other countries previously. There is a long debate about what qualifies as a mercenary, since it seems to be such an emotive word, but this is not the appropriate forum to discuss it. The South African governments new law has the widest definition and qualifies any civilian who takes a contract to work in a war zone as a mercenary even if their contract is for training, medical, logistical or even humanitarian aid services. Myself I tend to think that a merc contract is one that requires offensive and/or preemptive action. Otherwise every nightwatchman at Walmart could be classed as a mercenary. The only point that I would like to point out here is that it is not a bad thing to be a mercenary. They are guys who choose their contracts carefully and each has their own morals. Some guys ar
