And Liberty And Justice for All

This piece is another one that took a lot of thought before and during execution. This is a commentary on the Paramilitary Contractor laws and budgets that have developed over the last few decades. 

Although the U.N. defines paramilitary contractors as mercenaries and prohibits their use (U.N. Mercenary Convention rules, ratified by 35 countries), the U.K., the U.S., China and Russia have rejected this definition and continue to employ paramilitary contractors. 

The U.N. Mercenary Convention describes a mercenary as such:

1. A mercenary is any person who:

(a) Is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;

(b) Is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar rank and functions in the armed forces of that party;

(c) Is neither a national of a party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a party to the conflict;

(d) Is not a member of the armed forces of a party to the conflict; and

(e) Has not been sent by a State which is not a party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.

2. A mercenary is also any person who, in any other situation:

(a) Is specially recruited locally or abroad for the purpose of participating in a concerted act of violence aimed at:

(i) Overthrowing a Government or otherwise undermining the constitutional order of a State; or

(ii) Undermining the territorial integrity of a State;

(b) Is motivated to take part therein essentially by the desire for significant private gain and is prompted by the promise or payment of material compensation;

(c) Is neither a national nor a resident of the State against which such an act is directed;

(d) Has not been sent by a State on official duty; and

(e) Is not a member of the armed forces of the State on whose territory the act is undertaken.

— UN Mercenary Convention

In 2012, Time Magazine reported,

"According to the most recent quarterly contractor census report issued by the U.S. Central Command, which includes both Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as 18 other countries stretching from Egypt to Kazakhstan, there were approximately 137,000 contractors working for the Pentagon in its region. There were 113,376 in Afghanistan and 7,336 in Iraq. Of that total, 40,110 were U.S. citizens, 50,560 were local hires, and 46,231 were from neither the U.S. not the country in which they were working."   http://nation.time.com/2012/10/09/contractors-in-war-zones-not-exactly-contracting/

Paramilitary contracts are paid with defense budget funds, which are then allocated to private companies rather than to the U.S. Military. Rather than increasing funding for the defense budget, would we not be better served by reducing our defense budget, eliminating paramilitary contractors, and redirecting that money towards funding our military? Or creating military sources of those same services? One wonders. Perhaps because many PMCs have significant influence and connections with policy makers, and thus, are able to lobby for the continuation of these practices.

In the piece below, the 'stars' on the flag are the top grossing PMCs for 2013, complete with their revenue for that year. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/03/10/10-companies-profiting-most-from-war/1970997/http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/03/10/10-companies-profiting-most-from-war/1970997/

The central figure in this piece is meant to be Lady Liberty dressed as Blind Justice. This represents the idea that we hold altruistically that these two concepts, Liberty and Justice, are combined in our society and upheld by our constitution. In one hand, she holds the Constitution, aflame. In the other hand, she holds the Roman Fasces, the symbol of authority in ancient Rome. Mussolini's Fascist party adopted the Latin to create their name, and an enduring message of the dangers of unrestricted authoritarianism.

On the stripes of the flags are styles of Supreme Court cases governing the behavior of PMCs, namely, situations in which they are not liable for prosecution (due to corporate status), exemption due to military status, or impunity due to lack of *direct* government involvement. I would encourage you to look them up online and educate yourself about what has been allowed to slowly develop. This is a roadmap to how we got to the situation where we are. I am working on a companion essay to this piece, where I will discuss this. Some of the cases refer to human trafficking, war crimes, and genocide. Others refer to human rights abuses and financial fraud.

Thank you to Jason Welch at Jason Welch Photography for capturing the details in this piece.

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