I mean it’s not like Erik Prince wasn’t offering to work with Wagner, it’s not like Prince and his buddy Bannon haven’t been cheering on Ruzzia this whole time, and it’s not like Prince wasn’t the Trump administration’s secret back channel to Ruzzia, and it’s not like Prince hasn’t been trying to set up a spy service loyal to the GOP, and let’s remember that Prince’s sister is none other than Trump education secretary and Amway heiress Betsy DeVos.
Then there’s his pre-Ukraine invasion plan to start a private army in Ukraine.
I’m not gonna sit here and defend either side, because America’s use of Blackwater was just as awful as Russia’s current use of Wagner. However, mercenary forces have been used in warfare for centuries. I don’t know if you can draw a direct line between America’s use and Russia’s current usage, as this article seems to want.
While they have been, modern warfare is primarily the purview of national armies, the US shifted them from a supporting role to a much greater part for plausible deniability (Army casualties are very low when most of the combatants are mercenaries after all).
Shallow graves.
