Madam, - Mercenaries have been employed in wars from time immemorial. Their modern counterparts, euphemistically known as "contractors", are playing a significant role in trouble-spots throughout the world.
Between 15 and 20 per cent of the total budget being spent by the US and its allies in Iraq is expended on mercenaries earning up to €1000 a day.
While we must reject the violent death meted out to the four contractors in Falluja, the majority of these mercenaries are trained killers who are ex-members of élite military units such as the SAS, the Green Berets and the Gurkhas. At present they form the third largest contingent of occupying forces, approximately 15,000 in number.
These shadowy figures are part of the globalisation phenomenon in the outsourcing of war. They are not accountable to democratic control and often operate, with the connivance of governments, outside both national and international law.
The multinational security companies which employ these mercenaries operate in the fastest growing sector of the global economy and it is time that the international community brought this private military sector under scrutiny and international law. - Yours, etc.,
BRENDAN BUTLER ,
NGO Peace Alliance,
Phibsborough Road,
Dublin 7.