Posted on 03/05/2023 9:46:47 AM PST by Chode
For centuries, leaders often depended on bands of mercenary warriors to make up their military strength in times of war, but as national militaries evolved, these formations shank from prominence, with modern PMCs generally being focused on support roles like base or VIP security or logistics (even if their contracts grew massively post 2001).
Wagner doesn't follow that example. A force tens of thousands strong, Wagner has helped spearhead the Russian offensives around Bakhmut, and taken on international prominence.
In this episode, I look at the evolution of PMCs, Russia's modern employment of them, and the implications of Wagner's role in Ukraine and its public spats with the Russian MoD.
Wagner is primarily a tool of Cold War II. Going to be deployed to placed where the Russian military officially shouldn’t be.
Mercenaries? I prefer “ Contracters”. Wagner viewed by the West as abhorrent- but no different than the US Dyncorp, Blackwater , French Foreign Legion,etc ( Both changed names and contracts when the Iraq/ Afghanistan war winded down).
That said, Vlad took it to another level and “ improved “ upon the concept. Recruit able and willing men, fill the ranks and when not needed cancel employment… a huge monetary savings…while reducing the undesirables ( prison populations). Brilliant , the French Foreign Legion has done it for decades.
Having been a “Contractor” my views may be considered as tainted , but the American people has no idea how many “ Mercenaries “ the US has hired ( and ditched) in the past twenty years: hundreds of thousands, saving Uncle Sam billions.
he explains to civilians the difference between mercs and pmcs contractors and doesn’t lump them all in together
Perun has some of the best stuff out there
it’s worth a listen
just let it run at 1.5X in the background
there might come a day where Wagner butts heads wi the RA
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