“They would be no better than Mercenaries.”
All armies are made up of either mercenaries or conscripts. Mercenaries are not necessarily unpatriotic or unreliable.
The French Foreign Legion is an elite unit made up of mercenaries.
The very definition of the word refutes you.
The French Foreign Legion is UNIQUE. It is also not the French Army, Navy, etc. It is “in addition to” France’s Armed Forces. The Legion is made up of people from all over the world who wish to start a new life. Their past is pout behind and thy start out fresh as Legionnaires.