Mark Phillips: The American Question

4/2/04: "Contractors".

Ideological narratives can be as short as one word.

According to today's Washington Post,

The four men brutally slain Wednesday in Fallujah were among the most elite commandos working in Iraq to guard employees of U.S. corporations and were hired by the U.S. government to protect bureaucrats, soldiers and intelligence officers.

Employees of a mercenary-supply company called Blackwater Security Consulting, the men were alumni of the most elite commando units in the U.S. military, including the Navy's SEALs, the Army's Special Forces, and the super-secret Delta Force. Working as private soldiers allowed them to earn an average of $1,000 per day in the hazardous conditions of Iraq: far more than their military salaries.

It's not clear how many of these "contractors" are employed by the U.S. government in Iraq, Afghanistan, and we-don't-know-where-all-else. It's not clear what they're doing there, and it's not clear whether or how codes of warfare such as the Geneva Conventions apply to them. This is perhaps one reason they're considered useful.

Why not call them what they are? Because "mercenaries" are often considered bad, and Americans can't be narrated as bad guys. Because a clear statement of U.S. occupation policy and the means used to achieve it would probably diminish public support. Because obscurity is often in the best interest of oppression.

The Americans killed in Fallujah this week were mercenaries. Labelling them "contractors" obscures their role and purpose.

Trouble Tickets defines ideology as discourse which renders invisible that which should be obvious. The term "contractor" is a current example.

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