Rumors About the Rumor

[MADem]

1. A mercenary, by definition, is a soldier of fortune.

They don't have the imprimatur of their governments when they get involved in these dirty wars. They hire themselves out and go for it, and don't ask permission, most often. Those "American" guys could in fact be South African--they like the merc game. Other nations have people who get into it, too. But hey, it's easiest to lump 'em all together and call them American, I guess!

There's a UN convention on the topic, we're not party to it and neither are a lot of other popular mercenary states (the either haven't signed or haven't ratified):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Mercenary_Convention