Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Instapundit gets letters! Of marque!

One of Instapundit's many readers wrote in with an idea, and Glenn Reynolds thought he’d share that idea with all his readers. And add a few links to other people thinking along the same lines. But I'm sure this doesn't mean that Glenn is endorsing the idea or anything.

So what is this great idea?
Thing is, I've enough money to hand to train, equip, and deploy six people for six months in the area between Baghdad and Kabul. I'm ex-military, and I'm young enough to be up for a challenge.

Why not open-source the Global War on Terror?
Ex-military, and young enough to be up for a challenge, eh? Ever consider, you know, reenlisting in the military?? Cause I hear they’re having trouble recruiting enough people. Just a thought.

But you are your own man. And you know better than big, bad, bureaucratic government how this war should be fought. So let’s see how this would play out--private citizens striking out on their own, free from government oversight and accountability, waging war as they see fit. Hmm, what does that remind me of? Could it be, oh, I dunno, terrorism, perhaps? Six people would make a nice-sized terrorist cell, wouldn’t it?

Now then, where was it you said you were thinking of deploying to?
I've enough money to hand to train, equip, and deploy six people for six months in the area between Baghdad and Kabul.
Where? The area between Baghdad and Kabul? Hmm, I wonder what’s in between Baghdad and Kabul . . . As a geographically-challenged American, I have absolutely no idea! Maybe I should get a map and take a look.

All in all, a first-rate idea. If we had more ideas like that, I'm sure we'd have this whole Global War on Terror thing wrapped up in no time.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Letters of Marque are quite different from terrorism, which is closer to piracy. The sponsoring state is responsible for the holder of the Letter of Marque. Having a bunch of cowboys running around loose does seem like a silly idea, however. Alas, the time of privateers and free companies of mercenaries is over, except of course for Blackwater.

Rob Helpy-Chalk said...

You'd think that someone who is x-military would no that having rogue paramilitaries doesn't help establish law and order in an occupied country.

neil k. said...

I'm going to go on with my day assuming the guy meant Karbala.

Rob Helpy-Chalk said...

except of course for Blackwater

Oh right, I forgot that unaccountable paramilitary forces was one of those dumb pro-war blogger ideas that already is policy.

My Alter Ego said...

Letters of Marque are quite different from terrorism, which is closer to piracy. The sponsoring state is responsible for the holder of the Letter of Marque.

Quite so. But if the sponsoring state responsible for the actions of the guys with the guns, you'd probably want to have them be accountable for their actions and under the military chain of command. Which would make them more like special ops forces than what the would-be privateer probably had in mind.

My Alter Ego said...

I'm going to go on with my day assuming the guy meant Karbala.

So, a guy who confuses Kabul with Karbala thinks he's the one the gov't should send in to hunt down the bad guys and kick the shit outta 'em? Hardly a reassuring thought, Neil.

Anonymous said...

This is what happens when your entire political philosophy is based on daily viewings of Red Dawn.

Anonymous said...

It's not Red Dawn, it's Red Dog

Anonymous said...

Consider this law review assessment of the viability of resusciating letters of marque.

http://www.law.indiana.edu/ilj/volumes/v82/no1/5_DeWitte.pdf