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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   34588 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 30, 2023

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We are paying their wages. So mercenaries also isn’t false.

The Ukrainians would keep fighting if the pay stopped. That's not how mercenaries behave.

No, it is false.

NATO giving Ukraine funds used in part to pay its soldiers does not make them mercenary.

In the same way as me putting money into household budget does not make my wife a prostitute.

Someone fighting because they are paid (mercenary) is highly distinct from soldier being paid some wage.

In similar same way as prostitutes in are highly distinct from wives, despite that sex and money is involved somehow in both cases.

Or rape victim getting monetary compensation for what happened does not make her or him a prostitute.

(yeah, some overlap may happen - not applicable in this case, there is exactly 0 NATO mercenaries in Ukraine as far as I know, and as far as I know there is 0 NATO mercenaries worldwide).

But it is false, because that isn't what makes someone a mercenary.

It is, because wages alone do not a mercenary make, or else all professional militaries would be mercenaries, and yet the distinction between mercenaries and professional national militaries was the crux of the Napoleonic revolution. Money may be a fungible commodity but it does not imply contractual relationships with third parties made by the second party you gave money to.

A NATO mercenary is a relationship between NATO and the mercenary. A NATO-funded Ukrainian mercenary would be a mercenary employed by Ukraine with money provided by NATO. A Ukrainian soldier who draws pay is not a mercenary, even if NATO provides money to Ukraine, because there is no mercenary contract involved.

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