In most cases, wars are fought between countries. The armies get deployed to fight another country or another group, like the Israel-Hamas war and the gulf war between the USA and the coalition vs the Iraqi government. However, there are occasions when the country or the army/militias aren’t sometimes the only actors around. Mercenaries are groups of people or PMCs that get involved in a conflict by being in the same country but not affiliated with the armed groups or joining a group that has foreigners and is from different countries not directly involved in the conflict.

Mercenaries can be traced back to the early classical period when the Persian empire used Arabic mercenaries during the invasion of Greece. Another time mercenaries were used in the pre-2000s was when a foreign group called the British Legions helped defeat the Spanish with the Colombians. 

During WW2, the Flying Tigers, an air group that fought against the Japanese, were classified as mercenaries. While WW2 didn’t see any mercenary fighting, it would be after the Cold War that we would see mercenaries fighting. 

The Cold War would see countries like Angola, Zarie, Yemen, Libya, and Colombia use mercenaries against other factions during wars. Using mercenaries would complicate international relations with other countries that have nothing to do with the mercenaries. 

Then, some countries go to war and use their mercenaries. When the Iraq War began, Saddam Hussein was overthrown, and a full-blown insurgency began. The US government wants to save as much of its workforce as possible to fight the insurgency. So, they hired American PMCs to guard facilities, protect congress members against insurgent attacks, and train local forces.

However, one company called Blackwater was controversial. In 2007, several Blackwater members opened fire on a group of Iraqi citizens, killing 15 people.  In response, the U.S. government removed the Blackwater personnel in Iraq and used other PMCs or military divisions to do their work.         

While mercenaries can save the workforce, they can sometimes be used for dirty, dark, or shady things.