Our new mercenary army.(THE LAST WORD)

When you think of the U.S. Army or the U.S. Navy, or when you think of the Marines or the Air Force, you think of young Americans in uniform. You also think of American officers from elite military academies, prepared to be leaders in the vital task of defending America.

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You do not think of the Hessians.

The Hessians were German mercenaries who served with the British army. Many of them fought against Americans in the War for Independence. One of the gripes the American colonies had with the British, in fact, was that they were transporting to American shores "large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation."

That last is from the Declaration of Independence.

The Founding Fathers knew of which they spoke, as they had direct experience during the war in fighting against a mercenary army. After his famous crossing of the Delaware, George Washington himself led his troops in a surprise assault on the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey. Captain Alexander Hamilton commanded an artillery unit during the battle. Also present was future president James Monroe, who was seriously wounded and nearly bled to death.

It is bitterly ironic, therefore, that it is now the United States that is transporting "large armies of foreign mercenaries" into battles overseas. Moreover, the U.S. military is even using foreign soldiers here in the United States. Of course, you won't hear about this from the mainstream media here in America. The German magazine Der Spiegel, however, is not so timid. According to that publication: