Posted on 01/25/2015 10:32:57 AM PST by Former Proud Canadian
I don’t know the current laws about mercenary work for Americans, and it isn’t relevant to my post, unless this thread is about whether an American mercenary would be charged and convicted for breaking American law, I don’t recall much of that in the 1970s or in the 1980s when I was getting mercenary offers and knew mercenaries, it just wasn’t a concern.
If anything, I had the impression that Reagan was encouraging anti-communist mercenaries from America.
Not correct, unless you engage in hostilities against the United States.
Americans have a long and well-known history of service in foreign militaries. Lafayette Escadrille, service with the UK and Canada, Spanish Civil War, etc. The problem these days is that we won’t enforce laws against treason.
Here is an excerpt from an internet site.
United States of America:
This is a tricky one indeed. The US has laws that seem to both make mercenaries legal and illegal at the same time, while it uses PMCs that are also considered legal, while the “Anti Pinkerton Act” seems to make them illegal. It’s very strange.
Mercenaries have seen wide use in the US, all the way from the war of Independence, and to the formation of the PMCs. The US government has at times used mercenary-like personell against its own citizens (Pinkerton, for example) and militias are to a certain extent legal.
Consequences: It seems that being a US citizen and a mercenary is nothing much to worry about, outside the consequences that you may be facing for breaking international law.
A lot of good Americans fought as mercs, especially fighting Communism in the 1970s and 1980s.
“He is either a mercenary or CIA.”
Or Canadian. Eh?
“Not likely since the question was asked in Russian then he would have responded in Russian, not English......”
How do you know he speaks Russian? I know plenty of Americans of Ukrainian descent who speak English and Ukrainian and no Russian. The same goes for a number of Canadians too who are of Ukrainian descent.
“If you fight for a foreign military, you forfeit your America citizenship.”
If someone is born here, he can’t be stripped of his citizenship as far as I know. he can renounce it, but not be stripped of it.
OMG seriously?
Talk about micro stupidity......you think only americans can speak perfect English?
And do you know how many Americans have gone to fight with Ukrain?
Do you know how many went to fight ISIS?
Hint: the answer is “more than one”
Americans are fighting Isis right now with the Kurds.
I’m sure there are Mercs fighting over there and most assuredly CIA operatives but not “boots on the ground” in the literal sense.
Or simply an American veteran of Ukrainian descent— there was a report a few months ago of one such volunteer KIA who was a West Point graduate.
I don’t believe there’s actually a law to that effect. The government can’t pull your citizenship without a court— they can, however, pull your passport so you can’t come back. It’s the same with dual citizenship: there’s no law against it, but don’t show the other passport coming back to the US.
There are lots of Ukrainians in Canada.
And Americans very seldom say 'please' in combat situations.
You'll have to excuse my obvious ignorance since I'm not multilingual as you obviously are. So please forgive me........
I expected that question to be asked by the nitpickers such as you and so I will modify my statement to include not only Russian but Ukrainian..........
So here we go:
“Not likely since the question was asked in either Russian OR Ukrainian then he would have responded in either Russian OR Ukrainian, not English......”
THERE, does that make you happy now?
“You’ll have to excuse my obvious ignorance since I’m not multilingual as you obviously are. So please forgive me........”
You’re forgiven and it has nothing to do with how multilingual I am (I studied at least 8 languages other than English and claim fluency in none of them).
“I expected that question to be asked by the nitpickers such as you and so I will modify my statement to include not only Russian but Ukrainian..........”
Nitpickers? You think different languages is about nitpicking?
“So here we go: “Not likely since the question was asked in either Russian OR Ukrainian then he would have responded in either Russian OR Ukrainian, not English......”
“THERE, does that make you happy now?”
No. Again, none of that proves he’s an American. None of that proves he’s some sort of intelligence official. None of that even proves he doesn’t speak Russian or Ukrainian, since he might have simply want to be dismissive altogether.
Or volunteer. Volunteers are now showing up in Kurdistan to fight ISIS, including some from a Dutch biker gang.
Not quite. If you take an oath to a foreign government, you lose your citizenship. See page 4 of your passport. However, if you simply join a foreign army without taking an oath, you don't lose your citizenship. That's why the French Foreign Legion doesn't require an oath to France. For mercenaries, there's no problem since they aren't joining a foreign army.
But we do know that he is fluent in English, to the point that he either didn't understand RUSSIAN OR UKRAINIAN or he forgot how to speak the language......LOL!
None of that proves he’s some sort of intelligence official.
I never said it did.........
None of that even proves he doesn’t speak Russian or Ukrainian, since he might have simply want to be dismissive altogether.
Yea, right......How do you know that the RUSSIAN OR UKRANIAN speaking reporter wasn't merely saying "your fly is open and your pecker is hanging out"........
And using your logic, if the fatigue dressed gentleman truly wanted to be dismissive, as you say, then there is no reason he wouldn't have responded in the language being spoken to him so that he would have gotten his message across...It's pretty obvious to even the most stupid around here that he doesn't speak either RUSSIAN OR UKRAINIAN..........
CIA? Don't know
American? Don't know
Canadian? Don't know
Russian speaking? NOPE!
Ukranian speaking? NOPE!
So the ball is in your court Vladimir, tell us why a RUSSIAN OR UKRANIAN speaking soldier or EXPAT would respond to a reporter speaking RUSSIAN OR UKRANIAN in PERFECT ENGLISH?
Sometimes children of immigrants or even immigrants themselves lose their native language. For example Tennessee Titans player Michael (Mihkel) Roos moved to the USA from Estonia in his early teens, but he can no longer speak Estonian.
Why does it even matter?
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