Mercenary Ethics

If nothing else, one supposes that a man who hires himself out as a bodyguard, must be imbued with a great deal of self confidence in his ability to physically protect someone who has the wherewithal to pay for his costly services. This is one of those enterprises where those who are attracted to danger and who enjoy the thought of meeting it head on, can excel if they can prove they have nerves of steel and split-second reactive abilities.

It's splitting hairs, of course, to consider a bodyguard to represent one kind of hired gun, apart from mercenaries who represent another type altogether. Each category represents those who stand ready to be recognized as soldiers-of-fortune. Each is accustomed to carrying arms and to using them when the need arises.

The distinction between the two is one of ego, pure and simple. The bodyguard insists he isn't there to fight, but he will do that if he must.

So here's Gary Peters, landed immigrant and president of Can/Aus Security & Investigations International Inc., revealing his presence in Cambridge, Ontario, as someone who has travelled widely and extensively and particularly to North Africa where he has been retained by one of the late Moammar Gadhafi's sons to stand guard.

The recent events in Libya have required him to be on the scene and reliable in spiriting Saadi Gadhafi, his employer, out of harm's way.

During which enterprise, Mr. Peters himself sustained wounds in a confrontation not of his choosing with members of the opposition to the Gadhafi regime. He defended Saadi Gadhafi's right to continue living and aided him immeasurably in defying an early death. He did not fight, for this is, he explains patiently, what a mercenary does.

mer·ce·nar·y/ˈmərsəˌnerē/

Adjective:	(of a person or their behavior) Primarily concerned with making money at the expense of ethics.
Noun:	A professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army.
Synonyms:	adjective. venal noun. hireling - soldier of fortune

And, testifies Mr. Peters, Mr. Gadhafi is a very nice man, a gentleman, non-violent. And moneyed. In possession of great wealth, along with his surviving brothers. So wait, world, for what is certain to erupt on the scene before too very long. Not to forget that Libya is a country prickling with tribal antipathies and clannish loyalties.

And everyone needs a profession, and Mr. Peters has found his. It takes him to exotic places. It's unpredictable. It's exciting, and can be high-powered, adventurous. And, it would seem to pay well. Confident and enterprising and loyal. All excellent attributes for many types of professions. And it's a very old profession, at that.

Not without controversy, but what's wrong with a little controversy to spice life up a little now and again?