Once you start using a mercenary army…

…eventually all you have is a mercenary army.

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has paid more than $100 million in bonuses to veteran Green Berets and Navy SEALs, reversing the flow of top commandos to the corporate world where security companies such as Blackwater USA are offering big salaries.

Damn.

I don't begrudge those GIs a dollar, but does anyone think that the highest and best motivation for military service is the paycheck? Or should be? Are there not sufficient patriots to guard our borders?

And those who argue that they aren't mercs if they're from here, this is buried at the bottom of the story…

Of the estimated 25,000 security personnel working in Iraq, only about 2,000 are Americans and they earn between $350 to $500 a day, said Doug Brooks, president of the International Peace Operations Association.

"International Peace Operations Association."

Jeebus.