system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
I believe contracting to paramilitary groups like Blackwater is wrong and should be illegal. CMV.

Now, I will admit at the outset that this is not a topic I know very much about, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what the justification is for having groups like Blackwater working alongside troops in war zones.  I cannot figure out what benefit there is in hiring mercenaries when we already have the most powerful military in the world.  The only possible reason is to have them do things that we don't want our soldiers to do, but in that case, they probably aren't things anyone should be doing anyway.

Furthermore, when you're paying a group of people to kill, you lose all the oversight that the military has.  You're giving private citizens the authority over life and death, with no guarantee of the training, discipline, or accountability that soldiers in the military have.
gpt
Private Security firms like Blackwater are not authorized to engage in offensive operations in combat. However, they are authorized to defend themselves against threats. In the kind of irregular warfare we saw in Iraq they often were target of attacks as frequently as coalition troops leading to them be involved in altercations. 

Private Security Firms primarily escort supply convoys and VIP's to their destinations. Outsourcing these jobs allows the military to focus primarily in engaging enemies or protecting extremely at risk convoys.