It is my goal over the next few columns to apologize for peace. I don’t mean to apologize as in to say I’m sorry, but to issue an apology in the classical sense – meaning to explain my position. Nobody wanted to hear apologies for peace back in 2003, when we invaded Iraq. It’s too late for any of us to do anything about Iraq – as citizens of this nation, we have failed.

There will be no victory. The only thing I can hope is that we learn not to do this again in Iran, or North Korea, or South America. With that in mind, I speak today on an often ignored part of the war, one which I hope everybody will keep in mind when the time again comes for us to prevent something like this.

The Department of Defense reports more than 3,000 soldiers have forfeited their lives in Iraq – forfeited them in defense of our Constitution. They are not the only ones who have died there. There are other Americans who carry weapons into dangerous places, who trade fire with Iraqis, and who have died. They do not do it in service to our country or our Constitution – not directly, anyway.

They are called “private military contractors” or “private security firms.” They are hired by our government to fill the gaps in their personnel. They are usually ex-military with extensive training, and now, instead of putting themselves in danger for their nation, they do so for a private corporation hired by the U.S. government.

Men toting guns for pay, rather than national obligation, have historically been called by a blunter name than “private military contractors.” Still, do not call these men “mercenaries,” unless you intend to slander them. Technically, they never engage in offensive operations, only things like VIP protection and security.

Blackwater USA is one such private security firm. They are in the process of patenting the design of their own armored personnel carrier. They have K-9 units, a maritime division and personnel who are qualified to drive armored vehicles.

Five of their security personnel died Tuesday in a helicopter crash in Baghdad, according to the Chicago Tribune. These aren’t the only private soldiers who have died in Iraq. The four Americans killed in March 2004 by a Fallujah mob were also security contractors – gunmen working for a CEO.

These war dead do not get a military burial. They do not get a folded flag from their government or a thanks from their military. Their names will not go on any monument. They are not bad people, but they are not our people – they are corporate employees. They are called in for every conflict like this because we lack the troops to be everywhere at once, and our government knows that calling up a draft will raise such disgust that they will be drummed out of town.

The fighting men and women of our national armed forces deal with a lot so that we don’t have to. The wording of the Oath of Enlistment is careful and deliberate – soldiers pledge not to defend our government, not our lands, not our interests, but the ideals and laws that make us the United States of America.

There are people over in Iraq right now who have no such obligation. They fight on our tax dollars, but not for our freedoms, or our interests, or our law. They fight for corporations that have their own interests and goals. When the next administration starts rattling their sabers, they will have these people on speed dial, ready to pay them to go over and die without the honor afforded a soldier.

Would we all have been so ready to make war on the Middle East, had we known this? I wonder – and I hope knowing this will make us more reluctant to unleash war in the future.