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With a defense budget now totaling 800 billion dollars a year - which is larger than the next 9 biggest defense budgets combined - why does the U.S military see the need to use mercenaries? Why, in spite of having the largest military budget in the world, is it still unable to accomplish things far smaller mercenaries assumingly can? Is it a matter of damage control for when things go "awry" during combat?

Examples include but are not limited to the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. Where mercenary groups such as Blackwater and others are not only involved in combat and trailing operations, but where private contractors are also heavily actively involved in logistics and support.

With a defense budget now totaling ~686-billion dollars a year – which is about the size of the next 8 largest defense budgets combined (figure) – why does the U.S military see the need to use mercenaries? Why, in spite of having the largest military budget in the world, is it still unable to accomplish things far smaller mercenaries assumingly can? Is it a matter of damage control for when things go "awry" during combat?

Examples include but are not limited to the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. Where mercenary groups such as Blackwater and others are not only involved in combat and trailing operations, but where private contractors are also heavily actively involved in logistics and support.

With a defense budget now totaling 800 billion dollars a year - which is larger than the next 9 biggest defense budgets combined - why does the U.S military see the need to use mercenaries? Why, in spite of having the largest military budget in the world, is it still unable to accomplish things far smaller mercenaries assumingly can? Is it a matter of damage control for when things go "awry" during combat?

Examples include but are not limited to the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. Where mercenary groups such as Blackwater and others are not only involved in combat and trailing operations, but where private contractors are also heavily actively involved in logistics and support.

With a defense budget now totaling 800 billion dollars a year - which is larger than the next 9 biggest defense budgets combined - why does the U.S military see the need to use mercenaries? Why, in spite of having the largest military budget in the world, is it still unable to accomplish things far smaller mercenaries assumingly can? Is it a matter of damage control for when things go "awry" during combat?

Examples include but are not limited to the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. Where mercenary groups such as Blackwater and others are not only involved in combat and trailing operations, but where private contractors are also heavily actively involved in logistics and support.