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PRIDEAUX: Well, of course, it wasn’t a
sudden thing. From the start, Stern
told me he was determined to reject
certain types of missions. Those
involving murder of civilians, for
instance. Those involving assaults
against certain types of organizations
— environmental, charity and so on.
He told me these things when I
decided to join the Wildcats, but I
believed then that the imprecision of
the mercenary lifestyle would wear
him down eventually.
SD: What do you mean, imprecision?
PRIDEAUX: If you bomb, say, an
industrial complex, isn’t there the
chance that civilian employees will be
killed? How about an operation
against a city? You may only target
tanks in the street, but what if you
miss? What if you hit a building? You
see the dilemma.
SD: How did Stern reconcile these
problems?
PRIDEAUX: Rationalization, I suppose. He
rejected lucrative missions where
civilian casualties were a certainty.
He’d evaluate the merits of other
missions based on gut feelings.
Pathetic, really.
SD: You’re saying he’d do the best he
could to avoid unnecessary killing, or
killing of innocents?
PRIDEAUX: Yes.
SD: But in a strictly philosophical sense,
isn’t that what we all do? Select a
standard of behavior and then try to
stick to it the best way we know how?
PRIDEAUX: All I’m saying is, in
mercenary operations people are
going to die. Whether they’re targets
or they just get in the way, the point
is moot.
SD: So you don’t mind killing civilians?
PRIDEAUX: Don’t be ridiculous. When-
ever possible, I attempt to eliminate
or sharply curtail civilian casualties.
But I’m certainly not going to turn
hard-to-find contracts away just
because the possibility of innocent
bloodshed exists. No squadron can
survive by turning away work.
SD: But the Wildcats have survived.
PRIDEAUX: (pause) A freak circumstance.
God protects little children and fools.
Anyone else would’ve been history. At
any rate, we argued, and I resigned
from the Wildcats. Several of the
pilots agreed it was time to get
serious about making money, and
they came with me. I executed a
number of quick, dirty jobs to
secure capital, and then founded
the Jackals. From that point on, we
gained a reputation for ruthlessness
that appealed to the corporate head-
set. They don’t want to hire mercs
who entertain doubts or reservations
about their work. They don’t want
mercs who ask, “How many people
will be killed?” they want mercs who
ask, “How many people do you want
killed?” It makes them more secure
knowing they’re hiring a squadron
that likes its work.
SD: Let me ask you this. In the four years
since you left the Wildcats, the
Jackals have gotten more and more
successful, while the Wildcats have
basically struggled to stay afloat, like
most of the other squadrons in Istanbul.
Do you see this as a vindication of your
own philosophy? And what do you see
in the Wildcat’s future?
PRIDEAUX: There is no vindication quite
like success. The Wildcats go against
the grain, and in fact, I actually
admire them for that. You have to
admire that kind of courage, even
SUDDEN DEATH •
July 2011
37
Jean-Paul Prideaux