Jean Paul Sarte once famously said, “When the rich make war, it’s the poor who die.” And it’s true, to an extent. From the beginning of history to our modern conflicts, war has been declared and organized by people with power – and fought by those without.

We’ve had a lot of discussion of this in our country, with many people arguing that the rich (or more correctly, children of the rich), don’t enlist in the armed forces – and the statistics confirm this. 

But what there is less discussion about is the soldiers from the developing world, the true poor, who fight our wars alongside our troops. 

Today’s wars, those in Iraq and Afghanistan, have been noted for their use of private “military contractors” in stabilizing a country. These military contractors are basically soldiers for hire – we pay for them when we simply don’t have the resources to complete our military goals. The private military industry is now worth over $100 billion, and is growing. Privatization of war can be very lucrative – and can get even more lucrative when companies increase their profit margins by hiring the poorest of the poor as mercenaries. 

One of these private security firms, for example, Watertight Security Services, has sent more than 10,000 Ugandans to . They are cheap – about $800 a month – but such military jobs are still in high demand in the East African country. Their monthly salary is close to what most Ugandans make in a year. 

But maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. While the privatization of war is new, the participation of the developing world in developed world wars is not. More than one million Africans fought in World War II. Some fought when Ethiopia was invaded by Italian fascists. Other joined the fight upon reading Mein Kampf, and realizing what Hitler would do to blacks if he were successful. Still others joined because of their colonial relationship with Britain. But nearly all have had their sacrifices categorically ignored from the moment the war ended to present day. 

Without the million brave Africans who fought against the Axis in World War II, we would be living in a very different world today. Similarly, while the outcome of Iraq is still uncertain, we have 10,000 Ugandans to thank for their portion of the stability that has been achieved. We talk a lot about what we can do for the poor of the world. There’s not enough talk about what they have done for us.