Mercenary
A Mercenary, an aw kent as a professional sodger, sodger o fortune, swashbuckler, private military contractor, or freelancer, is a body who takes pairt in an airmed conflict who is no a naitional or a pairty tae the conflict an is "motivatit tae take pairt in the hostilities essentially bi the desire for private gain an, in fact, is promised, bi or on behauf o a pairty tae the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess o that promised or paid tae combatants o similar ranks an functions in the airmed forces o that Pairty". A non-conscript professional member o a regular airmy is no considered tae be a mercenary although he gets monetary reward frae his service.
As a result o the assumption that a mercenary is essentially motivatit bi money, the term "mercenary" uisually carries negative connotations. There is a blur in the destinction atween a "mercenary" an a "foreign volunteer", when the primary motive o a sodger in a foreign airmy is uncertain. For instance, the French Foreign Legion an the Gurkhas o the Breetish an Indie airmies are no mercenaries unner the laws o war, syne although they mey meet mony o the requirements o Airticle 47 o Protocol I tae the Geneva Conventions, they are exempt unner clauses 47(a)(c)(d)(e)&(f); some journalists describe them as mercenaries nivertheless.
