Outsourcing Crime to Government

Agent David Coppinger: Leary is what we nowadays call a wet boy.
Al D'Andrea: What's a wet boy, Frank?
Frank Horrigan: Leary's an assassin.
--In the Line of Fire

Some people hire agents to do criminal acts for them. A hit man commits murder. But that in no way absolves the principal who retained him.

Why, then, do the principals outsource crime? The criminal act may be sophisticated and require the skills of a specialist. The principal may not have the stomach for personally committing the crime. Or perhaps there is the hope that contracting with an agent will make it more difficult to trace the crime back to the principal.

Strong armed government agents commit crimes on the behalf of principals everyday. Theft, counterfeiting, kidnapping, slavery, murder. Does the same rationale listed above apply in this case? To some degree, yes.

Add another reason to the list, however. The reason is in actuality a rationalization. The rationalization is that when government uses aggression on others, it is not a crime at all. It is done in the name of national security. Or for the greater good. Or for [insert positive substitute symbol here].

Those who retain government agents to commit these acts see themselves as principals of good, not evil. They believe that they are absolved of any wrongdoing.

In reality they are outsourcing crime to government.