Blackwater threatens U.S. democracy

[godhelpus]

A cabal of private contractors, closely aligned with the Bush administration and usually employing “ex” military officers, now dominates the U.S. national security state — and by extension, much of the world.

In the duplicitous “War on Terror,” mercenary armies like DynCorp, Blackwater USA, KBR, Custer Battles, and Aegis plunder Iraq and other victims of Pax Americana, operating with no rules of engagement and near-total legal immunity, usually earning at least four times the salaries of enlisted U.S. soldiers.

When not on urban patrol, these gangs provide “security” for U.S. diplomats, lucrative oil fields, and profiteering “reconstruction” contractors like Bechtel, Fluor corporation, and Halliburton.

The Hartford Courant calculated a total of 180,000 individual private contractors operating in Iraq, along with 169,000 U.S. soldiers.

Mercenaries are frequently linked to illegal arms dealing, resembling a privatized Iran-Contra network. On Sept. 22, the AP reported, “Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Blackwater USA employees illegally smuggled into Iraq weapons that may have been sold on the black market and ended up in the hands of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.”


Today, these soldiers of fortune possess an apocalyptic array of weapons capable of converting Planet Earth into a pile of dust, or at best, a police-state control grid. But in the face of permanent annihilation, too many Americans wallow in whirlpools of systematic denial, avoiding this existential crisis because it’s “depressing” or “boring.” Others parrot puerile propaganda about “Islamofascism.”

But those hoping to prevent further bloodshed should consider more salient questions: What are the real costs of America’s permanent wartime economy? Should private armies remain legally immune? Exactly which mercenaries control the future of warfare, surveillance, and ultimately, human destiny? And how can they be stopped before leading to a new Thirty Years’ War?

 

[jillian]

Your article raises interesting points, and I'd be one of the first to question why we're training and funding a paramilitary force to operate both domestically and in foreign countries, but you really need to link articles.

Thanks. I think this is it.

http://the.ricethresher.org/opinion/2007/09/28/private_contractors_threaten_democracy

 

[nibor]

FOUR times what our kids are making...................you better better multiply what they're making by 10 or 15.................

 

[Shogun]

where are the free market capitolists to tell us that private enterprise is ALWAYS better than federally funded behemoths?

 

[bennylava]

My brother is in the army. He was stationed at a base in Baghdad until Sept of 07. His unit mostly did mechanical type work on vehicles. For the last two months of their deployment, they were kicked out of their A/C'd trailers and told that they weren't going to have jobs anymore.
They got replaced by private citizens who were paid twice what they were paid. They spent all day in tents in the heat doing absolutely nothing, just waiting to go back to the US. It's the toughest job you'll ever love.

 

[Gunny]

My brother is in the army. He was stationed at a base in Baghdad until Sept of 07. His unit mostly did mechanical type work on vehicles. For the last two months of their deployment, they were kicked out of their A/C'd trailers and told that they weren't going to have jobs anymore.
They got replaced by private citizens who were paid twice what they were paid. They spent all day in tents in the heat doing absolutely nothing, just waiting to go back to the US. It's the toughest job you'll ever love.

It's called "downsizing." It's been happening to the military as a whole since the early 90s. It's nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Congress promises to save all this money by downsizing the military, then hires civilians and twice-the-price to replace them.

 

[Gunny]

A cabal of private contractors, closely aligned with the Bush administration and usually employing “ex” military officers, now dominates the U.S. national security state — and by extension, much of the world.

In the duplicitous “War on Terror,” mercenary armies like DynCorp, Blackwater USA, KBR, Custer Battles, and Aegis plunder Iraq and other victims of Pax Americana, operating with no rules of engagement and near-total legal immunity, usually earning at least four times the salaries of enlisted U.S. soldiers.

When not on urban patrol, these gangs provide “security” for U.S. diplomats, lucrative oil fields, and profiteering “reconstruction” contractors like Bechtel, Fluor corporation, and Halliburton.

The Hartford Courant calculated a total of 180,000 individual private contractors operating in Iraq, along with 169,000 U.S. soldiers.

Mercenaries are frequently linked to illegal arms dealing, resembling a privatized Iran-Contra network. On Sept. 22, the AP reported, “Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Blackwater USA employees illegally smuggled into Iraq weapons that may have been sold on the black market and ended up in the hands of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.”


Today, these soldiers of fortune possess an apocalyptic array of weapons capable of converting Planet Earth into a pile of dust, or at best, a police-state control grid. But in the face of permanent annihilation, too many Americans wallow in whirlpools of systematic denial, avoiding this existential crisis because it’s “depressing” or “boring.” Others parrot puerile propaganda about “Islamofascism.”

But those hoping to prevent further bloodshed should consider more salient questions: What are the real costs of America’s permanent wartime economy? Should private armies remain legally immune? Exactly which mercenaries control the future of warfare, surveillance, and ultimately, human destiny? And how can they be stopped before leading to a new Thirty Years’ War?

A bit extreme, but some merit. When you figure out a way to convince your Congresscritters to quit selling the "downsizing" bullshit only to replace military personnel with civilian contractors, let me know. It's been going on for almost two decades and nobody's given a rip until now.

 

[pegwinn]

Personally, I was damn glad to finally stop travelling to various sandboxes.

If you want to go at a mere twice my pay, jump on it.

The article was accurate in a couple of areas.

I was approached precisely sixty days before my retirement was effective. That tells me that they have an inside track to information that the average headhunter doesn't.

I was offered a chance to interview for a job at three times my base pay to train Iraqi troops in marksmanship. But since I was to be a trainer, no personal weapon allowed. There would be others for security. That phone call got cut short right about then.

Private firms over there should answer to the Iraqi .gov for breaches of the local law.

Of course, our troops should be out of there since the Iraqis have had plenty of time to get thier shit together.

 

[Gunny]

Personally, I was damn glad to finally stop travelling to various sandboxes.

If you want to go at a mere twice my pay, jump on it.

The article was accurate in a couple of areas.

I was approached precisely sixty days before my retirement was effective. That tells me that they have an inside track to information that the average headhunter doesn't.

I was offered a chance to interview for a job at three times my base pay to train Iraqi troops in marksmanship. But since I was to be a trainer, no personal weapon allowed. There would be others for security. That phone call got cut short right about then.

Private firms over there should answer to the Iraqi .gov for breaches of the local law.

Of course, our troops should be out of there since the Iraqis have had plenty of time to get thier shit together.

I hear ya. I was looking at it from the POV of do we really want our nation to be represented by merc's with little to no accountability/oversight?

If so, then maybe joined the wrong "club"?

 

[Shogun]

oh come on fellaz... were talking about bloated gov. here! rah rah rah the free market private sector is gods gift to commerce, remember?

 

[jillian]

A bit extreme, but some merit. When you figure out a way to convince your Congresscritters to quit selling the "downsizing" bullshit only to replace military personnel with civilian contractors, let me know. It's been going on for almost two decades and nobody's given a rip until now.

The downsizing isn't the problem. It's the privatization drive of the right. Everything's supposed to be run by corporations, not government, remember? Walter Reed Hospital; Katrina Rescue; our paramilitary forces; social security; yadda, yadda, yadda....

If I were military I'd be outraged that someone was getting $1,000 day to do my job. Even from a cost perspective, where are the "anti-big-government"-types yelling about the expense?

From a political standpoint, a paramilitary force that operates here and abroad is horrifying.

 

[bennylava]

And who is going to take care of all these people who have combat related injuries and illnesses who aren't part of the military?
Someone just loaned my husband a book about Blackwater. I kind of want to read it but at the same time I don't have any PeptoBismol in the house right now, so maybe I need to just get a vomit bucket ready.

 

[nibor]

The downsizing isn't the problem. It's the privatization drive of the right. Everything's supposed to be run by corporations, not government, remember? Walter Reed Hospital; Katrina Rescue; our paramilitary forces; social security; yadda, yadda, yadda....

If I were military I'd be outraged that someone was getting $1,000 day to do my job. Even from a cost perspective, where are the "anti-big-government"-types yelling about the expense?

From a political standpoint, a paramilitary force that operates here and abroad is horrifying.

No Jillian downsizing IS the problem and the cause of this crap, there've always been mercs but not on this scale and NOT out numbering our feet on the ground..................the profiteering and graft is disgusting and promoting it and sanctifying it is even worse.

 

[bennylava]

How in the world is that downsizing? I don't know if anyone is aware but if someone has a good history and is married and has a certain skill set, combat pay can be around 75K a year. And they're paying these guys do sit and do nothing for two months while they pay other people TWICE that to their jobs?
Insanity.

 

[nibor]

How in the world is that downsizing? I don't know if anyone is aware but if someone has a good history and is married and has a certain skill set, combat pay can be around 75K a year. And they're paying these guys do sit and do nothing for two months while they pay other people TWICE that to their jobs?
Insanity.

It's not downsizing on a private scale......................it's SLIGHT OF HAND on a public scale.....................

 

[Warner]

Just a side point here. This article points out that these contractors are making "almost four times that of military personnel".

I'd like to point out that Life insurance for such a person is very very expensive. They are not covered by any government life insurance and normal policies do not cover "acts of war or terrorism". I know an individual very very well who pays almost $10,000 a month for such coverage.

Other expenses are high as well, and long-term benefits are minimal. Perhaps these forces should not be being used, but 4x pay is not a legitimate part of the reason why not. They have to provide for themselves where in general the military man does not.

Furthermore, they are worth more since most of them are veterans with extensive military or other experience. To compare them to the "average" soldier is not a valid comparison.

 

[pegwinn]

I hear ya. I was looking at it from the POV of do we really want our nation to be represented by merc's with little to no accountability/oversight?

If so, then maybe joined the wrong "club"?

The way I see it, this war is going to devolve more and more to search and destroy missions. I don't really like the idea of hiring mercs in large scale. But, for say OBL, put a price on him of a billion in gold alive, or a million dead. Let the freelancers do all the border incursions and simply bring us back a body we can verify.

As to oversight....... we don't have to legitimize them in the future. These private firms have been legitimized because the .gov made em a large scale contract. If we did the "bounty" thing we simply openly post it and then wait for the first person to step forward with a bodybag.

From a political standpoint, a paramilitary force that operates here and abroad is horrifying.

Not really IMO. By simply issuing a bounty and waiting on greed to take it's course we can legitimately disavow them. By hiring them in large numbers directly, we are screwed.

Politically horrifying is when a team of green berets or seals are captured deep inside Pakistan, Iran, or Saudi Arabia and paraded on Al Jazeera.

 

[jillian]

Not really IMO. By simply issuing a bounty and waiting on greed to take it's course we can legitimately disavow them. By hiring them in large numbers directly, we are screwed.

Politically horrifying is when a team of green berets or seals are captured deep inside Pakistan, Iran, or Saudi Arabia and paraded on Al Jazeera.

Private forces that aren't subject to our laws, our control and which are without accountability can pull you out of your bed in the middle of the night and make you disappear.

No. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. But you do know that such forces in the wrong hands are exceedingly dangerous.

You worry so much about literal interpretation of the Constitution, Phil, and refuse to acknowledge the appropriate court role in its interpretation, yet absolutely ignore the things that ARE a danger to our freedoms.

 

[Dr Grump]

Blackwater, and the guy who runs it, are definitely no friends of freedom. They are scum....

 

[Gunny]

The downsizing isn't the problem. It's the privatization drive of the right. Everything's supposed to be run by corporations, not government, remember? Walter Reed Hospital; Katrina Rescue; our paramilitary forces; social security; yadda, yadda, yadda....

If I were military I'd be outraged that someone was getting $1,000 day to do my job. Even from a cost perspective, where are the "anti-big-government"-types yelling about the expense?

From a political standpoint, a paramilitary force that operates here and abroad is horrifying.

Not even close. It's the bureaucracy perpetuating itself and the bureaucracy could give a rat's ass what side of the aisle you sit on. The jobs have to get done. Someone says let's downsize. Everyone jumps on board. They find out later there's no one ot tote their coffee and donuts, so they hire someone from a different appropriation to do it. It's a $ shell game.

And I was bitching about the expense LONG before we had a Republican President and y'all decided something was going on and to blame it on him.

Where were y'all when we got personnel cuts so bad our deployment tempo increased so i could spend even MORE time away from my family? You were patting yourselves on the back at Clinton's latest raid on my wallet is where. It wasn't an issue. Not until Bush became President, anyway.