Update 5/30: Via Steve Bates at The Yellow Doggerel Democrat, Jo Fish of Democratic Veteran has more:
The "contractors" in Iraq were born out of the Rumsfeldian/Norquistian drive to privatize the military and just about every other aspect of the Federal government. After all, "security contractors" who were in country could not be counted as troops, fill jobs (up to and including, no shit, MEDEVAC) that were normally done by organic assets of a fighting force (supply, medicine, REMF functionality). Contracts (and contractors) meant rewarding political supporters, as well as keeping the heat off of the 1600 Crew for ramping up troop levels (well, until the surge).
The Contractors in Iraq started as an unstructured, unaccountable force that just sort of appeared in response to what Rumsfeld seemed to want as a step in his "force transformation" strategery. They filled a need that he created for a quasi-soldier, but with no accountability to anyone but their mercenary bosses sitting back in the US or whereever. Until Fallujah, the contractors were pretty low key as far as everyone was concerned. More attention was paid to the no-bid contracts that CheneyBurton/KBR received for providing, than what was going on the streets of Baghdad with the armed security "contractors". Then came Fallujah, and the response by Mr. "I listen to my Commanders in the Field", who pretty much told Bunnypants that going into Fallujah on a Revenge Mission was a bad idea, with a capital "B".
So now, four-plus years into Mess O'Potamia we find ourselves (and I think it's really us saddled with the consequences of the actions of the "contractors". We've moved beyond Kos' "Fuck the Mercenaries" moment to a point where some examination of these extra-national (for want of a better word) contractors operate, and whether or not we want them representing our country within Iraq (and anywhere else they operate on our behalf).
3 comments:
Blackwater is a private militia which is not being well regulated by the Congress.
Regulate the militia.
The irrepressible (thank goodness) Jo Fish at Democratic Veteran has additional interesting things to say about Blackwater and their relationship to the GOP.
Question: if CheneyBush turns these mercenaries loose in the U.S., what is the appropriate response?
Oo, thanks for the link, Steve. Haven't been over there for a while.
If Blackwater is used in the United States in an obvious fashion? Well, first the neocon wannabee fascists will run happily to their closets to put on their uniforms and they'll grab their guns... and find out to their astonishment that Blackwater will view them the same as all the rest of us: people to contain and control.
So if Blackwater shuts down ... say a nuked city and prevents the citizens from leaving, I bet the first ones to attack them will be the ex-neocon supporters.
One way for Blackwater to take over would be to get rid of the National Guard and confuse and weaken all other response teams by making them subordinate to an incompetent Homeland Security department....
I hope I'm just making shit up because we saw what they did during the Katrina aftermath. I've never found out the end of the story of the sheriff or police chief complaining that someone had cut the communication lines to the headquarters, and he had to post someone on watch to prevent it happening again. Makes you wonder....
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