America's Other Army

"Close to midnight last Christmas Eve, a Blackwater security contractor named Andrew Moonen emerged from a boozy party in Baghdad's Green Zone and took a wrong turn on the way back to his hooch. There is as yet no satisfactory explanation for what happened next. An Iraqi guard named Raheem Khalif, who was protecting the compound of Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi, was fatally shot three times. TIME interviewed three Iraqi guards who were on duty that night and reviewed two signed witness statements: all say the shooter was a white male, wearing an ID badge typically used by security contractors. The day after the shooting, Moonen was fired by Blackwater and flown out of Iraq. His name was not directly linked to the incident until earlier this month, when a Seattle lawyer told the New York Times he was representing Moonen, 27, a former Army paratrooper, in connection with the investigation into the shooting."

Full article here

__________________
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

I don't see how contractor's reckless behavior is "supporting the troops."

__________________
I've been informed....don't blame Bush, he's "not in control"
That must make him out of control

This is an overly optimistic viewpoint. Our government will most likely put on a horse and pony show, slap a few hands and say something like "we don't kill innocent civilians" in the same way Bush says; "we don't torture."

There's too much money to be made and not enough troops. War profiteering is a big part of our economy so I'm sure we will continue to stay in Iraq for many years. Therefore, mercenaries are here to stay.

__________________
I've been informed....don't blame Bush, he's "not in control"
That must make him out of control

Yep, there's nothing in the Constitution that prevents the C-in-C from using mercenaries. Plenty of people have done it, right?

It only says, "raise an army", it doesn't say an army of "what", or "whom".

Here's the beauty in that; The troops can be drawned down while the contractors (mercenaries) are built up.

__________________
I've been informed....don't blame Bush, he's "not in control"
That must make him out of control

Hey, that works....

I have another idea - see how you like this one - we raise an army of freakin' flower children, and ship them all over to Iraq with all the flowers we can get our hands on, and just overwhelm the Iraqis with our love and kindness. You know, 'cause half those guys think we're out to get 'em, you know, the ones whose fathers and brothers and wives we killed ("accidentally", or whatever - doesn't matter "why", right?) -

Yeah, I mean, you get the point, right? It's like, the range of options available on this one, was astounding, I mean, we could have done a lot of things to actually accomplish the goals that Bushie claims we're after - but we didn't. Instead, we got in there and pissed everyone off - I mean, we were an "equal opportunity pisser" - we didn't play any favorites in that regard - [U}everyone[/u] hates our guts -

With the possible exception of the Kurds, who made out pretty well, in the whole deal - so much so, that their militia is now agitating across both borders, in Iran and in Turkey - so I mean, if they got that much time on their hands, they must be doing okay, right?

What really sucks about these contractors, is that they often take the jobs because of money. This 27 year old "kid" got an offer he couldn't refuse, so he went to Iraq, got drunk, f'ed up, and now not only has he gotten himself in a pile of manure, but he's amplified the debate as to whether contractors should be used at all. I think the whole situation kinda stinks.

__________________
-----------------------------------------------
Blind acceptance is a dangerous practice.

Yea, and it makes the US look even worse in the eyes of foreigners. Can the mercenaries not control themselves? Do they worry about controlling themselves? Probably not, since they have a get-out-of-country free card to protect them. And it doesn't help that some of them are motivated by the money. If they weren't, wouldn't they just enlist in the military forces like others?

I haven't done extensive research into the mercenary system. If anyone here has, I'd love to hear their comments.

Exactly. If they can't control themselves, it makes the government look as though it has no control over them either.

FYI - Starting pay for a Blackwater associate is $550/day according to their website. An average working year would produce a salary of just over $133,000. This is pretty attractive for a young, twenty-something GI.

__________________
-----------------------------------------------
Blind acceptance is a dangerous practice.

Black Water is a high tech killing machine of the best trained Warriors, the majority of whom have prior elite military service. They are really high paid body guards that can handle a physical confrontation in its maximum form - killing, capturing if necessary. And they are available to anyone who wants to hire them. They are defensive, not hit men, have a code of conduct and highly professional. Here is where to go to learn more - very short reads.

Blackwater was founded in 1997 from a clear vision developed from an understanding of the need for innovative, flexible training and operational solutions to support security and peace, and freedom and democracy everywhere.


Our founder is a former U. S. Navy SEAL. He created Blackwater on the belief that both the military and law enforcement establishments would require additional capacity to train fully our brave men and women in and out of uniform to the standards required to keep our country secure.


Blackwater USA consists of five separate business units: Blackwater Training Center (the largest private firearms and tactical training center in the U. S.), Blackwater Target Systems, Blackwater Security Consulting, Blackwater Canine, and Raven Development Group. We also have relationships with our strategic partners, Aviation Worldwide Services(1) and Greystone Ltd.(2)


We are not simply a "private security company." We are a professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability operations firm who provides turnkey solutions. We assist with the development of national and global security policies and military transformation plans. We can train, equip and deploy public safety and military professionals, build live-fire indoor/outdoor ranges, MOUT facilities and shoot houses, create ground and aviation operations and logistics support packages, develop and execute canine solutions for patrol and explosive detection, and can design and build facilities both domestically and in austere environments abroad.

Blackwater lives its core values of excellence, efficiency, execution, and teamwork. In doing this, we have become the most responsive, cost-effective means of affecting the strategic balance in support of security and peace, and freedom and democracy everywhere.

http://www.blackwaterusa.com/

(1)Aviation Worldwide Services LLC (AWS) is a sister company to Presidential Airways, Inc., both of which are owned by Blackwater USA, Melbourne, FL. AWS owns the planes, and Presidential Airways operates them.[1]

The company appears to provide air services to the CIA - flight records show that its N964BW has made at least two trips to the agency's Camp Peary training facility,[2] and N962BW went there in May 2006.[3] Another plane it owns, N968BW, flew from Washington Dulles International Airport to Camp Peary on March 13, 2007.

(2)Greystone can support subtle, low-profile efforts that bolster and integrate with existing security assets, or facilitate large scale stability operations requiring large numbers of people to assist in securing a region. Our goal is to foster a positive environment that promotes civilian security allowing commerce to flourish.

__________________
One Tin Soldier Walked Away....................

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p...tionkill-1.jpg