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The force isn't the issue here (or maybe it is). There's no blinders. I
know what Blackwater is, what they do, where they're from, where they're located and who they gave money to in the last couple elections. I know who and how they recruit. I'm realistic about the processes and materiel needed to conduct a war. The Bush administration was wrong for hiring them out, vicariously or not. Just as wrong as Blair's hiring of Erinys. But, hey, that's way it goes. Capitalism rules over everything. I get it. It's not like Bush and the Bobbleheads haven't been ramming that message down the world's collective throat for six years (draped in fear and embroidered with tales of democracy). Think our oil interests might be in jeopardy in the long run? Hell, invade Iraq. Set up camp. Damn the consequences. It'll buy enough time for Chevrolet to come up with an entire line of alternative fuel vehicles. Don't worry about our image. Don't worry about the dead. Just as long as we all turn a profit.
Think what you like, 2ndChance, mercenaries are not good PR. They're not good policy. And I have never bought the "it is what it is" line. It's a status quo crutch. It's time the U.S. started acting like a leader instead of a dominator.
posted by
saul_relative
on November 17, 2007 at 12:36 AM
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We could sit here and argue the use or the need all day long but based on the situation in the middle east... if it wasn't Blackwater it'd be the next group of hired guns. And well... I'm just gonna bite my tongue on this one. It's common for people who haven't stepped foot into the sand and haven't seen the actual war vs what they show on tv and what they talk about in the newspapers to pass judgement on the whos and the whats of the situation. If the issue is the brutality and force that Blackwater has used... wow, take the blindfold off. It's the same force that our military uses... we just haven't quite gotten caught with our hands fully in the cookie jar.
posted by
2ndChanceAllStar
on November 17, 2007 at 12:11 AM
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And that's where my finger is pointing, 2ndChance. These guys are
special forces, marines, rangers, etc. Some of them. And some of them are good men. Blackwater is also made up of Hondurans, Salvadorans, Columbians, and Chilean mercenaries (and others). They're run by a bunch of theoconservative right-wing fanatics (sort of like our country). And I'm not saying that a lot of these guys aren't simply well-trained men (most of them) just doing security work (most of them) for good money (some of them). I'm saying that these guys are hired indirectly by the Bush administration and some of them have killed people indiscriminately and without proper civil or legal repercussions (thanks to Bremer and our government), making them contract killers.
I know who Eric Prince is -- a right-wing nutcase who beleives America still has a manifest destiny to be applied anywhere and everywhere around the world. It's people like him, Paul Wofowitz, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bremer that got us into that ridiculous shooting match in Iraq. It's people like them that give Americans a bad name and screw foreign policy so bad our grandchildren will be reaping the fallout from it.
Blackwater is a scourge. The Bush administration's private little army needs to be deactivated. But if that happened, who'd train those people in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Uzbekistan? Who'd help train the Afghanis? Who'd guard all those damned oil wells and miles of pipeline?
posted by
saul_relative
on November 16, 2007 at 11:53 PM
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Blackwater is what it is. That's the bottom line. And to not call them elite is a true understatement. Do the research on who joins Blackwater. Many special operations soldiers (our Ameriacan elites) choose an early retirement from the military for a HUGE pay increase and less deployment time per year. Now I'm not saying that everyone who works for blackwater is "elite"... just got check out the numbers. I can give factual information to back my opinion but the truth is these guys aren't murderers. They're doing the same thing they did in a military uniform for more money and more time with their family. If any finger is to be pointed it surely can't be pointed at anyone but the people who allowed Blackwater to take over the contracts.
posted by
2ndChanceAllStar
on November 16, 2007 at 11:34 PM
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You make an excellent point, Glennb. There is little to suggest that
anything will be done any differently by Bush's successor. Bad enough that we are there; worse that we are represented not only by our military, but by thousands of mercenaries.
posted by
saul_relative
on October 20, 2007 at 10:28 PM
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Saul Relative,
Interesting quote? I would hardly call these people "elite"! Backed by the highest echelon in the US Military establishment there is no need to feel threatened by a long depleted Iraqi military. So these people prey on innocent Iraqis to sustain their insanity. And they are getting away with murder for hire, paid for by the United States Treasury.
How will the next Administration sweep this abuse of justice and the rule of law away? That is the question to ponder.
posted by
Glennb
on October 20, 2007 at 10:53 AM
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