US Contractors In Iraq & Their Private Mercenaries

Dying to Get Paid in Iraq

Re-Posted August 17, 2007

July 5th, 2007

George W. Bush & The White House. I feel the same way about Our Legislators ! Democrats and Republicans are starting to look " All The Same To Me! " ! My 14 yr old Daughter and my 25 year old Son are by far more Intelligent than any of aforementioned elected or appointed People. I can say that without being facetious August 17, 2007....RePosted by Neo (from The Matrix) " Ok, This is the 1st time I've re-posted any of the Neo's Broadcast Site's Posts. Why ? Because I've really sick and tired, or exasperated by " The Arrogance Of President Bush's Teflon Persona & The Rest of His Hit Men because they All know how to use Reason, Intellect, common sense and logic to make wise decisions. Nomatter what self-Will would dictate, they both know that letting their personal agenda influence their decision would be self fulfilling and not what is Best for All Concerned; in this case, what The American People want, need and is best for everybody. How about the Truth for a Change. Or were'nt They Raised Right...C'mon Dont insult The American People by responding with " Huh? Oh, I did'nt know" or "If I had known that" . No Excuses. No more chances. Being elected again; Think Again ! "I don't know what will happen but we know who you are and we will tell everybody about you", we dont know how this will end but we do know that there will be changes...The rest is up to You." Neo

US Contractors In Iraq & Their Private Mercenaries

The issue of Iraq is not one that is only debated in our halls of government. Corporate interests have a heavy say in the war through private contracts vetted by the U.S. military. A recently Los Angeles Times Article (one heavily quoted in this blog) said, “The number of U.S. paid, private contractors in Iraq now exceeds that of American combat troops, newly released figures show, raising fresh questions about the privatization of the war effort and the government’s capacity to carry out military and rebuilding campaigns.” The contracts given for the missions in Iraq were given to private companies with links to the Bush administration in 2003 without a proper bidding process required by law.

Government officials claim that some duties are contracted out because they provide necessary services giving military personal time to engage in combat operations. The problem, of course, is that private contractors, unlike military personal, are not subject to the same rules of engagement and code of conduct the U.S. military is said to enforce. “At one point in 2004, for example, U.S. forces were put on food rations when (contracted) drivers balked at taking supplies into a combat zone.” These logistical contracts are primarily owned by Kellog Brown & Root (a Houston-based oil services company) and its parent company Halliburton Co.

Of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention the security contracts held by Blackwater, Triple Canopy and Erinys. “We don’t have control of all the coalition guns in Iraq. That’s dangerous for our country,” said William Nash, a retired Army general and reconstruction expert. Military policy experts report that on several occasions “heavily armed private contractors have engaged in firefights when attacked by Iraqi insurgents.”

This brings to light the question, why are civilians engaging in activities mandated to the military? The answer is, as always, money. Peter Singer, a Brookings Institution scholar said, “This is not the coalition of the willing. It’s a coalition of the billing.” Full Story