Letters to the Editor
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Who actually thought it was just Blackwater?
I figured it was the inevitable result of using a
1) private army 2) trained to shoot first and ask questions later 3) accountable to neither the U.S. military nor Iraqi law 4) to referee sectarian conflict 5) in a region marked by centuries of tribal and religious alliances 6) for an undeclared war 7) without a clear mission 8) marked by the use of improvised explosive devices and suicide bombers such that the enemy lurks behind every corner 9) where the U.S. is viewed as an occupying entity 10) bent on destroying the Muslim world.
Is that everything?
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Buckle up fellas...
Cheney's private army will be coming to a neighborhood close to your's soon. Maybe as soon as the 2008 elections...
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I beg to differ...
"the contractors have only the safety of their charges in mind."
I don't think anybody, including me, actually believes that.
What I do believe, however, is that the big bucks, soldier-of-fortune, gun-as-penis mentality has attracted a large number of the wrong kind of people to these "security" organizations.
The "little Napolean complex" that some see in their local hometown constabulary can take on gargantuan opportunities and consequences when men are given the chance to act out their Rambo fantasies on a population they view as weak, inferior and inconsequential. Especially when they can operate outside the law, gunning down unarmed women and children, among others of their choosing from the relative safety of a heavily armed convoy. The excuse of "guarding" a dignitary gives them an overblown sense of importance and entitlement to inflict harm at the slightest "perceived" danger.
Also, as with most "gun-as-penis" types, the thought of real danger doesn't pump up controlled adrenaline, it pumps up fear, and that fear makes people trigger-happy and indiscriminate. If they were really concerned with security and serving their country in the face of risk, they would be Marines, as my two sons are.
The entire concept of these mercenaries is a bad idea gone even more wrong.
It is not providing security, it is instilling hatred and mistrust and putting our troops at greater risk. You know, those troops who will go on trial and to prison if they wrongfully shoot someone themselves, while contractors collect their enormous pay, are shuttled out of the country to escape any consequences...and probably to end up in Iraq again for another greedy security company that is more concerned with billings than with personnel issues.
Our troops must now patrol streets where citizens have seen instances of careless and deliberate brutality by "private security contractors".
Get the security forces out now. And get our troops out, too. This is a fiasco that just gets worse and more shameful for our nation every day.
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Shakedown Street
"The Iraqi government has taken initial steps to revoke immunity granted the contractors during the reign of the Coalition Provisional Authority, but there's been no definitive action yet."
Uh huh. Just send the Iraqi government another billion or two, on shrink-wrapped pallets of crisp new $100s, like last time. Just park that C-5 out there at the far end of the runway, roll the loot off onto some unmarked trucks, and presto, no more "steps to revoke immunity" for the Mercs.
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I beg to differ redux
"What I do believe, however, is that the big bucks, soldier-of-fortune, gun-as-penis mentality has attracted a large number of the wrong kind of people to these "security" organizations."
Where does that leave room for consideration of the locals? And if this is just a "bad apples" scenario, why are they still in the employ of these companies? You can spot those kind of mercs a mile away, and if you really want to avoid these situations, you don't hire them in the first place.
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When these particular Johnnys come marching home, you better look out
It's not to hard to put myself in the mindset of a contractor.
Here I was, a Marine Corp sniper with two tours behind me and nothing to show for it except the gratitude of our grateful nation (ha!) and an uncertain future when my commitment is up.
What was I going to do when I got out? Last time I looked in the papers, there were no ads in the job section, "Snipers Wanted." I tried putting my resume on Monster dot com but they thought it was a joke. It wasn't. I'm good at what I do. And then I was reading Soldier of Fortune magazine and there was an ad in the back that said "Snipers Wanted." So I called them and set up an interview right here in country! I was still in my cammo BDUs, in the service of Uncle Sam with nine months left on my current tour.
Wow! Guess what! The contractor guy liked my stuff and said he'd start me at $15,000 a month tax-free paid into a Dubai bank that doesn't report income to the IRS! Holy shit, I hit the jackpot this time! And that was just the start he said if it worked out, I could be making twice that much for uh ... "special assignments" wink wink.
But when I told him I wouldn't be able to start for nine months, I thought that might be a deal-breaker. But guess what again! He said he had some connections at the DoD and that I could be put on stand down status and they would cut me new orders to go TDY and that I could still be in the Marine Corp, and work for a contractor at the same time and when I got back to the states when it's all over, I'd muster out with a great looking DD214 and be eligible for all veterans benefits too!
You can't beat a deal like that. So now here I am, doing the same shit I was doing before and instead of living in hot, stinky billet with no air conditioning, I'm staying in a hotel in the Green Zone when I'm not out cappin' hajis, I'm living pretty good. Every three months, they fly me down to Kuwait City for R&R and I get more pussy than P Diddy -- all fine lookin' European and Russian girls too! And it's all on the company tab.
Do I feel like I'm doing something sleazy? Hey man, that conscience thing died in me a long time ago. Look at those fat fuckers I'm working for, guys like Rummy and Cheney. They say they are patriots, but they are raking it in and salting it away. Look at the mansions they built on Maryland's Eastern shore. Why not grab a few crumbs that fall off their table. I ain't no rich man's son. I've got to get it while I can.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to strap it on and get rolling. There's an assignment out in Anbar. Some haji village sheik isn't cooperating with our guys. He's player. But not for long.