BS: 'Private Contractors'? I think not

Subject: RE: BS: 'Private Contractors'? I think not
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Apr 04 - 01:40 PM

Bob-

The four who were ambushed and killed last Wednesday in Fallujah worked for Blackwater Security Consulting, headquartered in Moyock, NC.

Blackwater is one of over 20 firms providing private security services.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: 'Private Contractors'? I think not
From: Deckman
Date: 03 Apr 04 - 01:29 PM

Can anyone please point me toward some documentation regarding this? Thanks, Bob

Subject: RE: BS: 'Private Contractors'? I think not
From: Metchosin
Date: 03 Apr 04 - 01:23 PM

The British also have security firms working there, who also employ Canadians. One security worker from Vancouver Island was killed last week. He was working as a bodyguard for a group of engineers who were working on getting electrical power up and running.

In my mind they all are all mercenaries, whether they are in the military or paramilitary. The bottom line is that they are doing it because of money, once you undrape them from their respective flags, some better paid than others.

There are also a number of Canadians in the American military and when interviewed a while back, the reason they gave was that the pay and the perks were better than that offered in Canada. Most of them were First Nations.

How many young kids would enlist in the armed forces if there were opportunities for paid education and advancement provided by other means? You just have to look at the demographics. You won't find much youthful cannon fodder being provided by the financially upwardly mobile middle class.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Private Contractors'? I think not
From: GUEST,GWB
Date: 03 Apr 04 - 12:52 PM

Amos:

Please, the word is "misunderestimation".

Thanks,

Georgie

Subject: RE: BS: 'Private Contractors'? I think not
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Apr 04 - 12:47 PM

I haven't got time right now to research this online, but I'm sure some information is out there. My understanding is that there are multiple corporate firms employing mercenary/paramilitary forces in Iraq to the US military.

The language being used to describe who and what they are is deliberately misleading and obfuscatory. They are hired guns, pure and simple.

What concerns me is that there isn't the accountability with a mercenary paramilitary force that we have with our official military. Who do they answer to if they engage in practices in violation of the Geneva Conventions for instance? Why has the government created this shadow military? Is this a phenomenon of our current regime, or past regimes as well?

This smacks of the sinister and shadowy School of the Americas, also run by "former Special Forces personnel" that trained the paramilitaries who propped up the bloody dictatorships of Central and South America that were so destructive and violent.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Private Contractors'? I think not
From: Amos
Date: 03 Apr 04 - 12:36 PM

They work for a Virginia security firm; most of this sort of contractor -- and yes, they are private contractors -- employ Special Force personnel at better terms of employment than the government does. The armed forces do not have enough manpower in country to provide as much security as it turns out is needed, due to a misestimation on the part of the Bushites on what the locals would do in repsonse to the invasion. As a result, they hire private contractors to fill in for security services they cannot provide.

I forget the name of the firm but it has been in the news and there has been plenty of discussion about it.

A

Subject: RE: BS: 'Private Contractors'? I think not
From: CarolC
Date: 03 Apr 04 - 12:28 PM

I think it would be interesting to know what company or companies they work for.

Subject: BS: 'Private Contractors'? I think not
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Apr 04 - 12:26 PM

The most interesting aspect of the American media reporting about Fallujah murders of 4 Americans this week, was the insistence amongst the Pentagon and White House reporters that the victims were "private security contractors".

What they really are is paid mercenaries. Why not more discussion of the fact that the number of paid American (most of them former military) mercenaries in Iraq far exceeds the number of British troops there.

So, why no public discussion about this aspect of the "new military"? The US funded mercenary/paramilitary forces in Iraq apparently don't have to live with same constraints that the official military does, so that is probably one major reason why the US military is now relying more on the Guard and a paid mercenary paramilitary force, than it is it's own military forces.

Is it cheaper to use a for-hire mercenary paramilitary force? When did this shadow military take over so much of the job from the regular military? Anyone know much about this?