Blackwater is thicker than blood
So, let me get this straight... according to the FBI, 14 innocent civilians were killed by armed mercenaries who work for the US government... and the US government said they fall outside US military jurisdiction, that they are granted immunity and can not be punished. Is this what the US stands for these days?
FBI: Blackwater Shootings Unjustified
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI agents investigating the September 16 episode in which Blackwater security guards shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians have found that at least 14 of the shootings were unjustified, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.[..]"
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI agents investigating the September 16 episode in which Blackwater security guards shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians have found that at least 14 of the shootings were unjustified, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.[..]"
Well what do they expect? Blackwater systematically recruits the baddest of the `bad guys' ...whose only rules are 'don't get caught on camera'.
They say security employees of Blackwater have to be US citizens to work on US government contracts. Maybe, maybe not. Some of the other 25 different security firms we have in Iraq DO hire mercenaries (like former Pinochet thugs and Milosovec thugs) from Bosnia, Chile, Colombia, South Africa and the Philippines. Anyway, Blackwater has a recruitment center in the Philippines.
I wish we had our old Army back. Don't we have Marines to perform security duty? They guard and protect US Embassies. Didn't we once use our military to protect diplomats in a war zone?
If our military wasn't stretched so thin because of Iraq, we wouldn't have needed 'private contractors' in the first place. The average cost billed to the US Treasury is 4 times what we pay our regular forces ...or more.
This privatizing of the US military started back in the 70's by replacing mostly cooks, I remember being surprised that privates didn't peel potatoes anymore. Then they graduated to outsourcing plumbers, electricians, truck drivers, etc.
Now, the Bush White House has graduated to using more private contractors than troops in jobs involving actual combat. That means we get less bang for four times the buck.
The Bushies got into power and decided to tinker with the US military--pre-9/11--because they knew they were going to invade Iraq, and their war profiteering pals would benefit from a heavily contractor-dependent military.
How could corporate owned armies possibly be a good thing?
We had plenty of troops to fight the real war on Al Quaeda in Afghanistan without the help of mercenaries. The profit motive was the only reason that we invaded Iraq, so it's no surprise that we did it the most expensive way possible so Bushies could funnel all that lovely money to their cronies.
War should be a last resort, not a method of making profits for corporations. Crony capitalism is ugly enough without making war just another industry to earn big profits.
Look at the profit history of Blackwater... before Iraq they were a small struggling security company; now, after a few years in Iraq, they report earnings of over one billion dollars.
Look at how their stock shot up over the last 4-5 years. Sure seems that such a big profit would motivate them try to prolong this war, or get us into more wars, so they can drum up more business for the contractors.
Let's see now...rich businessmen who own corporations like Blackwater make one billion dollars from a war... then, say things change and the war seems to be winding down. Profit being the only motive, why wouldn't they do things to make that war continue? They would surely contribute to the campaign of anyone who says we need another war (Giuliani)... and surely contribute to campaigns of Congressmen and Senators who want to further privatize the military.
Could corporate mercenaries be more dangerous to this planet than terrorists?
