What a soldier was telling me about the chances of getting rid of Blackwater

[Miss_Underestimated]

I met a soldier in between tours a couple of weeks ago and he said that Blackwater was so embedded in guarding various government agencies (including the officials in the WTO, I think?) that it would be nearly impossible to end their contracts. He did say that if the U.S. Military were to offer competitive salaries for similar positions, that soldiers would be motivated to stay in the military, and eventually render Blackwater unnecessary.

[Vincardog]

1. Privatizing everything including the military is the Radical right wing nutz plan.

Mercenaries were never necessary, they are just another profit center for the immoral radical reich.

[Lasher]

2. Well stated. n/t

[blm]

3. Yep - Cheney started it in earnest in 1991, and it should have been AXED by a strong Dem president

by 1994.

[DavidMS]

8. Mercenaries are generaly inferior to properly motivated soldiers

Mercenaries are not motivated except by paycheck and most are not covered by the Geneva convention (because their pay is higher than the equivalent soldier's). Vauban, in the 16th century ended the use of civilian teamsters to haul his artillery because they tended to run off when they were most needed to withdraw the guns to save them from being overrun.

I wouldn't be suprised that if they encountered a real (trained, decently equipped, well led) military force they would loose.

[Hekate]

4. Uncle Sam should never have privatized any part of the military in the first place. Ever. nt

[Miss_Underestimated]

5. I was merely trying to post the soldier's perspective - he applied to and

had planned to accept a position with the company, but is currently going to college instead.

[gateley]

7. No -- The vitriol isn't directed at you --

it's merely the frustration of the situation we're in due to the usual cast of suspects. Anger that Blackwater is even a part of our lexicon these days.

It's interesting what he said (and thanks for sharing it!). It's criminal that we DO pay mercenaries more than our own troops. We expect them to put their lives on the line for us, yet don't compensate them fairly at all.

It kind of reminds me of people bitching about what they paid for a babysitter. I'd ask -- you think nothing of spending $50 on a haircut (or whatever), yet balk at paying a good wage to a person to whom you're entrusting your child's safety?

Anyway, please know no one was criticizing you or the young man -- just criticizing our government for not doing the right thing. As usual.

:hi:

[Miss_Underestimated]

9. Thank you for your kind remarks. I interpreted the other posts much the same

way you did. No offense taken whatsoever from the other posters. I appreciate their passion. I was hoping to generate discussion as to how to find workable ways to solve the problem.

[tblue37]

15. Many soldiers' families have to use food stamps to survive, even with

subsidized housing.

I teach college, but even though I continued to teach college while my kids were little, I also ran a home daycare for 18 years, until my baby left for college in 1999.

What you say about refusing to pay babysitters decently is shockingly true. What is even worse is that many parents will stiff their babysitter as much as they can, in as many ways as they can--either by sending someone else to pick up the kid on the day payment is due, "forgetting" to pay (can you imagine having to essentially "beg" for your paycheck every week or you don't get it?), or not picking their kids up until way past closing time.

Or if the parents took the kid out of care for a family vacation or while relaties visited, or for a half day or a day at home, or for any other short-term reason, they expected that they wouldn't have to pay during that time, but that the slot would be kept open for their child. I explained that if they didn't pay, I couldn't afford to operate unless I filled that slot immediately (and there were always children in line to fill a slot as soon as it opened up). People were shocked that I could be so "cold."

That's the thing. They counted on the fact that I loved the kids in my care and would not throw them out just because the parents were jerks about paying. If you are interested in such isues, Who's Minding the Children, one of my ten websites, is where I post my rants about parenting, children's issues, and childcare:
http://www.childrensneeds.homested.com/index.html

Now back to our regularly scheduled Blackwater thread: basically, Blackwater is an unaccountable Praetorian Guard. It can be used by TPTB as a kingmaker, just as it was in Imperial Rome.

[Hekate]

11. I'm glad he's going to college instead. I don't have any solutions to Blackwater except to...

...put them out of business.

I fervently wish that our government would (1) sue them for breach of contract, (2) make every effort to recover the money they have squandered and/or stolen, (3) prosecute them for failure to perform and for harm done, and (4) refuse to issue any more contracts to them, ever.

Finally, I wish that Uncle Sam would go back to having the Military take care of its own in all things -- supply sergeants are accountable all up and down the line for what they do, and everyone is accountable to the UCMJ (I hope I said that right, I mean military law) if they commit crimes like rape, murder, theft, or torture. Blackwater employees are apparently accountable to no one.

Those are my only solutions for the Blackwater mess.

Hekate

[alfredo]

6. They want the US military to be a feeder for Blackwater. Our tax money

trains them so Blackwater doesn't have to.

Remember, mercenaries are only loyal to those who sign their check. They are not fighting for home and hearth. You friend needs to understand that he might be sent to protect, or fight for countries or people who are not friendly to the US.

[ColbertWatcher]

10. Are you saying its only about money?

Maybe if Blackwater were held to the same standard as the military, they wouldn't be talking so much shit.

[Echo In Light]

12. Doubtful, imo ...getting around checks and balance is the point, given its right wing founder

[ColbertWatcher]

13. I agree.

For me, this GOP administration flouts accountability.

[tabasco]

14. This country got started whacking a bunch of drunken mercenaries

and it is time to whack the bastards off the dole!

[1776Forever]

16. I tried to get attention on this in 2003 - Why I am for Sen. J Webb for VP!

Video here:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/10/08/senator-webb-sets-joe-scarborough-straight-on-blackwater/

Webb: Blackwater contracts 'awarded for political reasons'
Greg Wasserstrom and Mike Aivaz
Published: Monday October 8, 2007

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Sen._Webb_Blackwater_contracts_awarded_for_1008.html

By Mike Aivaz

The security contracts awarded to Blackwater USA in Iraq were done so for primarily political reasons, Senator Jim Webb of Virginia told Joe Scarborogh today on MSNBC's Morning Joe. In an extensive discussion about US foreign policy, Webb brought up the controversy over Blackwater's actions in Iraq and the attempt by congress to bring them under US law. "With respect to Blackwater, we've allowed mercenaries to actually conduct combat operations, and we've never done this before," Webb said. "And they're doing this with no legal structiure over them."

There are also no international agreements that govern the handling of mercanries, Webb said, and it now up to the Congress to decide how best to deal with them, Webb said.

"But the other piece of it, let's be honest about it, a lot of the contracts, under this quasi military functions have been awarded for political reasons, and Blackwater is a really good example of that," Webb added. "That's something like half a billion out of their nearly billion dollar contracts were awarded without proper competition, according to the house committee report last year."

...........

AND:

Sen. Obama presses Bush on Blackwater

By Elana Schor
Posted: 09/25/07 07:06 PM

As Democrats weigh new limits on the private security firms in Iraq, one of the party’s presidential hopefuls on Monday pushed President Bush to shed new light on war contractors before Congress does so first.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has proposed clarifying that private contractors accused of misconduct can be tried under U.S. law and urging the Pentagon to pursue such civilian prosecution. Following a Sept. 16 shooting that infuriated the Iraqi government and got the contracting firm Blackwater USA briefly barred from the country, Senate aides are working on adding parts of Obama’s plan to the defense authorization bill.

Obama told Bush in a Monday letter that he should pin down information immediately on offenses committed by contractors.

“It is our government’s obligation to ensure that security contractors in Iraq are subject to adequate and transparent oversight and that their actions do not have a negative impact on our military’s efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Obama wrote.

His proposal also would require the Justice Department inspector general to report to Congress on the number of complaints it has received against private contractors, and the number of investigations opened and criminal cases pursued in response. Baghdad officials are investigating Blackwater’s actions in the Sept. 16 violence and other recent incidents that caused Iraqi civilian casualties, and the State Department launched its own probe late last week.

Obama told Bush he was “disturbed” by the Blackwater episode, which “raises larger questions about the role of private security contractors.”

The Democratic Policy Committee held a hearing on Friday to receive testimony from investigators and whistleblowers who have followed issues of legal liability for private contractors in war. Aides said elements of another amendment laying down new rules for reporting by contracting firms, authored by Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), are likely to be included in the defense bill.

............

[ensho]

17. very dangerous for us all

nt