What is Digg?60 Comments
- jboitnott, on 12/15/2008, -1/+39This is one of the most dangerous ongoing issues in American life -- security firms that do not answer to the constitution. Why do more people not cry out against it?
- inactive, on 12/15/2008, -4/+30Highly interesting.
- EmitStop, on 12/16/2008, -1/+22This brings up some serious issues. Security firms should definitely not have power like this.
- Sean42, on 12/16/2008, -0/+20Let me get this straight - we outsourced to private mercenaries to save money, yet the mercenaries are paid more than 2.5 times what our uniformed military makes.
Instead of using overpriced goons from Eric Prince, why not pay our brave men and women in uniform the same inflated salaries that the mercenaries get?
At least they are held to account for their actions.
- robertj15, on 12/16/2008, -1/+17People in America don't cry out about domestic events and laws -- Patriot Act, FISA, etc. -- why would one expect them to pay attention to something such as this?
- JeremyGrieves, on 12/16/2008, -1/+15Because they are really only a threat to brown people on the other side of the world. Now lets all turn on the tv and enjoy a high fructose corn syrup snack.
- PREY4WAR, on 12/16/2008, -1/+14I pledge allegiance...
to the flag...
of the highest bidder. - BrettFromTibet, on 12/15/2008, -4/+16team hax0r pwns
- wheresmclean, on 12/16/2008, -5/+14War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength - Dumbledorito, on 12/16/2008, -0/+9Look up the history of "Custer Battles, LLC." It really showed how messed up the awarding of contracts was from the Bush administration, as well as their blind faith in mercs.
- WiretapStudios, on 12/16/2008, -0/+6Yep. This was detailed in the book about Blackwater:
Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army by Jeremy Scahill
It is a very interesting and scary read. - JeremyGrieves, on 12/16/2008, -2/+8I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you have never heard of George Orwell's 1984.
- ElSnuggles, on 12/16/2008, -0/+6Its the entire promise of "privatization" pushed throughout our government by greedy corporations and their pawn congressmen, now its in the military. A business can supposedly do the jobs that a government worker can do more efficient, cheaper, better, faster, and with less red tape. What we are reminded when privatization happens is that there are reasons for the red tape (safety for example), it is never cheaper, and it is only more efficient because we get less of it.
These security firms are freakin scary. Our military couldn't do anything about them because they had a State Department contract? Wtf...and these guys are getting paid 100 times what our boys in blue and green are getting with better weapons and equipment. Total misuse of our money. I bet if we did away with these guys we could outfit two armies with body armor, raise our military pay 10% and still have cash left over. - fiatjustitia, on 12/16/2008, -0/+5"What's to stop the next George Bush from bringing them back?"
Us. - tgc1, on 12/16/2008, -0/+5Oh you don't want to look there. There's nothing to see in those files. Seriously, this is just the kind of expose and logic they don't want to have to answer for. I'm glad you brought that up.
- blogfuse, on 12/16/2008, -0/+5Wow. "Scope of power.... GOD".
- delrin500, on 12/16/2008, -0/+5You are Unamerican. Everyone must answer to the rule of law and to the founding principles of this country.
- STBAT25, on 12/16/2008, -0/+5"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"-Lord Acton.
- WiretapStudios, on 12/16/2008, -0/+4...and referenced in the appendix.
- onoitzphil, on 12/17/2008, -0/+4" A state based on mercenary forces will never be solid or secure. In peacetime, they rob you; in war, the enemy ruins you."
- casspa, on 12/16/2008, -0/+4Power begets greed, always a bad thing.
- VitriolAndAngst, on 12/16/2008, -0/+4I don't think that half of these security groups should be legal. What really distinguishes Blackwater, for instance, from a foreign army?
You can't have fricken' tanks, and loads of weapons, if you aren't sworn to uphold our Constitution. What prevents these guys from working for the highest bidder, other than the power of our own military? Imagine a bankrupt United States, and another country hiring Blackwater to make sure they get paid. If they got the most guns at that time, I'm wondering where their loyalties lie...
Having a corporate charter, doesn't make much difference to me -- you could be a pirate and get a LLC license. And to see the abuses these "private security firms" have done in Iraq and after Katrina, coupled with all the fraudulent billing, well, it's hard to see the difference between them and organized crime. Both have offices.
But really, this is the sort of practice you get from people who say "the Constitution is just a piece of paper." Which that traitor is supposed to have sworn to uphold. - sheeplescareme, on 12/16/2008, -1/+4the american people are failing the american people, though the media is most obviously a tool of the government and large corporations. totalitarian uptopia is having the control of the fourth estate in order to hold sway over public opinion.
- untreadatom, on 12/16/2008, -0/+3a serious problem is when the next attack comes and the govt decides to use these mercs for homeland security. already used blackwater in NO -katrina to "deter rioters"
- warriorscot, on 12/16/2008, -0/+3That would be impractical as they are not always going to be American. They also aren't working for America just the corporations of America and its Allies. The US government may be footing the bill but they aren't doing the work themselves.
- vertigo32, on 12/16/2008, -0/+3It's kinda like the argument people make about a hooker - you don't pay her for the sex, you pay her to go away when it's done.
You pay 2.5x as much for a mercenary, you pay for the job and you don't worry about them anymore. It's far cheaper than training and equipping raw recruits, paying them no matter if you use them or not, and having to provide benefits for the rest of their life.
Financially, mercenaries DO make sense, and that's a big reason why they have been used in one form or another since the beginning of time. It also gives you plausable deniability - take those Blackwater forces that were machine gunning the Iraqi crowd, and ask what would have happened if US Marines had been doing the machine gunning. Instead of having a PR issue, you have a PR disaster on a par with My Lai... - scyphozoa, on 12/16/2008, -0/+2terrifying, plz send for solid snake.
- funkyloki, on 12/16/2008, -1/+3How about a law outlawing private security firms in place of our military? Or a Constitutional amendment stating the same?
- wefarrell, on 12/16/2008, -0/+2Wow sign me up.
Seriously though, these are the veterans in the military who have already seen a lot of violence and bloodshed and decided they want more. - fiatjustitia, on 12/16/2008, -0/+2These guys scare the ***** out of me. Yeah, yeah, our government's not perfect and has many of its own ***** ups, but at least with them there's a system of checks and balances. With these guys, there is no oversight. They do what they want, when they want, and to whomever they please.
Also keep in mind that Government employees and Military Personnel are required to take an Oath of Allegiance to the Constitution of the United States. Are these mercs required to do the same?
I doubt it. - pigfister, on 12/16/2008, -1/+3Calling mercenaries "private security" doesn't really convince the public that these are anything but murders and crooks, or does it?
The only reason mercenaries are in use, is to enable governments to pass the buck. - funkyloki, on 12/16/2008, -0/+2You are a moron...and morons eventually deal with themselves...because they're morons.
- untreadatom, on 12/16/2008, -0/+2people dying for ***** reasons? sounds the same to me.
- inactive, on 12/16/2008, -0/+2War has changed.
- ldner77, on 12/16/2008, -1/+3I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assumed you have never read any other of George Orwell's literature.
- fiatjustitia, on 12/17/2008, -0/+2I see where you're coming from here. My concern is rooted in the fact that I see an armed group that's organized, disciplined, and equipped to carry out tactical operations against someone or something, that is loyal to the dollar, not These United States.
- funkyloki, on 12/16/2008, -0/+2They have contracts with our military and are paid for from our military budget.
- sarahlee, on 12/17/2008, -0/+2I've been asking those same questions for years. Never got a reasonable explanation.
- Rahodeb, on 12/17/2008, -0/+2Power like what? Just because some guy said in an email that the commander would be "god" doesn't make it so. The rest of this was just a lot of talk about how scary everyone looked.
I didn't think this brought up any of the serious issues. - jmgibson, on 12/16/2008, -0/+2Why not? Being a government trained killing machine doesnt translate very well to the civilian job market. Regardless of what all the commercials tell you. Throw in all the potential mental disorders and the fact that they are paid 4 to 5 times more money to do the same thing that they did in the military and hell yes they're gonna go. Aside from the fact it is slightly more action pact then your typical civilian job. I am in no way condoning mercs, in fact I think they should only be used when it benefits the military and serves to help them, not corporate interests. I also believe they should be held to the very least the same laws as the military and possibly more so. Thats just being idealistic, I know it will never be the case, and so "security" groups should be deemed illegal.
- warriorscot, on 12/16/2008, -0/+2There isn't. They aren't even all American companies you will find many of the mercs will be from all over the world.
The constitution of the US doesn't restrict on the kind of weapons people can have. It also doesn't apply outside of the US. The US constitution is also just a piece of paper its no perfect document handed down from god himself. It was written by people and it won't last forever as nothing made by man does. I am sure whatever it replaces will have just as much importance.
Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right to do what we ought. The fundamental tennet of the US constition is liberty maybe these kind of companies shouldn't be legal. They in fact probably shouldn't as they are a threat like you say. But the thing about the US is its based on the principle that every man should be free to do what he wants in life. - rollerboy, on 12/16/2008, -0/+1I always wondered where these people get money from? Is it from reporters needing protection? celebrities? government figureheads? or private companies?
- inactive, on 12/16/2008, -0/+1It would have been interesting if this guy could speak clearer. I tried to concentrate but all I could hear was "Uhmm, You know, Like, Uhmm, Such as"
- warriorscot, on 12/16/2008, -0/+1It's a mix. Mostly its private companies doing reconstruction that need protection. The contracts are government but the work is done by the private companies that either hire the mercs direct or via people like blackwater.
- kemp34, on 12/16/2008, -1/+2Our media and other large entities have been corrupted and are failing the American people.
- SleepParalysis, on 12/17/2008, -0/+1Which group is more efficient and experienced? Billy who just left boot camp or Big Tom who racked up a kill count while serving 12 years in the military as well as another 6 after as a merc?
I don't think the military needs more money personally... maybe if they didn't throw so much of it away. - DangerCollie, on 12/16/2008, -1/+2Okay, so Obama phases out the mercs. What's to stop the next George Bush from bringing them back? When the White House appoints a political lackey to Justice and has enough supporters in Congress, what's to stop them?
- sheeplescareme, on 12/16/2008, -2/+3dugg for truthiness.
one of the best comments i've read all week. - S4MF1SHER, on 12/16/2008, -0/+1Interesting website
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