The new Surge of private contractors.

[merrylander]

Relax everyone Congress has not voted the funds for the surge as yet.

[piece-itpete]

Any bets?

$100 on funds pass.

Pete

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

Any bets?

$100 on funds pass.

Pete

Keep your money. You might be needing it soon.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

(clears throat) THE DEMS CONTROL THE GOVERNMENT.

Nobody watching the current freak show going on in Washington can possibly believe that. Industry controls the government.

As the armed forces become more specialized (it's unlikely a cook will go out on patrol) it makes sense to use contractors.

This argument doesn't hold water. This isn't about cooks going out on patrol. (Most cooks are contractors these days anyway.) It's about whether you have a GI on patrol, answerable to the chain of command and the UCMJ, or a mercenary, answerable to a BoD composed of private individuals interested in their bottom line.

Yes, combat is becoming far more "high tech" and specialized but that's no reason to use mercs. Where do you think they got their training? They were trained during periods of military service in the US and other countries.

Some of these guys we're using come from very unsavory backgrounds. The one that sticks in my mind is South Africa during apartheid. A lot of South African "Special Ops" people ended up as mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan. In South Africa they were used basically as torturers and death squads operating against anti-apartheid organizations like the ANC and INCATA.

John

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Relax everyone Congress has not voted the funds for the surge as yet.

Pelosi says she's not going to "whip" her caucus to support funding a war they don't support. She says the Administration will have to do that on their own.

John

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Boreas

Nobody watching the current freak show going on in Washington can possibly believe that. Industry controls the government.



This argument doesn't hold water. This isn't about cooks going out on patrol. (Most cooks are contractors these days anyway.) It's about whether you have a GI on patrol, answerable to the chain of command and the UCMJ, or a mercenary, answerable to a BoD composed of private individuals interested in their bottom line.

Yes, combat is becoming far more "high tech" and specialized but that's no reason to use mercs. Where do you think they got their training? They were trained during periods of military service in the US and other countries.

Some of these guys we're using come from very unsavory backgrounds. The one that sticks in my mind is South Africa during apartheid. A lot of South African "Special Ops" people ended up as mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan. In South Africa they were used basically as torturers and death squads operating against anti-apartheid organizations like the ANC and INCATA.

John

You're right about the cooks being contractors...I noticed that when I was working at Bergstrom those flyboys had it pretty good.

And you can cuss the contractors all you want, but those mini skirted Oriental barmaid "contractors" that worked at the NCO club would leave you with drool running down the front of your shirt.

Always wondered what it was like at the Officers Club, but I had better sense than to try to get in there.

Chas