U.S. Plans Private Guard Force for Iraq (Hiring 5,100 Mercenaries)

[tekisui]

Source: Wall Street Journal

The State Department is preparing to spend close to $3 billion to hire a security force to protect diplomats in Iraq after the U.S. pulls its last troops out of the country by year's end.

In testimony Monday before the Commission on Wartime Contracting, Patrick Kennedy, undersecretary of state for management, said the department plans to hire a 5,100-strong force to protect diplomatic personnel, guard embassy buildings and operate a fleet of aircraft and armored vehicles.

Underscoring the security risks in Iraq, five American troops were killed Monday in an attack in Baghdad, the largest single loss of life for the U.S. military there since April 2009.

(snip)

As the military withdraws, Mr. Kennedy said, the State Department will rely on contractors to carry out a range of military-style missions that he said were "not inherently governmental," including providing emergency medical evacuation, operating systems to detect and warn against incoming rocket or artillery fire, or rescue diplomatic personnel under attack.


more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304906004576369801913947130.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[piratefish08]

1. i bet there's no partisan budget battle over this shit.

we suck.

[tekisui]

9. Nope. War is the only truly bipartisan issue.

[Fumesucker]

2. Machiavelli had a few thoughts about mercenaries..

Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous; and if one holds his state based on these arms, he will stand neither firm nor safe; for they are disunited, ambitious and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies; they have neither the fear of God nor fidelity to men, and destruction is deferred only so long as the attack is; for in peace one is robbed by them, and in war by the enemy.

[tekisui]

3. The State Dept will have a fleet of 46 aircraft.

Transition to a Civilian-led Mission in Iraq Performance Evaluation” explains that our diplomats will, in the future, have their own little Air America in Iraq, a fleet of 46 aircraft, including:

* 20 medium lift S-61 helicopters (essentially Black Hawks, possibly armed)

* 18 light lift UH-1N helicopters (new models of ‘Nam era Hueys, possibly armed)

* Three light observation MD-530 helicopters (Little Birds, armed, for quick response strike teams… er, um, observation duties)

* Five Dash 8 fixed-wing aircraft (50-passenger capacity to move personnel into the “theater” from Jordan)

The OIG report also notes that State will need to construct landing zones, maintenance hangars, operation buildings, and air traffic control towers, along with an independent aviation logistics system for maintenance and fueling. And yes, the diplomats are supposed to supervise this, too, the goal being to prevent an Iraqi from being gunned down from an attack helo with diplomatic license plates. What could go wrong?



Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/07/opinion/main20069910.shtml#ixzz1OhG0SyQG

[rusty fender]

7. Stupid corporatist assholes--

just get the hell out of there! Why would any sane country think it'd be worth all that stuff to operate an embassy anywhere? :banghead:

[theophilus]

4. NOOOOOOO! This has got to stop. If Iraq wants "security" they

have a huge surplus-let them pay for it. If this is to protect "American Interests" a.k.a. Halliburton, et al. then let these companies pay for it! Not the U.S. taxpayer. This IS the sort of thing that should be cut. When are the people going to wake up and say NO to this mess?

[tekisui]

5. It is to protect the US occupiers. The State Dept is taking over as

the occupying force so that the politicos can claim a victory and fulfillment of their promise.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. We DID say NO.

Remember NO to the war?
Remember NO to TARP?
Remember NO to too big to fail banks?

Americans are waking up and realizing saying no does not mean shit.

[LiberalEsto]

6. Is this even Constitutional?

I thought only Congress could declare war.

And if the oil corporations want mercenaries to protect their interests, let them hire their own damn mercenaries instead of asking taxpayers to foot the bills.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Pyrrus could advise us on our "victory" in Iraq.

"Another such victory and I come back to Epirus alone," or "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined."