[McGruff]

I like what I'm hearing but I fear Democrats and Republican would unite to do whatever they could to sabotage his efforts.

[yldstrk]

He is right the Republicans are pathetic. The Democrats are evil.

[Stingray51]

What happened to the trial of the four Blackwater guards? The last report I saw was a few weeks ago that the trial had wrapped up and it was going to the jury. But then nothing, news stories dried up. Anybody know what happened?

[cloudmountain]

Mercenaries have been a part of human history for a long time.

We have the soldiers, weapons and money but we won't do SQUAT. So, let's HIRE some mercenaries to do in ISIS/ISIL. All on the "qt" of course.

[Lorianne]

He wants the money.

I’m sorry, this is not our fight and we should not be there. We certainly should not go just because a private contractor says we should. He might be right, he might be wrong ... but he has a vested interest.

If he wants to go on his own he should go.

[null and void]

Eeeee-bolllll-aaaaaa ping!

Bring Out Your Dead

We’re gonna need

a bigger cart!

A bigger boat:

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

[Little Ray]

Eric Prince for President.

[Smokin' Joe]

Ping…

A link to this thread has been posted on the Ebola Surveillance Thread

[Vaduz]

Democrats and Republican have turned the country into a banana republic and made millions doing it why should the stop now?.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I am a big advocate of a semi-private force, but not one like Blackwater. And the focus of it is not combat, but strictly to save hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money.

To start with, the US has the premier military in the world, that can be used for all sorts of very difficult military missions. But far too often this extremely expensive military is wasted on “guard duty” and “humanitarian aid” missions.

Let’s say we have a war with a nasty tyrant who wants to start a world war, invade other countries, exterminate millions of people, and hold the US economically hostage. Most Americans would agree that $100b to put down that rabid dog is money well spent. I agree.

However, compare that to two large African tribes that have been intermittently fighting each other for 400 years, and will continue to do so as long as they exist. They mostly use spears and machetes. But president Blowhard, who ever he is, decides to send a lot of the US military to sit on the 50 mile long imaginary line between the two tribes, covered in flies and Shinola, for TWO years, as part of a UN mission directed by foreign officers. Total cost, $100b.

To hell with that idea.

But *that* is *exactly* the mission for that semi-private force. Even with them getting their transport and supply from the US military, they might pull of the peacekeeping mission for $100 MILLION, not billion.

Total savings to the taxpayer: not just $99.9 BILLION, but our military is not degraded, AND it is available for other, REAL missions.

So what are the ground rules to such a semi-private, very light infantry army?

1) They are led by US Army officers, but none of their other personnel ever set foot on US territory. As a group, they are most likely on some Caribbean or Pacific island.

2) They are contractors, and under no obligation to take a crap mission that could get them killed. They are paid for their work and get no other benefits. They do not need US citizenship.

3) Their transportation, logistics, communications, and coordination are handled by the US military. They operate only in places that give them immunity from ICC prosecution, like the US military does. Their rights under local law are part of their contract.