Let contractors fight the Islamic State, Blackwater founder Erik Prince says

Washington Post ^ | 9 Oct 2014 | Dan Lamothe

[Tailback]

A friend of mine works for the Social Security Administration. He makes 6 figures a year. Granted he works ridiculously long hours, but....

SEALS, Green Berets, Combat Controllers, Rangers, Force Recon, and various other badasses should be paid more.

Imagine a meritocracy pay scale in the military. LOL! Yeah right, like the effing politicians would allow it.

[bigbob]

This is what Bill O’Reilly has been proposing, and Prince agrees. Every nation wanting protection would help pay.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

The ROE crap is the main reason the ME is still a problem.

[bigbob]

Very well stated.

[Carry_Okie]

No, it is only the soldier, the trigger puller that must do it for burger flipping wages, free healthcare for life, free education, subsidized home loans, an early retirement...

I'm not suggesting that what you are saying isn't generally true, but people tend to forget that what a solider earns is not merely wages.

[Ultra Sonic 007]

And slowly, the plot of Metal Gear Solid 4 becomes a reality...

[mad_as_he$$]

Most of those “clowns” cost the US taxpayer millions to train and are some of the best operators even seen on this planet. Re-upping of SecOps is at an all time low. Let ‘em go get some. Most are itching for a fight. Better killing ISIS than fighting fro the cartels.

[txhurl]

It is immoral for this ME murder to drag on for decades because nobody will use the necessary tactics to end it.

[notdownwidems]

The down side would be bombings to rail stations like what happened in Spain. ISIL aren't dummies, they probably already have targets.

So basically you're saying, 'don't make 'em mad by fighting them effectively or they may bomb some rail stations'? WTF? They're already bats*h*t crazy, I don't think siccing mercenaries on them is going to make them any crazier

[TurboZamboni]

let’s trust our national security to a bunch of guys whose only loyalty is to a paycheck.

Unlike our Senate.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

A great big glass parking lot right in the middle is just what they need to focus their concentration.

[The_Reader_David]

I think you misunderstand even modern mercenary culture. Back during the Cold War, there were honest-to-goodness mercenaries who would fight for anyone willing to pay them enough provided they were fighting against Communism. Their loyalty wasn't to the paycheck, but to the cause. Their active risking of life and limb on behalf of the cause was conditioned on paychecks, but as the Holy Apostle Paul observed, "Who serves as a solider at his own expense?"

[ohioman]

These people are not clowns. Almost all of them are 100% patriotic and are former U.S military. To state that they only care about their paycheck sounds like a leftist smear.

[MarchonDC09122009]

Follow the money -
Breaking news - Army Lt revels CIA govt links creating and financing ME threat ISIS - PROJECT CAMELOT: SCOTT BENNETT : CIA, SWISS BANKS…: http://youtu.be/Jo8Xm46s62I

His testimony is compelling, and his intentions appear to have patriotic integrity.

I really fear for any servicemen these days - leaders are hollowing out our military, mission and allegiances are murky as can be.

[Lorianne]

Who is going to pay them?

[SisterK]

What makes you think mercenaries out of Delta, SEALs, SF, Marines and Rangers are not patriotic?

[tomkat]

I’m guessing that right about now you’re thinking ‘oops’ ? !

[ExSoldier]

This is what Bill O’Reilly has been proposing, and Prince agrees.

Except that O'Reilly wants only an international force with no Americans in direct combat and Prince wants a 100% American merc force.

There is a problem with this proposal and maybe I see it because I'm looking at it from the point of view of an Infantry Captain. The former Blackwater corporation and other PMC contractors are mostly drawing their employees from the ranks of special operations and those guys are literally the GOLD STANDARD of operator.

Rangers and Marines are also in the mix and those individuals are classified under the category of "super infantry." and they understand the nuts and bolts of that job. They can work under the active umbrella of mechanized warfare in the case of the marines. They can work under the active umbrella of artillery or mortars and they can maneuver with armor.

They don't do the prowl and growl of special operations who perform nighttime HALO insertions from 35K feet up and free fall to 1000 feet OR "hop & pop" at 35,000 feet and open the chute immediately to glide under open canopy up to 24 miles for a silent pinpoint insertion by an extremely small group for a very specialized mission.

The problem with giving these guys orders to conduct full scale infantry attacks is that they're not skilled at huge operations with hundreds of men. The Rangers and Marines are but they represent a fraction of the employees of the PMCs. If you wanted to let these elite men loose as a distinct force multiplier for a much larger group that would be fine. Sniper teams for example. But these specialized folks don't take and hold ground. They are surgeons who remove specific cancers from existence. Using special forces as standard light infantry is a huge waste of resources. And they don't do that very well, either.

[Morpheus2009]

Most of these contract mercs are experienced special forces or police who joined a private army for the better pay. Reality is, your paycheck is better from the likes if Blackwater or others of its kind.

[2ndDivisionVet]

The DIY Tank Driven With a Video Game Controller, Being Used to Hit ISIS: The FSA built its newest tank from a pickup truck, complete with a machine gun operated by a PlayStation controller
https://www.vocativ.com/video/world/isis-2/diy-tank/