Posted on 06/16/2007 1:08:47 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
BAGHDAD -- Private security companies, funded by billions of dollars in U.S. military and State Department contracts, are fighting insurgents on a widening scale in Iraq, enduring daily attacks, returning fire and taking hundreds of casualties that have been underreported and sometimes concealed, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials and company representatives.
While the military has built up troops in an ongoing campaign to secure Baghdad, the security companies, out of public view, have been engaged in a parallel surge, boosting manpower, adding expensive armor and stepping up evasive action as attacks increase, the officials and company representatives said. One in seven supply convoys protected by private forces has come under attack this year, according to previously unreleased statistics; one security company reported nearly 300 "hostile actions" in the first four months.
The majority of the more than 100 security companies operate outside of Iraqi law, in part because of bureaucratic delays and corruption in the Iraqi government licensing process, according to U.S. officials. Blackwater USA, a prominent North Carolina firm that protects U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, and several other companies have not applied, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. Blackwater said that it obtained a one-year license in 2005 but that shifting Iraqi government policy has impeded its attempts to renew.
The security industry's enormous growth has been facilitated by the U.S. military, which uses the 20,000 to 30,000 contractors to offset chronic troop shortages. Armed contractors protect all convoys transporting reconstruction materiel, including vehicles, weapons and ammunition for the Iraqi army and police. They guard key U.S. military installations and provide personal security for at least three commanding generals, including Air Force Maj. Gen. Darryl A. Scott, who oversees U.S. military contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Good. The bastards shouldn’t be there in the first instance. Their presence does nothing to advance our mission and has been a gigantic payback by the Bush guys to their largest campaign money contributors. The various rationale’ and feigned justifications are exactly that.
General Shinseki never existed. You will now report to reeducation camp immediately.
Are you saying you want the contractors who serve the US to be killed by the muzzies?
Batards. I was one of those bastards you gutless piece of crap. You would not make a good sized pimple on one of their asses. let mre tell you something else too, you know where they came from. They came from the Army, Marines and navy. They were former grunts, paratroopers, speciañl ops and everyone of them would fight, and have foug,right along side of our tropps.
I worked there for 14 months and feel proud to call these men my friends and brothers. It wasn´t just the money, some of us wanted to do something in the war on terror and we did. What have you done you loud mouthed son of a bitch.
I see periodic articles here and there on these private contractors but IMHO they still do not get the respect they deserve. Books like “Licensed to Kill” by Robert Pelton shows these dedicated contractors at work in Iraq. In that book is a story of one contractor who literally risked his own life in an ambush firefight, going back to his disabled truck just so that he could retrieve mail that was being delivered to the troops from the U.S.
I do believe many Americans are just ignorant of the private contractor, saying that they get paid all this X amount of dollars. Well, it’s not all about the money, not everyone is going to risk their lives doing this. Plus when you factor in that they live by very different rules of engagement, lack of protective vehicles/equipment, lack of backup/manpower, lack of benefits, etc. etc., yet are facing the very same determined enemy, you have to respect them for their dedication and hard work.
What in the wild, wild world of crap happened? Sorry, A guest spouse of someone from my wife’s office, I found out, got to my computer that was left on in my library while I was down at the waterway fixing a tiedown. I just saw what was posted and the other one too just a few minutes ago after everyone left our little shindig. I know the guy and will shake him up next week when I see him. He’s nut case with no discernable affiliation but does enjoy making dust like this. Hell, I’ve got a nephew working for some black ops contractor. Again, my apologies.....
Thank you for your reply and I apologize to you personally but hope you stomp the crap out of that little prick.
You might want to ask the mods to remove it, I was coming with flames myself.;-)
Save a copy of the thread first ...
Hmmmm. Maybe under the bed.
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