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“We would undermine the U.S. mission here because they are so reliant on contractors,” said Andress, co-founder of the American-Iraqi Solutions Group. “For better or for worse, that’s reality.”
But the “exodus” comment in the report also prompted skepticism from a scholar who studies the subject. Peter Singer, a Brookings Institution scholar who is an authority on private security firms, said, “I don’t think we should worry about a market collapse, so to speak. There’s simply too much money to be made.”
The Iraqi government has criticized the blanket immunity because of the actions of security contractors, such as the September shootings in Baghdad of Iraqi citizens that involved Blackwater contractors. Seventeen people died in that incident.
RTFA if you feel a need to reflect upon the hurt feelings and potentially diminished income for the current crop of mercenaries living off American taxpayers.
Dang. It’s tough if you have to actually obey the law.
This wild west crap Bush started really sickens me. Its like a page out of a science fiction novel.
As we should all realize, legal systems are more than just about righting wrongs. As the article stated, the effect of eliminating immunity is that the cost would go up thanks to legal insurance. The first rule of economics is that there are no free lunches meaning that every decision has consequences. It is up to the Iraqis to decide whether immunity is worth the additional security costs or the additional risk in eventually having to outsource to places like Jordon.
There are 70 private security companies in Iraq costing $4.5 billion in American taxes.
Congress should propose a law that invoices every city police department (proportionately) to fund this. I wonder how it will go over with taxpayers?
Not well, but it will raise the question: Who is profiting from Blackwell and why? I bet you will find a Chimp and Dick behind it.
#4, Dallas,
Good idea, but, the majority of Americans already want us out of Iraq.
It’s amazing how we have mercenaries out there – as if they were spending day fishing at the lake and the American public does not even know about it
If an American solder, or a private contractor, shoots an Afghan citizen (in self-defense) we call it war, and there are no consequences for the soldier (or contractor).
But if an Afghan citizen (or anyone) shoots at an American soldier, we call them illegal enemy combatants and send them to Gitmo.
In a war, is there such a thing as a “legal” enemy combatant ?
Barack Obama said Blackwater is getting a bad rap, and that he supports them. They were his security in Iraq.
This seems to reflect a fundamental distrust of the justice system that we helped to install in Iraq (OmniJustice v1.0-RC1, beta testing now complete).
Call me old-fashioned, but I still believe that no sovereign nation should subordinate its own rule of law to a private company hired by a foreign government.
I think the problem is that most Americans, when they visualize a “private contractor” They picture a 45 year old guy with a potbelly, wearing a t-shirt and hard hat, chomping on a cigar as they build barracks or something, occasionally stopping to hand out sticks of chewing gum to the surrounding horde of begging children.
If we called them “armed mercenaries”, the picture sure changes !!!!
Immunity FROM WHAT??
BEING STUPID??
taking ADVANTAGE of what is being PAID??
BEING PAID 10 times MORE then our soldiers??
For protecting the Corps from reaping the SPORES of oil, and selling them to other nations, and NONE of the profit comes BACK to the USA??
I’m happy when a contractor dies, because he’s probably just an ex-south african policeman or an israeli soldier who left the IDF under suspect reasons.