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Return to Article: Private military industry continues to grow

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  Reinstituting the draft is exactly what we need to do. If all US families had children on the line, then our brave, "chairborne, service avoiding administration rangers" would think twice before commiting to poorly thought out and flimsily justified wars.

  J. Leibrock Posted January 16, 2008 3:29 PM
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  In the first place some people need to realize contactors at AG was two contactors secondly contractors in the middle east, percentage wish are being killed at the same rate as the military and they are not for the most part allowed to defend themselves. Contractors are the new draft. We'll go out do the jobs that are required, including going out side the wire depending on the military to protect the convoy we're in. So,doing away with the contrators mean we can start up the draft. Is that what we want, I don't think so, after all you won't be able to leave a casket on the runway tarmac for month before shipping it home as want happened at BIAP in Baghdad.

  Jim Posted January 15, 2008 9:58 PM
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  A mercenary is a mercenary, with no fear of retaliation for whatever they do. They will become the playground bullies in this country - they already walk all over Congress - and who will be in a position to stop them? What will prevent them from "supporting" their candidate for President with a private army? They need to be put out of business, and I mean totally out of commission. L3, for example, is the worse performing contractor that I've ever seen; it should be easy enough to cut off their contracts for the convenience of the government.

  Engineer Posted January 15, 2008 8:15 PM
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  To maintain our military preeminence we must limit the use of contractors to where they provide the most economic advantage. Use them to support and sustain our forces with construction, transportation, sanitation, supply, medical, administration, etc. services. What jobs the government hires contractors for is at the heart of the military's long-term cultural reaction. Contractors should not be allowed to provide security services to the US Government, except to guard materiel assets. They should not be allowed to interrogate prisoners, or so we learned at Abu Ghraib. They should not be counted on to command our military forces, and they should not be trusted in oversight roles, or directly administer processes that result in selection of other contractors.

  Ray Posted January 11, 2008 9:18 AM
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  I seem to recall another sort of consequence to be concerned about while long ago reading Wm. Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Didn't he point to the free corps of demobilized soldiers of Germany as a pool out of which the facist movement was recruited? Can we trust that multibillion dollar private armies with arms and bases in the U.S. will always remain politically inactive in the U.S. itself?...

  Robert Cogan Posted January 10, 2008 5:13 PM
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  What have we, as a society, done to ourselves? A society whose citizens as a whole will not fight (and approve of) their own battles but who pay others to do it for them is inviting disasterer. Whether it is the all volunteer services, private companies or mercenaries (it is a continuum, folks) it is the path to disaster. As the author noted about the practice: "But others believe that EO later enabled a coup that overthrew the government that had invited them in.

  J. Leibrock Posted January 10, 2008 3:53 PM
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  As long as they pay taxes who cares. It legitimate work and good for them if they find employment

  dan ketter Posted January 10, 2008 1:38 PM
• 41234
  

  Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 11 of the United States Constitution grants Congress the power...; "To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;"

  Yes, that is "Letters of Marque and Reprisal" exactly like was done for the British, French & Dutch East India Companies (privateers) and it is still there and available for use. A largely ignored Republican Presidential Candidate introduced the "Marque and Reprisal Act of 2001" to Congress for consideration. Of course, it went nowhere in favor of war and other "outsourcing options." I suppose there is more gold in the US Treasury than there is to be captured in the caves of Afghanistan...

  Think about it folks - money & power, that's what it is all about!

  Cracked & Wired Posted January 10, 2008 11:49 AM
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  Privatization of military functionalities is of the extreme and with no oversight of contractors, the Government is providing the means for companies (albeit militarily trained) to exceed authorities and leave the door open for exceeding authority (e.g., leading to coups). President Bush with his privatization of Government has unleashed a monster. Conceptually, contractors have deviated from normal or acceptable practices and character and when ensnared in a compromising act become a threatening force. Currently, these former military leaders now CEOs and company officials infuse themselves with previous compatriots to undertake military operations. Essentially, none of which is in the best interests of the Government, military, or country. If allowed to continue in this method of operation, it is foreseeable that these entities will subvert and weaken insidiously the esprit de corps of the military we perceive today. The underlying motive is these companies are all interested in one inherent fact and that is the bottom line, therein lies the problem, they have no allegiance or ideology to any group, individual, or culture. No matter the subtlety, a mercenary is still a mercenary.

  CAE Posted January 10, 2008 9:06 AM
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  This is the longest article that I have seen published in Gov Exec Today news notes. It is a good one and an important one. I hope it is read and thought about. Do we want the United States of America to be "Mercenaries for Sale"? Is this our only product for sale in the global community? Have we decided that money is more important than our nation? If the answers to any of the questions are yes we have lost ourselves and the empire that was once America has not started to decline but has declined. The Military Complex has too much control and has gotten out of hand.

  Wayland Burton Posted January 10, 2008 7:57 AM
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  Private armies, contractors, stability operations, etc. Regardless of what names are applied, these private corporations are mercenaries, with all the negative connotations attached. With incredible amounts of government funds we have unleashed and encouraged privatized wars around the globe while permitting our governmental leaders to evade institutional and legal restraits that exist for good reasons. Our errors will haunt us for decades.

  Terry Mischel Posted January 9, 2008 1:57 PM
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  This situation gives rise to another question - given that US corporations are doing business throughout the world (e.g., Coca Cola is in China), what would happen if these private security/nation building contractors were to offer their services on a global basis? Would Blackwater offer its services to the Chinese government? Might the private security/nation building contractors go to war with one another?

  Jaton' West Posted January 9, 2008 1:33 PM