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Cindy McCain Bankrolled Conference That Called for Ban on Mercenaries
A little-publicized US Naval Academy conference named after Senator John McCain and bankrolled by his wealthy wife, Cindy, issued a call earlier this year for the US government to ban the use of armed private security contractors like Blackwater in US war zones, stating bluntly, "contractors should not be deployed as security guards, sentries, or even prison guards within combat areas."
The ‘McCain Conference on Ethics and Military Leadership’ appears to be ahead of the senator when it comes to the US use of mercenary forces. "[T]he use of deadly
force must be entrusted only to those whose training, character and
accountability are most worthy of the nation's trust: the military,"
reads the executive summary of the U.S. Naval Academy's 9th Annual McCain Conference on Ethics and Military Leadership,
which was held in April at the Annapolis Naval Station. "The military
profession carefully cultivates an ethic of ‘selfless service,' and
develops the virtues that can best withstand combat pressures and thus
achieve the nation's objectives in an honorable way. By contrast, most
corporate ethical standards and available regulatory schemes are
ill-suited for this environment."
In 2001, Cindy McCain, who may be worth as much as $100 million, first endowed the McCain conference "in honor of her husband" with a $210,000 gift that was specifically intended to fund conferences that would "bring together key military officers and civilian academics responsible for ethics education and character developments."
According to the Fall 2009 newsletter, "Taking Stock," published by the US Naval Academy's Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership-the host of the McCain Conference-among the speakers at the 2009 event was none other than Erik Prince, the owner of Blackwater. Prince's company is the most infamous of those engaged in the type of armed activity explicitly condemned by the conference's leadership.
The executive summary released by the McCain conference was recently highlighted in a report completed on September 29 by the Congressional Research Service on the use of private contractors. That report said that the US is "relying heavily" on armed contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan and suggests their use could continue to rise. The report also states that misconduct and the killing of civilians by armed security contractors "may have undermined U.S. counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Despite the fact that the McCain conference, which publicly advocated against the use of armed contractors in combat areas bears Sen. McCain's name and was bankrolled by his wife, when it has come to making this a major issue on Capitol Hill, the Arizona Senator has been largely silent. In 2007, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Jan Schakowsky introduced the Stop Outsourcing Security Act, which sought to do precisely what the McCain conference called for two years later: to ban the use of mercenaries in US war zones. McCain did not endorse or co-sponsor that legislation, which would certainly have benefitted from his support (neither did then-Senator Barack Obama). Responding to a reporter's question on the campaign trail in July 2008 about whether he believed that US troops and not private guards should protect US diplomats in Iraq, McCain said, "I'd like it, but we don't have enough. Yes, and I'd love to see pigs fly, but it ain't gonna happen."
The McCain campaign hired people with deep ties to the mercenary industry to work on his presidential bid. Among these was senior strategist, Charlie Black, whose firm BKSH & Associates worked for Blackwater's owner Erik Prince, helping to guide Prince through his appearance on Capitol Hill in the aftermath of the September 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad. McCain also brought on as a senior foreign policy advisor Richard Armitage, the former deputy Secretary of State. After leaving the government, Armitage served as a senior adviser for Veritas Capital from 2005 to 2007. Veritas owns the mercenary giant DynCorp, which holds billions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan security and training contracts.
Moreover, the International Republican Institute, which has deep ties to McCain, hired Blackwater as its private security force in Iraq, paying Blackwater an average of more than $17 million a year since 2005 for security services, according to records.
As the Obama administration weighs a substantial troops increase in Afghanistan, leading Democrats and Republicans are calling for an expanded role for US trainers for the Afghan military, which will mean more business for private contractors. Blackwater continues to play a central role in the CIA's drone bombing program in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which vice president Joe Biden and others are suggesting should intensify. At present, there are 74,000 contractors on the DoD payroll in Afghanistan-roughly 10,000 more than the number of US troops. Thousands of other contractors work for the US State Department and other agencies.
The McCain conference raised questions about "the privatization of combat support functions," including intelligence collection and analysis, as well as "advising/training for combat." It concluded, "In irregular warfare environments, where civilian cooperation is crucial," barring the use of armed contractors "is both ethically and strategically necessary."
49 Comments so far
Show All"....At present, there are 74,000 contractors on the DoD payroll in Afghanistan-roughly 10,000 more than the number of US troops...."
Hmmm... what are the comparable numbers for Iraq?
You can find the numbers of DoD contractors on the DoD "program support" web site under 'hot topics'.
State and USAID also have contractors, but a small fraction of the number of DoD contractors.
What is rarely mentioned by those trying to sensationalize the industry is the fact that only about 10% of contractors do security, and the majority of contractors are in fact locals. In Afghanistan, more than 95% of security contractors are local nations - the folks who should be doing security in their own country. Americans doing security is a tiny minority (maybe 1%) and are only utilized when citizenship and secret or top secret security clearances are required - most often for diplomatic security.
-doug brooks
Have a link to a reliable source on this? Please post it. Thanks.
What also is rarely mentioned is that nearly all of these contractors do work the troops used to do for themselves, not just combat or security. Cooking, cleaning, vehicle maintenance, construction, logistics, etc. It all used to be in-house, much cheaper, and much more effective.
According to Mother Jones (about a year ago), a soldier is paid $25,000/year, and a contractor is paid $100,000/year, on average.
The vast majority of contractors are local nationals or third country nationals (TCNs) earning less than $700 per month. For some TCNs they can earn several times the average salary in their home countries, plus they some benefits such as insurance and healthcare.
The top 1% of contractors, doing high-risk diplomatic security, can earn annualized salaries of more than $100,000 (although many contracts are less than 12 months long). Of course, many of them have already done multiple tours in the military at the lower wage rates.
On the other hand, the salary of a soldier may be $25,000 in the lower ranks, there are of course enormous benefits which contractors do not earn (college funds, healthcare etc.) - something Mother Jones neglects to mention for whatever reason.
-doug brooks
Actually, using combat soldiers to cook and clean is hardly more efficient and rarely 'more effective'. Sometimes you need experienced and trained specialists to do maintenance in today's high-tech battlefields, and sometimes highly-trained volunteers have better things to do than clean toilets and flip eggs. Even worse, doing guard duty in front of FOBs - why put targets out in front guarding targets?
A local national contractor costs less than $700 per month. How is using a volunteer soldier cheaper or more effective? Soldiers don't need those sorts of burdens - they need to focus on their missions. Even in WWII the U.S. employed more than 700,000 contractors.
-doug brooks
One of the supposed benefits of serving in the military is that you learn skills that are applicable to future civilian careers. That is completely false if "combat soldiers" do nothing but combat. Aside from the 'contracting' work that local national $700 a month people don't do, what job would a soldier who does this be able to perform? Well, these days, maybe an urban police officer.
Using sworn members of the military would also eliminate any security problems from relying on local contractors, and any ethical or justice issues when using American contractors that are more or less above any law.
And I assume you would be this Doug Brooks? http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/09/blackwaters-man-washington
Yes, that's the one.
Or as pimps
First, those numbers are false and misleading. Second, no matter what the percentages, the ethics criticisms expressed are still valid.
If you have better numbers than the Department of Defense and a source I'd like to see them.
About equal in Iraq I believe, about 130,000 each.
l beg to differ, use mercenaries for for colonialism and protection of big business and our military for what is was meant for "DEFENSE"!
Defense of what and war for what?.Tony
Trouble in paradise?
instead of contracting, the mercenaries' role is expanding.
You think maybe the elite has a little fear...Disneyland is no longer a happy Lolly-pop ship?
Image Control.
nothing more.
The first thing you do in a dirty business, is stand up and loudly state:
"We do not torture!" When in fact, your Vice President no doubt ordered torture as general policy as evidenced by his strong defense of it.
CDer's, we continue our free-fall down the rabbit hole....
TJ
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
Master October 17th, 2009 2:19 pm
Which way forward, TJ? We need something for the whole world, not just America.
.
.
.
.
I'm glad you asked that question. My answer is that we need to better describe the failures of "globalization" and unregulated "predatory capitalism" that escape the knowledge of most world citizens. Once they become aware, of just how unsafe all our lives have become under these incompetent custodians of public safety, then perhaps willingness to ignore these global problems will yield to demands for a better world.
I have a website that could summarize theories of progressive thinking, and if I can stay motivated to finish it, would possibly help in summarizing our case against the robber baron onslaught that we are all suffering under.
TJ
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
I'm confused.....how could the conference call for a ban on the use of private contractors, yet have Erik Prince as one of the speakers? This makes no sense to me!
It's a perfect example of what this country has got to. Little or nothing about it makes sense any more.
cindy & erik action figures available soon. for all ages. they bleed and each say 5 cute different phrases, "kill the baghdad ragheads, rape is our right, and USA Forever! among them!
Congrats to Cindy McCain if she is really serious about this. The use of mercenaries by the United States is quite disturbing to say the least. Outsourcing the building and maintenance of bases and facilities to KBR is bad enough but.... mercenaries? Did someone forget about the Hessians?
Hessians armed with miniguns, their own airforce probably tricked out with smallish AC-130 Spectre-like gunships. Do tell, what law enforcement agency is going to raid these corporate offices when their outlaw is enacted? A Marine regimental combat team at minimum. Time to protect that 'god-damned piece of paper.'
Is ,,,,, fig leaf?
McCain said, "I'd like it, but we don't have enough. Yes, and I'd love to see pigs fly, but it ain't gonna happen."
We don't have enough because the PEOPLE do not want this!
And McCain and the other mobsters do not let it happen because democratic values have been HIGHJACKED!
So, what CAN the PEOPLE do now.......?
Those submitted to gradual operant conditioning (sorry, Pavlovian, Skinnerian, Behaviorist laboratory in US society) will keep going to the malls, cruises, buy electronic games to keep the children less neurotic, less ADD, get H1N1 NEW vaccine against the "new" flu, couples breaking because of mass neurosis and inability to cope with the pressures of abnormal choices... A society broken by personal crisis cannot respond. Conditioning has been going for too long.
By the way, the "porcine flu" could only have made it to the news when the viewers are incapable of questioning the risible scope of the affected. In global research, the numbers of the affected would never reach the standard for the definition of pandemic or epidemic risks or proportions... Such LIES can only be inflicted on a society where masses are hopelessly ignorant, border neurotic, and surviving day by day in FEAR.
Sorry to see that corporate interests, lobby influence in US gov has succeeded in throwing the smoke screen of the threat of others, when the real threat, an abnormal level of fear, has been implanted in people; and the worst enemy is the one that comes from within.
Consumerism as escape and fear identity has depleted the creative will to change the status quo and the hope to UNITE in our present society. It would take a Himalayan effort, borrowing from Indian philosophers that have promoted the values of will and selfless service, for the People to create a movement for CHANGING the present state of affairs.
The PEOPLE can still UNITE, BE THE CHANGE, or give up and surrender to the enemy from within.
Universal service obligation! And let the COs do community police work. Abolishing the draft was a huge mistake, which we the left in this country must recognize and publicly admit. I'm tempted to say that back in the 60s and early 70s, I warned that abolishing the draft would yield exactly the situation now crushing us, but I won't :o)
"Abolishing the draft was a huge mistake"
so was freeing the slaves??
Considering that busy people often read only the headline, this article is somewhat misleading.
Joe
Bring America Back !!!!
These are usually ex cia, ex military, mountain survivalists types willing to perform at war zones for big bucks, and unencumbered by a formal enlistment.
When the US quit the Draft conscription system, I always wondered how they would get folks, since obviously you just ain't volunteering for a lush post at a film festival !!
So this is how they do it====$$$$$$ for mercenaries.
And, if you read this article, apparently $210 K out of
Cindy McCain's $100 mil, sponsored a conference among US military personnel to discuss ethics, and character .
It had nothing to do with banning mercenaries in war zones.
Since individual instances of torture, rendition, civilian murders and rape have been discovered==both by US military and the mercenary contractors--this is the hornets nest.
This all is supposed to be covered under the Geneva Convention Rules of Conduct, which most everyone just loves to forget !!!!
The McCains may want us to think they are opposed to mercenaries in war zones, but just as Johnny says:
===That will be when Pigs fly!===.
If memory serves me, John McCain admits to "cracking" under presure when a Vietnamese POW, and telling "them" anything they wanted. So if Spouse Cindy wants to honor Hubby John, next conference should be on the Uniform Code of Military Justice, rules of conduct when captured !!! Name, rank, and serial number. And, a nice retro-learn on Geneva Conv.
As terrible as Obama is, I , for myself, am very glad that John McCain is NOT our President, and that Sarah Palin is NOT our Vice President !! Blackwater or not !!
Are you dumb or just plain stupid?
Honestly?
"If memroy serves me" -is that your memory of the Bush vs McCain primary?
I never realized the world was filled with so many complete idiots until the internet came around. HA.
What McCain admitted to "cracking" under is torture not pressure. Minor difference.
He didn't "tell them anything they wanted" but rather signed a "confession" that stated the US was the agressor against the innocent N. Vietnamese. He did this b/c they were torturing him every two hours every day until he did sign. They reason they were torturing him so severely was b/c he was offered to be released but refused unless the rest of the men came with him.
If you don't believe he was tortured they explain how he can't left his arms up past his shoulders?
DUMBASS.
Speaking of being dumb. McCain was never tottured. The Hanoi Hilton Commander has stated that in person and in his book. Other American prisoners will attest to that.Not one single prisoner that was in there with the turncoat will even have a cup of coffee with him. His arm was broken durning his hard landing or by the captors. That is the true story.
Where there's one there's two...
The commander of the Hanoi Hilton denies anybody was tortured. Shocking.
Bush also denies anybody was tortured i guess you believe him also.
The reason he can't use his arms fully is b/c he was rope binded. Think about it. Just breaking your arm doesn't result in that degree of damage. However, if your hands are tied behind your back and then your hung up by them you will have significant damage.
Nearly all the prisoners at the Hanoi Hilton have testified about being tortured so i don't know what b.s. you're trying to pass here.
The true story here is that you're an idiot. Read a book next time before you start ranting.
Should I say I am sorry because one of his arms was weaker than the other. Perhaps you should read something other than the propaganda the nasty lying repugs say. If you will get your head out of your ass you will see that it wasn't said no one was tortured. I said the yellow streak down his turncoat back wasn't. Yes i do believe the Commander, he has honor. Repugs don't. How many hero medal's do you have? Now crawl back in the hole with Dickieboy Cheney.
The Commander ran a prison where you even admit people were tortured at and yet you defend him b/c he has honor?
You realize that the commander denies that not only was McCain not tortured but that nobody at the camp was tortured.
You have yourself admitted that the commander is lying. Yet you think he has honor....
By the way just b/c you don't agree with something doesn't make it progaganda.
I'm sorry the facts don't agree with your preset opinions.
Two quick comments:
1) Bravo, Cindy McCain. Clearly wives and husbands can have widely different opinions and agendas.
2) Sen. Bernie Sanders' Stop Outsourcing Security Act, which sought to ban the use of mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan, was co-sponsored by Senator Hillary Clinton.
"Moreover, the International Republican Institute..." I wondered why Alex Jones wasn't bullhorning in Minneapolis.
This piece points out (if one bothers to read it all the way through) a main problem with American politics. While a politico might have a stated position, said politico's position is often undermined by his close associates. That is clearly the case with McCain. The conference bankrolled by Cindy McCain came to the absolute correct conclusion: mercenaries are always more trouble than they are worth. Unfortunately, GOP politics requires enmeshment with the likes of Blackwater.
Cindy McCain is a very rich woman. Now, I have a very strong prejudice against all rich people of either gender. In my mind, these people are totally evil because they have more than their fair share of the earth's resources. I am now reading Nader's new book, "Only the super rich can save us" and must state that I am having great difficulty believing his concept that some rich people have the normal human instinct to do good and help each other----but, maybe I am wrong. For Cindy McCain to say that we should not be using paid mercenaries in our wars is shaking my prejudice. Maybe there are some decent people in the top 1% that rule our country.
Our nation and our planet earth are in terrible trouble. We all know that. Maybe the some of the super rich are concerned with more than the increase of their personal worth. That could be a good thing.
Bill Gates has most likely saved more lives than any other person in history.
Having wealth isn't evil.
Is it Cindy V. John?
Responding to a reporter's question on the campaign trail in July 2008 about whether he believed that U.S. troops and not private guards should protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq, John McCain said, "I'd like it, but we don't have enough. Yes, and I'd love to see pigs fly, but it ain’t gonna happen.”
The McCain campaign hired people with deep ties to the mercenary industry to work on his presidential bid. Among these was senior strategist, Charlie Black, whose firm BKSH & Associates worked for Blackwater’s owner Erik Prince, helping to guide Prince through his appearance on Capitol Hill in the aftermath of the September 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad. McCain also brought on as a senior foreign policy advisor Richard Armitage, the former deputy Secretary of State. After leaving the government, Armitage served as a senior adviser for Veritas Capital from 2005 to 2007. Veritas owns the mercenary giant DynCorp, which holds billions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan security and training contracts
Armitage is one of the repugs most violent hawks. He will do anything for a dollar, so will turncoat McCain, The Buushes and the rest of the rightwingneonazi repugs.
I like your anger... and language.
Anyone who is not really, REALLY angry at these guys is either
1) clueless, or
2) spineless
"The military profession carefully cultivates an ethic of ‘selfless service,' and develops the virtues that can best withstand combat pressures...". What a pile of PR BS! The military has dropped the bar so low that psychopaths, criminals and skinheads can walk over it.
An unpleasant corollary is that the military is training domestic terrorists in urban warfare. Perhaps not unintentionally. But that may be giving them more intelligence than they have shown to date.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
You are only partially right.
Anyone who signs up for the military has a mind set that is twisted.
(You act like ONLY "psychopaths, criminals and skinheads" are the mentally unsound ones in the military.)
One minor point.... some criminals are more decent and sane and pacifist than what is the mentality of the "typical" soldier or sailor.
For the most part, we have a mentally twisted country that glorifies violence and bullying our way around the world in order to get our way.
And cowardly.... think of the countries such as Denmark or Costa Rica who are MUCH weaker militarily than us, yet aren't "shaking in their boots".
One last, and important, point.....
We DID have a good reason to fight in World War II (and we certainly should have). However, every war since then has been wrong of us to fight.
Anyone who disagrees with my last sentence needs to deeply reflect upon #1) their information and #2) their mental state.
From the point of view of a capitalist, volunteers might be cheaper, but mercenaries are more motivated. Of course if the dollar crashes and they don't get paid, their motivation could change.
Weren't we the aggressors in Viet Nam? I never heard that they came over here and attacked us. Of course neither did the Iraqis, Afghans, or Pakistanis. Only a U.S. politician would have to be tortured in order to get them to tell the truth. LOL
Good for her. Although misconduct on the part of soldiers is often whitewashed, at least there are some mechanisms of accountability in the military, however weak. Private military corporations operate with little oversight and provide services to countries with poor human rights records. If the argument against using these firms is framed in terms of idealized notions of military life, it is for a good purpose nonetheless and will ultimately make people safer.
"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."--(?).