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Soldiers May Be Leaving Iraq, But Contractors Will Remain
American troops may be leaving Iraq before the end of the year, but U.S. contractors aren’t going anywhere soon.
Soldiers May Be Leaving Iraq, But Contractors Will Remain ABC News reports that the State Department “is expected to have about 5,000 security contractors in Iraq as of January 2012 (they already have about 3,000 in country).” There will also be 4,500 “general life support” contractors to provide food and medical services.
Still, there’ll be a pretty big reduction in the contracting fleet. The Defense Department currently has 9,500 security contractors in Iraq in addition to several thousand general life contractors, said ABC News. At one point, in June 2009, the DOD had 15,200 security contractors in the country.
The State Department’s track record on controlling its contractors isn’t so great, as Spencer Ackerman reports:
The State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security does not have a promising record when it comes to managing its mercenaries. The 2007 Nisour Square shootings by State’s security contractors, in which 17 Iraqi civilians were killed, marked one of the low points of the war. Now, State will be commanding a much larger security presence, the equivalent of a heavy combat brigade. In July, Danger Room exclusively reported that the Department blocked the Congressionally-appointed watchdog for Iraq from acquiring basic information about contractor security operations, such as the contractors’ rules of engagement.
This all comes on the heels of a report by the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan which found that federal contractors working in the two countries lost $60 billion.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) is planning to develop “comprehensive legislation”, alongside Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), to improve oversight of wartime contracting.
32 Comments so far
Show AllIf I was a mercenary in Iraq, I would get out of there post-haste...as there will no longer be US troops to rescue or protect them should they get into trouble (like the battle of Fallujah in 2004, which was triggered by the ambush of 4 'contractors'). If I was one of the various militias looking to get publicity or upgrade my weapons and equipment, the mercenaries left behind would be a perfect target.
>>If I was a mercenary in Iraq, I would get out of there post-haste...as there will no longer be US troops to rescue or protect them should they get into trouble (like the battle of Fallujah in 2004, which was triggered by the ambush of 4 'contractors').<<
Which of course will be the perfect reason for the US to send troops back into Iraq. Are "the troops" being brought home (or should I say "back to the homeland" GAGGGG) or are they being repositioned to Kuwait?
Don't worry, they'll be there. What do you think they're gonna fill that mega-embassy with? Belly dancers?
If the number of contractors given in the article is accurate, it shouldn't take the Iraqis long to clear them out of the country if that's what they decide to do. They may just give up and go home anyway, because they're losing money hand over first. But what becomes of the US bases??
Bring the mercenaries home!! Bring the mercenaries home!!
How about "Support Our Mercenaries!" as a slogan.
Ah, the trainers remain. The distinction between trainers and troops is zilch. See Vietnam where, in the beginning, we posted 16,000 trainers--they were really troops. And how many taxpayer funded contractors?--these are mostly troops. We are talking 100,000 trainers/contractors. Don't forget we built the largest embassy in the world in Baghdad--3000-5000 strong. As in Libya, we're taking over the Iraqi oil operation--no longer nationalized and denominated in US dollars, just the way Wall Street likes. We say we leave but we stay for the oil.
Well, there's some difference: we pay mercenaries much better.
YES..They are paid much better than the US military. Some are being paid $1000 A DAY!
The following demonstrates the lie of about 10,000 armed trainers/contractors remaining in Iraq. 10,000 trainers means one trainer for 77 of Iraq's soldiers most of whom are already trained anyway. One for less than 77! Ridiculous. With regards to oil I slightly disagree with you. The US government does not drill or produce a single barrel of oil in Iraq. The oil companies who are doing this do not like to be in direct control of the spigot (how much is exported) from Iraq each day. That they have already assigned to OPEC to prevent Iraq or other members of OPEC to export too much and thereby depress the price per barrel. What the oil companies want is obedient governments which is why they are picking fights with the government of Venezuela and why our oil-president Bush invaded Iraq in the first place. Bush and his oil-cronies feared that Hussein in league with China might indeed have eventually flooded the oil market from his so-called "ocean of crude". It remains to be seen how obedient the current and future governments of Iraq will be and another "Mossadegh-coup" there will fail because of Al Sadr. The "soldiers war" in Iraq may have ended, the "oil-war" has not and it will be fought by other means for the time being. Hence the remaining contractors/mercenaries. Their task will be to help the army of Iraq to protect oil fields and pipelines.
That's how it's done these days: hired mercenary help so the Powers That Be can announce that the U.S. Military has been withdrawn. The CIA will undoubtedly still be there operating on its black budget. So if people demand "withdraw U.S. troops" they can say that they already did.
The reason for the mercenaries in the first place was to prevent a draft, which would have caused an uprising in this country 10 years ago. Bush may be stupid, but Cheney and Rumsfeld are not. Evil, yes, but not stupid. Private armies can freely operate outside of any and all laws. They all get paid to do so. Legitimate homespun soldiers could not be counted upon to do the wrong things. Someone would speak out about it and then there would be revolt. Blackwater/Xe and the others are the military mafia now. They can even be brought into this country to put down trouble, without violating the U.S. Constitution. That cannot be done with the real military.
The contractors/mercenaries in Iraq are our hired Hessians in Iraq and El Sadr will soon become the George Washington of Iraq because he is the prime reason why our soldiers will be out by the end of this year. The difference will be that he will not allow our Hessians to remain in Iraq.
"They can even be brought into this country to put down trouble, without violating the U.S. Constitution". That is precisely why El Sadr's militias can kill all armed US citizens and not commit a "war crime" because there is no longer a war. Let one of these contractors try to reach for his/her gun and he/she will soon "come home" in a casket. In fact the state of war ended In December of 2008. From then until December 31 of this year all US citizens, soldiers or private contractors paid by the DoD were covered by SOFA-Iraq which did contain a clause that brought them into Iraq courts for heinous crimes committed "outside bases or not on duty". Actually SOFA-Iraq with its "leave in 2011 clause" has been one of the reasons why the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq dropped precipitously after it was signed. Apparently no US citizen in Iraq, except those legally assigned to protect the embassy by agreement with the government of Iraq, is any longer "protected" by any agreement between the US and Iraq. That person is now covered by Iraq laws unless a new and secret agreement has been signed which assigns crimes committed by US citizens in Iraq when "on duty or on their bases" to the US embassy or the State Department which, unlike the US Armed Forces, does not have an internal criminal justice system. If an Iraq citizen commits a crime in our country he/she will be in a US court. Mark my words, this will eventually become a huge mess of trouble for our governments. That is why McCaskell and Webb are worried but the GOP-dominated Congress is not likely to pass their proposed laws.
This is not surprising.
The US Military is the Ivy League for mercenaries. And who will the "food service personnel" feed? The contractors, I suppose. And, of course all those contractors need medical care. And round and round it goes. They will likely require dog walkers to keep their pets happy also, and pallets full of Ben Franklins to keep the politicians in line.
"to improve oversight of wartime contracting."
Repuks engage in warfare.
Demoks engage in "Warfare Economizing", "Warfare Legitimizing", "Warfare Apologizing".
Merkans voting for candidates of either partee, or neglecting to vote third party candidates, is a Crime Against Humanity.
Obama, you scumbag!
Lets see,,, in wages alone 8,000 mercenaries pay is near $2,044,000,000.00 a year, almost two and half billion... Then they have vehicles, helicopters, their food and medical care for our tax money to be "well" spent... Shit.
The largest embassy complex in the world in a country we do not trade with... Our largest trading partner is Canada and the embassy there woud fit into one mid sized building of the Iraq embassy... I'd bet the entire corrupt crap costs us at least a billion a month, at least and Halliburton probably collects half of it.
This pulling our troops out of Iraq is Obama playing political games... He's so cute!
Congress needs to cut off ALL funding for Iraq, including the cost of mercenaries.
Wartime contracting legislation? Give it to the Quakers.....Really, Congress is beneath contempt. Having abdicated its sole and exclusive power to declare war to the Executive Branch, and unwilling to enforce the War Powers Act, our pusillanimous representatives are girding their loins to oversee...wartime contracting. I swear, I could drive a bus from Maine to California, stopping now and then on the way, and pick up 535 Americans (OK, 4or 5 buses) from all walks of life (but no lawyers) who would be far better legislators than the dismal, corrupt, amoral, prostituted political class that sits on Capitol Hill.
Bush lied, thousands Americans died, --Bush lied millions of Iraqs died, ......many broken babies bloody bodies under the bombs ordered dropped, and now the rest will suffer under the hired killers of the supposed,- " Religious Holy United States"???....9/11 was our Reichstag that started it all. We will be remembered just like we remember Germany of 1933-1945.
Once again President Obama fibs. Typical for this fibber. 1. The U.S. Armed Forces do not leave "as promised". A promise is a one-sided affair. "I promise that I will do this no matter what you promise". This was actually a contract signed by both the US and Iraq in 2008. Keith Olbermann said it correctly yesterday "We are kicked out". 2. The state of war does not end on December 31 of this year. It ended when both President Bush and the President of Iraq signed SOFA-Iraq in December 2008. After that the US Armed Forces were in Iraq under every internationally recognized law and the state of war had ended. We are not currently at war with Germany even though the presence of the US Armed Forces there is covered by a SOFA-Germany. 3. The 9,500 security personnel paid by the DoD must also leave according to SOFA-Iraq. Will they now be paid by the State Department to remain? Are they armed? Who is competent when they commit crimes against Iraqi citizens which some of them undoubtedly will? This "force" will become a huge headache in the future. Let them commit just one atrocious crime and the shit will hit the fan. This is not Japan. The people of Iraq know exactly who the aggressor was and it was not they. McCaskill and Webb will get nowhere because they are Democrats.
MERCENARIES. MERCENARIES. MERCENARIES.
Don't use "governmentese." Use the proper term. Killers hired by the government are called, "mercenaries."
Actually, "soldiers of fortune" is even better.
New bumper sticker contest:
"Support our Mercenaries".:
"Support our Foreign Legion".:
"Support our Soldiers of Fortune".
"Support our Blackwater".
"Support our Halliburton".
"Support our Hired Hit Men".
Sad thing is, I can imagine each one of those bumper stickers on my neighbors' SUVs . . .
Obama, supreme mercenary! Killer hired by Wall Street.
Is the State Department's position that its mercenaries in Iraq share the immunity of US diplomats?
Keep the mercenary killers in Iraq so their conduct will be hidden from world view. Mercenaries are not held to the same standards as regular army personnel.
I hope we NEVER have mercenary police in our community...
I'm not betting on their leaving. They'll just be redeployed under a more civilian-sound, friendlier moniker. It's a trademark of the Obomber administration since day one. What better way to appease the savages by "withdrawing" while making the MIC and Big Oil happy by staying.
To occupy a country and to keep occupying forces in a country is an act of war.
Someone has to be there to hold onto the puppet strings. And, of course, there will be the world's biggest "embassy" with the world's biggest embassy staff and military protective force still there (and not mentioned by Obama.)