Comments on: Blackwater Authorized $1 Million in Secret Payments to Silence Iraqi Officials

By: roro80

roro80 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:06:55 +0000

“detaching from the contractors”

How about just holding them to the law? You know, laws like “don't kill the people we're here to protect” and “don't go to child prostitutes”?

By: GSW1943

GSW1943 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:02:23 +0000

GreenDreams, if we had a large enough standing military, you are right but we don't and haven't shown any inclination to have one. I certainly agree that the price paid for some of this is exorbitant. I was not referring to the mercenary functions performed by some of these companies but to the basic infrastructure activities which probably could have been done by Iraqis but, for security reasons initially and perhaps now, were seen as too risky a choice. My argument is not that this is a good practice but that it is understandably necessary at the outset of operations and then becomes essentially self-perpetuating as operations proceed. Blackwater/Xe has the proper helicopters for State Department use and, until the Iraqis banned its presence, no other company could reasonably commit the resources to try to displace Blackwater/Xe. Even with the door wide open, the new company failed to get helicopters that met the specifications and, when it begins to operate, some of the helicopters it uses will have been supplied by the US government, making them unavailable for use in the operations for which they were intended. I am arguing that the situation becomes complex and detaching from the contractors becomes very difficult and in some instances impossible, not that it is a good situation.

By: GreenDreams

GreenDreams — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:31:11 +0000

Major contractors, GSW? Our armed forces are capable of setting up infrastructure, feeding soldiers, etc. And at far lower cost. Frankly I find it completely insulting to assert that mercenaries ($900 a day soldiers) can do a better job of warring than our troops. As for Haliburton and Bechtel, these were ridiculous decisions. In a country we plunged into chaos, Iraq, we CREATED massive unemployment, then brought in contractors to do work that the Iraqis could have done. Every Iraqi punching a time clock for us is one who is not strapping on a suicide vest. We should have ditched these pricey “friend of Bush” contractors and hired locals. All of them. The cost would have been trivial compared to Halliburton and would have won us the hearts and minds of the Iraqis who could take pride in rebuilding their roads, electricity, water, sewer, hospitals, schools and securing their borders with Syria and Iran.

By: GSW1943

GSW1943 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:47:35 +0000

How many other of the major contractors are in a situation similar to Blackwater/Xe, i.e. have the equipment and know-how to do what the government requires and because those requirements are so large and specific, can reasonably expect that few or no companies will undertake the effort and investment to meet them? How many companies can provide what a Halliburton provides, for example?

If I remember correctly from Vietnam, KBR (now part of Halliburton) essentially provided the support infrastructure for American forces (and possibly for South Vietnam, I don't know) and I don't imagine many, if any, companies could compete with it effectively once it had its people and equipment up and running.

By: “I Don’t Care What You Write” Is The Quote Of The Day « Around The Sphere

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:24:50 +0000

[...] Joe Windish at Moderate Voice: In other Blackwater news, a settlement in a civil suit against the company, now known as Xe, brought by dozens of Iraqis, including the estates of victims allegedly killed by Blackwater employees, has apparently fallen apart. [...]

By: dduck12

dduck12 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:48:29 +0000

Oh, not too worry, the current admin. will not use dirty/questionable tactics.

By: JSpencer

JSpencer — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:14:42 +0000

Our tax dollars at work…