This week promises to be busy, so I'm going to point you in the right directions and you'll have to take it from there. If you need to be spoon-fed, well, you know where to go. Let's start here:
Census Counts 100,000 Contractors in Iraq
Civilian Number, Duties Are Issues
By Renae Merle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 5, 2006; Page D01
There are about 100,000 government contractors operating in Iraq, not counting subcontractors, a total that is approaching the size of the U.S. military force there, according to the military's first census of the growing population of civilians operating in the battlefield.
And a bit more here:
Silent surge in contractor 'armies'
... Having civilians working in war zones is as old as war itself. But starting with US military action in the Balkans and Colombia in the mid-1990s and accelerating rapidly in Afghanistan and Iraq, the number and activity of contractors has greatly increased. Coming from dozens of countries, hired by hundreds of companies, contractors have seen their numbers rise faster than the Pentagon's ability to track them.
And the latest exciting development:
Iraqis Order Blackwater out of Iraq -- But Will It Leave?
Following a Baghdad shootout yesterday that left at least nine civilians dead, security-contractor giant Blackwater will no longer be permitted to operate in Iraq, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry.
The Interior Ministry's decision is likely to be a source of friction between the U.S. Embassy and Iraq. Not only does Blackwater guard many important U.S. officials there, but the embassy is unlikely to want a precedent established that allows the Iraqi government to kick out U.S. contractors for excessive use of force.
But what I think is just the bestest part of it all:
"A week ago today, Gen. David H. Petraeus started his rounds on Capitol Hill, reporting that security in Iraq was improving to the point that a small number of troops could begin coming home by year's end.
But 10 days ago, his commanders in Baghdad began advertising for private contractors to work in combat-supply warehouses on U.S. bases throughout Iraq because half the soldiers who had been working in the warehouses were needed for patrols, combat and protection of U.S. forces.
"With the increased insurgent activity, unit supply personnel must continue to pull force protection along with convoy escort and patrol duties," according to a statement of work that accompanied the Sept. 7 request for bidders from Multi-National Force-Iraq."
For some reason, I have this image of an irresistible force and an immovable object ...
P.S. If the Iraqi government says it wants Blackwater out, and the U.S. government says no, that's going to strain that whole definition of Iraqi "sovereignty" just a wee bit, don't you think?
17 comments:
CC you must envy the Blogging Tories,you keep talking about them every other day!!
I mean are you able to have a conversation without criticism? It surly doesn't seem like
it from where I'm standing.I mean you should try it you'll
feel better.:)
Holy shit.
I meant to say something about the appalling violence, the uncontrolled criminality, and the obviously compromised nature of Iraq's sovereignty in response to your excellent post.
Then, I see that a right-winger also has a response.
A completely oblivious, self-righteous screed of utter stupidity.
Get off my planet you moron.
They're not sovereign. They're the 51st State, they just don't realize it yet.
Much like the American people, the Iraqis have no choice.
I mean are you able to have a conversation without criticism? It surly doesn't seem like
it from where I'm standing.I mean you should try it you'll
feel better.:)
By The Right is Where its At, at 11:21 AM
Are you capable of conversation at all?
Why don't you go commit some crimes and use the right wings's 'Clinton Did it First' defense. Then you can be just like your leadership.
The right is where it sat - Surly you jest.
Yegods. They will never get rid of Blackwater, those righteous Christian gunmen protecting all the land God has given to 'Murica.
Now the veils will come off, and nobody will be able to make the stupid and untrue claim about Iraqi "sovereignty" -- not even the Iraqi puppets.
Iraq is America's property by right of conquest, and they're not going to let any native inhabitants dare tell them what they can or can't do with their property, by god.
"They're not sovereign. They're the 51st State, they just don't realize it yet."
Oh great. Now Puerto Rico will get all pissy and send Carlos Colon over to set them straight.
E in MD 1:24pm
#Are you capable of conversation at all"?
"Why don't you go commit some crimes and use the right wings's 'Clinton Did it First' defense. Then you can be just like your leadership."
E in MD are you the new
spokesperson for cc?
hey 'wrong is where it's at'--how about you answer the question instead of trolling.
How about you surprise us with your discerning views on the issues.
Though I won't be holding my breath.
Sparky i don't have to
answer to you now do I?
Is it ok with you Sparky?
E in MD are you the new
spokesperson for cc?
You are the spokesman for who? Speaking for myself, I always write idiots off that succomb immediately to tired ad hominum as the first words out of their mouths.
(1)Extremely witty name there, rightiswhereitsat. I'll have you know the the left rocks, we rule, et-fucking-cetera. I am in grade 3 and I think you are so cool, can you teach me how to come up with nifty-keen names?
BTW - my personal attacks? You reap what you sow, junior. If you had any sort of a half-assed point to make, you would get a proper retort.*
* Go read (1) again, if you are bitchin' w-winger dude.
rightiswhereitsat -- I'd be very interested in your views on this actual post. I'm serious. Tell me what you think of Blackwater, and the sovereign Iraqi state asking them to leave.
I really mean it. I'd like to know what you think.
PHYL I don't know much
about Blackwater! So I don't have a comment on it.
This was not my point.It is that everytime that i come here to see what is going on it seems to me
that cc is Jealous of
the Blogging Tories.
Every day Blogging Tories this and Blogging Tories that.
Is it just possible that people can disagree without criticism name
calling or profanity
like mikmik does or CC?
This is my point of my post not Blackwater I don't know who is right or wrong I don't know anything about it.
God, it's a little bit frightening, isn't it?
"right", the thing is, if you did check the content of posts like this one -- stuff about Blackwater, for example, who are extremely dangerous (do some googling; it's frightening) -- it would eventually become clear that maybe the reason we go on the way we do is that the crowd on the right is frequently terribly, terribly, terribly dangerous. Not just the worst threat to the peace of the world, but in my opinion, the way they're so eager to drop a nuke on someone, they're a danger to the very existence of the world.
And the BTs are aiding and abetting them. You can understand why, if we feel that world view threatens the existence of the world, we get exceedingly irritated when its proponents appear to be either stupid, or deliberately lying to themselves and their readers. The latter possibility is worst of all.
You may not agree with this view of things, but I suspect you can understand the logic of it.
And you know...one could just as easily say that because you seem to be so preoccupied with CC, you're jealous of him. Can you see how that sort of accusation ends up being pretty pointless? It's no more true about you than it is about him.
It's a lot more productive if you check the posts to see if maybe, just maybe, he's pointing out some facts. The Blackwater issue is a perfect example.
I really would be interested, if you do some googling about them, to see what you end up thinking about them. I think we could have a decent conversation about that, without resorting to my calling you "jealous of CC" or you calling him "jealous of the BTs."
War profiteering... Have you been reading Shock Doctrine CC? If not you should definitely pick it up.
1. One of the things I have been trying to get across for some time is that Iraq is an important patronage center. This is an important lesson for the CPOC's. It's a way of laundering the taxpayer's money. Part of Blackwater's take finds its way back to the GOP. It is the two-way nature of this contract that makes Balckwater — and the other contractors — secure.
If there's one thing Iraqis can understand, it's the cost of influence. The Iraqi respect for cronyism, nepotism, patronage & c is one of the ultimate alibi's the GOP has advanced for the apparent lack of progress in Iraq, despite the fact that Iraq is in a perpetual state of improvement. Certainly the Iraqi's can show some understanding of the GOP's prolem here, in view of all the understanding the GOP has afforded the Iraqi's.
2. As the conversation on this issue has developed, it has raised the critical issue of BT envy. CC's apparent case of BT envy is potentially far more damaging than Iraqi posturing about Blackwater (which wouldn't have been such a big issue if Blackwater had shot up some neighborhood other than Monsouer, where all the rich guys live.)
Unfortunately, we cannot consult Freud on CC's issue since it does not appear that Sigmund foresaw the CC problem. We ourselves must help CC deal with this issue.
So, please help. How can we make CC a bigger prick than the BT's, so he can work out of his debilitating BT envy?
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