Death Without Honors (Contractors in Iraq)

[whatelseisnew]

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-contractors15jan15,0,827064.story?coll=ny-leadworldnews-headlines
...
America has never fought a war like this one — where the enemy is nowhere and everywhere, where civilians do the jobs once performed by soldiers, and where middle-aged grandfathers die alongside 19-year-old infantrymen. This is the country's first outsourced war, where civilians provide the twin military backbones of logistics and supply.
...
No organization keeps an official list of dead contractors, according to Stan Soloway of the Professional Services Council, a trade group whose members include military contractors. He said the group represents 30,000 contractors in Iraq, with the total number of contractors there two to three times that.

Soloway estimated that 200 to 250 contractors had been killed in Iraq since March 2003. An unofficial tally based on news reports and maintained by the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, a private research group, puts the number at 202, including 72 Americans.

Halliburton, with 40,000 employees and contractors in the Middle East, says 63 of its workers have died in Iraq — more than any other firm, according to Soloway.

[leftchick]

1. They are mercenaries like these guys babysitting Allawi.....

And are paid a king's ransom for their "work"....

[Dems Will Win]

2. Actually most are Special Ops forced to "retire", then Bush steals

that hundred thousand a year they are paid with his cronies. It was on the Randi Rhodes Show when some of them called up to complain about how they were forced to retire and become mercenaries.

Maybe that's why we hardly use Special Ops units anyomore...

[Redstone]

3. Oh, those poor people...

"forced to retire and become mercenaries"

Maybe they were indeed "forced to retire," but the idea that they're "forced to become mercenaries" is utter bullshit, and not about to get any sympathy from me.

These guys can't think of any other way to make a living than killing people?

Fuck 'em. They know the risks they take when they sign on. If you're going to be in a war zone, dressed in military clothing, and waving a rifle around, you are making yourself fair game.

Don't want to get shot? Then don't go to where the shooting is.

Redstone

[leetrisck]

5. I don't hear them asking for sympathy

from you or from anyone else. And the military shouldn't join the miltary and shouldn't go where there sent if they don't want to get shot and george will continue to hide behind all those coffins that we aren't allowed to see.

[don954]

24. our special ops people train as much as most

people seeking a doctorate go to a university. They intend to retire on a military pension. We train a special ops force 'cause they are more surgical & have greater effect than a 100,000 man army. Turning one of the greatest military assets our nation has into merc forces is just criminal.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

9. It is, literally, a 'king's ransom', isn't it.

[leftchick]

14. indeed it is...

;)

[Rockerdem]

4. Point of historical clarification

Contrary to the article, this is not entirely unprecedented. During the Civil War, private contractors provided massive amounts of materiel (food, clothing, horses, etc.) to the Union armies operating in the various theaters. I'm sure that many of us remember pictures of their long mule trains that followed the military from base to base. Many of them were raided, with personnel killed and wounded in the skirmishes.

[0007]

8. Poor analogy!

[Rockerdem]

13. If you knew your history you wouldn't be saying that

A lot of Civil War contractors were worse than the present ones. They were held in more general contempt. Wormy food and shoddy clothing and shoes were commonplace, but, like now, profiteering was the biggest complaint.

[0007]

16. Like I said poor analogy!

[leftchick]

22. I agree 0007

very poor.

[leesa]

6. TOUGH SHIT!

[0007]

7. The article should read "Death without Transparency"

Why? Cuz it kind of like those big corporations that hide their money in off shore banking schemes. It is like those same big corporations that suck everything they can out of the worker and give to their rich friends.

"Death Without Honors" is for one ripping off another country in the name of Democracy for Halliburton & the Carlyle boys and the likes, while in the same breath we don't want the folks here in this country to know the truth.

[Coventina]

10. Should be: "Death Without Honor"

These thugs are in it for the money. They know the risks, but are willing to put up with it because of the pay.

I HAVE ZERO SYMPATHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[leftchick]

11. and some of them do it...

because they like to kill people. The pay is secondary.

[TahitiNut]

15. How about "Service Without Virtue and Death Without Honor"?

There's nothing "virtuous" about a privateer ... not only about the mercenaries, but about their "owners" who profit without risk, without honor, without virtue, and without morals.

Privateers can hang, as they have for hundreds of years. F*ck 'em.

[RetroLounge]

12. Like I give a fuck about Mercs.

Maybe the problem is that the Hallibuton employees getting killed are at the bottom of the Org Chart.

RL

[Horse with no Name]

17. I know one of those "poor" folks

He makes so much money he can't ever spend it.
He has been in the middeast since 9-11.
He buys members of his families luxury homes and cars just because he has so much money he can't do anything with it.
He is single and in his 30's--no strings other than his mother.
Very good looking but enjoys (?) his work and loves the money. It is his mistress.
Let's face the reality...most of those guys go over there for the fast dollar that they don't have to pay taxes on--they are as much mercenaries as the guys weilding guns and indirectly, they do contribute to the harm of the Iraqi people.
My uncle worked for KBR in Houston and went to the middeast for a year after GW and when he came home, he had made enough money to retire in his 40's.
Kind of reminds me of selling your soul to the devil and hoping you win.

[leetrisck]

18. Then he must be a thief

also.

[Horse with no Name]

21. Not understanding why you say that but

he receives legitimate paychecks from the U.S. government.
You may argue that the job he does isn't savory--but it is legit and he is not a thief.
It is entirely possible that the people you are familiar with aren't doing the same job as he is--he escorts these people around like the one you see in the pic above.

[DulceDecorum]

19. Whenever a mercenary dies,

the world improves considerably.

BushCo has run out of money and the dollar has collapsed.
Those boys are going to be paid in hot lead
and NOT in cold gold.
With a bit of luck,
they might just take the matter up with Congress.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

[NYC]

20. High pay for high risk.

Without the high risk, they wouldn't be earning high wages. I doubt any of them are naive enough not to see the connection.

[coreystone]

23. Anybody see the TV ads for the "Mercenaries" computer game?

It is quite a mind job. I hope there are enough parents out there who will monitor games such as this. This one is really sick. Get 'em while they're young. Mind warp them to confuse a game with reality. Please GOOGLE it up! You can blow the crap out of anything, then blow the crap out of it again, etc. Quite ILL !!