We’re paying foreigners to die in Iraq, so we don’t have to.

[Paragon]

The U.S. is hunting mercenaries -- so we can put them to work. Some of the most dangerous jobs in Iraq, formerly carried out by American and British service people, have been handed over to soldiers of fortune.

The continuing strain on coalition forces in Iraq, coupled with a desire to shift casualties from the "U.S. service people" column to the "We don't legally have to report some foreign guy getting blown up by a bomb" category, has led to a massive shifting of duties. Mercenaries, some provided by private military companies, some hired independently, are now guarding U.S. bases, manning checkpoints, providing security to travelers and driving unarmored trucks loaded with fuel, food, weapons, and other supplies.

The use of commercial forces to bolster U.S. military action is nothing new. Increasingly over the last ten years, the U.S. has relied on private military companies to provide additional personnel when the Pentagon finds itself short. Hiring help is cheaper than maintaining a standing army -- even if it will cost the defense department an estimated $30 billion this year alone. In practice, however, the ethical ramifications of paying for war sometimes outweigh the economic benefits. Private soldiers aren't held to as many regulations, and their actions rarely end up in Defense department reports open to the prying eyes of FOIA. In Bosnia, for instance, the U.N. discovered that the private military personnel provided by a company called DynCorp, were buying and selling prostitutes on the side. One of their victims was a 12-year-old girl.

The U.S. Department of State provides a short list of security companies operating in Iraq, just a small sample of the hundreds known to be carrying out operations. Most of these organizations, self-defined as "risk management agencies" are based in the U.S. or in the U.K., but some hail from India, Kuwait, and South Africa.

(more)
http://www.knotmag.com/?article=1145

[Kellanved]

1. strange, I was about to post this somewhat similar article

Cannon Fodder

John Horvath 10.02.2004
A small profile of who is being killed in Iraq

Another day, and another two or three American soldiers are killed in Iraq. The body count still hasn't hit critical mass yet, a number that will start to turn the public more actively against the White House as during the Vietnam War. Usually this number is around a thousand, for three zeros at the end somehow conveys a sense of largess. Coupled with this, another year or so and people in the US will get fed up; Americans like their wars short and sweet, not more than a few months or couple of years at the most, coupled with a clear and concise victory. In Iraq, it has been anything but that.

But more important than this, is the profile of those being killed. As the nature of wars change, so too do the types of soldiers being asked to kill and be killed. No doubt nationalism plays a part (or as Americans like to call their particular brand, "patriotism"), but this is less so than in the past. Most look to the armed forces as a "career", that is, a quick and easy way to make a living, usually because they can't find a job doing anything else.

As a result, many ethnic groups who don't fit the WASP (White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant) profile find themselves on the front lines defending American capitalism from Islamic fundamentalism. Some make the choice of their own free will; others are cajoled my recruitment officers. And many of them aren't even American.

There is no level to which American authorities would stoop in order to enlist cannon fodder for Uncle Sam's misadventures. This includes duping native North Americans from Canada into joining the US army. The lengths to which some recruiters would go got so bad that the Pentagon at the end of last year had to make a promise to the Canadian government that they would stop recruiting aboriginal Canadians. Subsequently, senior Pentagon officials warned their recruiters to stay out of Canada.

...
http://www.heise.de/tp/english/inhalt/co/16719/1.html



Edit: changed the post title, to reflect that the articles aren't as similar, as I had thought.

[brokensymmetry]

2. Outsourcing taken to it's logical conclusion.

Gad. Even our military jobs are being sent offshore.

We don't feed ourselves. We don't clothe ourselves. And now we don't even defend ourselves. We let someone else do it.

And when we, soft, tender little lambkins that we are, get just a little softer...a wonder what those many "someone elses" will do?

Why do I keep thinking of a heard of sheep surrounded by hungry wolves?

[Mari333]

4. defend ourselves from what?

Iraq never attacked us..if anything, we have sent our kids off to a place we should have NEVER gone to, and now we are seeing the results..these kids realize its a LIE as to why we went there and NO ONE wants to re enlist, and the military has lost its credibility as much as Bu$h has lost his credibility..
In the long run, maybe this will be the DOWNfall of the military industrial complex that needs war, which is a BUSINESS that throws our kids into these bloodbaths for greed and power.
http://www.mfso.org
http://www.bringthemhomenow.com

[brokensymmetry]

5. Defending ourselves from all the friends we've made.

Seriously, a number of hornet's nests have been stirred up. The world may forgive our little lapse - it may not.

[Mari333]

3. This is why the Bu$h administration wants immigrants

not only cheap labour over the border but also cannon fodder...easy marks to throw into the PNAC wars and keep the military industrial complex loaded with bodies to use to secure their agenda and monies..
Its pretty easy to figure out
and the recruiters also show up in our small town offering the kids a world on a string, and lying to them about money..telling them they will give them money if they sign 3 other kids up...
I wrote a letter to the local rag and warned the parents in town this was going on..I pray they all read it and are warning their kids..they dont want to have to go thru what military families are going thru now, believe me
http://www.mfso.org
http://www.bringthemhomenow.com