20,000 security "contractors" in Iraq. Notre Dame adds them for football

[Alpharetta]

Just kidding about the Notre Dame part.

20,000 private security contractors are now in Iraq. They need their own academy (private, of course) w/ a football team, don't you think?

20,000! For comparison purposes, we've got 100,000 troops there.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-04-27-private-security_x.htm

Posted 4/27/2004 10:06 AM
U.S. relies on private security in Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) — The blurring of lines between active-duty U.S. soldiers and contracted security personnel is causing unease in Congress, as violence continues to rise in Iraq.
Some lawmakers worry that private security forces operate too far outside U.S. military control — and laws. And experts wonder what would happen if a contractor did something tragically wrong, like shoot an Iraqi child.

Thirteen Democrats wrote Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld this month to argue that providing security in a hostile area is a classic mission for the military.

"It would be a dangerous precedent if the United States allowed the presence of private armies operating outside the control of a governmental authority and beholden only to those that pay them," wrote the Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota.

In Iraq, they said, the private armies need proper screening and supervision, or they could increase Iraqi resentment.

Roughly 20,000 private security contractors from dozens of companies operate in Iraq under contract with the Coalition Provisional Authority, the U.S.-led governing body in Iraq, plus the Defense Department and other U.S. agencies. Thousands more are on assignments for the United States and others worldwide, including in Afghanistan, taking on jobs like guarding officials, protecting buildings and supply convoys, and training police and soldiers.

(more at link)

[tom_paine]

1. King George needs his Hessians

It allows him to more readily lie about his Fraudulent War to his Imperial Subject.

King Georges haven't changed much in 225 years, have they?

[peacetalksforall]

2. They should call this what it is

A corporate war for CEO's and execs.

They should hire professional soldiers.

They should not call this a U.S. citizen approved war.
They should not use our soldiers or taxes.

We aimed at the enemy, then turned and shot at the wrong people.

[cosmicdot]

3. does this indicate our sovereignty is about as real as Iraq's?

~corporations reign supreme over the law of the land~

I want a candidate and a party to stand-up and tackle corporate america head-on