Anyone watch "Private Warriors" on PBS..

[AFSCME girl]

last night? It was another great Frontline program ~ gave some good insight to what is going on with private security (and other) contractors in Iraq.

AFSCME girl

[BlueEyedSon]

1. 3 flavors of ice cream???

I guess I don't *really* support the troops....

[justinsb]

4. The Privatization of War Crimes

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/iraq/abughraib_privatization.html

[Ezlivin]

2. Bombshell: Halliburton/KBR was in Iraq six months prior to the war

Building new facilities.

If this doesn't further support the contentions of the DSM then nothing will.

[Touchdown]

3. KBR was in Kuwait 6 mos. early, not Iraq.

Watch it again.

[Ezlivin]

6. Roger wilco

I'll give it another viewing.

[Ezlivin]

8. Not exactly

Here's an exact transcript from the program:

KBR's trucking hub is Camp Arafjon in Kuwait. It sprawls over ten square miles. Through here, KBR has shipped and delivered 500,000,000 gallons of fuel and 100,000,000 pounds of mail. Of the 50,000 people KBR employs, 13,000 are Americans; the rest are lower-paid workers from the Philippines, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. They work at over 60 sites in Iraq and Kuwait. The first KBR employees arrived six months before the invasion of Iraq. They built the bases and maintained the equipment. While Americans debated whether to go to war, KBR was hard at work.

He does not explicitly say that KBR was building only in Kuwait.

Still, the fact that KBR was gearing up for war before we had decided to go to war is very suspicious.

[mediaman007]

15. When the administration commits that much money to establish

bases in Kuwait, its not likely that they will abandon them because Saddam cooperated.

In fact, if I remember correctly, there was a rush to war to avoid the summer heat. With that many soldiers staged and ready for combat, the administration ran the risk of letting the military wait in the desert and lose their readiness.

Once we began to move soldiers and equipment, there was no doubt in my mind that we were committed to war.

[AFSCME girl]

5. I was AMAZED at the scale

of operations over there. (Not sure what I thought it would be like). All you have to do is watch this program to understand the validity of the DSM. Also, I was on the edge of my seat, too, during the piece describing the ride back to the airport.

[Ezlivin]

9. The ride to the airport was scary as hell

I don't know how they can deal with it psychologically.

Like you, I was on the edge of my seat.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

7. I missed it last night due to a meeting

and it doesn't seem to be on their schedule again. However, it is available on their website

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/

I'll watch it during lunch today

Edited to correct availablity of on-line version - will be available at 1 PM ET

[gatorboy]

10. Thanks so much for the link!

n/t

[donkeyotay]

11. What struck me the most

Was that I saw more about our presence in Iraq in that one show than all the television news I've seen combined. Even though I keep up through internet and print media, visually it was shocking to see more about what it's like there, more than just a quick clip of another smoldering, wrecked vehicle.

[AFSCME girl]

14. That's what I thought, too.

From detailing the scale of daily operations (catering, housing, etc.) to the driving tactics needed for survival, it was a very informative show.

[AlCzervik]

12. here is a good article about this from 04

http://www.alternet.org/story/18588

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

13. We have an issue about contractors in a nearby town

A police officer wanted a LOA to take a job with a contractor in Iraq. It was denied so he resigned (?took early retirement) and went to work in Iraq. Now he's back and wants his job back. He's suing the town because they refuse to give it back. They had taken the position that he was resigning to take a job in the private sector. If he were in the reserves and called to active duty , or if he enlisted, it would have been a different story.

[Robert Oak]

16. wish they hadn't mentioned the ice cream

truly that's not the real issue and of course everyone is focused
in on the ice cream.

try the billing of gas @ 100x the original cost of the fuel...
try the private military abandoned in Columbia because they are "corporate" employees or how about the "rent-a-coup" private contractors? That's impressive, if one has enough money one
can walk in and overthrow a government!

On the website, there is a link to this overview article
http://www.brookings.edu/views/articles/fellows/singer20050301.htm
and he's written a book also.

Now here is where the scary aspects of this all are. They are mentioned in the Frontline piece which was daring, bold and exceptional..but damn ice cream is now the focus point. Jesus.

My favorite is Abu Ghraib where it's clear contractors were involved
and absolutely nothing happened to them.
That has always stunk to high heaven to me and so unfair to wack those
privates and nobody but nobody paid any consequences.

[CatWoman]

17. oops -- didn't see this thread

you can watch online now.

I'm watching: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/view/