Another False Ending (military contractors)

[Hannah Bell]

Another false ending to the Iraq war is being declared. Nearly seven years after George Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln, President Obama has just given a major address to mark the withdrawal of all but 50,000 combat troops from Iraq. But, while thousands of US troops are marching out, thousands of additional private military contractors (PMCs) are marching in. The number of armed security contractors in Iraq will more than double in the coming months.

Last month, the Congressional Research Service reported that the Department of Defense (DoD) workforce has 19% more contractors (207,600) than uniformed personnel (175,000) in Iraq and Afghanistan, making the wars in these two countries the most outsourced and privatized in U.S. history.

According to a recent State Department briefing to Congress’s Commission on Wartime Contracting, from now on, instead of soldiers, private military contractors will be disposing of improvised explosive devices, recovering killed and wounded personnel, downed aircraft and damaged vehicles, policing Baghdad’s International Zone, providing convoy security, and clearing travel routes, among other security-related duties.

Worse, the oversight of contractors will rest with other contractors...



http://www.counterpunch.org/quigley09012010.html

[Historic NY]

1. War is big business.

At one time the military did the jobs they now farm out to civilians.

[Javaman]

2. Iraq is the disney land for the corporations.

in a few years, it will be one gigantic sweat shop, where the corps dictate the rules and don't have to deal with messy governments.