It would seem yet another highly clandestine, disgraceful and perhaps felonious chapter of the Bush Administration is ready to see the light of day in the form of BLACKWATER. It is becoming more and more debatable which armed military force is actually in charge in Iraq. Blackwater USA bills itself on its own web page as the most comprehensive professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping and stability operations in the world. I can only assume they made this claim after analyzing the US military as a comparative military force. The Bush administration calls Blackwater a security force. If Bush were capable of telling the truth, he would refer to Blackwater's role in Iraq as what they really are, MERCENARIES. You know, individuals who fight solely for wages. In this particular case, very good wages. Many of these so called Blackwater soldiers of fortune, are reportedly making as much as ten times as much money as the very GIs they're providing "security" for.
Bush loves to threaten opponents of this war who talk about cutting off the funding of it, as putting the troops in mortal danger. I now wonder which troops he was referring to, the US Military, Blackwater, Bechtel or Haliburton? The aforementioned corporations have made billions of dollars in Iraq with very few positive results to show for it. This is like needing major roof repairs after a hurricane. You're constantly paying the contractors thousands of dollars every few months and all you have to show for it, is massive leaking and an inability to get a straight answer on the rare occasion a representative takes your phone call.
TYPICAL ROOFING CONTRACTOR
Blackwater recently emerged from the shadows early last week when US puppet/Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced the secretive Republican connected company was being expelled from Iraq for fatally shooting eleven Iraqi civilians following a car bomb attack against a State Department convoy. Not to worry however, in a blatantly, transparent disregard of al-Maliki's banishment of Blackwater, the US State Dept. late Friday approved the company to resume escorting American officials in Baghdad, just days after the fatal shootings took place.The very shootings that precipitated the Iraqi government's condemnation of the company's conduct and revoke the immunity its employees enjoy from Iraqi law. It would seem Bush has placed severe restrictions on Iraq's sovereignty and independence when it's not convenient to him. That shouldn't be a surprise on American soil either.The same restrictions are placed on US citizens as well, when The Decider decides democracy interferes with his delusions of grandeur.
Blackwater is alleged to employ up to 1,500 mercenaries, er private security forces in Iraq. In all, there are at least 180,000 civilians - including Americans, foreigners and Iraqis that are working in Iraq under U.S. contracts, according to State and Defense department figures obtained by the Los Angeles Times. This of course means there are more private contractors receiving vast amounts of US dollars, than there are Soldiers receiving significantly smaller amounts of US dollars. “These numbers are big,” said Peter Singer, a Brookings Institution scholar who has written on military contracting. “They illustrate better than anything that we went in without enough troops. This is not the coalition of the willing. It’s the coalition of the billing.”
The Los Angeles Times performed extensive research based in part on a database of contractors in Iraq they obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, which allows the public access to government records. The information provided in the government records found about 130,000 of the 180,000 contractors are presently working for 632 companies holding contracts in Iraq with the Defense Department and a handful of other federal agencies. The status of the 50,000 contractors not listed in this report are presently unknown. In other words, there are at least 20,000 more private contractors in Iraq than there are US soldiers. So as previously noted, where exactly do Bush's loyalties lie. Is it with the 160,000 young kids who fervently believe they're fighting for their country, or the 180,000 private contractors/mercenaries who are positively fighting for their expanding bank accounts? Let's also be real and acknowledge none of these 632 companies who've signed fat contracts with the government, enabling them to make even fatter profits, would be in this position if they didn't enjoy a very cozy campaign contributing relationship with the Corrupter-in-Chief.
As the captain of the Titanic must have noted soon after his luxury liner was fatally damaged, this is the just the tip of the iceberg. Any number of US Corporations can claim money is being made hand over fist as idealistic soldiers and innocent Iraqi civilians are being killed every day. If the US Senators and Congressional Representatives were able to reap the benefits of having a spine, they would stop funding this war yesterday. Some serious people may feel what's going on in Iraq with the increasingly more overt corruption and pillaging of the treasury to be more important than an opinion ad in the New York Times. Americans have to start opening their eyes and seeing the facts as opposed to closing their minds and listening to George Bush. Every US Soldier death and private contractor dollar earned is happening on our watch. I think we've sat idly by and watched enough, what about you??????
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