Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Honestly, none. If the military is being deployed, someone's getting their ass kicked and that's all the American people need to know. Politics are what neutered the lethality of the military. Because public opinion sways when journalists are covering combat. I recall being a kid watching the invasion of Iraq in the first gulf war. Everyone thought that was the coolest thing ever.
Fast forward to Afghanistan and Iraq and footage of IEDs, and ambushes and American casualties oh no... suddenly public opinion goes from, Yeah let's go do war stuff! Until war stuff happens... then it's Bring our boys home, there's no end in sight, civilians are being murdered... yadda yadda. I'd bet money if the same journalism that exists in Iraq and Afghanistan existed in WW1 WW2 Korea and Vietnam, we'd never engage in a war. So my stance is simple.
Want to send folks off to foreign lands to do war, let them do it keep the politicians and journalists out. Attitudes have certainly changed towards being feeble.
I guarantee if folks who hold contempt for military service men actions overseas existed in the 40s wed be speaking Japanese and German. Think of it like this. We stormed Normandy hopped islands in the pacific. Battles were fought in towns cities villages. You don't think there were any French civilian casualties? German civilian casualties? Japanese and Pacific island civilian casualties? Be it from a stray mortar or artillery shell or even a firefight. I'd bet there were. It wasn't reported.
Far as the counter intelligence thing, they can look into it all they want. You'll be pleased to know, that wouldn't happen on tax payers dime.
Then there's the entire legality of it. Do you seriously believe something that has the potential to be a threat to national security would exist? The only thing close to being legal that they would be looking into is another alphabet soup agency that audits and acts like internal affairs. Try hacking the FBI/CIA/NSA. You'd be in prison shortly on the premise of a threat to national security.
Not trying to be condescending or rude... You've no idea what you're talking about.
Military contractors are beholden to their company, their company employs, trains them, equips them and deploys them. Not the .gov they might work for the .gov like the crew at benghazi did...
2 of my friends were contractors after their tours in the Marines were up. 1 did high profile security details, an example would be transport convoy of a diplomat or elected official or candidate in an upcoming election. Instead of BDUs, they wore regular clothes, had better load outs than what they had when they were in the Marines. Better armor. Better chest rigs, the works.
The other claims to have done similar work for the CIA providing security for operatives...
What do elections have anything to do with private contractors? Unless you're implying the ability to declare war...
No. Other way around... There's 3 videos where military contractors bailed the .gov troops out flying wounded out bringing ammo in, in Iraq.
Najaf rooftop.
You must be thinking of Haliburton/civilian contractors like the truck drivers that were always ambushed.
There's also benghazi. Those were not active duty American soldiers. Combat veterans yes, but military contractors.
And people don't already say that as is with the military? Willful ignorance or naivety? Most on the left have shrieked that we only were in Iraq to seize oil... protect big business interests... WMDs were a lie... an excuse...
LOL you just described any public works project in NY. You've described NYSDMV NYSDOT the works... not a private company operating a prison.
I see now the logic you hold. You're either young or have been subject to many OP ED pieces for having so much faith expressed in Government, for the reoccurring of the phrase "Democratic vote". Makes sense now...
Ohh you have much to learn... See... in your mind, the government is a necessity that rarely does wrong because of perceived checks and balances...
No.
In a "perfect world" maybe. In reality LOL hell no. You've no idea the lengths government will go to cover their ass and protect its own.
Because if say I ran a prison, and I was receiving federal or state tax dollars to operate it, the tax payers would be seeing something out of it. So too would the prisoners. They wouldn't be accommodated like they are currently, they'd be paying their debt back to society through labor they would only be in their cell long enough to sleep... As I said, prisoners are an untapped resource with ALOT of potential.
Take a look at our military. I was appalled to learn a Marine was tried on war crimes for shooting an insurgent after a grenade was tossed in the room and they went in. Insurgent, wounded, had enough fight left in him to shoot at the Marines entering the room/building and a marine lights him up and is tried for a crime? Nah... nope. That marine is innocent.
You referencing Blackwater/Triple Canopy, you must be talking about the shooting of civilians in traffic. There were multiple stories and witness accounts as to what had happened. Contractors stated the car in the traffic circle approached the Humvee after being waved to stop and not proceed any further. Others stated they saw what looked to be an attempt to go for an arming device for a bomb or for a gun. They opened fire when the driver didn't stop.
It isn't like they were flying a helicopter shooting civilians for fun. The threat of a suicide car bombing and ambush from a car were very real. My reaction then, is the same as it is now. Ohwell. Don't want to die? Don't disobey the guy with a belt fed in a Humvee motioning for you to stop and to keep distance. Don't want to live under those conditions? Rat the insurgency forces out.
Does it suck civilians got lit up? Yeah. You're only seeing it from the victims stand point. There's 2 sides to each coin, and far too often folks side with victims without ever understanding the context of the entire situation, very easy to armchair QB without ever knowing the entire context of the situation.
Now had it been the US Army, the Marines, etc all parties involved would have been court martialed. And your democratic vote, your tax dollars, would be going to the victims/families because they are government employees. If a stray mortar round takes out a house and wounds 4, uncle sugar is there to "make right" by it.
If a stray mortar fired from a Blackwater operator does the same thing, it's on Blackwaters hands. Perception is everything. War is hell. Not everything goes as according to plan. There may be legitimate cases of neglect, abuse, so on and so forth, the main difference is, we the tax payer do not pay for Blackwaters screw ups.
You cite vice which explains the benefits of a private military contracting company subtle attempt at painting them in a bad light.
Wow...
awesome response... way to substantiate your claims and I love the fact that even though you believe in privatized military forces you understand that a privatized spy network is extraordinary dangerous.
How do you feel about a private for-profit Corporation conducting offensive military operations? Just think about a corporation in charge of invading a country, taking prisoners, interrogations that kind of thing.
Wouldn't you rather be able to fire the person in charge by voting them out of office rather than a business man who stays in charge no matter who you vote for.
Yeah sure. Privatization is public money that is being spent from the public budget. Its taxed , and then allocated by a public "servant". A private transaction involves two private individuals or parties. Again its hilarious to see mercenaries hired by da guberment being propped up as a libertarian principle.
I think the real reason that conservatives and libertarian are shy to respond to this thread is because of our experience in Afghanistan and Iraq Illustrated just how dangerous privatization of military services are
the compendium of evidence associated with these Wars has devastated the conservative libertarian theory that corporations can fight war better than governments.
remember George Bush was not elected Democratically and Halliburton ran those Wars not the American people... those Wars should be an indictment of the conservative libertarian theory of privatizing military operations and they were only partially involved...wait till its 100% corporate controlled.
Everything the corporate machine touched ran costs thru the roof
I am a libertarian and I say rein in the military and make their purpose protecting us from being attacked. Bring all the troops around the world home. And get rid of the intelligence agencies.
Did you actually think about that before you wrote it?
Without intelligence, you won't know about an attack until after it has happened--and if it's an effective attack like Nazi Germany's blitzkrieg on Poland, that will be too late. Even if it's not that overwhelmingly effective, you won't have information to proceed with an effective defense.
Widespread military forces in themselves act as distant tripwires. The more a nation draws its forces to its own borders, the more important intelligence becomes.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
And people don't already say that as is with the military? Willful ignorance or naivety? Most on the left have shrieked that we only were in Iraq to seize oil... protect big business interests... WMDs were a lie... an excuse...
