Airing Now - Texas Fred Takes On AP Contractors Story
Alright readers, it’s time to be PatDollard.com Bloggers. I’d like everyone whose got that special rant in them to let loose for the world. Send me yours at submit AT patdollard.com, along with a photo, and I’ll post it on the front page as the latest featured Reader Post. Today’s most excellent piece was written by Texas Fred.
(AP) - There are now nearly as many private contractors in Iraq as there are U.S. soldiers - and a large percentage of them are private security guards equipped with automatic weapons, body armor, helicopters and bullet-proof trucks.
They operate with little or no supervision, accountable only to the firms employing them. And as the country has plummeted toward anarchy and civil war, this private army has been accused of indiscriminately firing at American and Iraqi troops, and of shooting to death an unknown number of Iraqi citizens who got too close to their heavily armed convoys.
Not one has faced charges or prosecution.
There is great confusion among legal experts and military officials about what laws - if any - apply to Americans in this force of at least 48,000.
Yes, there are a lot of private contractors in Iraq, the military doesn’t do a damn thing to take care of itself any more, they have private corporations doing the cooking, cleaning, washing and God only knows what else, I don’t know if it’s cheaper that way or just easier but contractors in a war zone are a way of life now a days, and mercenary forces are going to be a part OF that private force too, it is unavoidable…
“this private army has been accused of indiscriminately firing at American and Iraqi troops, and of shooting to death an unknown number of Iraqi citizens who got too close to their heavily armed convoys”, I know some of these operators that are working as private agents in Iraq and they HAVE shot some supposed Iraqis that approached too closely the convoys or personnel they are there to protect, that’s their job, it’s what they are being paid to do, but to think that they would be so stupid as to fire on American forces is the most ridiculous claim I have ever heard, they KNOW, our guys shoot back and other than the accusation made by the AP writer, I see NO citation backing up the accusation that contractors have fired on American troops…
They operate in a decidedly gray legal area. Unlike soldiers, they are not bound by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Under a special provision secured by American-occupying forces, they are exempt from prosecution by Iraqis for crimes committed there.
The security firms insist their employees are governed by internal conduct rules and by use-of-force protocols established by the Coalition Provisional Authority, the U.S. occupation government that ruled Iraq for 14 months following the invasion.
The private guys do have a set of rules, and those rules are decidedly different from the UCMJ that our troops adhere to, and in most cases they try to follow those guidelines I am sure, but when the rounds start going off, all bets are off too, these guys aren’t taking bullshit from anyone, they are not there to be ‘peacemakers’, they aren’t diplomats, they are mercenaries, plain and simple, hired guns, there is NO nice way to say it, they are mercs and they WILL get the job done…
“They operate in a decidedly gray legal area. Unlike soldiers, they are not bound by the Uniform Code of Military Justice.” , yes they do, and they are under contract to the Iraqi government and operate under THEIR laws, not the UCMJ or U.S. laws and as such they operate under a whole different set of circumstances, that’s why they have the effectiveness they do, maybe the DoD should consider privatizing Iraq, it would be fought much more efficiently if the U.S. government got out of it and let those not so politically correct take care of business as it should be…
I’m going to tell you folks something that most of the milbloggers either are too scared to tell you, don’t know about or are just not willing to admit, once you leave the confines of the wire, once you’re out of the Green Zone and out in the countryside, it’s a lot closer to being in the old west, circa the 1870’s to the early 1900’s than anything you can imagine, the main difference is, the weapons are better, that is the biggest difference, you’re still in ‘Indian Territory’ and they are still trying to kick your ass…
The private contractors are the ‘gunslingers’ of the old west and the Army is the modern day cavalry, and they both will get the job done, in their own way, and eventually Iraq will be settled, or the battle will continue, at least for the private contractors, their motivation is MONEY, lots and lots of money…
But many soldiers on the ground - who earn in a year what private guards can earn in just one month - say their private counterparts should answer to a higher authority, just as they do. More than 60 U.S. soldiers in Iraq have been court-martialed on murder-related charges involving Iraqi citizens.
And here lies the biggest gripe, our own military…
Private contractors make more per year than most General Officers with none of the headaches or political ass kissing the brass has to do, and they operate under a much more relaxed set of ROE’s, jealousy plays into this equation in my opinion, but if the Army wants the mercs out, have the Iraqis change their laws, and then send the mercs home, but before you do that, you had better consider the consequences of what it means to lose all those friendly guns and the men behind them…
Full Story & more of Texas Fred, Here
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600 Mercs put down two rebellions in Africa..and got kicked out because of the UN and BC. Mercs are an important asset to the GWOT…Get used to seeing them. And in the case of Africa they were more effective than 16,000 wimpy ROE-infested UN peacekeepers.
In a war zone, you need all the friendly “guns” that you can get watching your back.
August 15th, 2007 at 8:13 am/me waves goodbye to the Mercs.
In my opinion they shouldn’t even be allowed in the country. That is why we have the Military.
Not stick a bunch of poorly trained guys in there with a bunch of big guns and trucks.
“it would be fought much more efficiently if the U.S. government got out of it and let those not so politically correct take care of business as it should be…”
Does that piss anybody else off?
August 15th, 2007 at 10:40 amI support any and every military that “takes the gloves off” and leaves them off. Radical Muslim have fought without gloves from the beginning. The PC has to die.
August 15th, 2007 at 11:01 amI worked ‘Nam as a merc,if you want to call it that,in a technical field,yes I was armed,everybody was.Had a number of close calls,Danang,Phu Bai/Hue during Tet in ‘68. All wars have contractors to provide expertise/labor in areas where they may be deficient.
August 15th, 2007 at 2:02 pmFrom ‘65 to ‘75 there were approx.300,000 contractors employed in ‘Nam.I feel I provided a valuable service to the US military and have many friends from that time. As a Navy,Nasa Veteran I had the training and clearances required.
Apparently not, tell me, why does it piss you off??
August 15th, 2007 at 2:18 pmNot having been to Iraq I cannot comment on how contractors operate in that theater. However from my experience in Afghanistan, all of us there actually fall under UCMJ authority. I am only assuming that the same can be said for contractors in Iraq. Like most MSM reporting it seems as if the the article was intended to inflame the masses that unchecked and unregulated “mercenaries” are running rampant in Iraq. Just my opinion.
August 15th, 2007 at 4:38 pmPrivate Security Contractors are not Mercenaries. Mercenaries fight for anyone who will pay them i.e. if the enemy “out bid” the US, Iraq or Afghanistan’s government or a private entity then a “mercenary” would gladly work for them, this is not the case for a “private security contractor”. Most private security contractors are just that “under contract” so they pay for(equipment, insurance, transportation etc. etc.)i.e. all of the costs of doing business. Because of these costs the amount they are paid must be more than a US military person whose compensation includes medical, retirement, life insurance, burial, dependents health care housing and other allowances and priviledges etc.etc. Security contracts are for specific services not random killing or indiscriminate use of force. These acts are illegal and bad for business and not the focus of legitimate private security contractors. Private security contractors can only gain access to the country they will perform services for or in via the host nations embassy or the liberating powers authority.
August 15th, 2007 at 4:44 pmI am and have been doing PSD in al anbar for 2 years now. We do fall under the UCMJ and we do fill out reports after every contact we are in. Also everyone here is prior Marines or Special Forces.
August 15th, 2007 at 5:45 pmI would also like to add that those heavly armored vehicles dont tend to react so well to car bombs. The cars following to closely that you might have seen somewhere are all given the same warnings as the military gives to everyone else on the road.
Kelson Stewart:
The mercs that I was referring to are all ex-service members. Many of whom were US SOF, Brit SOF, and French SOF, and SA SOF. All highly skilled people.
I have several friends who are contractors in Iraq…all of them are ex-senior military officers…some Marines, some Army. All are excellent shots.
So what exactly is your beef?
August 16th, 2007 at 5:03 amIt is a shame that the Mil can’t seem to wipe its’ own ass these days. But, until that changes, we will have to hire people to do it for us.
August 16th, 2007 at 5:40 amI’ve been forwarded the daily journals of a Blackwater contractor from my city. If even half of what he writes is true, and I have no reason to doubt any of it, they earn the money they make in spades. AND there are scores and scores of rescued hostages that would take great umbrance with anyone that degrades their rescuers.
There are also scores and scores of dead insurgants and Alqueda because of these guys, and the Iraqis the operators train. And there are lots and lots of Iraqis and foreign dignitaries alive because of their protection services.
These aren’t your soldier want-to-bees. They are your top anti-terrorism professionals that are trained to peak perfection, the modern day Spartans, that put their necks out in some really scary places, and they don’t have a calvary coming when the shit hits the fan.
Think of it this way: whose going to pay that kind of money for a bunch of dickheads who can simply carry a rifle when the country in question has a few million of them lying around waiting for work? Nobody, of course. Those contractors are the best of the best.
August 16th, 2007 at 8:20 amROFLMFAO….
Let me tell you something pal, the guys at Blackwater will go where the money is, that’s WHY they’re private contractors… Scruples has little to do with it, Iraq is the cash box right now, that’s all…
And I did say there are ’some’ rules, but their interpretation is rather loose most of the time, private security guys do whatever it takes to get the job done, PERIOD…
August 16th, 2007 at 10:00 pmHey Dan (The Infidel), I think Kelson was a ‘drive by bleeding heart’, I doubt there will be a response, and like you, all the guys I know in business in Iraq are former Marines, higher ranking NCO’s and Officers, or ex-SF guys, and a few retired spooks, and yes, these guys ARE professionals, but they will go apeshit fucking nuts all over some raghead in less time than it takes to tell about it…
Some folks need a solid version of reality to slap ‘em in the face every once in a while, and I’d slap Kelson, but shit splatters and I ain’t cleaning up Pat’s blog…
August 16th, 2007 at 10:06 pmT.F:
LOL. Yeppirs. Most of the guys I was referring to all work for Blackwater. And ALL of them are ex-military high speed types. I wouldn’t fuck with them. I’d like to see ol Kelson say his shit to one of their faces. Guarantee he won’t do it no more. Them boys take their jobs mighty serious-like…
August 17th, 2007 at 3:26 pmAnd if they won’t take no shit from AQI or the Mook-monster…ol Kelson here wouldn’t have a prayer. He’s all hat and no cow.
I have read something about these private contractors ; former legionnaires were recruited for Irak through their officines too ; they do advertising on our papers ; mercs were used in lots of african countries and still are.
we had a few scandals with some of them
August 19th, 2007 at 7:38 am