With the Obama Administration having successfully transitioned public perception of the Iraq War into something in the past, the 50,000 US troops still on the ground are still engaging in combat missions, even if no one is calling them that officially anymore.
But less often mentioned are the massive army of private security contractors, tens of thousands of whom remain in Iraq and continue to go on largely as they have, fighting the same war they have been fighting for seven and a half years.
And that number is growing, not shrinking, and with the administration understandably reticent about letting the cat out of the bag by having US troops engaging in the most dangerous combat missions (lest they explain why combat soldiers who aren’t supposed to be there anymore are still getting kill in a war that was supposed to be over), those contractors are taking on an increasing share of the load.
It has hardly been secret that the State Department has been harranguing the Defense Department to give them heavy equipment with which to arm what is being called by officials a “small army,” nor that they intend to send this army on combat missions. But though this second army isn’t supposed to take over the war formally until after 2011, it seems they are already in many ways in place, and taking part in a war that many have been conned into believing is already over.
The war isn't over? Surely this can't be true. President Obama said it was. He wouldn't lie, would he?
50,000 troops still there and many more contractors. Once contractors did jobs like plumbing and carpentry. Now, with the help of the U.S. Government, they go out and kill people and have all the latest technology to assist them.
This innovation by the American Government demonstrates the insanity that prevails in the White House and the Pentagon. Setting up private militias is no way to achieve peace.
Then neither is waging war!
The state department seems to be building its own private Praetorian guard. Worrisome…
From the start, this entire misadventure in the Middle East was a well thought out scheme to swindle the US taxpayer of billions and billions of dollars.
Hundreds of thousands of lives lost, seven years later and billions of dollars down the drain and what does the US have to show for it all? Nothing.
But, if you asked the average knuckle dragger on the street who continues to buy into the propaganda, he'll say, "We liberated them".
The contractors, however, have made a killing, both literally and figuratively.
$triilions.
1- Look people.., The first world war was about dominating the world, second world war was about the same thing done and started with the German fascism, the first world war not finished before the second WW started so the second world war is not finished yet. In prospect of dominating the world the only thing that has changed is the ideas by ideologues such as Paul Wolvfovitz and others alike in how to proceed and in terms of WW the US and NATO are fighting a smaller wars yet with the same idea and all over the world.., from Balkan to Somalia and Congo.., from Middle East to central Asia..,
Pls read the letters written by Albert Pike..google it then you will know why both big wars started and why the third one will start..All wars pre-planned in the 19 century.
2-Vietnam war did teach the US war machinery that it cannot win any war alone unless is done collectively with its ally. Yugoslavia.., or if you will Balkan war was the start and NATO militarism regime was involved.., Afghanistan and later Iraq is the same yet with the same idea in dominating the world economy by dominating the world resources and its path to Europe or US.., Oil and strategically important countries are the main and most important aspects of the “idea” to be dominated first and to pursue the idea with no so fast as WWI and WWII.
The new doctrine seems to be to fight cheap – winning hearts and minds for the war, also among foreign countries, else it would be much less convincing as selfless idealism at play. When the enemy state elects in some semi-democratic way a leader (with everything under full control by the US military), that is obeying the US, the war is over. It is a world war of winning the right to tell the story from the vantage point of US the leader, and doing the narration, the others to agree, or face war!
Happily the costs for the US are unbearable! And hopefully some new policies might emerge, where peaceful negotiations, that cost much, much less, will become the primary tool. It seems likely, that the American population will at some point REFUSE FLATLY to pay for the "advantage" of military domination of the globe, when the costs are absurdly higher for everybody, consensus dwindling around the globe, and it becomes evident, that the way of life is WORSE also back home with those insane miltary robots let loose. They do come home one day to face the unwilling population. But perhaps then the great political gamble on appearance and "security" becomes impossible to repeat. . If not? It is a win-win for the rest of the world in any case.
I would like to see the funding profile for Iraq war. Troops are going to decrease,
but is the $$ ? That would tell how much is really still being done—perhaps
not in the open, but it would be a measure, or operations, mercenaries ("contractors")…
Decreased troops and increased spending. Something is wrong with this picture although the graft and corruption will be easier using privatized mercenary armies, which is what the whole scheme is about.
Those private "contractors" (Blackwater, Xe, etc.) are probably just the grand children of those "settlers" who went to the West 150 years ago to wipe out the Indians. Looks like tradition of some families in the US. What has changed, 150 years ago they had to steal land, now they are being paid for killing by the government
http://iraqwarends.blogspot.com/
I love your articles Jason, but why not use a term that more accurately describes what those so called contractors real are, mercenaries?
Double dip – bottoms out maybe up to two years – continue to feed the XE fascist pig devils with their snouts in the trough with treasury bond sales – gradually the whole world loses faith in the whole scam putting the entire house of cards on a hair trigger – then – panic selling – hyper inflation – XE suggests "we'll come home and keep order for you Mr President". What goes round comes round. It doesn't work. During period of anarchy guillotines are be erected for the media whores that have gone along to get along. Ceauşescu style live-on-TV executions become popular. Web sites in Arabic appear exactly who is responsible and where to find them, and how the average American finally feel about them. Just in case the desire for justice turns into unfocused revenge. Ann Coulter is gifted to the Taliban but they decide to outsource her to the Northern Alliance, as she's more their kind of girl. Who would do terrible things like that?
http://gonzalolira.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-hyper…