In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
The Private Republican Army
The private contractor-GOP gravy train
From Blackwater to CACI, mercenary companies in Iraq have a warm and cozy relationship with the Republican politicians who are employing them.
May 11, 2004 | Private armies have become ubiquitous in Iraq, supplying everything from support services to mercenary soldiers to interrogators. While Halliburton's contracts for logistical support have been widely reported, until the firefight in Fallujah in late March left four Blackwater Security employees dead, the public knew little about the extent to which the estimated 20,000 private military forces in Iraq are participating in direct military action.
The shocking photographs of the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison raise anew questions about the U.S. military's use of private contractors. Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba's report about practices at the prison contained information that two CACI employees "were either directly or indirectly responsible for the abuses at Abu Ghraib." Contractors from Titan International were also present during the abuses.
"This industry really didn't exist 10 years ago," says Peter Singer, a national security fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of "Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry." A decade ago, mercenary soldiering was less the stuff of corporate America than the inspiration for Soldier of Fortune fantasies. Now, as Singer reported in Salon, the industry generates over $100 billion annually worldwide.
As little known as these companies are to the general public, they are only too familiar in Washington, where they have deployed a different kind of mercenary force -- phalanxes of lobbyists -- along with the ammunition of modern political warfare, campaign contributions. And they have found eager friends, particularly among Republican leaders in and out of Congress.
- rob 2:44 PM - [PermaLink] -
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