Private military company's: Armies for Hire

[Tabasco Sauce]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120401311.html

According to this article, which is rather old, 100,000 "Contractors" are in Iraq. While their are serious issues related to this, I pose a simple question. Is anyone worried that technologically advanced private military's are available for hire to the highest bidder? Lets also state as fact that these PMC's have been involved in atrocities in Iraq. It worries me to know that in the event of a disaster, I might be greeted by a member of Blackwater, and not a member of the National Guard.

 

[Patroklos]

Is anyone worried that technologically advanced private military's are available for hire to the highest bidder?

No, they are nothing more than light infantry with maybe some basic helo support if you have the coin for it. They have always existed, will always exist, and are only worrisome to the paranoid.

It worries me to know that in the event of a disaster, I might be greeted by a member of Blackwater, and not a member of the National Guard.

It worries me that you care who comes to your rescue. Do you have objections to you ambulance drivers being hired "mercenaries?"

 

[Tabasco Sauce]

No, they are nothing more than light infantry with maybe some basic helo support if you have the coin for it. They have always existed, will always exist, and are only worrisome to the paranoid.



It worries me that you care who comes to your rescue. Do you have objections to you ambulance drivers being hired "mercenaries?"

Have you read nothing of the crimes committed by PMC's?

 

[Patroklos]

Have you read nothing of the crimes committed by PMC's

Yeah, I note that they are about 1000x less than that of most major militaries located on the continent of Asia, Perspective, the lefty hysteria killer :b:

 

[Dezzilisk]

Theres queer people in all the words militaries, youre just as likely to be robbed by the National guardsmen as the blackwater contractors.

 

[Tabasco Sauce]

Yeah, I note that they are about 1000x less than that of most major militaries located on the continent of Asia, Perspective, the lefty hysteria killer :b:

Hitler killed 6 million jews. The Hutu killed 1 million Tutsis in Rwanda. Using your logic, the second one doesn't matter because the first one had six times more casualties, right?

 

[Tabasco Sauce]

Theres queer people in all the words militaries, youre just as likely to be robbed by the National guardsmen as the blackwater contractors.

I would like to know who the PMC's are accountable to, because in Iraq, they are certainly not accountable to anyone, and it shows by the murder's they commit.

 

[Communisto]

Wow, those guys must be such babe magnets.

"What do you do?"

"I'm a mercenary"

 

[Bronx Warlord]

I would like to know who the PMC's are accountable to, because in Iraq, they are certainly not accountable to anyone, and it shows by the murder's they commit.

They are ac****able to the US Military and the US State Department

 

[Dezzilisk]

Wow, those guys must be such babe magnets.

"What do you do?"

"I'm a mercenary"

lol, i doubt its that glamorous.

 

[Communisto]

lol, i doubt its that glamorous.

Probably not, but in my mind it is.

 

[Tabasco Sauce]

They are ac****able to the US Military and the US State Department

No, they are hired by the State Department. And, btw, have any of the contractors who committed atrocities ever been arrested by the state department?

 

[Tabasco Sauce]

Probably not, but in my mind it is.

No, they are "Private Military Contractors", doublespeak for Mercenaries.

 

[Bronx Warlord]

And they all can now be charged under the UCMJ while operating in a warzone.

New U.S. law on PMCs
According to the FY2007 Defense Budget appropriation bill, the text of the UCMJ has been amended to allow for prosecution of military contractors who are deployed in a "declared war or a contingency operation."

"SEC. 552. CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION OF UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE DURING A TIME OF WAR. Paragraph (10) of section 802(a) of title 10, United States Code (article 2(a) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), is amended by striking `war' and inserting `declared war or a contingency operation'." [6][7]

Farah Stockman of the Boston Globe, (7 January 2007) writes: "Previously, the code applied to "persons serving with or accompanying an armed force in the field" only during a war, which US courts interpreted to mean a war declared by Congress. No such declaration was made in the Iraq conflict. Now, Congress has amended the code to apply to persons accompanying an armed force during a "declared war or contingency operation."

But the provision might also have unintended consequences, if the military chooses to use its new power to court-martial civilians. For instance, the language in the law is so broad that it can be interpreted as saying that embedded journalists and contract employees from foreign countries would also be liable under the military code. Other punishable offenses under the code include disobeying an order, disrespecting an officer, and possession of pornography in a combat zone."[8]

"Shadow Company" is a documentary about the history, origins and current issues with the existence of PMCs - it traces the history long before the Iraq conflict and well into the international scope. The film covers the Executive Outcomes story and also delves into how this phenomenon in warfare has affected the entertainment and gaming industries. It is the only film that is endorsed by both Amnesty Int and employees of Blackwater as a fair and balanced portrayal of the subject matter. The film's creator/director, Nick Bicanic, was invited to testify in Senate on Sept. 21, 2007 on the subject of PMCs in relation to the incident in Iraq involving Blackwater.

 

[Tabasco Sauce]

And they all can now be charged under the UCMJ while operating in a warzone.

In theory, but have any been charged in practice?

 

[Communisto]

No, they are "Private Military Contractors", doublespeak for Mercenaries.

Sorry I couldn't hear you, I was too busy imagining myself as a mercenary who looks like Bronx's avatar and getting paid for blasting terrorists while scoring plenty of babes simultaeneously.

 

[Tabasco Sauce]

Sorry I couldn't hear you, I was too busy imagining myself as a mercenary who looks like Bronx's avatar and getting paid for blasting terrorists while scoring plenty of babes simultaneously.

Well, if you are a PMC in Iraq, you can probably get some "babes" anyway.

http://firedoglake.com/2007/12/19/kbr-gang-rape-survivor-says-11-more-women-like-her/

 

[Communisto]

Well, if you are a PMC in Iraq, you can probably get some "babes" anyway.

http://firedoglake.com/2007/12/19/kbr-gang-rape-survivor-says-11-more-women-like-her/

You take things far to seriously don't you?

 

[Bronx Warlord]

In theory, but have any been charged in practice?

Nothing " in theroy " about the united states code. It's the law and I am sure in time some will be. Then again, many PMC's get a bad rep from the media due to incidents taken out of context or a lack of facts being reported. It goes both ways. Some great PMC's doing things in Iraq that I can not do because of ROE, some of them are some shaddy operations. Like all things in life, nothing is black and white.

 

[Tabasco Sauce]

You take things far to seriously don't you?

Not really, but you left yourself open to that link, lol.