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Stowaway
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Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl
Well yes, they do create jobs. Every mercenary serving overseas has a job that was provided by companies like these, as do their support staff. I hope Iraqi morticians are not relying on them for business, though, or they'll be having a pretty lean profit margin.
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Well there have been quite a few cases that have caused quite a few ripples in Iraq. As is exemplified in my OP.
It's also good to notice that there are no two similar wars. Every war is pretty much 'improvised' as it goes on. They say wars create a lot of innovations. Unfortunately wars also create a lot of dead bodies and the merc companies have engaged in this activity far too much. The Iraqis might have more reasons to dislike the mercs then they publicly say and I don't really want to speculate on that but there are probably other cases of civilian casualties or they wouldn't be so adamant about it.
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Well, first of all, 462 is not that high of a number considering the length of the occupation and the number of attacks, especially compared to the number of military casualties, which are in the tens of thousands already, and insurgent and civilian casualties, which are incalculable but very much higher. It may also be tempting to link KBR truck drivers and the like in with combat casualties suffered by armed PMCs but doing so does not give us a clear picture of the situation. Every single day there are lightly-guarded miles-long convoys of unarmored semi-trucks and other civilian transport vehicles driven by contractors in broad daylight or with headlights on at night, driving all over the country but particularly in Al-Anbar and around Baghdad.. What is really amazing is that their casualties are so low, and those casualty rates say volumes about the performance of suppression measures and the ineptitude of the insurgents.
I watched the video, and I wonder how you or anyone else arrived at the conclusion that the Iraqi vehicles in the video were being shot at "for fun".
In every single clip shown there was a vehicle approaching quickly from the rear - a favored tactic of suicide vehicle bombers in the first years of the occupation, and one that remains in some areas. Watch the clip carefully. It may seem like the camera vehicle is using an unusually large number of bullets, but that's because they are trying not to kill the driver. The first shots are warning shots. As the vehicle gets closer they fire at the tires, then at the grill, and finally at the windshield. Most of those clips showed legitimate procedure for engaging potential vehicle-borne threats and all of them were within acceptable parameters.
Tragically, both mercenaries and regular US forces kill a large number of innocent Iraqis in this manner. Most of the Iraqis in the AO I served in (Camp Fallujah, Al-Anbar province and subsidiary OPs) knew that when you see an American convoy, military or contractor, you pull the hell over and don't do anything stupid. Some, however, either just don't get it or aren't paying attention or are visitors to the country. The really dumb ones will actually try to pass the convoy, and the one thing you do not ever, ever want to do in Iraq is accelrate towards a convoy, checkpoint, ro*******, or guard station in a civilian vehicle. You will be dead, wounded, or severely shaken in no time flat.
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Now that the Americans including the mercs have reduced the street patrols the war is to a large extent over for them. I wouldn't say 462 is a small amount for basically people who are outside the military. Not sure if the Blackwaters etc. have hired Iraqis too and if their casualties are counted into those figures. The real big figure is the Iraqi casualties, both military and civilian, unfortunately.
I wonder how the Americans informed the Iraqis about these rules concerning how to behave behind and around convoys. How about when meeting a convoy head on? Drive off the road? I think it's foolishly optimistic at best to think that people who still use camels for transportation etc. would be really quick to pick up special driving methods in a crisis situation.
And the American mercenaries think it's ok to blast the civilians who...well, they just feel like shooting at. Because that's about as restrained as that looked to me. But then again different militaries have different mindsets and philosophies of doing things, maybe that's the problem here.
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And I wholeheartedly agree. You should hear some of the things they tell those poor fools to get them to join up. Ask anyone in the service if they got what they were promised. A few will answer in the affirmative, the rest will tell you stories with the general purpose of explaining how their recruiter screwed them and how badly. I am one of those. I endured a lot of rigorous and difficult testing in an effort to become a cryptologic linguist, that is, a cryptologist who deciphers codes in foreign language. After passing my exams I was informed that there were no slots available. "Too bad, pick another MOS". So then I wanted to be a tanker. I figured if I couldn't get in as a technical specialist in a field I had great aptitude for then I might as well do something cool, like driving a tank. Again, I was refused because no slots were open, despite the apparently grave need for personnel in all fields. I finally decided to become a reservist because I didn't think I could endure 4 years of doing whatever garbage jobs were needed and was finally granted a position as a Field Radio Operator. I'm a communicator by nature, so the idea appealed to me, but I was sorely disappointed by what I experienced afterwards. For one thing, I was not given my original enlistment bonus; something I learned after I was sworn in and had completed recruit training. I was also denied immediate promotion to E-3 despite recommending two other poor SOBs who subsequently enlisted, and despiute being the company standard-bearer (which involves the dubious honor of carrying a big flag on a heavy pole in all marches and runs) and despite being what essentially amounted to the administrative recruit co-ordinator.
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Maybe they thought that'd you're too much of a 'rambo' to waste away in a cushy linguist position. 
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Nonetheless, I pursued my occupational specialty with fervor and determination. I went to great lengths to learn about the nuances of radio and wire communications and delved into antannae theory and waveform propogation with singular force of will. In less than two years I was regarded as the preeminent radio operator in 14th Marines HQ Battery. Communications officers with a lifetime of experience sought my aid, and everyone in the comm field sought my advice and training. When the Iraq War came I was eager to prove my worth in an actual theater of operations. I volunteered three freaking times before I was finally granted a chance to deploy and they made me a goddamn truck driver.
Even then, I was undeterred. I strove to be the best freaking truck driver ever and I worked constantly to improve the performance of the Marines placed under me, as well as my own. One of the few things I consider as a real accomplishment in my life is that no truck under my command was ever hit, and no personnel in them were ever injured. Some of my drivers were wounded in convoys commanded by others, and some of the trucks in my care were destroyed, but not while I was leading them. Nobody under my command dies without me dying first! I will not allow it!
Hmm.. I seem to have gone off on quite a tangent there. I'm tempted to delete it, but I won't, since it feels good to type it.
Moving on.....
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Oh radios and trucks then? Well the truck driving was a dangerous aspect of the war, maybe the most dangerous aspect of the war. Maybe they had a shortage of volunteers in that department, would seem logical. And then they forced you to do that. Pretty irresponsible of them. But those officers, they rarely ponder on the moralities of things, they just luurve giving those unpleasent orders.
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I don't entirely agree but I agree enough that it is not worth all the typing to expose and debate minor differences of opinion.
What I will say is that my philosophy is that the US should not be involved in any wars at all. If we weren't so damn interventionist we wouldn't have three-quarters of the rest of the world hating us and the remaining quarter intent on our destruction. Trade with all nations, alliances with none, don't get involved in foreign wars, all that crap. The world would be better off without us trying to fix everything all the time.
None of that precludes the use of mercenary forces, however. The world still needs help from time to time, and mercenaries are the perfect agencies to project American military force where it is needed without the political agenda and related nonsensical horse-crap that usually accompanies it. If a nation wants a military solution to a problem it can simply hire an American mercenary firm (or one of any other nationality) and that is that. Mercenaries will accomplish the task in the most efficient and public-friendly means possible, because that is what they do. We have already seen the drastic measures Blackwater has taken to avoid negative PR, including changing its own name and radicaly revamping its organization in a matter of months. It has to do such things or else it risks losing credibility, and credibility means a lot to consumers, whether they are individuals or nations. Nations themselves are not so subject to such concerns. Right or wrong, they are developed and seriously entrenched power structures with the life-earnings and lives of millions at their disposal.
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Well it seems like you really like Blackwater/XE, Triple Canopy, Aegis, etc. Maybe you should join them instead of the US military who clearly don't appreciate your talents. I think the salary they pay is better too.
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Well I can't blame you for not understanding. Finland is Finland, and it is full of Finns. It is not a culturally diverse super-state whose whims can seriously affect the entire world both economically and politically. Whether or not Finnish labor unions are superior to US labor unions I cannot say, never having been there myself and without really understanding the culture. A quick glance at the finances of the Finnish government s per the CIA world factbook tells me that your nation is in debt and does not posess the economy to make your lifestyle sustainable. Your nation, as well as many others, has fallen prey to the belief that more unsustainable spending today will result in a sustainable future. Most of that belief is based upon hedged bets upon the US economy in the form of foregin investiture and monetary policy. Believe it or not, if the US suffers, your nation will suffer. We literally hold the weight of the world's economy on our shoulders and we are rapidly losing our strength because of unwise fiscal policy. Mark my words, there will come a day when US fiscal policy will really destroy the consumer base of the world's most prosperous and populous free nation and the resultant gap in demand will be felt all over the world, even moreso than the current recession.
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You know, I have to say, I'd almost accepted your defending and tender lovin' caressing of the mercenary companies but lately I've read a little economics and I will no longer blindly, mutely and deafly (?) accept the notion that the whole worlds happiness, economic status and entire existance hinges on whether or not the "consumer base" of US is consuming well or doing this or that. In plain English, ******* the US consumer base, ******* it with a pitchfork!
A little grain of salt from the OTH book of economics.
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I would, however, love to visit Finland sometime, as well as the rest of Scandanavia.
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Oh, ok. Welcome. Right now it's a bit cold (-21 deg Celsius). Not sure what that is in Fahrenheit.
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