Every year the Pentagon sends Congress a wishlist of all the new expensive toys that it wants for the military. And just about every year politicians and the rest of the military industrial complex make sure that budget is passed. But aside from fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, what exactly is the military doing with all of this money? Why, outsourcing of course!
Whatever happened to the good old days when America's armed forces didnt have to rely on civillian contractors to do their job for them. I understand that the military is stretched thin right now but that will happen when there are thousands of troops stationed in far away countires like Germany, South Korea and Japan. World War 2 and the Korean war ended 60 years ago, why are our troops still there?
So now we have contractors, unofficial civilian soldiers, policing important areas in Iraq. Haliburton, the huge defense contracting company that former Vice-president Cheney was part owner of, has made a financial killing off the wars. They are responsible for assisting the military in whatever capacity that the military wants help in. But if our military is supposedly the greatest in the world (which it in fact is), then why do we need these extra measures? The answer is we don't, but because of political reasons and corporate and governement greed, these private soldiers will continue to act with impunity.
Has anyone ever really investigated who these guys answer to? I don't want any random person with guns running around killing people in the name of America. For those of you following the currrent season of the hit Fox show 24, you know that the fictional Starkwood, a defense contractiong company, is currently waging war against its own country. Are such events possible in real life? Now admittedly, most of these guys are ex-military or police anyway so they have training in this line of work. But one has to wonder if some random and inexpereienced Rambo wannabe didn't slip through the screening process and is now running amuck in a foreign country armed to the teeth with the latest weapons that technology has to offer. It would make me feel better if our country's increasing reliance on mercenaries was showing signs of decline, or even stablization, but it's not.
In response to the recent Somali pirate incidents, Ron Paul, a Republican senator, is considering drafting legislation that would allow contractors and private citizens to police international waters off the coast of Africa in order to help fight pirates. What about the navy? I mean honestly with all of the Destroyers, Frigates, Subs and million dollar aircraft carriers that we have, its not enough to stop teenagers with rickety speed boats and rpgs? Such a fight is so unfair it borders on ridiculous. It would be akin to me challenging a UFC champion to the best of three rounds! Politicians are so worried about their public image and their own wallets that they have thrown common sense to the wind. Ron Paul asserts that delegating the task of pirate control to contractors would be cheaper than paying the military to do it. Whatever happened to quality over quantity? In life or death matters like this, it is important to get everything done right, not look for ways to cut corners on final bill. Don't they realize that putting more people out there who are armed and of questionable competency would only serve to esscalate the violence? What happens the first time one of these pirate hunters encounter a Somalian? Will they fire? Will there be reprisals?
The American captain that was recently rescued proves a valuable point. He was not rescued by civilian Johnny Depp wannabes with itchy trigger fingers. The rescue operation was done by teh highest trained professionals, the US military and resulted in a monetarily costly (estimated in the millions of dollars) but politically and morally acceptable victory. The captain was freed with no loss of life to Americans, minimal violence against the Somali pirates, and little to no political fallout over the confrontation. The keyword here is professional, these men and women are trained and equipped for this line of work and they perform their job well. Lets give them a chance to do it instead of outsourcing to irresponsible and potentially volatile mercenary forces.
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