EVEN DYING IS BEING OUTSOURCED!

EVEN DYING IS BEING OUTSOURCED!

(FRAZER CHRONICLE)

(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

 

In case you missed it, the United States is at war in a whole different way than in the past, from the mess hall cooks to military camp security and convoy drivers, to the latrine waste buckets, private contractors are pulling the load. I was in the military too soon, no K.P. no night watch, and the crap cans are off limits to military staff….. it sounds like paradise,”where do I sign up?” 

I wasn’t in the military during war time, 1963-65, before Vietnam, so my war-time perspective comes from reading accounts, books, and research. But from I’ve read or heard, somebody somewhere is trying to take the danger out of a dangerous activity. Even I, never having been in a combat foxhole know that when somebody shoots at you, there’s danger involved.

In a way, when risks of war shift from soldiers to private contractors, it is a good thing because the attitude of soldiers is to serve and protect their country while private contractors or soldiers of fortune are in a military conflict for one reason only, to make money.

I looked it up, or rather went on line and gathered information about the job opportunities that exist, and was amazed at the civilian possibilities. Of course the lead-in headline for the webpage was “Would you like to make $50 to $250 thousand dollars a year or more, working in exotic locations all around the world.” Keep in mind that these positions were in, to name a few countries, Iraq, Qatar, Djibouti, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Curacao, Caribbean.

The jobs ranged from hygienist/technician, mechanic/electrician, pilot, force protection manager, dog handler, and an ammunitions and explosive manager. The list of job opportunities goes on and on, and of course there are hundreds of testimonials lauding the success stories, stories telling of how a man could retire well before he’s forty.

There are corner websites, complete with exotic logo’s, Middle East Security Contractor Corner with a skull and crossed rifles in the background, Temporary Assignments with an American flag and an eagle, or my favorite, Security Clearance Job Corner with a bomb and cross-hairs in the background. These are all job procurement websites…..and you can make you’re membership payments through PayPal, where the web is Secure & Confidential, and proclaims that  “We Never See Your Financial Data.”

A REALLY OLD PROFESSION

Mercenaries, merc’s, soldiers of fortune, or today, private contractors, it doesn’t matter what you might call them; they are all the same, soldiers for hire. To illustrate exactly how long these people have been around understand this, there is a protocol for these people, and establishes rules, that are supposed to regulate them, dictated by Article 47 in the Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949. Laws of War is supposed to reign in these people, and reads as follows;

Article 47, Mercenaries

1. A mercenary shall not have the right to be a combatant or a prisoner of war.

2. A mercenary is any person;

a. is especially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict.

b. does, in fact, take a direct part in the hostilities.

c. is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that Party:

d. is neither a national of a Party to the conflict nor a resident of territory in the armed forces of that Party.

e. is not a member of the armed forces of a Party in the conflict; and

f. has not been sent by a State which is not a Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.

No matter what you call these people, their intentions are seldom honorable, it’s that old paycheck that keeps these people fired up about whatever theater of military conflict that they happen to be in. And its not only money that drives most of these people, rather its personal pleasures derived from adventurous exploits on the battlefield, or with some of the local…..ladies.

With little exception these people are a power unto them-selves, and will take whatever law might govern the country that they are in, and bend it to serve their own purposes. Private contractors in both Iraq and Afghanistan were NOT under the military rules that govern regular U.S. forces.

Mercenaries, soldiers of fortune, or Clint Eastwood making his day, it doesn’t matter, these people are basically out of control, and they enable countries throughout the world the ability to wage wars without getting their collective political hands in the dirt, and also protecting their militaries.

THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

What is happening right now, today…..at the present time is that U.S. hawks are benefitting from their use of these people. These people (Mercenaries) are paid handsomely and…..if frugal, can retire to wherever they want by the time that they are 40.

There of course is a down-side to being one of these John Wayne, Chuck Norris types, some actually get shot to death, or blown to smithereens. Thus far, over the last 14 years, during the Bush wars, more than 3,400 deaths have been reported, 90,000 injured or wounded, and an additional 1,000 missing. The bad karma that these people have spread around the world can’t even begin to be calculated…..it’ll take years before the jury is in on that damage.

One thing is clear, for the United States to continue to be the world’s biggest combatant, private contractors will continue to be an important item. Much of the payment (monetarily) for these companies, and their emissaries can’t be tracked, it’s through a swamp, in a sandstorm, and at the bottom of the ocean.

The George W. Bush impact (it’s what I call his foolhardy war) has spawned hundreds of security and private contractor companies with in excess of 150,000 employees. How some of the United State’s manufacturers have come to depend on military manufacturing is really criminal. Criminal because there is little desire to quit wars…..it would put way to many people out of work, and in fact could bankrupt the United States.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!