Posted on 08/17/2018 12:04:37 PM PDT by Behind the Blue Wall
Mercs are k for coups and security but you can’t use them to fight an entire culture.
Too many people inside the beltway profit from the Afghan opium industry.
They’re not going to allow their money train to be derailed.
We could always do BOTH - regular military and more private contractors. Each have their strengths and weaknesses.
One proposal is to fund private military contractors as security on development deals - Afghanistan has some rich mineral deposits that could fund security and development.
If you listen to the interview, his proposal was actually to have 2000 Special Forces and I think 6000 private contractors.
I know that. If they want to continue to be involved in the military, they should stay in the military. Corporate profit and mercenaries should not be how wars are fought. How does a military function in a fully effective manner if it trains people then they move on to profiteering at the taxpayer expense, and not providing their expertise serving with those still in the military? Besides which, how can we trust them to not go to an even higher bidder (and potentially an enemy of the US) since they've already sold out to a higher bidder once?
“his proposal was actually to have 2000 Special Forces and ...private contractors.”
It makes sense. You have so much combat power (MOABs, gunships, B52s) that the military can bring to bear, along with the Intelligence capabilities of the Nation.
Contractors can have very low footprints and logistics tails. They also can bring a very different long term memory, and a better ability to tie incentives to results.
Like it or not, mercenaries and profiteering have existed for as long as war itself. A lot of guys get out of the military and find that they miss the lifestyle, the tempo, or whatever. Or they simply find that they need a job and their prior training makes them far better suited for work as a military contractor than as anything else. PMCs offer them the opportunity to use their skills for in many cases numerous times more pay than the military provides.
I wouldn't worry about American military vets going over to an enemy nation and fighting against the US. Getting a well-paying job with a PMC and fighting against the US are two things with eons of daylight between them.
Mercenaries and profiteering have existed for as long as war itself. No argument there. That doesn't make it right. We should strive for less war, not wars fought by people who will fight them for enough dollars.
Another thing is the profit incentive firms like Blackwater have to keep the war going. More war, more profit.
How about we just call it a wrap. If we need to go back we go “scorched earth”.
Sounds more like someone trying to get the Trump concern trolls all worked up about something else...
I understand where you're coming from, but the vast majority of these guys have already sacrificed more than most of us can dream of. If they choose to move on to a more lucrative use of their skills, I'm in no position to second-guess them.
If you’re making billions of dollars per year fighting the war then where is the incentive to end it?
But isn't it just fine to second-guess a system that lets them make those salaries instead of deciding that if the war is worth fighting, it's worth fighting as a member of the military?
Yeah, but presumably the U.S. military is still making strategic decisions. If the contractor is “slow-walking” carrying out those decisions, then that becomes a performance issue.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.