Worry Grows as Foreigners Flock to Iraq's Risky Jobs -LAT

[Rose Siding]

snip>If hired, the Colombians would join a swelling population of heavily armed private military forces working in Iraq and other global hot spots. They also would join a growing corps of workers from the developing world who are seeking higher wages in dangerous jobs, what some critics say is a troubling result of efforts by the U.S. to "outsource" its operations in Iraq and other countries.

In a telephone interview from Colombia, the entrepreneur, Jeffrey Shippy, said he saw a booming global demand for his "private army," and a lucrative business opportunity in recruiting Colombians.

Shippy, who formerly worked for DynCorp International, a major U.S. security contractor, said the Colombians were willing to work for $2,500 to $5,000 a month, compared with perhaps $10,000 or more for Americans.
...
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, worries that U.S. government contractors are hiring thousands of impoverished former military personnel, with no public scrutiny, little accountability and large hidden costs to taxpayers....

"American taxpayers are paying for the training of those Colombian soldiers," she said. "When they leave to take more lucrative jobs, perhaps with an American military contractor … they take that training with them. So then we're paying to train that person's replacement. And then we're paying the bill to the private military contractors."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-forhire30jul30,0,3163322.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[Theres-a]

1. Disgusting.

Wrong on so many levels.

[wtmusic]

10. Where does one start

One level the US has failed to recognize all along: ignoring Iraqi national pride. Bring in foreign workers to rebuild Iraq the "right" way. :puke:

[54anickel]

2. The global labor arbitage hits US gov't contractors - wonderful. See

what happens when you privatize what should be National Security. This was nothing but a war for profiteering from the start. :grr:

What is the distinction Schakowsky is trying to make between US gov't contractors and American military contractors? I don't get it.

On edit - Oops, nevermind. Just read the whole article now. :blush:

[54anickel]

3. Wow, and what do our troops over there earn a month? I think recruiters

are going to have to up the ante.

"Be all that you can be" or

"Earn the most that you can earn
without being
tied to the Ar-r-r-r-my"

[gulliver]

4. These "contractors" need to be counted to get the true troop ...

... deployment figure for Iraq. Right now, Bush has the entire Army in Iraq plus an unspecified number of contractors/mercenaries. Suppose we hit the election season and Bush decides to draw down the troop size to 110,000 as a show of progress. But then he adds 30,000 contractors with (as the article says) "no public scrutiny."

Also, there is Bush's careful use of the word "troops." When asked if there are enough "troops" in Iraq, Bush invariably says he will provide more "troops" if military leaders request them. But what if the leaders are just asking for more "people"? Then Bush just adds more contractors and nobody notices.

It's strange how the "troop" requirements just always seem to manage to be exactly the full strength of our military. If there is no screaming for more troops simultaneously no draw down of troop levels, then there is probably some hanky-panky going on with the contracting under the covers. The troop shortfall is being erased from the front pages using American tax dollars.

Thank you for posting this article. It looks like maybe the press is starting to catch on to Bush's game.

[tanyev]

5. Oh, the irony.

Our overpaid mercenaries are going to lose their jobs due to outsourcing. Ain't globalization grand?

[Junkdrawer]

6. Old imperial strategy - mercenaries from country A suppress country B...

WHILE mercenaries from country B suppress country A...

Chomsky talks about this all the time.

[Jara sang]

11. Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

By Paulo Friere

[2Design]

7. training our next enemies - just like saddaam - * senior gave

him WMD and now we bomb children - usa train our enemies constantly - * kisses and holds hands with the people who supported 911 - hired mercenaries when they can't get usa kids - all part of the 'mob' mentality - they are no different than Al capone and his gang - they rob all of humanity - this admin are evil doers for sure -

[rocktivity]

8. Way to quell the insurgency, Georgie.

As if the Iraqi citizenry, half of whom are unemployed, NEED another reason to take up arms against the U.S.

:headbang:
rocknation

[mom cat]

9. And when do these goons hire on to private armies of the multinational

corporations. I predict that this will be the wave of the future. Mercenaries don't have to worry about silly things like the Geneva Conventions.:sarcasm:

[Jara sang]

12. These 'mercenaries' have probably already been trained by the CIA

For the narco-wars in Colombia. They are most certainly brutal and have no regard for human life.

[geckosfeet]

13. Great. American warlords moving into Iraq. This is wonderful. What

a tremendous drain of our resources. What a waste of manpower and life. How can anyone be so stupid, so drunk with power and blinded by hate that they allow this in the name of the United States?

What evil lurks ahead?

[wli]

14. Indira Singh's tea party