9 Mercs Killed in Afghanistan

[Hissyspit]

Source: Press TV

9 mercs killed in Afghanistan
Fri, 06 Aug 2010 22:56:33 GMT

At least nine members of a private security firm have been killed in a roadside bombing in eastern Afghanistan, local Afghan officials say. The bomb blast damaged a car carrying security firm workers in the village of Asmar in Kunar province late on Thursday, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Local officials said the nine people killed were working for a road construction company.

No further details on the nationality of the security guards who were killed have been disclosed. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, a spokesman for the militant group said in a statement.

Mercenaries of the infamous private security firm Xe, formerly known as Blackwater, have contracts to provide security in Afghanistan, but the private security firm that the nine men worked for has not been identified.

Read more: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=137719§ionid=351020403

[Lasher]

1. You know, I don't have a lot of sympathy for these mercenaries who get tagged.

But then mixed feelings creep in. After all, they're real people with families who care for them.

[Tempest]

2. I feel sorry for the families

But screw them.

They wanted to play Rambo and now their families are paying the price.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

3. thats cold - for all you know they were supporting their family with the only job they could get.

[indepat]

5. It would be a shame for those whose services command, is it a million per year per head, to be able

to find a decent-paying job only in only Afghanistan, a real crying shame that would say so much about this country and its society. :cry:

[awoke_in_2003]

9. Maybe prison guard

was the only job some germans could get. Principles used to mean something.

[saigon68]

10. That's bullshit

$2000.00 a day to kill muslims Ya right

[Robb]

18. Statistically speaking, they were likely Afghans that were killed.

Considering 95% of the privately-contracted armed security personnel in Afghanistan are locally-hired Afghans.

Food for thought. Although the firm hasn't been identified, so there's not much way to even guess.

[saigon68]

28. Yes they will hire at the "market rate"

This is why (and you are right) probably 90% of the "contractors" (mercenaries) in the world aren't amerikan ex-seals etc.

There is a downside to this however----- a thug with a gun paid $30.00 a day is usually less reliably vetted than one paid $3,000.00 a day.

Just ask Anwar Sadat. (oops)

[Tempest]

11. I personally know two former Blackwater employees who worked in Iraq

And the only reason they went was to play Rambo.

Read interviews by some of these guys. They didn't do it for the money. Most went to go kill "ragheads".

[armodem08]

12. Nope.

Most are ex-military that left to make MORE money.

[Hawkowl]

13. Ahhh, the concentration camp guard argument

"The only job I could get vas gassing Juden!"

[BOG PERSON]

20. So getting paid to do something absolves you of responsibility

[Lasher]

6. I know what you're saying.

They don't really have to be there, they're just in it for the money. But doesn't the same thing apply to every member of our military? There is not one serving today who committed to their current obligation before the war in Afghanistan began. I've seen the arguments about how they don't have a real choice, that there's an economic draft, etc. But if they are thereby justified, doesn't the same logic exonerate the mercenaries?

Honest, I'm not pushing any hidden agenda. I'm just reflecting on this right now.

[Arctic Dave]

4. I know what you mean.

But then I think of all the misery they have inflicted on people and then I say to myself, fuck them.

[Lasher]

7. Life was simpler when I was 10 years old.

Then everybody wore either black hats or white hats and I never had to trouble myself with nuance such as this.

[madokie]

15. screw a bunch of mercenariness and the horse they rode in on

[w8liftinglady]

24. I do...reason why many join...

like my oldest son...who came back to a "Grateful Nation" after three tours in Iraq ...only to be unemployed and unable to make ends meet.He received an offer from a company who does mechanic work for the Army...and that is what he did..in Iraq.they were just getting ready to send him to afghanistan in May...he was like"hell,no-and came home"He made 75K for 6 months work.It will keep him alive while he's in college..Was I crazy about it?Hell,no...but I understood why it happened.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Hmmm..do you suppose the contractor companies use dead peasant insurance?

Companies like Triple Canopy and other Blackwater clones brag of providing services all over the world.
A look at their web sites indicates they hire a LOT of people, and have sub-contractors who hire a lot of slaves from any number of 3rd world countries, for the real grunt work like building shoddy buildings and electrified showers.
Very tempting to have dead peasant insurance, don't ya think?

[Mimosa]

14. I wonder if the economy was downgraded on purpose

I wonder if the economy was downgraded on purpose so there would be a labour pool to risk their lives for these wars. Otherwise who willingly would risk life and limb?

[Vidar]

16. Good riddance!

[Odin2005]

17. I have NO sympathy for Mercs.

Screw them.

[Blue_Tires]

29. +1

[Phil The Cat]

30. If they are foreign combatants OK

But if they are local security guards protecting a road building project - in other words, working class people - forced for survival to work in the capitalist system - than I have a problem with that!

The article is unclear whether they were active combatants, so I can't just jump on the bandwagon and say "F" them!

I know we need to quit "helping" them over in Afghanistan and Iraq by killing them. But is there anything we can do with humanitarian aid to REALLY help them? Or do we just get everyone and everything out and say "Sorry, here's a pile of cash, you are on your own now"?

[PavePusher]

32. Don't go bringing rational thought to the pile-on....

you'll just get pushed to the bottom of the heap.

I, however, do appreciate it.

[Phil The Cat]

34. Most people here seem like good people

But some of the stuff I have read on here is like WOW!

Don't want to get into name calling, and I am not a mind or heart reader, but there are some here whose attitudes towards others are pretty harsh! Wishing people dead - even people who, as far as we know, might merely be trying to protect something good: road construction that Afghanistan needs to climb out of poverty!

Sure we want to stand up for ourselves, help our neighbors, but at the cost of xenophobia? Some, it seems, have a screw you attitude towards the rest of the world!

We need good jobs! Mexico and Latin America needs good jobs! Asia, Africa, Europe - everyone everywhere needs good jobs! Are THEY bad people for trying to get them?

The whole isolation thing, that WE are the only ones who need or deserve good jobs sounds SOOOOO teabaggish and hateful towards non-Americans!

I need a tuna melt and a cherry milkshake (but not the fat grams lol) after a couple hours here!

[Brooklyns_Finest]

19. Very Ugly Thread

With post coming from very ugly people.

[BOG PERSON]

21. You're no prize pig yourself n/t

[davidinalameda]

26. pretty much

hateful comments

[Pavulon]

22. Fuck em, even though you all voted for a government that said it would continue there

and use them.. so does that mean you are all fucking yourselves. Very nasty little thread.

[bemildred]

23. When your "security" people are getting blown up in bunches, it is not a good sign. nt

[Prometheus Bound]

25. This is just a last gasp.

[Phil The Cat]

27. Are they mercs or security guards?

I feel for their families, but how many other families have these people destroyed?

I notice that this is a website from Iran, so I can imagine they know a lot more about Afghanistan than MSM since they are right there and are not bought out by MSFOXGEBPGM corporate whores and they want peace in their neighborhood, not greedy capitalist war. Looks like the only way to get the truth - idiots Beck and Limpballs won't do it - is to look outside brainwashed bought off US media!

We need to get our troops and spys and blodthirsty corporate whores out of there NOW so they can live in peace, love, and freedom and not be victims of a war for their oil and minerals!

[PavePusher]

33. Ummm, just checking, but....

"...so they can live in peace, love, and freedom..."

You were being sarcastic, right?

[Phil The Cat]

35. A little sarcasm

And a little optimism!

I just can't handle pure darkness!

[PavePusher]

36. Just wanted to be sure I was calibrated correctly. Thanks! n/t

[nalnn]

31. PressTV

I cannot recall ever reading a truthful article from PressTV.