How many mercenaries are there in Iraq?

[rurallib]

And what can't they do? Seems to me Bushie could almost run his war with mercenaries and do an end run around congress.

[robinlynne]

1. I heard 100,000 yesterday on the radio, a show about blackwater.

But I had heard 120,000 a while ago. Maybe it is 100,000 blackwater mercenaries, and 20,000 from other companies.

[bullimiami]

2. i heard something like 100,000 contractors. like 40-45,000 of them mercs.

[theoldman]

3. If the definition of a mercenary is a hired gun then there are

thousands on each side.

[C_U_L8R]

4. And WHO is paying them ???

Congress should make the funding of mercenary armies illegal
if it isn't already. I believe it is already against the Geneva conventions.

Why aren't these thugs and warmongers in jail?

[Kagemusha]

5. Because they're listed as security guards and not mercenaries?

Simple answers to simple questions. Not that it's your fault. Either you know or you don't. Just because liberals call them mercs, doesn't mean that on paper, they are mercs, though.

[Javaman]

6. The various Iraqi spending bills pays them in a back alley deal sort of way...

those mercs protect the corps. We pay the corps to "rebuild" iraq. They take that rebuilding money and pay the mercs.

And people wonder what happened the the pallets of money that "vanished" in Iraq...

[babylonsister]

7. From DN! today; it was an eye-opening show:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/20/1337226


JEREMY SCAHILL: There are 4,000, yes, people who are -- well, not all of those 780 are actually Americans, but they're working for American companies or on behalf of the occupation. But, again, these are only people who are eligible for federal death benefits in the United States. Over 7,600 of them have been injured in Iraq. There are 100,000 private contractors in Iraq. We know from the Government Accountability Office that there are 48,000 employees of private military firms, mercenary companies operating in Iraq. 180 separate firms are registered operating in Iraq, Blackwater sort of being the industry leader. And they operate in a climate of total impunity. There is no effective law that governs these mercenary forces in Iraq.