Stunning Statistics About the War Every American Should Know

[babsbunny]

Stunning Statistics About the War Every American Should Know

Friday 18 December 2009

by: Jeremy Scahill | Rebel Reports

http://www.truthout.org/1218098

A hearing in Sen. Claire McCaskill’s Contract Oversight subcommittee on contracting in Afghanistan has highlighted some important statistics that provide a window into the extent to which the Obama administration has picked up the Bush-era war privatization baton and sprinted with it. Overall, contractors now comprise a whopping 69% of the Department of Defense’s total workforce, “the highest ratio of contractors to military personnel in US history.” That’s not in one war zone—that’s the Pentagon in its entirety.

[WT Fuheck]

1. once the Romans converted to an all-mercenary army,

their days of Empire began to wane.

[RufusTFirefly]

8. Reminds me of a scene from Godfather II...

... when Michael witnesses violence in Batista's Cuba

Michael Corleone: I saw a strange thing today. Some rebels were being arrested. One of them pulled the pin on a grenade. He took himself and the captain of the command with him. Now, soldiers are paid to fight; the rebels aren't.

Hyman Roth: What does that tell you?

Michael Corleone: It means they could win.

[Bjorn Against]

2. They tell us they can't afford a public option but they have no problem paying the war profiteers

[femrap]

3. And these private dudes

cost a fortune! It's basically the Rich White Boyz stealing tax money to play war. Oh....and bring Opium back to sell.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. The number of ARMED contractors doubled in 4 months of 2009.

Plus this:
That means that the current total US force in Afghanistan is approximately 189,000 personnel (68,000 US troops and 121,000 contractors). And remember, that’s right now. And that, according to McCaskill, is a conservative estimate. A year from now, we will likely see more than 220,000 US-funded personnel on the ground in Afghanistan.
Plus it says the waste and fraud in gigantic-normous.

Changelicious yum yum.

[rug]

5. At least the Hessians wore cool hats.

[Hannah Bell]

6. all government functions are being privatised -- another "taking" to pump up profits.

[mother earth]

7. I thought I had much respect for Scahill before, it grows and

grows...thanks for posting this, this madness has got to end. Keep shining the light on the tentacles of the criminals-in-action, the Peace prize was ironically given to the man who has carried us over into a new era of Bush-illegal-pre-emptive war extension & growth.

God bless TRUTHOUT, they are torchbearers! K & R!

THIS WAR MUST END, there is no justifying it, it is death and destruction, OBAMA needs to end it or give back the Peace prize. :nuke: :scared: :nuke:

Not to mention the billions and billions that would be reigned in if we would only end this, let the teabaggers cry out about this robbery, the contractors are laughing their asses off all the way to the bank and then they are headed out to wife swapping, boozing, drugging and a little torture and murder in the mix. Only in America, and funded BY America.

[niyad]

9. kick

[bertman]

10. What's REALLY FRICKIN' COOL is that it's the contractors who guard our diplomats and

high-level government types. To my mind, that means that they have some serious leverage on those folks and could use it to "persuade" them to go easy on the Cut-the-Contractor programs. Not to mention the more sinister possibilities when mercenaries are "protecting" our U.S. diplomatic corps.

Jeremy Scahill has balls of titanium. I'm surprised he's still alive. On the other hand, these guys know that they have nothing to fear from the bought-and-paid for cowards in our Congress--not to mention our "Peace" President.

Thanks for posting this, babsbunny.

Too late to rec, so here's a kick.

[Agony]

11. Also really FRACKIN' COOL that we have contractors supervising the contractors.

"In Afghanistan, USAID is relying on contractors to provide oversight of its large reconstruction and development projects. According to information provided to the Subcommittee, International Relief and Development (IRD) was awarded a five-year contract in 2006 to oversee the $1.4 billion infrastructure contract awarded to a joint venture of the Louis Berger Group and Black and Veatch Special Projects. USAID has also awarded a contract Checci and Company to provide support for contracts in Afghanistan."