* jeremy scahill:
"Such widespread use of contractors (in Iraq), especially in mission-critical operations, should have raised red flags among lawmakers. After a trip to Iraq last month, Retired Gen. Barry McCaffery observed bluntly, "We are overly dependant on civilian contractors. In extreme danger - they will not fight." It is, however, the political rather than military uses of these forces that should be cause for the greatest concern.* xymphora:
Contractors have provided the White House with political cover, allowing for a back-door near doubling of U.S. forces in Iraq through the private sector, while masking the full extent of the human costs of the occupation. Although contractor deaths are not effectively tallied, at least 770 contractors have been killed in Iraq and at least another 7,700 injured. These numbers are not included in any official (or media) toll of the war. More significantly, there is absolutely no effective system of oversight or accountability governing contractors and their operations, nor is there any effective law - military or civilian - being applied to their activities. They have not been subjected to military courts martial (despite a recent Congressional attempt to place them under the Uniform Code of Military Justice), nor have they been prosecuted in U.S. civilian courts - and, no matter what their acts in Iraq, they cannot be prosecuted in Iraqi courts."
"Wot Is It Good 4 follows up on my musings about William S. Cohen. By the way, trying to sell Waxman on examining the Edmonds allegations by advertising it as a way to put the major neocons in jail is exactly the best way to scare Waxman off. You can’t lose sight of the fact that Waxman is funded by the same Jewish Billionaires behind the neocons, and an examination which even comes close to considering the neocon/Zionist stranglehold on American military and foreign policy is the biggest ScareJew of them all. It would have been much better to sell the allegations by Edmonds as an examination of FBI incompetence which endangers the nation in the ‘war on terror’.Point taken, generally. Although 'FBI incompetence' hasn't sold anyone on anything, ever, amazingly.
2 comments:
Of Waxman, I can only say these are times which try men's fiber. My considered opinion is Sibel's revelations are good for Israel. Fact is, the whole world knows what she knows--it's past time to air it out.
A young girl slipped the name of the person who is shooting cats in my neighborhood last night. She told me the guy is also trapping kittens and shooting them in the trap. Such people are exceptionally rare; further, that's how serial killers begin. In that it's been going on more than a year, that I know of, it's a given his parents know and approve. The whole bunch belongs in a state hospital. Today I get the unenviable task of figuring out where he lives and how to correct this delicate and unfortunate problem.
Well I agree that the importance of Sibel's story and the best angle to get hearings are not the same thing.
I've suggested in the past that I think the best way to get hearings is to discuss Sibel's firing as part of the PATTERN of Busholini and Captain Ahab punishing those who tell the truth and rewarding those who participate in their deceptions and the adverse impact this has on our true security capacity.
Surge n Purge, Baby.
Speaking of State Mental Hospitals, could those guys in the white coats swing by 1600 Pennsylvania Ave? We've got a couple of ravers over there.
Post a Comment