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There are now more Merc's in Iraq than U.S. Troops.
The total number of private contractors, far higher than previously reported, shows how heavily the Bush administration has relied on corporations to carry out the occupation of Iraq — a mission criticized as being undermanned.
"These numbers are big," said Peter Singer, a Brookings Institution scholar who has written on military contracting. "They illustrate better than anything that we went in without enough troops. This is not the coalition of the willing. It's the coalition of the billing."
-- latimes.com
This is just ridiculous. Thank God we took back congress, that was the only reason that we know this now. Congress ordered CENTCOM to conduct a survey of the merc's. This is the result. We are wasting BILLIONS on this assinine shit.
Lets remember that under the Geneva convention (although rendered quaint according to Cheney) A mercenary shall not have the right to be a combatant or a prisoner of war.
They are accountable to no one. Who has to clean up the mess? Our troops. There have been numerous incidents where these guns for hire have caused irreversible harm. You want to know one of the many reasons we have already lost this war? This is a big one.
Contractors: 180,000
U.S. troops: 160,000
180,000 people running around Iraq with no legal restrictions, astronomical paychecks (from your money), with top of the line military hardware, and no clear mission. Yeah, thats a great idea....
This has to stop. This has to stop
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