Written by James and Jean Anton   

Obama says he is changing the American mission in Iraq from a military one to a diplomatic one. What he is actually doing is continuing his war on Iraq using private contractors, who already are 100,000 or so in number. He is also increasing the role of private mercenaries in the employ of corporations like Blackwater. These mercenaries are not accountable to Obama, they are not accountable to Americans, they may not even be Americans. They owe their allegiance only to the corporation headed by the fundamentalist, extreme right-wing CEO/founder of Blackwater, Erik Prince. Prince himself is accountable only to his employer, in this case, Obama. In other countries, militia leaders like Prince are called warlords.

Obama did not mention the coming surge in private operatives in the American embassy in Iraq. This colossus, built at a cost of more than 600 million dollars, is the size of 80 football fields. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who promised to end the use of mercenaries in Iraq when she ran for President, has recently requested that 7,000 more “private security operatives” be stationed there to guard it.

The replacement of the American soldier with mercenaries, contract employees, and private security operatives who are unaccountable to Americans is a disaster waiting to happen.

Our soldiers used to peel their own potatoes, dig their own latrines, and cook their own food. They used to guard our own bases and convoys as well as our embassies. These jobs and many others are being outsourced to contract employees and mercenaries. Why?

If Obama would give a press conference (a rare occasion), and if the mainstream media decided to ask real questions (wishful thinking), we might find out why he needs to use private contractors to do the work of our own armed forces.

We know why they shouldn’t be doing the job of our own armed forces. Privatizing war creates an inexorable conflict of interest resulting in endless war. Peace is simply not in the best interest of for-profit corporations like Blackwater a.k.a. Xe. War is in their best corporate interest. No war equals no money.

Endless war means endless profits in an endless destruction/reconstruction cycle. Corporations like Raytheon make fortunes building weapons of mass destruction, while others like Haliburton make fortunes rebuilding the countries destroyed by these weapons. Fortunes are also made by the few mega oil corporations with long-term contracts in Iraq that stand to make profits beyond the imagination of King Midas, while neoconservatives everywhere dedicate their lives to making sure that these war profiteers pay less taxes now, and nothing when they die.

Privatization also leads to corruption. There are the payoffs to Washington insiders who grant CEOs no-bid contracts. In addition, the pentagon does not count their body bags. Americans are not told how many mercenary soldiers die or are wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan. We are kept in the dark about the progress of the wars.

Another big problem is that mercenary business is mercenary. Mercenaries will fight for whoever makes the highest offer. They could switch from fighting against the Taliban today, to fighting for them tomorrow. They could defend the US embassy in Iraq today, blow it up tomorrow. Democracy today, dictatorship tomorrow.

Privatization takes the President, who historically represents the will of American citizens, and makes him a thug. During WWII (arguably the last just war) President Roosevelt supported the will of the people, not the other way around. No one calls WWII “Roosevelt’s War.” Because Bush and Obama have arrogantly ignored the will of the people, their wars are called “Bush’s War” and “Obama’s War.” In other words these are their wars not America’s.

Privatization of the military is at best an egregious choice, at worse outright evil. The concept of using private contractors and mercenary soldiers to wage unpopular wars strikes at the very core of the democratic process by ignoring it. We had every reason to believe that Obama would take us off this dangerous path. By privatizing his war, he is fast-tracking it instead.

Democracy is purportedly what he claims to be fighting for; he is actually helping to destroy it. Ironic isn’t it?

Article by: James and Jean Anton
www.endendlesswars.com