Blackwater, DynCorp and Triple Canopy should be shut down for war profiteering.

Only a criminal loves war...

Yeah Cap'n, come back to reality, bud...

No...we dont enjoy war but will visit it upon those who desire to do us harm.

Cap'n Crunch - Wow, it must be nice in your little world aboard the Good Ship Lolli-pop. No one loves war, but thank God we have those young, trained and motivated individuals who have kept the wolf from the door for over 200 years - our military. Blackwater and other private firms are just doing what our government won't do, can't do or refuses to do.

USMC (Ret)

Contract War...can we afford it?

Capn Crunch is right-- these corporations are war profiteering criminals, and the only reason we are still in Iraq. We're not doing any good over here at all side from lining the pockets of the corporations.

Cap'n Crunch says "Blackwater, DynCorp and Triple Canopy should be shut down for war profiteering.

Only a criminal loves war... "

That's right, Cap'n. Only a criminal loves war. Like all the criminals in Al Qaeda who love jihad. It's not a crime to fight criminals and terrorists, at least in the real world. Perhaps you should reconsider joining it.

Unless, of course, you're one of those tinfoil hat people who think Bush did 9/11, in which case reality will never be a problem for you.

Why do some people think it's either uncommon, cost-prohibitve or unethical to outsource certain utilities such as transportation, supply, or even security? And please don't insert some silly, childish political rant, because that has nothing to do with this issue of logistics...

Have any of you ever fought in combat and left parts of your body on the battle field? When you do you'll know what war really is about!

Why would the military contractors ever want the Iraq war to end?

And yes, there is good reason to suspect high level administration involvement in the attacks of 9/11. Most people are either brainwashed into believing America's leaders could never exhibit such depravity or are so troubled by the consequences of government complicity in the attacks that it's easier to dismiss such an idea as a "conspiracy theory". To imagine that all the blood spilled in Afghanistan and Iraq is based on a lie of epic and most devious proportions is too devastating to comntemplate.

first the new world order will distroy the will of the not yet inlisted, then they will creat a revanew through global warming taxes (that only americans will pay into) the they will use companies(filled with solders from every country) to hold cities, states, even countries. The american people is the greatest entity that has ever existed and this is proof of how it will be taken from us.(we'll see about that!)

John,

I would suspect you would prefer to be a Afgan or Iraqi citizen.

Wow, Bush and Cheney blew up the World Trade Center, AND managed to keep it a secret!!

I don't doubt, for one minute, that the Bush administration has mismanged the US involvement in Iraq from the day after Baghdad fell. But the initial drive was perfect. The mistake was disbanding the Iraqi military infrastructure that was already in place. Bush took the advice of liberals in the State Department on that score, and ever since, Iraq has been totally unmanagemable.

Bush is not nearly the sharpest pencil in ANY box, and he is incompetent. For anyone to think that this clown and his cronies could keep ANYTHING a secret, much less blowing up the WTC... well, anyone who thinks that is a bigger clown with far more tinfoil on the top of their head than Bush has!!

Why don't you stop questioning me and start questioning your government? They're the ones that have been lying to you openly and with impunity the past 6 years, not me. And by the way, it's not all Bush-hating liberals that are questioning 9/11. Several Reagan era officials and military veterans have deemed the 9/11 story a lie. Why don't you faux conservative, Bush-loving lemmings tell them to their faces that they wear tinfoil on their heads?

It's simple.. contracting is CHEAPER. Training US Soldiers to fly helicopters is not cheap. You have to consider, first you need to find people willing to enlist (Yes pilots enlist first) - Then enlisted men/women apply for flight school. Goto flight school. You are paying them good money + benefits (full healthcare for them and family). They serve 20 years. Retire and receive 50% base pay + healthcare for the rest of there lives. Pretty exspensive deal per pilot.

-or-

you pay blackwater. which is cheaper. it's that simple. no conspiracy. no nothing.

I agree with Simple here. It is cheaper. Going through flight school was expensive for the Army. I was trained in the OH-58D/R Kiowa Warrior, the aircraft in the picture above. If I were the government, outsourcing security and such would be a viable solution to an already costly war. Though, I'd have already pulled out by now, since thats what the American people want.

Simple Man, aren't military pilots COMMISIONED OFFICERS and not ENLISTED PERSONNEL? That's always been my experience while in the military...

Jazz, you are somewhat correct. I enlisted first, then went to Warrant Officer Candidate School, then to flight school. In the past however, the Army did train NCOs as pilots, mainly they were observers on scout aircraft, but in case of the pilot being incapacitated, they'd need to know how to pilot the aircraft. The point is, all military have to enlist and be enlisted first, while going through officer school. Upon graduating the school, are you an officer.

Cool...I was stationed on a battleship and was on the flight deck during flight quarters. Those Navy helo pilots are just incredible...I've seen them land on the deck in huge surf...and doing ship-to-ship replenishment for 16 hours at a time...just unbelievable training and skill, these guys have...I love the civilian life, but doing ops at sea, in close quarters with the rest of the battle group is something I will never forget...

Every dollar that goes to pay Blackwater is a dollar the US military isn't getting....why do officals need to flown around by Blackwater when they could use the militaries choppers for free? Its not good that we are now creating mercenary air power. Cant you see that the US military is being destroyed bit by bit not by the insurgents, but by Blackwater...

Perhaps in the near future instead of going off on some safari looking for a bad guy let us be honest and call ourselves what we are, mercenaries. It would be much more honest if we hired ourselves to fight wars. When the piggy bank runs dry...we leave. It is so much easier on the national budget and more profitable.

It's probably the same folks who complain about higher taxes who don't have a problem with another $500 million of our money being wasted here.
How many U.S. schools and bridges could be rebuilt with $500 million.

Before this entire charade is over it's going to cost the U.S. tax payers 2 trillion dollars.

Now tell me who is the TAX and SPEND party.

Contracting has been around a long time its quick and usually they have better equipment because they don't have to use the bogged down procurement system that usually means by the time the troops get the gear its already obsolete. An example when the military was providing Helo service to embassy personnel in Beirut it was costing mint $$$$$$ per month. State Dept had to reimburse the Military for the total cost of each chopper. When they contracted out to Petroleum Helicopters LTD they had better all weather night flying helecopters with heat and A/C and nice plush seating, and it was 100s of thousands of dollars cheaper per month who WON the CONTRACTORS.... Think about it!

Mercenarys are mercenarys. Private Army's should be banned regardless of who they were built to work for. Blackwater, DynCorp and TripleCanopy are all mercenarys. It's simple. If you can't fight a war using the nations military, don't fight it.

BTW, we can't fight it so we should pack up and come home. Between inept civilian leadership and inept theater commanders - we have no ability to do anything. We might as well come home.

That's incredibly silly, Cap'n America...think about the context in which you are speaking about contracted help...

The story reads that the State Dept is hiring private firms to provide air transportation services for it's staff in Iraq. mercenary? lol semantic baloney, dude...

Are private airlines who ferry State Dept personnel or members of congress also "mercenaries"?
How about the Philipino workers that serve food in the mess halls on military bases across the world? Mercenaries?

How about the American welders and pipefitters who are contracted to work on US Naval ships in the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Virginia?
When we went through the Suez Canal on a battleship, the US Navy contracted Egyptian watermen to pilot the ship through Port Said and the canal...let me guess...mercenaries?

Get a grip, man...it's economics. ABC News ran a story and worded it such so that people like you would get their panties in a bunch and cry over spilled milk...

Hmmmm.........private jets before 9/11, now private helicopters. Anyone else smell something brewing? Why would troops coming home to protect our soil be a problem? Why does this come more than 30 days before Gen. Petraeus' report? I smell, sniff sniff.............special interest groups. Hope everyone has their spare gas cans filled just in case.

Government contractors serve a number of purposes. First, it is cost effective as the government only pays for the contract as long as they need it. They dont have to ramp up the military to handle the extra work load. Contractors do support jobs that allow the military to do the war job.

Can you imagine how little time any of our troops would have at home if they had to take up the 60000 contractor jobs as well as the 120000 to 160000 they now have? Our men and women in uniform would never see the states again.

Does Blackwater pay well for these propaganda post. I know Cheney pays the religous , private , conservative , private mersenaries more in one month then our soldiers receive in one year.
Blackwater rides around doing as they d... well please with no laws , regulations and answers to no one for their illegal actions.
The only persons profiting from this war are the war contractors , friends of Cheney and this administration. There has been no oversight to where our tax dollars go and what in the h... happens to it.
Of course they know where in the h... the money is spent (given) , this is why everything is keep secret or no paper work is available.
Anyone believing that Cheney which was CEO of Halliburton doesn't know how to prepare books and Cook the books is only kidding themselves or lying......
PS....

Pete, you're funny, dude...members of the US military are making money from their service, too...and what "propaganda posts" are you speaking about? Kirit's non-story? lol

The US is planning an eventual withdrawal of combat troops (that's what you want, right?). With the drawdown of troops, OF COURSE the embassy/State Dept personnel will have to rely on private services.

Anyway, military contractors were being utilized before the current administration, and will be used long after...Do you even know what YOU'RE talking about? Clue in...go get some air...