Bush in a Hurry to Train Iraqis in Security Duty
Boil away all the bullshit puffery in this story, and you're left with:
As part of a plan the Pentagon is still developing, thousands of Iraqis who are now acting essentially as security guards — at oil operations, pipelines and other potential terrorist targets — would be given a few weeks of training in Iraq and neighboring Jordan. They would then be put on the front lines as militiamen, chiefly in the Sunni-dominated area northwest of Baghdad where the attacks have intensified the most in recent days, officials say. Later, their old jobs would be filled with recruits.
Later? So who, exactly, is going to be guarding all those "oil operations, pipelines and other potential terrorist targets" until Shrub's new watchmen-turned-counterinsurgency warriors can be replaced with even rawer recruits? The Guardian Angels?
This kind of stuff just makes me pine for the good ol' days of Bob McNamara and his electrified barb wire fence.
One trend, detected when the convoy in Gaza was blown up last month, is for Uncle Sam to hire private security firms to man facilities, such as pumping stations, pipelines, and oil rigs. Also, the non-presence of U.S. military personnel would throw journalists off the scent of U.S. government actions abroad. Nothing like the workings of a private company to keep everyone in the dark. This strategy has been hugely successful in mining and drilling operations in Africa, about which we can read very little or nothing in the stateside newspapers.
I'm not sure how interested an ordinary profit-seeking corporation is going to be in taking on this assignment -- although I suppose it's really all just a matter of the price. And whatever it is, we can be sure the Pentagon will pay it.
But recruiting guards -- and getting them to stick around -- may be another story.
Halliburton do security?
The war hawks care so much for the Iraqi children that they'll never let it happen.
WE WON'T FORGET IRAQ LIKE.. uh that other place with the rag heads... it was on Fox...
Those GI Abduls, I'm sure, will perform just as brilliantly as the GI Nguyens did back in Vietnam.
Hey Billmon,
did you manage to get all that work done? Seems you were pretty busy pouring drinks at the Bar ...
... for which I am grateful ;- )
Halliburton do security?
"Posted by moeman at October 30, 2003 02:50 PM"
Hahahahahaha! I almost fell off my chair! Oh, that was good! : } It's sad that that's funny, but.....
Those GI Abduls, I'm sure, will perform just as brilliantly as the GI Nguyens did back in Vietnam.
Worse, I'd think. I don't think GI Nguyen was actively two-timing us, whereas like the French railways workers during WWII, I feel GI Abdul will be blowing up at night what he's rebuilding during the day.
This strategy has been hugely successful in mining and drilling operations in Africa
yeah, it's a good crony capitalism strategy in the abstract, but Iraq is most emphatically not the DRC. Iraqis are a lot better educated, there was until recently a large, hierarchical military, there's a lot more cash, more and bigger weapons, a lot less HIV, a lot fewer distinct ethnicities, a lot more journalists and internet hookups, and the Iraqis have clearly figured out the strategic value of deliberately targeting auxiliaries...
I don't think mercs could do it. it's cerainly reasonable that contracts could get signed and money flow into KBR coffers (which is presumbly all that some of those folks care about really), but whether the oil would flow as well is another matter altogether...
I can't conceive of any possible good coming out of putting under-trained Iraqis in charge of security. At best, they're going to be honest, but nervous and trigger-happy. At worst, they're going to be actively working for the other side.
The desperate acts of dying regime of criminals. --Paul Wolfowitz
I don't think anyone has crafted a better description of the Bush administration.
This whole situation reminds me of a common dream where you suddenly discover you have a major term paper due and you only have one night to put the whole thing together. The resulting anxiety attack then causes you to wake up in a cold sweat.
The administration has been so busy feathering their nests and grasping for power that they have completely forgotten to organize the nuts and bolts of the occupation. The Ramadan terrorist extravaganza has driven the point home that time is running out. Unfortunately, they haven't really put together a practical outline of where they want to go with this.
Now they want to fill the critical gaps in the security dike with poorly trained Iraqi dudes with questionable loyalties. Oh yeah, that should work well. It is always a good idea to train your apponents and let them in on your game plan. Do you get the feeling that the administration is going to get an F- on this term paper from the Iraqi people?
"I feel GI Abdul will be blowing up at night what he's rebuilding during the day."
Not only that but in the right circumstances he might just be able to get some homework for his night job done in the day...
"Replace GI Joes with GI Abduls"
Make it GI Abdullahs. Abdul is not a real name in Arabic. A lot of men's names follow the form Abd al-XXX, where XXX is some attribute of God. Abd is Servant, al- is the definite article, and there is an implied "of" between them; Abdul would read as "Servant of the-", ie nonsense. I know its kinda pedantic, but the equivalent would be talking about Geor Washington, or Benjam Franklin, or Alexan Hamilton.
If you want a short name use Ahmed. It's two syllables and a real name.
Le Monde Diplomatique did an excellent piece not too long ago on modern mercenaries, and it may be of interest in the present discussion (here it is but you have to be a subscriber to read it, and it costs). Yes, mercenaries: there are many men out there who are addicted to war, and there are companies (and front companies, natch) who love to employ them. In Yugoslavia, in the Middle East, in Africa, the mercenaries have often been the first men on the ground, before any official troops come. States can--and do--hire them and send them into diplomatically delicate areas for dirty work all the time.
Now, we all know that the Bush Regime is in no way above such behavior.... In fact, it is hard to figure out what, if anything, they might be "above." We can't even be sure right now if they're above their own feet, since their heads are so far up their asses that it's just impossible to say ... But I digress.
Does anyone know anything about American use of mercenaries? Because I suspect that this might be one method (among many) the Bush Regime might employ as it tries to extricate itself. Send non-aligned hired loonies to shoot up the place and create some confusion, or simply use them as fodder, or for "security," etc. Any thoughts?
Or for death squads.
The people in charge of most of these "security" arrangements are in the Central Intelligence Agency.
Given the current opinion of the Bush junta in the CIA, I wouldn't guarantee that the "Company" would be all that interested in helping out Rumsfeld Inc.
One of the penalties of burning Ms. Plame is that the people that play in the shadows don't trust the US government. Real mercs don't want their pictures in the media.
The U.S. is notorious for using mercenaries for dirty work.
The Vinnell Corp provides bodyguards and enforcers and trainers for the Saudi Royal Family and the refineries. They also provide contract killers for the CIA in places like Afghanistan and Columbia.
DynCorp provides security services from Aghanistan, to Iraq to Kosovo when not running child sex slave rings. Personnel range from ex-Delta ops to ex-cops looking for a bigger paycheck.
Wackenhut - A old CIA front organization supposedly providing security services in dangerous hotspots when not assisting in deposing a foreign regime.
Could they do the job in Iraq? Maybe, but I'd wager hard cash they'll lose any interest when the guerillas start targeting these war whores.
As seeing a coworker getting turned into a bloody pulp really ruins employee morale.
Gi Ahmed it is, then.
Where does the proposed bugout leave Halliburton, Dyncorp, the rest of the Beltway Bandit parasites, and Bremer's grand plans for privatization of Iraqi industries?
Hmmm ... another rotten stench emanating from the administration. My (ever so humble) guess is that the (re)thugs in the WH are getting everything in place for the big "compassionate republican" drumroll just in time for the election next year.
Tom Ridge, the "Homeland Security" dufus was in Berlin today and here's a quote from his speech:
"The PATRIOT act does not have a permanent status - we will review it next year"
Just in time for the campaign, they'll be pulling out the really big "See? We're nice guys." lie - and my (second) guess is that people might just buy into yet another load o'bull.
Tom Ridge dropped a couple very odd lines in his speech in Berlin today that are worth noting since they're so not part of the current "administration vocabulary". If you can read German, read the article on the "Der Spiegel" web site. In case you don't speak German, you can read the most beautiful/weird ones "re-translated" into English on my blog. Oh yeah - you gotta love the photo of Tom Ridge the Spiegel used for the article - it's a riot.
And in case someone happens to have a link to the original (English) speech - please post it here - I would love to read the whole thing.
The key point, IMO, is that Bush wants Iraqis to die, not US soldiers, when the election approaches. Doesn't matter if they can do the job or not. He figures the US public doesn't care about people dying, as long as they aren't American.
Sadly, he may be right...
The Guardian Angels?
How bout Charlie's Angels!
Seriously, this all just makes me go, god, god god god god....
It's just beyond belief.
Oops, that was moi.
The desperate acts of dying regime of criminals. --Paul Wolfowitz
Blazing Saddles, anyone:
Bart: Well, can't you see that's the last act of a desperate man?
Howard Johnson: We don't care if it's the first act of Henry the Fifth, we're leaving.
All the privatizations are illegal, so say the commie rag Financial Times. (:-)) Follow the link from Common Dreams.
LINK
I don't think Vinnell, Dyncorp and Wackenhut are the kinds of mercenary outfits that would be necessary in Iraq, if the administration were to solicite such help. They're more like paid advisors. An outfit like Executive Outcomes of South Africa on the other hand is a full-fledged private army, with their own tanks, helicopters and aircraft; however, Iraq would be too large for even a combination of the largest corporate mercenary armies, all based in Africa. They're usually stocked with an assortment of human refuse. The record of such outfits in combat against hardened resistance is not good. The forerunners of many of these mercenary armies saw action in places like Angola and didn't fare well against the Cubans deployed in that country. The Iraqis are likely to give better than roving gangs of thugs in Sierra Leone.
Rodger
CIA in places like Afghanistan and Columbia.
[small] point: It's Colombia :]
Vinnell, Dyncorp and Wackenhut ,,, (merely)paid Advisors ....but paid well, you forgot to add. And the "merc" someone derided as (i)not liking the US gov (one of their main benefactors), (ii)being ineffectual in Angola, etc.. (against 'real' armies) misses some of the point of mercenary (i.e., "paid" "killer's") -- just reread the Rob't Fisk on the 'Bagdad Airport Security' recently posted here in [comments] - sorry I don't have that link handy -- and you will extract from it that merc's are professionals: they kill and get killed. That's why we like /use them. Messy as it appears, it's the least messy of other options. We pay - they die.
I wonder if Wolfowitz & Gang will be putting ads in Soldier of Fortune magazine:
"Travel to exotic places, meet interesting people, and kill them. Excellent medical benefits."
More bfc notions.
Replace GI Joes with GI Abduls, but it's still our toys. Yeah that will work just fine.
GI Abdul's time card:
9 am-5 pm - work for US;
5 pm-9 pm - dinner;
9 pm-2am - work for Resistance;
2 am-9 am - sleep;
repeat cycle.