Bush's Secret Army

Bush’s Secret Army
Mercenaries in Iraq

President Dwight Eisenhower warned America against the potential evils of the military industrial complex in his farewell address to the nation in 1961. Perhaps the worst example of Ike’s concerns has come to fruition in the Bush administration’s war in Iraq.

Bush and Company, a collection of cronies that dates back through the Reagan and Bush the Elder’s administrations, and as far back as the Nixon administration, planned to take this nation to war from the moment they took over the White House (PNAC). They plan to keep it there in a series of pre-emptive wars designed to profit the military industry in this country. This war had nothing to do with Saddam or his supposed threat against America – it’s all about oil and profit for the military industry.

Americans hear daily reports on the casualties suffered by our armed forces in Iraq, but we are only getting half the story. Almost half of the troops in Iraq are mercenaries hired by Bush and Co. Contractors are the second-largest military force in Iraq, second only to the US,

These mercenaries, professional contract soldiers, operate in secrecy and are not held accountable for their actions. Mercenaries’ crimes and violations are not documented nor punished. Only one private contractor has been indicted for crimes or violations in Iraq. Their deaths, injuries and crimes are not part of the public record. Mercenaries have no loyalty to the hiring country and cannot be depended upon in a field that responds only to the highest bidder.

The press does not cover contractors’ activities, which offers an enormous benefit for the Bush propaganda machine’s pitiful attempts to make the war appear as palatable as possible. Not counting contractor deaths in the official toll softens the daily media reports significantly. The costs involving contractors’ services are not reported.

There are reportedly around 100,000 contractors in Iraq, of which 48,000 are mercenaries. They can make as much as $1,000 per day, which is much more than active duty personnel are paid. There is almost no oversight or effective control employed over their activities, the range of which continues to expand on an almost daily basis. Current official reports are difficult to find on the web. The costs of private security services in Iraq are nearing $4 billion. The mercenaries’ high salaries are proving to be a hindrance to U.S. efforts to re-enlist members of its Armed Forces.

The examples of Halliburton, Bechtel, Blackwater and others operating in Iraq on no-bid contracts demonstrate the success of the administration’s plan to open defense funds, the largest share of the US budget, to private companies. The corruption is rampant and billions of taxpayer dollars are simply disappearing in Iraq.

Declaring the Pentagon bureaucracy a threat to the security of the U.S., when Donald Rumsfeld took office he redesigned the Dept. of Defense (DoD) with a new model based on the privatization of the military. He emphasized covert actions, new weapons systems and reliance on private contractors. He advised the use of proactive, not reactive actions, and recommended a more venture capitalistic attitude than typical bureaucratic behavior.

The administration’s privatization plans for the military industry include outsourcing and the use of private contractors in every aspect of the war. Halliburton, which employed in Iraq the largest army of private contractors ever used in modern times, based on an open-ended, no-bid contract, is the worst example of Bush’s policies.

When Rumsfeld left office in disgrace after totally mismanaging the Iraq War, Bush credited him with overseeing the greatest reorganization of the DoD since WW II.

Before he left office, Rumsfeld classified private contractors as an official part of the U.S. “Total Force.” The plan describes the Total Force as the DoD’s active and reserve military components, its civil servants and contractors. He began implementing the plan in 2001. This was a major victory for war contractors.

The perennial quest for funding of the military is essential to the contractors, since they still suck the teat of the military bureaucracy. Extending wars is always preferable and increases in troop strengths will include mercenaries.

When Bush recently asked for authorization for an increase of about 92,000 active-duty troops over the next five years, what he called a “surge” -- a somewhat bush league attempt to avoid the dreaded E-word (Escalation). It’s really an effort to keep the country at war and to fill the companies’ coffers from the government trough.

Bush introduced the concept of a Civilian Reserve Corps (CRC) in his 2007 State of the Union Speech. The CRC he described would be available in reserve, enabling the hiring of civilians with specific skills for jobs overseas, disaster response services and reconstruction efforts. By this time, the administration had already implemented this plan, revolutionizing the military and turning it into an outsourcing industry.

The concept of a CRC was originally proposed by Erik Prince, the head of Blackwater USA, the world’s largest contract military and police services company. Prince, a wealthy supporter of the radical religious right, claims to be able to provide military services at a lower cost than the current military.

Blackwater owns the world’s largest private military base in Moyock, N.C. The company markets its services to the Department of Homeland Security; it’s largest single deal was a no-bid contract for $21 million to protect Iraq proconsul Paul Bremer. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claims the company has received $750 million in State Department contracts.

Blackwater billed the government $950 per man, per day, for forces deployed in New Orleans after the Katrina disaster. The company has 2,300 personnel deployed in nine countries, with another 20,000 on standby.

Embroiled in a scandal in which four of its mercenaries were ambushed and killed by a mob in Falluja, which burned the bodies, dragged them through the streets, and hung them from a bridge, Blackwater lobbied Congress to keep from placing their employees under the military court martial system. The company eventually lost an appeal to the Supreme Court over the Falluja case, which will enable the case to proceed with no limit on damage awards.

Politicians who are aware of this situation and are acting to correct it include: