Obama to Pull “All” Troops from Iraq: NOT
October 18, 2011 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact
And I am getting sick of his lies. The State Department alone has over 5,500 mercenaries signed to 5 year future contracts at a cost of a little less than US$3 Billion. Yes, billions, folks. And that accounts for the troops we know of. What the CIA has on the ground, and plans to have in the future, remains a dark secret.
Is Hilary the 'Commander in Chief'? Spencer Ackerman noted in his Wired article that this is State Department force, not directed by experienced military hands. He asked, “How many State Department contracting officials will oversee how many hired guns? What are the rules of engagement for the guards? What’s the system for reporting a security danger, and for directing the guards’ response?” Good questions, all, especially since the protection from oversight by Iraq's government is a muddy mess with old occupation rules in conflict with new standards yet to be voted on by Maliki's weak 'rule of law' government.
The State Departments plans for two branch embassies in Kirkuk and Mosul come with a “startup cost of building and sustaining two embassy branch offices… and of hiring security contractors, buying new equipment and setting up two consulates in Basra and Erbil is about $1 billion. It will cost another $500 million or so to make the two consulates permanent.” It is not clear if these additional troops are included in the 5,500 estimate given above. The expenditures are not astronomical, but they sure are wastefully high. [“The pay for an experienced corporal of three years of service is $19,980 a year. The U.S. government pays private firms between $500 and $1,500 a day for the experienced military personnel they supply in Iraq. That works out to mercenaries who often earn between $150,000 and $250,000 a year, ” wrote Huck Gutman, University of Vermont.]
And Obama will take credit for the troop withdrawal. And the American Peace Movement will take credit for the withdrawal. And all will overlook two facts:
a) the withdrawal of uniformed troops is an Iraqi accomplishment, driven by internal pressures on Maliki’s government; not an American accomplishment, and
b) the ‘withdrawal’ is a farce that ignores the thousands of mercenaries who will be on the ground.
The American Fall began on Wall Street, and gained traction around the country and around the world. It may spread more widely, awakening the silent majority to action as the lies pile up and the people become more aware of how deeply their government has betrayed their trust, repeatedly lied to them, and spent their money in secret, illogical, and wasteful ways.
Are you getting sick of the lies?
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