Erik Prince in the news

[GJM]

https://theintercept.com/2016/03/24/...investigation/


Sent from my iPad

[Chance]

ERIK PRINCE, founder of the now-defunct mercenary

...done.

Alright, I read the entire thing, and I shouldn't have, because it was the same caliber of reporting during the Iraq war. I found one thing rather telling:

The Intercept has a long-standing FOIA request with the State Department seeking information on licenses granted to Prince and his former network of companies. To date, no information has been provided.

[SeriousStudent]

Prince packed up his entire family and moved to Dubai years ago, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States. So the entire thing is pretty meaningless.

Frankly, I trust Prince more than I trust Jeremy Scahill. And I don't really trust Prince.

[JohnO]

I read the first sentence. I can smell crap from a mile away and I'm not stepping any further into this pile.

[Chance]

Frankly, I trust Prince more than I trust Jeremy Scahill. And I don't really trust Prince.

Trust in the writers was lost in the first sentence. Even Jon Stewart figured out Blackwater were not mercenaries. Erik Prince went on 'The Daily Show' to discuss his book, and it was odd how well he and Jon got along.

If a biased ass hat like Stewart knew the difference between "mercenary" and "security contractor," then any reputable journalist should too. Any news outlet that continues to use the term "mercenary," and in the opening sentence so less, is banking on ignorant sensationalism.

[LittleLebowski]

Frankly, I trust Prince more than I trust Jeremy Scahill. And I don't really trust Prince.

This.

[ranger]

You know - the US Government in the form of DOD and DOS decided how to fight the wars of the last 10+ years. The US government's choices drove the demand for non-traditional military services. I went to the US Embassy in Baghdad Iraq multiple times - it was a Who's Who of contract security in layers from the most extreme perimeter to the inner ring. I watched the changing of the guard over time at the regional US Embassy as they turned over from one contractor to another "brand" contract security to save money. I saw Blackwater serve as security for the US Corps of Engineers as they visited projects. Saw Blackwater escort the US Ambassador to a meeting reference reconstruction projects. Saw another name contractor destroying abandoned Iraqi army ammo dumps. Saw the US ARMY doing DOS's job because DOS employees would not leave their compounds with the pools and bars and condo like housing.

We have chosen to have a small DOD and an inept DOS and to "contract" everything from cooking, laundry, vehicle maintenance, and security. If "we" do not want contract security and its negative implications, then pay for a larger standing military and build a professional Department of State willing to go do the tough work involved in a counterinsurgency.

[TGS]

You know - the US Government in the form of DOD and DOS decided how to fight the wars of the last 10+ years. The US government's choices drove the demand for non-traditional military services. I went to the US Embassy in Baghdad Iraq multiple times - it was a Who's Who of contract security in layers from the most extreme perimeter to the inner ring. I watched the changing of the guard over time at the regional US Embassy as they turned over from one contractor to another "brand" contract security to save money. I saw Blackwater serve as security for the US Corps of Engineers as they visited projects. Saw Blackwater escort the US Ambassador to a meeting reference reconstruction projects. Saw another name contractor destroying abandoned Iraqi army ammo dumps. Saw the US ARMY doing DOS's job because DOS employees would not leave their compounds with the pools and bars and condo like housing.

We have chosen to have a small DOD and an inept DOS and to "contract" everything from cooking, laundry, vehicle maintenance, and security. If "we" do not want contract security and its negative implications, then pay for a larger standing military and build a professional Department of State willing to go do the tough work involved in a counterinsurgency.

Sounds like you're associating the use of contracting with ineptitude and failure. Ex: DOS hires contractors for security to escort ambassador to meetings in high threat areas, therefore DOS is inept. US Army hires contractors to blow up an ammo dump, therefore the US army is inept. DOS contracts out food and laundry services, therefore the DOS is inept.

How does this constitute ineptitude and mission failure? Would a permanent career appointee change this mission failure, and how?

[ranger]

Sounds like you're associating the use of contracting with ineptitude and failure. Ex: DOS hires contractors for security to escort ambassador to meetings in high threat areas, therefore DOS is inept. US Army hires contractors to blow up an ammo dump, therefore the US army is inept. DOS contracts out food and laundry services, therefore the DOS is inept.

How does this constitute ineptitude and mission failure? Would a permanent career appointee change this mission failure, and how?

I am saying that - in general, and not necessarily by those in this forum - "contractors" on the battlefield are seen in a "negative" light aka mercenaries. My point is that the US Government (chosen by the citizens) has decided to "contract" many services including security versus having a larger DOD or full time security in DOS of the size required for a counterinsurgency. Personally, I was very impressed with the contract security teams that I dealt with and occasionally I went on a mission secured by contractors versus my military unit. We as a nation cannot have it both ways - we cannot demonize the security contractors when we are the ones that developed and encouraged the market for security contractors. Are UPS and FEDEX "bad" because they fill a market void left by the US Government's US MAIL?

PS - I have a bone to pick with DOS (the ones I dealt with such as USAID) because they lived the high life inside the embassy compound and would not go outside the wire to do the jobs they were hired to do. I am fine with them using security contractors - makes sense.

PS - the reason we had contractors blowing up ammo dumps was because we had an artificial cap on the number of soldiers who could be in Iraq - that number was tracked daily and heavily massaged - again, not enough soldiers use contractors because contractors were not counted in the force cap.

[TGS]

Are UPS and FEDEX "bad" because they fill a market void left by the US Government's US MAIL?

I don't think so, but that dynamic/principle is certainly what I got as the takeaway from your prior post. I'll have to try and reread it again later.