Colette Meiji

Well this is of course true.

The Army would make a poor police force.

That would be true Martial Law though if Armed troops were stationed to keep order.

Which has also happened before in limited fashion in the US.

io Kukulcan

So what do we do, when we're just cruising on our bike to the local market, and some Private in the US Army, stops you, and asks for your papers?

Mereille

Um... Cindy?

Would this count?

edit: {Picture snipped because it was wrong}

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Lucifer Baphomet

Don't answer in arabic or farsi, no matter what.

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Vengence Opus

don't anyone worry...

it's all for your own good.

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Colette Meiji

Blackwater needs fired, yesterday.

If the US military doesn't have enough troops Bush should have had the nerve to request a Draft.

Surreal

Same thing I do now when I'm stopped by the police. Politely ask for the reason they stopped me (probable cause) and remind them, still politely, that I'm not legally obligated to carry identification while on my bike.

Actually did that last year, although it was like 2 in the morning.

Now are we under a curfew because someone just bombed the fuck out of DC? That's a different animal.

RandoymRandt

OMFG, wow, WOW!
TY.

God I am glad I left the US...I'm sorry to be sour on the place, but holy hell it's not the place I grew up...it's not my country anymore.

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Brave Republic

Be polite, stop peddling, hand them over and pray you are not a member of known terrorist organizations.

Or you can say "stop drinking asshole" and go around him, pass the bar, and be on your way?

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Surreal

It's not about nerve, it's about knowing that the draft will cause support for any war to evaporate overnight. Right now the majority of people are not directly impacted or at risk from Afganistan or Iraq. A draft would change that.

Honestly, you try and draft my son to clean up your fucked up political spill on aisle two? I will personally get him out of the country and enlist my friends abroad to hide him - and go to jail if necessary (although I'd be more likely to get the fuck out of town myself).

I lost a nephew last year in Iraq, so be careful what you say next.

Surreal

And which city are we talking about anyway... it would play out a lot differently depending if you were in let's say.. Dallas vs. Boston.

Brave Republic

Hey looks like a good company, great benefits and look here's there current job openings :

Blackwater Worldwide

Everybody likes free company provided lunch right?

Do we know what role they are acting in when they were in New Orleans? Advisor doesn't mean unarmed

RandoymRandt

Pardon for me getting back to the blackwater thing, but where the FUCK is the mainstream media (other than NPR) on this? Head up ass election coverage only?

WHAAAT THE FUCK????

Cindy Claveau

Sure it does, because nobody has ever hired private security guards in this country before. Like, ever.

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Sometimes, "I hit it with my axe" is the best solution.

Colette Meiji

If the support for the draft is not there then what business does the Bush administration have hiring mercenaries?

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The Iraq war is problematic on many levels.

We never had the Political Will to declare war

Troop Levels are lower than what the Military repetitively requested.

Reserve units are being pushed to the extremes to try and keep even those levels up.

The Military is hiring Mercenaries.

Its obvious to continue the war there should have been a draft.

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If the draft wouldn't have passed or the Political fall out is too great .. then we shouldn't be involved in Iraq.

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I have a 16 year old Son. I sure as hell am against a draft. But if volunteers are insufficient, then a draft is preferable to Mercenaries.

Now .. if they could get the mercenaries to actually volunteer and be part of the actual military and not working for their paramilitary business ...

That would be okay too.

I am also cool with drafting all mercenaries first.

Brave Republic

Hey that pic came from a "reliable" source "Tulanelink"

HOW A POWERFUL UNIVERSITY PROMOTES JUDICIAL AND POLITICAL CORRUPTION
AND PREVAILS IN THE COURTS OF LAW

Psyke Phaeton

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Cindy Claveau

From the link:

They forgot to mention that these guys were wearing black shirts and jackboots, saluting each other with raised arms and shouting "Heil!" to everyone right before they shot a bunch of babies and raped 10 grandmas.

Colette Meiji

Depends on who is doing the hiring.

The Government should not be hiring private security

At that point they are mercenaries.

Mereille

They were officially there to provide security to FEMA officials. $33m dollars worth of protection. Or $950/day per guard.

Randoym, I probably should have pointed out that the story if from last year, and the picture is probably circa 2005. The article I pulled it from was written in 2006, and it's source is credited as (unknown author) from google.

RandoymRandt

Not sure I'm too freaked out by who took the picture but that it was able to be taken at all.

Unless it's faked, I could care less who pushed the shutter.

Vengence Opus

private security guards are licensed, bonded, carry plastic flashlights, maybe a small sidearm, and are required to call the cops if anything happens.

mercenaries carry full auto assault rifles, are usually former spec-ops, and, as we've seen in Iraq, are completely unaccountable for anything (including wholesale slaughter of civilians).

big difference between a guy in a polyester suit with a plastic badge and a guy fully kitted for war.

Merovigan

Well...blackwater did get pulled out of Iraq not too long ago for thier murders. I'm not sure if they're still in operation in the states. They had a training facility that went beyond world class. It was a fucking marvel! Then it got raided by the FBI for having automatic weapons.


Oh, and blackwater is also being used in police efforts:
DEA and Blackwater raid and destroy medical marijuana dispensary « Last Free Voice

Still, blackwater was just one. There are many, many others.

And they all get their employees from other countries where the military is trained to be absolutely and purely evil. They don't have to pay them much, either because really, what demand is there for someone who only knows how to torture/murder people?

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Mereille

You're moving the goal posts. You asked specifically for the Feds hiring private contractors to keep social order.

Does hiring Blackwater to patrol New Orleans count in your book or not?

I just want to know if there are any Molotovs in your future.

RandoymRandt

Thanks for the clarification Mer, I was looking at this with the last hurricane in mind...
Either way...weren't there some shootings on one of the bridges going out of New ORleans when people tried to 'escape' by walkin across, or was that the military proper covering that up? I can't remember....how that went.