Are you a contractor in Iraq? is the question asked by the BBC two wekks ago, allowing people to react if they are contractor in Iraq or if they have family and relives working as contractor in Iraq.
Are you working as a private security contractor in Iraq or do you know anyone who may be working out there? What have been your experiences of working in the country?
A very interesting two comments, one from a guy in Scotland and the other one from USA.
When foreigners not part of an army get caught in Afghanistan they’re “illegal combatants”, however when they serve the mighty USA they’re honourable “contractors”. America needs to cut down on this sort of hypocrisy if it wishes to be a responsible superpower. But these “contractors” are indeed parasites, feeding on the misery of the Iraqi people whilst making gross amounts of money. Can’t Iraqis be trusted to fulfil such jobs so their state of affairs improve?
Ahmed, Edinburgh, Scotland
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Isn’t contractors another word for mercenaries and/or soldiers of fortune, profiting from war and human suffering?
DTS, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Are you a contractor in Iraq?
The answer to both questions is, yes. Contractors *namely Security Corps* are balancing on a thin line between the concept of “Security Guard” and “Merc”. If an individual is not in the service of a Nation, (ie, Armed Forces or directly hired by them) and enters a war-zone by his/her own volition, against the recommendation of thier Government, they basically lose all rights guaranteed to a citizen of that Nation. Truth be told, there is a certain amount of cooperation that takes place simply because Americans will tend to help out fellow Americans, just as Iraqis would help out other Iraqis given the chance.
Given the chance, I would tell Ahmed that the second answer, is no. Most influencial Iraqis do tend to feel better when protected by Security groups.
There is a good reason for contractors out here—if someone ‘wants’ to be there, thene they’re going to do a better job than people who don’t. Securit contractors especially.
Oh sure, we hear these altrustic stories about soldiers being proud of what they’re doing—but security contractors have one job–to keep their ‘prime’ alive during his travels. Soldiers don’t get paid squat and surely dont want to be guarding a person who’s already a target.
PSD’s (security contractors) actually want to be there–where else can they arm themselfs, repel attackers using common sense unlike the miliitary with their rules of engagement and trying to ‘safety’ the hell out of everything and calling to the rear before pulling a trigger.
oh yea–and the security contractors are better trained that the soldiers because they’re mostly ex-special forces and spec-ops. Active duty SF and specops people will never be wasted to guard a bunch of politicians.
to address this quote:“Can’t Iraqis be trusted to fulfil such jobs so their state of affairs improve?”
No, no, and umm…no. Because they prove this time and time again when given these tasks. Thats why the US State department has a group who has no other task than to teach Iraqis that bribery and corruption and nepotism are NOT the way to run a government–as they are prone to do.
Hell, I’ve got Iraqi cops all over shaking down and beating my local hire drivers.
We gave them the reconstruction contracts after the initial foreign contracts expired…what’d they do?…a lot of them took the money and left country.