Given that Blackwater gets its personnel already trained (by the US military as often as not), that's not a very strong argument.

Supposedly Contractors aren't mercenaries per se because they aren't foreign troops paid by our Govt.,but I dislike the idea just the same.I support and admire American Soldiers,but Blackwater does seem to be playing Cowboys over there.

I won't tar all the contractors with the same brush,but clearly THESE Blackwater personnel committed a War Crime,and should face charges under the UCMJ.

Well, you'd know more than that article I linked to in the Washington Post.

Ahhh shit-saki, Zarth.....you're right. I'm sorry.

I know you all view me as a conservative mouth piece but let me straighten the good gentleman, Mr FearTheReaper, out.

Blackwater's website says that the pay starts at $550/day, a little less then what is quoted, so I would ask is that an average or where did that info come from. Then he gives the amount that a Sergeant would make, I would say what grade of sergeant, e5, e6, e7, e8. They all make different amounts and we would be talking about the grades of e6 or higher with a minimum of 8 years experience. That would put minimum pay closer to 100+/day for a Sergeant without dependants. So, off by a little bit but still close. My question what is he taking into consideration in those numbers, I only considered housing allowance and pay. No family separation, no hazardous duty pay, and no airborne pay. All of those would be paid out as well taking the daily amount higher. Plus the military does not pay for medical, was that taken into consideration, especially if there is a family.

How much do you pay for your family's medical insurance, now divide that by 30 and add it to the amount listed above. Also keep in mind that the people that work for Blackwater were trained by the US gov't, so that means even though they are no longer in the military we still get the benefit of their training. Now add that figure in and the cost of training new people to replace them comes into play. Some of the jobs that they do are done by a very limitted few military experts. High level personel protection is done by Delta Force and possibly some SEAL teams. They are few and spread thin around the world as it is. If not for Blackwater and other companies like them the military would be spread thinner.

Plus their letter says to tell and find the truth, what if the truth is they were wrong. Guess the letter blows up in their face.

So maybe it is and maybe it isn't cost effective to use them, but one thing is for sure as long as they are there we still get the benefit of their training, the gov't still gets to use their expertise and military lives are saved by them running convoy protection.

So now add all that up and every war has war crimes. I am not saying that they are right but it happens. If they are committed the perpetraitors need to be prosecuted and put in jail.

Nothing of it, my good man. I'm pleased we reached a peaceable understanding.

I am finally glad to see that I am not the only person with a counter opinion on this site.

And I would respond with, "what sad education did you receive?" You just listed an almost similar STARTING PAY and you can't understand AVERAGE pay? Seriously?

And maybe you didn't notice the little pink letters, but they are called a 'LINK". The numbers are quoted because they come directly from a legitimate news source called the Washington Post.

You, however, are talking out of your blown out anus as if what you say has any meaning without something to back it up. You have nothing, so what you say is irrelvant opinion.

And innocent Iraqis die. Sounds like a good days work.

Oh, good, because I thought you were saying they are right. Phew!

Indeed, every war has war crimes. And there is nothing disconcerning about a group of guys running around outside the rule of law in a war zone making shitloads of cash. Nothing at all.

If you think you have anything in common with FattyFatty2x4, then you are more insane than I previously thought. He presented a well thought out post, that made sense.

You need to wipe your ass, because of the volume of shit that came out and landed on your keyboard.

How could that possbly have happened? Oh noes!

And war crimes should be prosecuted. Shouldn't they?

True, but that's a sunk cost. It's never coming back no matter what you do. The alternative is for people to not be in the military anymore.

It's a complex chicken and egg problem: Our massive military industrial complex generates thousands upon thousands of people who exceptionally good at killing, among the best in the world (talking about the people Blackwater recruits, mostly spec ops and expeditionary forces). When they aren't needed, something has to be done with them, and in fact, having these people around creates a market for them.

If you really don't want to see organizations like Blackwater survive, keep our military at a trim level all the time, and limit our military involvement in things. It chokes the market for pre-trained mercenaries.

Or the US governement can just stop hiring them. 90 percent of Blackwater's revenue comes from contracts with the US government.

It's not like the name Blackwater is totally creepy on its own or anything.

There was an intersting article in LA Times last week about whether or not mercs in Iraq were "unlawful combatants." The imaginary category created by Bush and Co to describe Al Queda and Taliban fighters who are engaged in a war zone but not as part of an army tied to a nation-state.