Oct. 30 - Interesting story

Oct. 30 - Interesting story from AP reporter Jim Krane in today's Sun about the outsourcing of jobs by the US military and the dangers they face (Contractors face heat in military zones.) Unfortunately, he veers too quickly from the contractors and goes into a full scale rant on the military-industrial complex, but, rhetoric aside, it raises some valid points about the extent to which civilians are involved not only in Iraq and Afghanistan but also in Liberia and Kosovo.

Krane fails to draw a fairly obvious parallel between US contractors and contractors for the NGO-civilian-complex, nor does he address how NGOs like the Red Crescent and the UN cut and run at the first sign of danger whereas US contractors stay and do the jobs which with they've been entrusted.

In contrast, Kingdom of the Geeks has been publishing emails from one known as Capt. "L" who is one of those contractors (correct me if I'm wrong) and who has a different take on his role as a contractor than the one Krane describes. In a post describing the bombing at the Al Rashid Hotel, the Capt. notes:

After the hotel was attacked, the military officer that was killed was found by his window with a rifle pointing out the window and set for full automatic. I figure that he must of heard the first hit and went to the window to attempt to return fire, when his room took a rocket strike, killing him.

Capt. "L" is former military, and his reports are full of respect for the military and he wrote earlier that he felt humbled to be working alongside and eating spam with the fine men and women over there.

Capt. "L" knows exactly why he's in Iraq and what role he is playing. It's a pity Mr. Crane didn't interview him or, for that matter, any of the contractors in hot zones. I'll rate the courage and dedication of the contractors over the feckless NGO types every.single.day. God bless and keep them.

Posted by: Debbye at 09:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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