PMCs -> What's your take?
  • BrianBrian January 2010
    PMCs, Contractors, Mercenaries, etc.

    Whatever you want to call them, what are your thoughts on them?

    There has been a lot of negative press lately regarding PMCs in general, particularily Blackwater (Now Xe Services LLC), but it's no wonder governments find them attractive. A PMC can be used to circumvent troop restrictions. They free up military personnel for active operations, instead of "baby sitting" jobs and guard duty. PMCs are usually un-governed and un-restricted by military law, or local law, allowing them more "freedom" then a traditional military. The media gets much less access to PMC operations, and PMC body-counts don't count towards the home-government's death count in a war, giving a better perception back home by skewing casualty numbers.

    I know we have some pro-military and active service personnel on this board, so I'd be interested to hear some opinions on something that hasn't seen much discussion here yet as far as I can recall.

    Personally; though there are some things I'd like to see changed, I am both pro-military and pro-PMC.

    Please discuss, and potentially enlighten me.
  • redboneredbone January 2010
    Have you seen the movie War Inc.? I found it pretty amusing and it seemed to do a decent job of following my opinion on the issue.

    In case you haven't, or I'm not remember the movie exactly or I'm just retarded cause its 5 in the morning and I should be either sleeping or finishing my school work, the pacifist in me hates all things that have to do with the military. There are so many sub divisions already, such as seals and rangers and national guard and this and that and those guys and them over there. Just seems a little like over kill for the government to have to hire a company to take care of a 'sticky' situation. What happened to Jason Bourne and the rest of the CIA? =D

    To be honest I don't know how often its really needed for someone like blackwater to step in. If there is something that we can't be open to the public about doing, maybe we shouldn't be doing it?

    What my thoughts on the subject really boil down to is that our armed forces should be there to defend me against an attack from another country. If some asshole wants to get in a bus filled with explosives and drive it into my apartment, the military simply isn't going to be able to stop them.

    Wars of this century are either going to be a joke like the one going on right now, where its more of a bully situation, or be simple nuclear/biological elimination. Lets face it, neither Mexico or Canada is going to say one day, hey guys, lets try and claim Texas/Maine by sending in some troops or tanks. The only thing I'm worried about is someone sending weapons of mass destruction my way, and I would feel much safer if we were spending time and money focusing on ways to prevent and respond to that situation, instead of playing grab ass over oil fields.

    Concluding statement: In my opinion the war that the U.S. is engaged in currently is a farce, and that our military could do the job it needs to at 1/10 its current manpower size. I'm more willing to believe conspiracy theories about 9/11 and that the whole reason we are in the war is for the powers that be to further their own personal goals, than to believe that what is going on over there is somehow actually bettering the global community, let alone my country. This could very easily be a result of me being drastically misinformed. But I think that the war is going to in the end fail for the same reasons the vietnam war, and the same reason V was able to get pumped full of lead and still knife everyone down, ideas are bulletproof, and what we are fighting is an idea.
  • NunesNunes January 2010
    Historically, a nations use of mercenary forces* is indirectly proportional to the amount of time said nation has left.

    edit: I'll expand that to "use of and willingness to become mercenary forces"
  • BrianBrian January 2010
    Redbone: For the most part, in Iraq, contractors are being used to fullfill roles such as CP and compound guards, and are not taking part in active operations (heh, maybe). Simply put, they are a reactive force... supposedly. In Iraq, I believe this is fairly accurate for once.

    I essentially agree with your concluding statement. The US has been very slow to react in OOTW and unconventional warfare, and I hope they can come up with something. Fighting a viral network of "freedom fighters" with the conventional military is just not working in most cases.
  • NunesNunes January 2010
    QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 25 2010, 11:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    Redbone: For the most part, in Iraq, contractors are being used to fullfill roles such as CP and compound guards, and are not taking part in active operations (heh, maybe). Simply put, they are a reactive force... supposedly. In Iraq, I believe this is fairly accurate for once.

    I essentially agree with your concluding statement. The US has been very slow to react in OOTW and unconventional warfare, and I hope they can come up with something. Fighting a viral network of "freedom fighters" with the conventional military is just not working in most cases.


    I propose we stop fighting.

    A crazy idea I know, what with all that the fighting is doing to keep us safe from acts terrorism both foreign and domestic.
  • BrianBrian January 2010
    QUOTE (Andrew @ Jan 25 2010, 11:12 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    I propose we stop fighting.

    A crazy idea I know, what with all that the fighting is doing to keep us safe from acts terrorism both foreign and domestic.


    The war on terror is the new war on drugs. And the two merge in Afghanistan. Good luck extracting the US or the Brits from that shit-hole.

    I do find it morbidly funny that the two objectives of eliminating the poppy fields and eliminating the guerrilla fighters are totally at odds with each other. You can't have both.
  • NunesNunes January 2010
    QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 25 2010, 03:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    The war on terror is the new war on drugs. And the two merge in Afghanistan. Good luck extracting the US or the Brits from that shit-hole.

    I do find it morbidly funny that the two objectives of eliminating the poppy fields and eliminating the guerrilla fighters are totally at odds with each other. You can't have both.


    The money we've spent fighting these wars hasn't prevented your country from carrying on a reasonable debate for decades.

    I'm a little less amused.
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