A Black Feather, A poison pen... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- too many questions, not enough answers I'm not going to go as far as to utter the exact same sentiments as Kos as it relates to the deaths of the "contractors" in Fallujah last week. but yeah, i don't feel too badly for them because the situation raises more questions, and unpleasant ones at that. First question, why did these people, who may well have been mercenaries for all we know, (seriously, armed "contractors" rolling around in what is still arguably a war zone aren't likely to be mistaken for "civillians") deserve more press coverage than the five soldiers who diedn that day. Second, what the hell are we doing hiring some of these "contractors" anyway. Maybe the people from Blackwater are a good lot, maybe they're not, but one of our other "contract" firms (Executive Options, i believe) is staffed by significant numbers of ex-Apartheid-era South African secret police members and they aren't known for being the most even-handed bunch where they came from... from a diplomatic standpoint, this sets back the whole notion of "winning hearts and minds" from its outset. Third, going back to the first question, why is the US Govt and the CPA more outraged over the loss of four mercs (who are better paid than our troops, for whom our government still claims it can't afford body armor) and why are some of the right-wing jackholes advocating wiping out Fallujah on their behalf, but they don't seem to remember that the mercs were just four of nine people that our side lost that day, and unlike the four Blackwater employees, the other five who died were in Iraq under orders, not under the promise of a fat paycheck. Considering that the CPA ordered the shuttering of an Iraqi newspaper that wasn't drinking L. Paul Bremer's kool-aid, can we really argue that the CPA is really trying to build a foundation of "Freedom" Why does W keep insisting that our enemies "hate freedom" when so many of his appointees and so many of his proposed policies since he has taken office would suggest that, unless you subscribe to the same worldview as he does, he hates freedom too. 5:34 p.m. - 2004-04-05 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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