Amen brother.

At my last count there are 14 different federal agencies collecting their own intelligence. [Yes I used to work for a few of them]

Most of these have also at least some level of military or civilian law enforcement mission as well.

This is not considering the multitude of private corps that have been involved in "security and industrial loss prevention" since Christ was a corporeal.

It shudders me timbers to think that my oldest son is aggressively persuing a career in "intelligence field operations".

I should have known when I taught him to eat his own dead on the field.

I purchased the Blackwater novel a couple of weeks ago and I started reading it while on the plane. I am hoping to do some research on this subject in the near future

Wow I want to go work for Blackwater was working for ArmorGroup

This is a touchy subject and Im not here to argue about Blackwater and there have been some red flags thrown up however what happens in the AO should stay in the AO, I am a former military man and I know some of the individuals who work for Blackwater, They are some of the finest shooters and door kickers Ive ever known, I have had the privelage of working with some of these guys while I was on active duty, Most guys in the special operations community go right to work in the private sector when they get their discharge orders or some opt to stay in and thats great but Id rather work for Blackwater than KBR/Halliburton, Thats like working for the devil in my opinion. Blackwater trains many police swat units and federal agencies, A friend of mine just came back from an active shooting class there, I like that they are here and I like that they are overseas helping our troops out, War sucks but unfortunatly we are knee deep in it. I have not read the book but If anybody can provide me with some feedback that would be very much appreciated. Thanks

Anned..Good reply...I would love to see that happen as well..There are good guys working for that company..I wonder who is going to finally neutralize that Ukranian ship?

Can you imagine these guys hooking up with and even training our neighborhood watch groups..Ughhhh ..

By the way awesome post ..lots of info ..lots of links ..makes me wanna read the book now ..thanks ...

[edit on 6-10-2008 by Simplynoone]

wow this thread made me laugh so much. obviously youre all uninformed, you read a book written by some liberal and you think your a pro on private contractors. HAHA. first, they are not a sector of the government, or mercaneries, secret military organization, or any other government funded entity, they are all civilians. civilians workin contracts as personal security in foreign countries, and they ONLY engage in a firefight (utilizing precision shots) when they need to defend themselves, and only then. a basic rundown, this is how it works; the company gets a phone call from a mayor, governor, prime minister of another country, or whoever it may be, and they say hey i need a body guard for a couple weeks for this much money, the Ops chief calls the employees and asks who wants the contract, and the job gets done. its really that simple, believe it or not. you may be saying to yourself "this guy is crazy, he doesnt know what hes talkin about", but i do. i have PERSONAL EXPERIENCE in this business. the government isnt launching a blackwater kill sqaud to come to your house tonight and kill your family. i know its a cool thought for you, but your not of any importance, get over it.

the blackwater company has always been in the U.S., they didnt just sneak in here and set up camp. were right here in moyock, north carolina. come by and watch what we really do, you may learn something, and your views and opinions may change. blackwater operates in many countries worldwide, some of which you probably havent heard of. the thing said about having as many contractors in iraq and afghanistan as the U.S. does troops is BS. theres roughly 1500 blackwater personel in both countries, doing anything from logistical support, convoy security, military transitional training teams, principle security, 'terps, and intel teams, assisting the iraqi police and U.S. military in medical evacuations and supply drops.

also, if you didnt know, blackwater and other companies have built hospitals, and provided many supplies to third world countries, so YES they have done humanitarian aid missions. WERE NOT a bunch off murderers.

when erik is being interviewed on CNN, the reason he doesnt sweat it is because, in this line of work youre constantly under investigation. everything is in question.

haha once again i laugh. nor the military or any government organization answer to the people, it doesnt matter how much the people complain. guess what? private companies dont care either.

i may sound like one of the "others", and i guess i am, but do your own research next time. dont read some hippies liberal perspective book, or watch CNN videos all day. make a stop in Moyock, NC.

{blackwater and other companies have built hospitals, and provided many supplies to third world countries, so YES they have done humanitarian aid missions}

Yeah well so does Fema ...The Red Cross ..The United Way ...the Salvation Army .. Catholic Church,The Masons,The Shriners,the Government ..the Protestant Churches ...Actors and Actresses ....US Senators....etc etc etc ..(The list is long) ..

Seriously please dont use the THEY DO GOOD DEEDS with their money .... trump card so that means they are on the up and up ..because that is just simply not true ...