We Need More Troops In The Middle East!!

I'm all for that.
Seeing how our soldier's are risking life and limb for corporate and financial profits, I say we should pay them CEO salaries. Who is putting more at risk, the CEO and their capital or the soldier's lives?
They are not fighting for our freedoms but for power and control for their elite.

Tell me how Iraq, Syria, Libya, Iran etc have come after our "freedoms" when it is we that are imposing our will and doctrines on others through the offensive wars started by the elite.

Originally posted by KeliOnyx
reply to post by ModernAcademia

 

How about we get rid of the mercenaries and pay our soldiers those nice wages and benefits instead? I get what you are trying to say I think. But there are better answers than to send more of our troops there.

For the record I DO NOT want more troops in the middle east

my only point was the number of troops should always be higher than number of mercenaries
should be like 80/20 or so

reply to post by ModernAcademia


If you're saying that declaring war overtly is preferable to sneaky covert operations that are effectively undeclared wars, then I'll agree with that. The covert war tactic keeps Americans in the dark about our aggressive role in world affairs, and it also amounts to an end-run of the Constitution. So yes- I'll agree- wars should be declared openly or not fought at all.

But in the matter of the Mid East (or anywhere else for that matter)- I don't see any justification for US military intervention.

reply to post by ModernAcademia


It should be more like 100/0. There is no real reason any modern nation should be hiring thugs other than they don't want the accountability. If they don't want the accountability then they are simply not responsible enough to be there to begin with.

There should not be any US troops or mercenaries in ME There should be whole lotta Drones in ME

Jokes apart...I do get MA's point. His focus is towards accountability. The soldiers only follow orders regardless of their political stance. It is really the lack of accountability that leads to further escalations of turmoil and conflicts in the region upto certain extent (though majority of it was planned years ahead). US is not the only country with national/economical interests in the region. There are many countries. Its just we are more visible due to the percentage of contribution from US.

Ofcourse the best solution is to not be in the ME but if the 'geopolitics' require the presence/use of the US military, then unfortunately the military doesn't have much choice except to follow the orders/plan. Idealism has diminished from almost every country when it comes to Politics. So while I agree that we should let the ME nations take care of their own issues, unfortunately the reality is not as simple. Everything has to do with Economy and ours isn't doing too good. War is generally and has been the only remedy for it unless we change our living standards drastically (wages, salaries, profits, addictions of resources). Sadly many of us wouldn't work for peanuts nor would we alter our standards and/or lifestyles according to our needs. This is a big subject in itself which I'm throwing it out there in a different tangent of thought process.

Originally posted by ModernAcademia
For the record I DO NOT want more troops in the middle east

my only point was the number of troops should always be higher than number of mercenaries
should be like 80/20 or so

It takes bodies to clean the crappers, serve the slop, transport supplies, among other things. So you have your contractors to do it. I would hardly call a toilet cleaner a mercenary.

Security contractors are a whole different animal. And yes, there needs to be more accountability with them.

My former employer called me for a Satcom job in Afghan last Friday. I signed the offer letter on Saturday.