U.S. Commandos' New Landlord in Afghanistan: Blackwater

I always try to inject humor into these dark times, especially for the innocents of Iraq, Afghanistan and all the other countries the evil western powers have pissed on through the years.

Brilliant

Originally posted by antonia
reply to post by AGWskeptic

 

My husband just fixes trucks (although he is actually trained to do medic too). He's been over to the desert 4 times, getting ready for the fifth. I told him I wouldn't stand for it. I don't care if it would pay all of our bills off. Those people are scary. They used to come into the bar I worked at and they were just....no words can describe the arrogance level on some of these men. I even had one follow me home.

edit on 5-12-2012 by antonia because: opps

I appreciate your thoughts but arrogance is prevalent in virtually every facet of our military. Go hang out with Navy Seals or any special operations-type individuals and you will see arrogance like you've only read about in books. You almost have to be arrogant to succeed in this type of environment. You don't typically see quiet, soft-spoken men in special operations units. One of the biggest aspects of fitting in with people you normally wouldn't fit in with is confidence... I know there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance but this is not at all limited to Blackwater mercs.

Originally posted by DoubleDNH
. I know there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance but this is not at all limited to Blackwater mercs.

I didn't say it was limited to them. I said the levels on most of those men are unreal. That is a different statement. I am used to arrogant men as I was raised in the military lifestyle. I have a certain level of ego myself. I'm even used to spec ops, but there is a difference between them and the Blackwater boys. I found the Blackwater types to be almost...Frat boyish in many ways. They were a clique and they stuck together. The Spec Ops were always cliquish with each other, but if you said no they left it at that. Not the other set, to them it was almost like the rules didn't matter at all.

As for your comment about "soft spoken" people, you seem to not know much about arrogance. Some of the most arrogant people I have met didn't have much to say at all and were not the world's most "firm" speakers.

reply to post by Maxmars


Not surprised, as the owner of Old Blackwater has a lot of connections.

But, this will just happen more and more as defense budgets are cut.
It cuts the Military less to contract out, then to have GIs doing the same job.

The armed forces are looking for a few good men, but they aren't above taking a few good killers. I really doubt Blackwater/Academi gives a crap if the men are good. It should be illegal for corporations to have their own mercenary armies. Just because these guys don't fall under the umbrella of USAF doesn't mean they don't represent us. THEY DO. Every time they perform some heinous act on foreign soil the victims of that act look at them and see America. Disgraceful.

Originally posted by antonia

Originally posted by DoubleDNH
. I know there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance but this is not at all limited to Blackwater mercs.

I didn't say it was limited to them. I said the levels on most of those men are unreal. That is a different statement. I am used to arrogant men as I was raised in the military lifestyle. I have a certain level of ego myself. I'm even used to spec ops, but there is a difference between them and the Blackwater boys. I found the Blackwater types to be almost...Frat boyish in many ways. They were a clique and they stuck together. The Spec Ops were always cliquish with each other, but if you said no they left it at that. Not the other set, to them it was almost like the rules didn't matter at all.

As for your comment about "soft spoken" people, you seem to not know much about arrogance. Some of the most arrogant people I have met didn't have much to say at all and were not the world's most "firm" speakers.

In those environments you're going to be inundated with Alpha males, the testosterone flows freely. The different groups are cliquish, which is pretty much normal.

I had different experiences with the Blackwater guys in Iraq. Some teams were extremely professional. Other teams were just cowboys. It all depended on their team leader.

The worst though was the CIA guys, or "OGA" as they liked to tell you. Pompous arrogance personified.

reply to post by antonia


I have to disagree.
Most of the contractors I have worked with were normal, good guys. There were some, that you could tell allowed the money to get to their head and were out of hand. But, I will echo that fact that it really depended on their team leader keeping them in line.
Off the job, they are rowdy, but still good guys.

Operators are more secretive, and for good reasons. Get them off the job and amongst friends, they are just as rowdy.

reply to post by bg_socalif


I've heard the CIA guys are bad, never had the displeasure of meeting one though. I seem to attract high-testosterone types though. Perhaps that's why I have a poor opinion of so many of guys I encounter lol.

blackwater is bad ass and they f*ck # up - if you want to believe the single incidents hype because there failure are known and there successes are not that's your bad.

had some cia peeps come to my house in the early 90's they just wanted to make sure my dads business travels weren't nefarious and if we could help them if they asked - nothing ever came out of it and they seemed nicely professional.

My local cops on the other hand - they are roided up out of control y0!

reply to post by willofeye


The saddest thing about it all is that regardless of who or what company is occupying Afghanistan, The people are going to think it's the US being represented. Which in return will create more enemies and more deaths, and make us ALL responsible for whatever actions a private organization (Acedemi) takes. That's not the function of a "for profit" business! That's the governments job!

The last thing we need is a bombing on US soil because of something Blackwater did in Afghanistan.

We're in trouble now...

Originally posted by macman
reply to post by Maxmars

 

Not surprised, as the owner of Old Blackwater has a lot of connections.

But, this will just happen more and more as defense budgets are cut.
It cuts the Military less to contract out, then to have GIs doing the same job.

The government needs the armed forces for other things... Like occupying the US..

Originally posted by Malynn
The armed forces are looking for a few good men, but they aren't above taking a few good killers. I really doubt Blackwater/Academi gives a crap if the men are good. It should be illegal for corporations to have their own mercenary armies. Just because these guys don't fall under the umbrella of USAF doesn't mean they don't represent us. THEY DO. Every time they perform some heinous act on foreign soil the victims of that act look at them and see America. Disgraceful.

Article I, Section 8, paragraph 11 of the U.S. Constitution
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

reply to post by foodstamp


Nope, as they will use Private Contractors as well.
No need to have the Military do it.

Originally posted by votan
Article I, Section 8, paragraph 11 of the U.S. Constitution
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

I don't know what you're trying to say quoting the US constitution in this context. Can you offer some supporting text on that containing your opinion? Are you trying to say that Academi is the modern equivalent of US Licensed pirates?

Originally posted by mypan
What are we going to say when they are captured and their heads lobbed off to line the mountain paths as ornaments ?

"whoopsie"?

I'd rather work for SAIC or Titan if I was going to do something unsavory. That said, not all contractors are bad, I know a lot of guys just driving trucks and the like. No weapons, no combat.

reply to post by Maxmars


I know that there are many of you that see the World through "Rose Color Glasses" but, we need these "Contractors". Whether it's Blackwater, AGS, Sharp End International, AECOM, or other private military companies, they are there because of the restrictions YOU have placed on our military. There are bad guys out there and we need our own bad guys to protect us. These contractors are professionals, they're are all volunteer, are very good at what they do, and they don't know how to "play nice". These people do things you don't want our military to do but, things that someone has to do. If you don't like it, you should just look the other way.