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Muttling -> RE: Obama: What the Fuck is the Difference? (2/29/2008 3:50:10 AM)
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Ummm......Before leaving the field of military contracting I worked for two of Blackwater's major competitors. I have spent time in several foreign countries under the contracts you describe and a LOT of others.
That said, your conception of the issue with VERY limited. The State Department is an extremely tiny portion of the work. That is all personal security details or PSDs and transport operations which are typically subcontracted out to operations like SkyLink. While such operations have insanely high proffit margins, the people being protected are very high value targets with insanely high profiles. The State Department work looks good on a corporate brochure and opens a lot of doors, but it doesn't pay the bills.
It is contracts to the government of Iraq, contracts to maintain perimeter security on U.S. military posts, convoy escorts, etc. that pay the real money. The margins are smaller, but so is the risk and exposure.
Contracts such as these date back to the revolutionary war when General Washington contracted convoys of wagons for supplies. In the early days of WWII, the number of security contractors hired by the U.S. was astounding as was the pay rates. Vietnam was even more insane because we hired them to do offensive operations. Today (and in most operations past) contractors are hired for defensive operations to free up the active duty for offensive operations and patrols.
When you go to war, you need resources that you don't have and the quickest way to get them is to hire security specialists (e.g. former military people who are working for para-military companies.)
On a final note, if you want to see how desperate we REALLY were......look to the South African mercs that the state department hired in the early days of the war. Several of them were later captured during an attempt to overthrow the government of Congo.
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