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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAmerican citizens do not need to know who the armed soldiers in DC are
Nope, we literally have no reason to know what branch they are from. That's classified government info, doncha know.
That is literally what I was told by a Rubio staffer when I called and asked.
I didn't even bother calling Scott's office.
Lois Frankel is already making inquiries, and I am betting she isn't the only Dem asking.
onecaliberal
(32,777 posts)obamanut2012
(26,046 posts)I actually think Rubio has a very small coal of compassion at his core, but is too much of a coward and opportunist to make it flame. Scott is an evil fuck. I hope Gwen Graham runs against one of them next time.
pwb
(11,246 posts)Private storm troopers.
obamanut2012
(26,046 posts)I wonder if Rubio's office legit knows that and is staying mum, or literally have no idea and can't answer anyway.
onecaliberal
(32,777 posts)2naSalit
(86,323 posts)He's been courting Prince all along.
obamanut2012
(26,046 posts)crickets
(25,951 posts)Celerity
(43,080 posts)https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/01/military-contractors-iraq-kenya-syria.html
JAN 24, 2020
President Donald Trump speaks frequently about his desire to bring U.S. troops home from places like Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan and bring a close to the endless wars he inherited. Just last Wednesday he boasted that we left Syria. This isnt even true in an official sense, but troop numbers also only tell part of the story. Some boots on the ground are not being counted at all.
In a stunning report on Wednesday, the New York Times revealed details of a Jan. 3 attack by the Somali jihadi group Al-Shabab on a base in neighboring Kenya that left three Americans dead. The Pentagon was so alarmed by the incident that it quickly deployed 100 troops to restore security at the base at Manda Bay. But it got almost no attention in the United States, perhaps because it occurred in the aftermath of the killing of another contractor, in Iraq, which set off the tit-for-tat cycle that nearly brought the U.S. and Iran to war. Two of the three Americans were civilian contractors. The U.S. increasingly relies on private contractors in a vast number of overseas military operations, creating a status quo that both obscures the extent of the U.S. militarys reach and creates a host of new dangers. If Trump moves ahead with troop withdrawalsthe Pentagon is reportedly considering a major drawdown in Africa even as conflicts with jihadi groups in Somalia and West Africa intensifythese contractors could take on an even greater role.
But this drift toward privatization began before Trump took office. Under the George W. Bush administration, Blackwater employees killed 17 Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre, inspiring anger and debate over the use of military contractors in Iraq. As a senator, Barack Obama sponsored legislation to rein in the use of these contractors and hold them accountable for abuses. But as president, he relied heavily on them, even as he worked to withdraw troops. As the analyst Micah Zenko pointed out in 2016, Under Obama, more private military contractors have died in Iraq and Afghanistan than all the U.S. troops deployed to those countries. While all the Democratic presidential candidates, to varying degrees, have pledged to withdraw U.S. troops and bring an end to forever wars, its worth questioning to what degree they will follow in Obamas footsteps and simply privatize those wars. Contractors are like crack cocaine for presidents, because it allows them to extend American muscle but not under congressional oversight. Its a way to circumvent democratic accountability for military force, says Sean McFate, a former Army officer who worked as a private military contractor in several countries in Africa and now teaches at Georgetowns School of Foreign Service.
snip
crickets
(25,951 posts)This is one of those depressing articles that will take several sittings to get through...
Hotler
(11,394 posts)LiberalFighter
(50,777 posts)obamanut2012
(26,046 posts)The staffer was just sputtering away.