Formalizing the Informal in Iraq

The privatization of government services as a cost-cutting measure is truly a wolf in sheep’s clothing. In the name of saving tax payer money, we are washing our hands of primary responsibility and depending on mercenaries to do the work for us. While this is most evident in the war in Iraq when a contractor making $30k a month driving a truck speeds past the GI guarding him earning much less, it is less evident in other ways. Not having reporting from the war zone reflecting actual reality is a big mistake. Our inability to gat a good accurate read of the realities keeps us guessing as to what is what and who is who, all to our chagrin when official pronouncements do not mesh with the facts. Marginalizing the disparity between these private helpers, well-connected Halliburton employees or otherwise, and our own troops is another big mistake. Combining these two makes for an unsustainable situation on the ground. Our boys deserve better, so maybe we can take a page out of Ronnie Reagan’s old playbook!

In the Central American War (Remember that one kids? Contras v. Sandanistas, Eugene Hasenfus, etc.?) when Congress voted to stop aiding the repressive right-wing forces that included Death Squads, an ersatz private aid network spontaneously generated! Concerned citizens from all over the country were prodded into action. Amazing! In those heady days when the Cold War was raging we’d have some proxy of ours doing our dirty work while we supplied them, with or without Congressional approval. In that case super-patriots like Joe Coors and the kind folks at W.R. Grace would open their coffers to keep the Red Tide at bay while our Leftist loving legislators put their heads in the sand like so many pink ostriches! Remember it was only a short drive to our southern border from Nicaragua! So some Third World flunky propped up by Uncle Sam, trained by ex-CIA and ex-Special Forces types would be pushed once more unto the breach dear friends once more!

So what happened to that paradigm? Unlike the impoverished jungle climate of El Salvador, Honduras or Costa Rica, picture lazy rich Saudis doing our dirty work for us? Ha! If anything they have a stronger “pimp hand” than we do and we are their bitch since they are the supplier of our national addiction of choice, imported oil to fuel our economy. Like the street hooker on crack seeking a John to facilitate their next fix, we bend over for and to the Saudis when in fact a private aid network supported and financed completely by their oil money should be at the front lines in Iraq. Homegrown Republicans can also pay for the fighting of the war at their own expense. Pass the hat at the country club or posh day spa. Have a bake sale at the gated community. Hire thugs from around the world to be on the front lines, folks who if they die, the loss would hardly be noted on the evening news. There are plenty of idle Serbian-trained paramilitaries sitting around greasy cafes in Belgrade listening to Turbo Folk music and smoking unfiltered black market cigarettes comparing war stories about how they so expertly killed Muslims in Kosovo. Perhaps we can open our prisons to save more tax payer money. Those wishing to be released early can apply for the Foreign Adventure Corps. Train them in basic weapons and send them on over to do our and the Saudi’s dirty work, because in the name of formalizing the informal, let those who support the war pay for it themselves.