On 5/17/13 8:34 AM, Eisboch wrote:
"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
m...
On 5/17/13 8:04 AM, Eisboch wrote:
"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
m...
On 5/16/13 11:20 PM, wrote:
The thing most people don't know or chose to ignore is that our
withdrawal from Iraq was only the DoD people. We left 20,000-30,000
"contractors" there to do what the military was doing. It is good for
the government because dead contractors don't come home to Dover in
flag draped coffins.
It is not any cheaper tho.
I suppose the real question is whether we have any reason to be there
in the first place.
Many of the "contractors" are in Iraq because of greed, and nothing
more. If they come home dead, it is because they were willing to take
the risk for the money. I doubt most uniformed military personnel joined
up because of the money.
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I continue to find it incredulous that so many people or businesses
engaged in providing a service or product for profit is doing so due to
"greed" according to you. The goal of any person or business should be
to earn more money than they spend. In personal finances, the extra can
be applied to improvements in life style, education of family members
and a nest egg for retirement. In business it affords growth,
expansion, higher employment and job security. Some do it better than
others, but without profits, we all may as well let the government
define what standard of living is allowed, what education we receive,
what health care is enough and what is a socially acceptable retirement
income. Maybe that's your idea of utopia, but it's certainly not mine.
The topic started out with an example of how a private contractor was
trying to screw the federal government out of billions of dollars.
"Greed" would be a mild descriptor.
It then devolved to the "contractors" who went to Iraq to make more
money than they could guarding buildings than they could at home, and
how some of those non-military personnel are getting killed.
My comment was that these non-military contractors were there for the
big bucks, and that getting killed was part of their equation. That's a
lot different than the motivation for a typical soldier, who isn't
enlisting for "the big bucks."
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My point is that how a person or private contractor earns money is their
business as long as it's lawful. Obviously a contract with the
government was involved. If you feel the contractors are "greedy" maybe
the fault lies with whatever government agency signed the contract.
Personally, if I were to consider going to Iraq as a private contractor
for hire and risk my life, I'd only do it for BIG bucks. But I
wouldn't do it. You couldn't pay me enough.
I think the government ought to terminate the contract with KBR on 90
days notice, and let the contractors sue. Screw 'em.
As for the private guards who go to Iraq for the big bucks, as I stated,
they are going there for the money and if they get killed, it isn't as
if they were military volunteers who went there. I don't feel a sense of
loss or sorrow for the moneygrubbing paramilitary types if they come
home in a box.