Outsourcing War - Rise Of Private Military Contractors (PMCs)

http://www.rense.com/general89/outs.htm

If it was your bread and butter, would you end the gravy train?

Defining a Mercenary

Article 47 in the 1977 Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions provides the most widely, though not universally, accepted definition, based on six criteria, all of which must be met.

"A mercenary is any person who:

(a) is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;

(b) does, in fact, take a direct part in the hostilities:

(c) is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of the Party;

(d) is neither a national of a Party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a Party to the conflict;

(e) is not a member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict; and

(f) has not been sent by a State which is not a Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces."

US insurers have limited exposure in Haiti

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/US-insurers-have-limited-apf-2080601566.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=8&asset=&ccode=


It's life or death time friends, and the choice is yours.
Your voice must be heard, "The People" of Haiti need your help,
And they need it now!

Obama wants over 700 billion for the wars next year
And, is going to ask again in Feb. for 30 billion more just to get by due to the surge of new troops he sent to Afghanistan.
We pay for enough death, it's time to give for life.

Haiti is one of the smallest insurance markets in the Americas, with a total non-life insurance premium income of just under $20 million, "which reflect the country's poverty," according to a report Wednesday from Newark, Calif.-based Risk Management Solutions Inc. By comparison, the total net premiums for property and casualty coverage in the U.S. in 2008 totaled nearly $441 billion

War bill survives poisonous vote

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30778.html

Do you know what else is in this bill? The unemployment extention. If this bill is not passed today it will affect alot more people than just the men and women in the wars and these people are still playing "Political" games.
You have to wonder how many defence contractors some of this money is going to be allotted to to.
Paying for defence contractors in these economic times is like paying for the services of a maid, while your ass is drawing unemployment.



A $626 billion Pentagon budget narrowly advanced in the Senate Friday morning, but not before Washington’s political battles seemed to eclipse the real wars of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Senate scene, played out in a post-midnight session on a freezing night, dramatized how poisonous the atmosphere has become in the health care fight.


Defense Secretary Robert Gates had to weigh in for fear the military would be left with only stop-gap funding while fighting two wars overseas. And ailing 92-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) was wheeled in for the 1 a.m. vote while his old friend Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) deserted the bill under pressure from his own leadership to slow action.


Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made no secret of the fact that he was looking for leverage over Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to delay action on health care reform until after Christmas. The pressure on rank-and-file members was severe, and it was only after Democrats had secured the needed 60 votes that three Republicans broke ranks in support of cutting off debate.


“Not even the darkness outside can conceal the games being played inside this Senate chamber,” Reid said in closing remarks before the vote. “We are here in the middle of the night, but the reason is as clear as day.”


By contrast, the same

U.S. General Sees Afghan Army, Police Insufficient Obama Strategy May Need More Funds,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...071002975.html

Another Bush era revist. Can we do it? Hell no! We won't accept it this time.

Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the newly arrived top commander in Afghanistan, has concluded that the Afghan security forces will have to be far larger than currently planned if President Obama's strategy for winning the war is to succeed, according to senior military officials.

Such an expansion would require spending billions more than the $7.5 billion the administration has budgeted annually to build up the Afghan army and police over the next several years, and the likely deployment of thousands more U.S. troops as trainers and advisers, officials said.

Obama has voiced strong commitment to the ongoing Afghan conflict but has been cautious about making any additional military resources available beyond the 17,000 combat troops and 4,000 military trainers he agreed to in February. That will bring the total U.S. force to 68,000 by fall.

Instead, Obama has emphasized the need to pay equal attention to other aspects of the U.S. effort, including bolstering Afghanistan's economy and governance. Announcement of any additional military resources this year would raise questions from Congress and the American public about whether his overall strategy is working as intended.

McChrystal has not yet completed a 60-day assessment of the war due next month. But Defense Department officials here and in Kabul, the Afghan capital, said he has informed Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, in weekly updates, of the need to increase the Afghan force substantially, as was first reported yesterday on washingtonpost.com. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss findings that have not yet been made public