SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Afghan officials reject push to privatize war
Afghan officials have rejected a proposal by Blackwater founder Erik Prince to have his private military contracting company take over the training and advising of the Afghan armed forces.
Prince lobbied several Afghan politicians on a recent trip to the country and has been discussing his proposal to privatize parts of the U.S. military mission in the country for over a year, according to Reuters.
But Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has repeatedly dismissed the idea. "Under no circumstances will the Afghan government and people allow the counterterrorism fight to become a private, for-profit business," Ghani's national security adviser said in a statement to Reuters Thursday.
U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis has also rejected the proposal, saying in August, "When Americans put their nation's credibility on the line, privatizing it is probably not a wise idea."
See also: The Last Americans Fighting in Afghanistan
17 years later, Americans tend to consider Afghanistan a failure
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Snotnose on Sunday October 07 2018, @12:38AM (3 children)
It costs a ton of money to keep an occupying force in a country (make no mistake, we're the occupying force). Currently it's paid for by the US taxpayer with a lot of cloudy accounting to hide how much it's really costing us.
If you hire a bunch of mercenaries they want to be paid, probably by the Afghans. Why would the Afghans suddenly want to pay for something they currently get for free?
Oh, but the US government is gonna pay for them? Yeah, you thought Kavanagh was a shit storm. Just wait until the bill for a bunch of mercenaries shows up on the evening news.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 07 2018, @03:41AM (1 child)
We had mercenaries operate there before. If it costs less to occupy the country with mercenaries, the US may consider doing so. And since the US is what is keeping the Afghan officials from hanging from street lights castrated, they will have to accept whatever the US decides to do.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday October 07 2018, @04:08AM
"If".
At least, until the situation falls apart and those officials are no longer in control. Then the people with the power to do that accepting may not be so inclined.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by meustrus on Sunday October 07 2018, @05:13PM
Like that shit storm made a difference. Between the invention of the cable news cycle, the ongoing mergers that have centralized and homogenized the message for corporate friendliness, and the active efforts by political groups to diminish public opinion of “the media”, nobody trusts the news anymore. There’s nothing anybody could say in print, on TV or radio, or online that can stop the people in power from doing whatever they decide is best.
The only check that remains is the diversity of opinion among the ruling class. So tell me: which party do you think gives a shit about mercenaries committing war crimes in the name of America?
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?