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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: 1) by khallow on Sunday October 07 2018, @02:08AM (9 children)
Which Geneva Convention is that in? /sarc
(Score: 3, Informative) by aristarchus on Sunday October 07 2018, @03:57AM (8 children)
No wonder such libertarians with their obvious rebuttals are so ignorant of law, and especially the ius gentium or law of peoples otherwise known as international law. When you think, as does Prince and/or DeVoss, that the market is the best solution to anything, then of course law is nothing but a cost of doing business that should be avoided or annulled. All businessmen, as khallow and Sulla both know, are inherently mercenaries and bandits, redlegs and mauraders. So here is the relevant convention. Silly khallow.
Got that? The CCW [www.unog.ch], not Geneva. Do try to keep up on the conventions, and the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions. And some understanding of when international law comes into force, and why being a non-signatory does not, after a certain level of approval by all nations, release even mercenary scumbags like (formerly known as ) Blackwater from the jurisdiction of the laws of humanity. They might be coming for you, khallow, despite John Bolton's best efforts the make America into a Rogue Nation and Hive of scum and mercenaries.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday October 07 2018, @04:04AM (7 children)
(Score: 3, Informative) by aristarchus on Sunday October 07 2018, @04:11AM (6 children)
Ignorance does not "whoosh" make, khallow! Once again, you should know when your obvious rebuttals are just stalling, and admit you do not know what you are talking about. Otherwise you just display your ignorance to the world.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday October 07 2018, @04:37AM (5 children)
Actually yes, it does. What you wrote had nothing to do with my post. It's typical aristarchus straw man beating.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Sunday October 07 2018, @04:52AM (4 children)
Convention Against the use of Mercenaries:
http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/44/a44r034.htm [un.org]
I usually recommend the Minnesota http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/ [umn.edu] Human Rights Library. Really, khallow, it does no good to actually read what you write, when 1. you know not of what you write, and 2. you consistently argue in bad faith.
Oh, by the way, Yale and Maryland are now suspect when it comes to the rule of law, so evaluate sources, people!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday October 07 2018, @06:14AM (3 children)
Let us note that the four "contractors" weren't mercenaries by the document you quoted, aristarchus.
Notice the bolded parts. To qualify as a mercenary, for the purpose of this treaty, one has to be recruited for the purpose of directly fighting in a conflict, not merely being armed in a war zone.
I'm tired of this dumbshit stuff you do, aristarchus. You didn't think a bit before dumping that link. It was completely irrelevant in at least two ways.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Sunday October 07 2018, @09:22AM (2 children)
Sounds like something a merc would say. "Security Contractor"! "Auxillary Forces". "Training and advising". Yeah, right. Bad faith, khallow, the obvious rebuttal is mercenary bad faith.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday October 07 2018, @12:22PM (1 child)
And training and advising of the current story is a legitimate, non-mercenary role for private enterprise by the very link you deigned to provide.
(Score: 3, Touché) by aristarchus on Monday October 08 2018, @08:01AM
Oxymoron, khallow, a "sharp idiot" literally from the Greek, but "contradiction in terms" will suffice. The problem with mercenaries is that the look like soldiers, the problem is they act like private enterprise. Which means, conversely, the problem with Mercantilists is not that that look like private entrepreneurs, but that they are already mercenary, about everything, from blood tests to cancer drugs, to sex and copyrights, education and war. The problem with the "Merchants of Death" is the merchant part, not the dying bit.