Obama Leaves Door Open for Mercenaries

Posted on February 29, 2008 by Michael May

In recent months Hillary Clinton has rightly spoken out against unjust and unaccountable mercenary groups such as Blackwater, who in September’s Nisour Massacre murdered 17 innocent Iraqi civilians. Hillary believes in this so strongly that she is currently cosponsoring legislation in the Senate that would forbid the next president from using such dangerous guns-for-hire. Hillary is the

“most significant US politician to date to issue such a call,”

according to The Nation, once again showing her ability to stand up for what’s right and fight for positive change.

Obama, on the other hand, has said he will not sign on to the legislation, and will not “rule out” using mercenary groups in Iraq. Not only is it unfortunate for a liberal to condone mercenary groups, but it is especially troubling given that he may end up as the next president of our country.

Obama leaves the door open for privatized health-care, so why shouldn’t he leave the door open for privatized military? What’s next, social security?

“Obama’s Mercenary Position“

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2 Responses to “Obama Leaves Door Open for Mercenaries”

  1. Charlie, on February 29th, 2008 at 8:24 pm Said:

    Unfortunately, Michael, you left something out of your diary:

    “The irony is that it was Senator Obama who sponsored a bill in February 2007 defining a legal structure to prosecute State Department contractor crimes in US courts. Obama staffers say they will “fight like hell to get it passed.” But it may not pass before the next President takes power.”
    (http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20080229/cm_huffpost/089061)

    Blackwater and other mercenary groups suck. However, saying that they will play no role in American military activity is unrealistic. Given that (in my opinion) they will continue to exist no matter what, the problem is that they are unaccountable to U.S. law. Obama’s been fighting to change this.

    Is his position perfect? No. But I think he’s making the best of an awful situation.

  2. Michael May, on March 1st, 2008 at 6:40 pm Said:

    Charlie, these mercenary groups will be unaccountable whether or not they are officially required to follow US laws. The issue also remains of privatizing the military, something that would be disastrous for a our national security and makes for a less efficient use of resources and less expedient communications within the military on key tactical issues.

    For someone who’s so idealistic about Republicans cooperating, it’s surprising that he’s not very idealistic about the ability of America to defend itself without using outside contractors.

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