********************************************************
VISIT AFRICAN ASSOCIATION OF MADISON WEBSITE
http://www.africanassociation.org
FOR LATEST INFORMATION ON AFRICA FEST 2009,
MEMBERSHIP, COMMUNITY CALENDAR AND MUCH MORE....
********************************************************
Vera, not to comment on everything you say, but with all due respect,
you say the most oddly provocative things. Did Dick Cheney write this
for you? So even though Haliburton has a no bid, unlimited contract,
you say salaries are still paid by the MNE and no one is profiting?
Also, the overwhelming majority of enlistees do not have degrees, and
are seeking employment and careers (blacks and hispanics according to
the Pew foundation are "over-represented" in the enlisted ranks) not
available to them otherwise. Officers have degrees. What did the
military do day-to-day during peace time that was so overtaxing that
it no longer needed cooks? What happened to institutional chef as a
career?
And budget cuts? Give us a break. If you can't remember the vast
amounts of money spent on weapons systems by the two recent, pre-9/11
republican administrations, systems that failed to protect us here at
home and so, must be proven by their abilities to "shock and awe" the
citizens of Baghdad and Kabul, who is going to remember the term 'baby
killer' as something other than a monicker wrongly associated with
certain doctors?
John
On Jul 31, 2009, at 9:10 AM, VERA R CROWELL wrote:
> ********************************************************
>
> VISIT AFRICAN ASSOCIATION OF MADISON WEBSITE
>
> http://www.africanassociation.org
>
> FOR LATEST INFORMATION ON AFRICA FEST 2009,
>
> MEMBERSHIP, COMMUNITY CALENDAR AND MUCH MORE....
>
> ********************************************************
>
> From the article: "Did you know, for example, that there was a time
> when being called a "war profiteer" was a bad thing? But now our war
> zones are dominated by private contractors and mercenaries who work
> for corporations. There are more private contractors in Iraq than
> American troops, and we pay them generous salaries to do jobs the
> troops used to do for themselves -- like laundry. War is not
> supposed to turn a profit, but our wars have become boondoggles for
> weapons manufacturers and connected civilian contractors."
>
> I agree with a lot of the article. However, with respect to the
> military, I must say this. What did everyone think would happen when
> the word 'soldier' became synonymous with 'baby-killer?' Did they
> really think that people would continue to enlist? No. They probably
> didn't think about it at all. However, we need a military. The armed
> forces had to become competitive in order to attract people. No one
> was going to enlist and risk public ostracizing and being spit upon
> in order to do laundry, peel potatoes, and clean toilets. The budget
> cuts meant that the military had to become more reliant on
> technology which meant they needed more educated people to join. Who
> wants to get a degree and endure basic training to do laundry? No
> one. Those tasks had to be done, so, in order to save money, the
> military had to outsource the care and feeding of our military to
> private companies.
>
> I had a class with a guy who was operations manager for a military
> base in Iraq. He worked for a mulitnational and was responsible for
> the approximately 550 people required to operate that base. He was
> also responsible for the purchasing necessary to keep it running.
> Outsourcing base operations relieves the military of the day to day
> details and costs required. We the taxpayers didn't pay those
> salaries, fringes, and bonuses directly, the MNE did. It's no
> different from any other company that chooses to outsource part of
> their operations in order to save money, time, and resources.
> *** Send email to the list: [log in to unmask] ***
> *** Access AAM list archives: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/AAM.html
> ***
*** Send email to the list: [log in to unmask] ***
*** Access AAM list archives: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/AAM.html ***
|
