question about blackwater and Iraq?

[BlackFox898]

why did the U.S. hire blackwater(pmc) for some jobs in Iraq, like the DoS contracts. why not use the U.S. soldiers for protection? i need an answer because i am stumped on this.

[SM-Count]

Not the same accountability as U.S. military personnel. Of course, that's not saying much. i.e. Abu Ghraib

[Sharp324]

Easier too, and stops it from being stretched too thin. BW is used mostly for security and protection of VIPs. Escorts and all that.

[Midori]

Like sharp said, it's for the special tasks that they do. Also it's one way to get extra soldiers.

Also, blackwater is now known as Xe

[CrimsonNuker]

Cool, a PMC. Just like Army of Two

[Reise]

It's not that they're necessarily "less accountable" it's more that as PMCs, they can work on smaller operations than the Marines or other forces can.

[lavapockets]

When the insurgency started, there was a serious gap in combat trained diplomatic security professionals, and our soldiers cba to escort around civilians, protect civilian compounds, provide body guard service, protect and secure corporate assets, etc. 1. There simply aren't enough of them. and 2. whatever excess soldiers our army has, they're certainly not qualified to do what Cofer Black's boys can do. So they contracted the work out to Blackwater and other military contractors because someone has to protect all those people. And above and beyond that, because those contractors have strong ties to the government and friends willing to pay them a lot of money to get the job done.

[inky]

It goes either way. PMCs do have a bad record in most wars/battles simply because they are held less accountable for their actions in comparison to the military. However, there's also the issue of sending these guys to war without the proper equipment (weapons/vehicles/equipments) and info. There was an incident not long ago in Fallujah which ended up in a couple of PMCs being ambushed, killed, and had their corpses dragged around the streets. They were sent to that area with only minimum protection (they were riding something that looked like a regular pick up truck when the military protocol for that area is at least an armored humvee with a gun mounted on top) and limited info about their assignment. Because of the lack of info, they had to ask a hotel manager/employee for directions - who turned out to be an enemy informant. So 30 minutes later, the PMCs were ambushed in the streets and killed.

[Sharp324]

Not exactly the worse thing. Been a lot of atrocities done to contractors like that. Like being beheaded and having their heads hung on the bridge. Someone i know did see this when he was being escorted around to different bases. Though when the contractors step out and react to it, no one really thinks about that. Its all how bad it is for the other people, but they don't think about the ones that were slaughtered like cattle then publicly shown.

[inky]

On the other hand, PMCs are also used by privately owned companies for their own dirty deeds.

The task is simple but the politics revolving around the world of hired guns is pretty complicated.