(My own 2¢: remember when Bond villains were the only guys who had private armies?)
Ripped entirely from Charlie Pierce:
Ripped entirely from Charlie Pierce:
BILL O'REILLY IS NOT A MILITARY -- OR ANY OTHER KIND OF -- GENIUS
By on September 23, 2014
On the September 22 edition of his show, [Fox News' Bill O'Reilly] claimed that the only credible plan to defeat the Islamic State had to include a mercenary force of 25,000 "English-speaking" fighters that would be recruited and trained by the United States. O'Reilly explained that his mercenary army would be comprised of "elite fighters who would be well-paid, well-trained to defeat terrorists all over the world." O'Reilly also detailed how the mercenary force would be trained, recruited, and funded.
As the "war" on terror has ground on, I have been waiting for years for a nuttier concept than Saddam's balsa-wood escadrille. Hold all calls. We have a winner, as O'Reilly's guest from the forgotten land of Knowing What The Fk You're Talking About pointed out to him.
"Well, Bill, I understand your frustration. I really do. But this is a terrible idea, a terrible idea not just as a practical matter but a moral matter. It's a morally corrosive idea to try to outsource our national security. This is something Americans are going to have to deal for themselves. We're not going to solve this problem by creating an army of Marvel Avengers or the Guardians of the Galaxy...There's nothing theoretical about it. It's the worst of both worlds. You're asking these forces to operate as though they're U.S. military forces and you're treating them as though they're mercenaries merely because you don't want to have to use American military forces. And I think that that undermines the whole notion of our own security. "
I would laugh even harder at this whole thing had not former Blackwater barbarian Erik Prince oozed up again earlier this week to pitch something of the same notion, albeit with an adorable nostalgic flavor to his proposal.
"It's a shame the [Obama] administration crushed my old business, because as a private organization, we could've solved the boots-on-the-ground issue, we could have had contracts from people that want to go there as contractors; you don't have the argument of U.S. active duty going back in there," Prince said in an on-stage discussion featuring retired four-star Gen. James Conway. "[They could have] gone in there and done it, and be done, and not have a long, protracted political mess that I predict will ensue."
Because, if there's one thing that Blackwater knew how to do, it knew how to go in there and do the job, without leaving a long, protracted political mess behind.
We are in the hands of the madmen now.
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