Didn’t that actually happen (not the Blackrock part)? I thought it came out in a Congressional hearing that there was oil which motivated the whole thing. The U.S. went in to find WMDs but after many years could not find evidence of any.
I guess to call out Blackrock exclusivity is incorrect as they were just security in Iraq. My point was using private contractors and then allowing firms to profit. This government to private is now infecting everything.
2007, an internal Department of Defense census on the industry found almost 160,000 private contractors were employed in Iraq (roughly equal to the total U.S. troops at the time, even after the troop “surge”). Yet even this figure was a conservative estimate, since a number of the biggest companies, as well as any firms employed by the State Department or other agencies or NGOs, were not included in the census
I was 12 when the U.S. went into Iraq. I remember watching cable news the moment that began. I think I was too young to understand. Why was Blackrock there?
It was the first time that (as I remember) private firms were used for security in a foreign war. They ended up shooting a bunch of civilians when they came under fire. I read that it started in Afghanistan but it was the start of private firms fighting our wars. It made war profitable by getting rid of only being a manufacturer for weapons. It’s our biggest industry and totally hidden
Didn’t that actually happen (not the Blackrock part)? I thought it came out in a Congressional hearing that there was oil which motivated the whole thing. The U.S. went in to find WMDs but after many years could not find evidence of any.
It was just because W wanted to finish what his dad started and remove Saddam. There was no exit plan or grand strategy.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Saddam wasn’t bad, but why not let the citizens of Iraq decide that?
Norman Schwarzkopf said if we take him out worse people would fill in and he was right
As a dictator he weaponized his ethnic minority to violently oppress the majority. The people in Iraq had no say.
As though Americans are in any position to judge.
I guess to call out Blackrock exclusivity is incorrect as they were just security in Iraq. My point was using private contractors and then allowing firms to profit. This government to private is now infecting everything.
2007, an internal Department of Defense census on the industry found almost 160,000 private contractors were employed in Iraq (roughly equal to the total U.S. troops at the time, even after the troop “surge”). Yet even this figure was a conservative estimate, since a number of the biggest companies, as well as any firms employed by the State Department or other agencies or NGOs, were not included in the census
I was 12 when the U.S. went into Iraq. I remember watching cable news the moment that began. I think I was too young to understand. Why was Blackrock there?
It was the first time that (as I remember) private firms were used for security in a foreign war. They ended up shooting a bunch of civilians when they came under fire. I read that it started in Afghanistan but it was the start of private firms fighting our wars. It made war profitable by getting rid of only being a manufacturer for weapons. It’s our biggest industry and totally hidden