How many mercenaries do w* and co have in Iraq and Afghanistan now

[madokie]

if the number is in the 10's of thousands as I have read what am I to believe that none of them are being killed or wounded. I never see any mention of them in our local paper either except of course the four who bushco* leveled fallujah in retaliation for early on. My question though is would the disconnect between the numbers of US Troops told to us that are killed and wounded there and the numbers the Iraqi are seeing happening with their own eyes, because when they see US it doesn't matter to them if it is US Army, Marines, National Guard or contractors all they see is US, don't ya think maybe that might be embolden them to some extent to keep on fighting, besides of course the fact that we are brutal occupiers. my suspicion is that they are seeing a lot more 'American' being killed than what we are being told. I'm beginning to believe that is one of the reasons for bushco* having so big of a mercenary army there in the first place, to keep the KIA's numbers down, you notice I only said one of the reasons cause I believe they have many reasons for using mercenaries, there's lots of under handed shit going on over there every day and that if a lot of it was to come to light it'll be katie bar the door for them and they know it

anyways I'm prolly not making any sense here and I'm trying so hard to too
peace to all

splchk

[bryant69]

1. Do you recall where you read that it was in the tens of thousands?

I'm assuming not by the way you phrase this, but curious.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[madokie]

5. actually the numbers I've read are like 160,000 or more and I read it here

because this is pretty much the only place I go and it sure wasn't in our paper or on our local news

[shadowknows69]

10. I remember that too

total contractors, not necessarily BW. I hope the hell they don't have that many gun toting mercs anyway or we're in for interesting times.

[aikoaiko]

18. That # includes truck drivers, utilities workers, cafeteria workers, etc...

I think the number of armed contractors is around 25k.

[madokie]

19. I have no idea and its seems no one really does either

just how far can anyone trust any of this criminal crew to tell us anything thats the truth especially if its not directly in their favor. I don't trust bushco* or the contractors for that matter to tell me anything truthfully

[SteppingRazor]

2. Last I saw, the number of private security in Iraq was about 40,000. That said...

casualties among these people will be much lower than that of our armed forces. True, Blackwater doesn't have to report casualties the same way the Army does. However, their personnel also aren't put in harm's way nearly as often as the soldiers getting paid a third as much.

[SteppingRazor]

3. 48,000, according to this article (and many others):

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/01/2896/

[aikoaiko]

22. 48,000 employees of private military/security firms.

Not to get too picky, but "employees" of security firms includes all the support staff who are unarmed too. So lets say the number is less than 48k and more than 25k. The support staff include the mechanics who work on their SUVs, secretaries doing paperwork, IT guys, telecommunications, etc.

[madokie]

24. you know I wasn't really interested in the actual numbers because for one thing who do you trust to

tell us the truth. what I was wondering about is the fact or I think fact that mercernaries are being killed who aren't in the icausualities count in my local paper this morning and the number the Iraqi are actually killing and know that they're killing for a fact, thats all. its interesting to read how many are there though as I have read many conflicting numbers mostly all here on du too over the last 4 plus years. I still don't know the actual number and prolly won't ever know and I know and realize that
peace

[aikoaiko]

28. Well, then read the nytimes if your local paper won't tell you.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/19/world/middleeast/19contractors.html

Contractor Deaths in Iraq Soar to Record
By JOHN M. BRODER and JAMES RISEN
Published: May 19, 2007

WASHINGTON, May 18 — Casualties among private contractors in Iraq have soared to record levels this year, setting a pace that seems certain to turn 2007 into the bloodiest year yet for the civilians who work alongside the American military in the war zone, according to new government numbers.

At least 146 contract workers were killed in Iraq in the first three months of the year, by far the highest number for any quarter since the war began in March 2003, according to the Labor Department, which processes death and injury claims for those working as United States government contractors in Iraq.

That brings the total number of contractors killed in Iraq to at least 917, along with more than 12,000 wounded in battle or injured on the job, according to government figures and dozens of interviews.

[madokie]

29. anyways thanks for the help

to at least

[Zywiec]

4. Where are you getting your definition of mercenary from ?

I'd like to know so I can understand what you're asking. Thanks.

[madokie]

6. would crusaders be better

from the meriam webster dictonary
mercernary:
Main Entry: 1mer·ce·nary
Pronunciation: \ˈmər-sə-ˌner-ē, -ne-rē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural mer·ce·nar·ies
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin mercenarius, irregular from merced-, merces wages — more at mercy
Date: 14th century
: one that serves merely for wages; especially : a soldier hired into foreign service

[Zywiec]

8. No, private security employee would probably be more accurate.

[soothsayer]

7. We know that SOME blackwater types were killed cuz their families

are suing, but I dunno how many, and I don't think they're telling.

[madokie]

11. I'm sure there is a clause in their contract with blackwater alluding to just that too

[lonestarnot]

9. Could be to keep the tax bill down, wouldn't wanna benefit Merika would they?

[madokie]

13. lots of reasons

if the american people were being billed for this war right now it would have been over before it ever started but we aren't and thats the big disconnect that allows it to continue

[catmandu57]

17. You can look at icasulties

They have a page for contractors that you can narrow down by country and company http://icasualties.org

I read here this weekend that blackwater is evacuating Iraq that 90 to 120 per day are loading into planes and getting out. How much truth there is to this I can't say, and if it is they'll probably just change the company name and uniform and return.

[mvccd1000]

12. Define mercenary? The number of ARMED contractors is only a fraction...

... of the total number of civilian contractors in Iraq. There are tens of thousands of unarmed truck drivers, mechanics, cooks, and people who run the gyms, laundries, post offices, billeting, etc.

I don't consider those people to be mercenaries. They're not armed, and they don't make nearly the money that the shooters do. If I remember right, they suffer casualties at about 1/4 the rate that the military does.

[Zywiec]

14. The OP uses mercenary and crusader interchangeably

so that should give you some idea how she defines it.

[madokie]

16. in this case I do honey

[madokie]

15. my diffinition come from meriam webster dictonary

I'm not discerning between the ones who do and who don't have weapons because I don't believe any there have no weapons, I know I sure wouldn't be there without some big ass weapons of variable sizes

[aikoaiko]

20. actually the non-security contractors are forbidden to carry

At as of two years ago when I was looking into it. Even the truck drivers who often endure assault were forbidden to carry a piece. That may have changed, but the contracts were explicit about not being armed.

[madokie]

21. I don't believe any of that

maybe with some links I could wrap my brain around it but on its face I call bull. ok

[mvccd1000]

25. Stll true, with or without your belief.

I've been over here since July of 2004. If I get caught with so much as a knife that's too big, a piece of shrapnel from a mortar that lands near me, a loose bullet, or a piece of a firearm, I'll be on the next plane home.

We are not allowed to arm ourselves in any way. They do give us a nice flack jacket and helmet, though. :)

[madokie]

27. You are there and telling me this so I will believe you ok

good luck and I hope you make it home ok

[mvccd1000]

30. Thanks - I kinda hope so, too. :) nt

[aikoaiko]

26. You may or may not believe. It makes no difference to me.

I didn't learn it from a link so I can't help you with your prejudice.

[mvccd1000]

23. 2,500 for the State Department. Less than 10,000 total...

... including State Department and DOD.

From this link:

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jmWrnOqDy3WHd-7awW9RivtzCEtw

The New York Times, which reported on the issue Wednesday, said the idea is facing resistance from the State Department, which wants to keep control over the 2,500 private security contractors it employs in Iraq, about 800 of them from Blackwater USA.



From this link:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/22/blackwater.state.review/

"Blackwater is one of three contractors being used by the U.S. and one of ten to fifteen being used in country by the U.S., the U.N. and others," one person familiar with the recommendations said. "The military can't do it all alone. You are going to be living with this for some time and so you need to have rules, regulations and a methodology."



From this link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/washington/17blackwater.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is pressing for the nearly 10,000 armed security contractors now working for the United States government in Iraq to fall under a single authority, most likely the American military, in an effort to bring Blackwater USA under tighter control, senior administration officials and Pentagon advisers say.

[antigop]

31. Jeremy Scahill said there are 180,000 contractors in Iraq, 170,000 US troops

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10192007/transcript4.html

JEREMY SCAHILL: Well, right now in Iraq, there are 180,000 contractors operating alongside 170,000 US troops. So it's effectively a doubling or more than doubling of the occupation force. What this does is it subverts the citizenry in the United States. You no longer have to have a draft. You don't have to depend on your own citizens to fight your wars. You can simply hire up the poor of the world to work for American and British companies occupying another country.