Contract hustlers

OK, there is something that I've been meaning to mention that I find very funny in a not so ha-ha way.

Most, if not all, of our U.S.-run bases in Iraq have extensive security all over the place. That makes sense. Many locals still want us dead for invading their country. However, it's those who provide the security that I find odd. In this case it is Ugandans.

I don't know if they came to Iraq as members of the Coalition of the Willing, or if they were an after though. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it they don't wear a national patch, so I suppose they are just scabs.

Scabs - like the old union term meaning people who are willing to work for less and, as a result, others lose their jobs - in Iraq are the people who hold jobs that another soldier could be holding. Instead, politicians have gone in and dissected the military and turned certain fields into contract work - such as parts of logistics, food service and security tasks - and gave contracts to their buddies. Remember Cheney's friends at Haliburton who got the uncontested contracts?

Some of the scab firms working here are KBR, Blackwater, Regis and others. The problem with these firms are that they are not always required to hire Americans, so our tax money goes away, not to mention a fat profit margin goes into some big business man's pocket - and probably a lobbyist, too - and our economy doesn't see it anymore. Not to mention, I now have to work with people whose motives are for sale. They are essentially mercenaries. Guns, or soup ladelers, for hire.

Let me avoid romanticizing a soldier's motives for a minute. I, too, get paid. It's not all righteous work. We are not martyrs. I think Henry Rollins said it pretty good: "It's not an adventure/it's a job!" But, my point is that I had to swear an oath of loyalty to my country to get the job. That's something that these others didn't have to do.

It's like in that scene from Braveheart where the evil king hires and Irish regiment to fight the Scots. Once they were paid and on the battle field ready to face William Wallace, they changed sides. No loyalty. No sense of obligation to the country they serve. This is what corner cutting gets us and what worries me about some of our "partners" here.

Regardless, you can find Ugandans all over our installations and when they're not busy using our morale welfare and recreation facilities, they are guarding our chow halls. Personally, I think guards at the chow hall are a bit overkill for a secure base, but there maybe something at play that I'm unaware of. I mean, I guess there could be some shady civilian contractors or Third Country Nationals who want to do something sinister at the dining facilities (which supports my theory), but Ugandan guards? I just think this is funny.

Let me put it another way, U.S. soldiers are the main patrons of the chow halls. We are in uniform at all times and armed. I'm a 6-foot, 6-inch white boy who speaks one language: English. There is no mistaking why I am here in Iraq. Why do I need to show my identification to someone from another country? If there is a real threat at the chow hall on the secure base, then why don't we have Joes check the IDs?

I know I'm starting to sound like an isolationist Republican or something. I know these people need jobs so they can take care of their families, too. But what is to keep them from being a threat? How do we know they can be trusted?

To further my point, I spent six months at Camp Basrah, which was run by the British, and the chow halls there didn't have guards, not to mention Ugandans, and their was never an incident. OK, there was an entry point that would stop civilians for ID, but gun totin', uniformed soldiers where good to go. That made sense.

The more I look around at this war with all of its contracted labor, it looks like a hustle. When I was in Basrah it felt like we were doing something to benefit an end to this war, and the contractors I saw there seemed to make sense. But here, now, it seems we are making up things for contractors to do so some CEO can collect a fat check at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer.

Staff Sgt. Aaron Thacker is a former staff writer with the Ahwatukee Foothills News. He deployed to Iraq in November with the Arizona National Guard's 123rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment and is stationed in Balad. You can read more of his writing at ArmyofMine.wordpress.com.