Outsourced War?

Hopes for success in Iraq rely more on private security contractors, or mercenaries, than the U.S. military, based on the failed recent attempt to oust Blackwater USA by the Iraqi government following a recent incident that left 11 Iraqi civilians dead at the hands of Blackwatwer guards.

Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki has stated the killings were in fact illegal and saying this type if incident challenges the sovereignty of Iraq.

These comments not withstanding, the expulsion of Blackwater seems a bit of a stretch, especially when they are the people responsible for guarding all the top level diplomats In Iraq, including Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

“If Blackwater left at this moment, it might leave a security gap because most of the embassies and most of the foreign organizations that are working in Iraq” are guarded by Blackwater, Tahseen al-Sheikhly, a spokesman for the Iraqi security forces, said.

Sheikhly went on to say that if the security firm was expelled, American forces would have to redeploy from other hostile areas to fill the void, leaving a vaccuum sure to be filled by insurgents and terrorists.

So lets get this straight. The U.S. does not have sufficient forces to protect both its highest value people while conducting combat operations with the hope of bringing safety and security to this war ravaged country? And at a time when the President wants to draw down 30,000 troops seems ludicrous to me.

The level of incompetence shown by the Bush Administration in waging this war verges on the criminal, in my opinion.

The President has stated, ad nausea, that the safety and security of every American hinges on the outcome in Iraq. Yet his decisions have gotten the U.S. to a point where they rely more on mercenaries who live outside the law, than the brave Americans who take an oath in the defense of liberty.

Does any of this make sense? Is anyone paying attention?