Things that really scare me...

CIA-Blackwater assassination contract points to larger connections -- latimes.com

So, you wanna talk politics? Lets talk about something that really matters, the guys doing the job; the interesting parts for me is NOT about the contract (which I could care less about, the more hunters the better in my book), but these little tidbits:

“Two years later, the CIA turned to Blackwater executives for help with the assassination program largely because the company, which has hired dozens of former U.S. special-operations soldiers, was seen as having deeper expertise than the agency itself on clandestine lethal operations.”

"We go to contractors because they possess certain experience or certain knowledge that we don't have inherently inside our workforce," Hayden said. "We generally use the best athlete available in the draft."

So, because so many of our highly-trained specialist in the Spec-Ops/Intel communities have left for private companies, OUR OWN SPEC-OPS/INTEL COMMUNITIES DON’T HAVE THE TALENT TO DO THE JOB? This is even MORE disconcerting when you consider that several of these companies, Blackwater/Xe included, are close to bankruptcy… What happens to all that talent when the company stops paying them? AND, where/when do we start re-filling the ranks of our "experts", so our top intelligence agency doesn't feel like they have to go to a private company to get the talent/expertise they need?

:soapbox: Note; that this WHOLESALE shift of talent, happened during the Bush/Chaney/Republican regime... So, let's understand who really is weakening this country, where it counts, the boots on the ground. As I have said before; I am a registered independent and a centrist, what many need to learn is that the GOP is NOT a pro-military, but pro-military/industrial complex party, IT IS NOT THE SAME THING. Republican President Eisenhower warned of this. Educate yourself, BEFORE you communicate.

IMO neither party is more "right" than the other, each candidate should be assessed independently to determine who is best for each post/office/position. :target:

 

I actually agree with that... 100%

 

LA times lol...liberialism is truely a mental disorder;that subject is 5 years old,wtf lets go older..What about perot?( you know texas instruments) hiring black oops paid for by him to get his people out of iran?????who was in office then i can't rememberplease tell me.....those experts are hired so if caught by the enemy they can state these are not U.S. soliders. therefore not an act of war....it's nothing new..hell they are in soldier of fortune if you really dig.(a-team) i voted for perot,(independent) did you? and he was correct nafta did not work, only created more problems with illegal immigration..but the clinton machine threatened his family so he withdrew.(remember?) i'll stop there don't want to confuse anyone...:koolaid::ranger:

 

Wow, I see my efforts here are futile.

I apologize to Mello Dude and everyone else for this post, it was a moment of weakness on my part. Chalk it up to being bored, not enough Scotch/Cigars or something.

Moderators, please close this thread, or better yet remove it.

If not, let me change directions (and at least move it to the 7th Gen area);

Um, what really scares me is, um, that the 7th Gen VFR will be a joke; it wont be able to compete with the Concours 14, what do you think? :biggrin:

 

Another issue for the intelligence services from a European perspective is perceived loss of moral high ground (WMD, Guantanamo, waterboarding, renditions, domestic wiretapping etc). Loss of moral high ground leading to less of trust and willingness to join the cause.

In eastern Europe, most folks grew up viewing the US as the world's sole custodian of liberty, human rights, respect for the rule of law, democracy.

No-one is going to forget Reagan's candle in the White House window during the Solidarity crack downs for a long time. People weren't naive enough to think it was a perfect place, but 90% believed that in the end 'the core values' would always come through - that was how US society was hardwired after all, we believed.

The scale of disillusionment since 2003 is painful to describe. Nowadays a significant majority of people are having a hard time telling the good guys from the bad guys. A substantial minority even seems to enjoy spotting positive things in thuggish regimes like Russia's or Iran's (or the bureaucratic pacifism of the EU) :crazy:

Hopefully Franklin's statement 'they that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety' will gather more supporters over time!

 

George W. Bush and weakness are synonymous! I guess now he can go back to taking coke and drinking if he ever stopped :smile: which I doubt. Lucky for him his daddy is there to wipe his a$$

 

OK, not into US politics but this is cool! (ahem, funded and developed by Blackwater)

YouTube - AA-12. World's deadliest shotgun!

 

I see you're trying out French now, isn't that kinda brave ? :smile:

 

Echo:

Couldn't agree with you more brother, and the fact this doesn't upset conservatives more is just beyond me:crazy:

Eisenhower saw the writing on the wall for sure.

BZ

 

Now that right there is funny Echo. Apology accepted. No worries bro, next time you want to "go all political" here, you'll know better. You were just testing the waters, everyone does, ya know , "hmmmmm, think I'll throw this goat in the Amazon and see what happens........WHOA HOLY SHIT ....did you see those piranha?" ........or "Well, lets see I'm bored think I'll take this here stick and poke this big nest of hornets"

 

^^^^^

Brother Bear, I was actaully enjoying Echo's thread. Appears he actually has some intelligent thoughts to share on an importatnt matter.

BZ

 

Me too brother Bubba, but that kind of thing has no chance here. Might as well try herding a thousand cats from Ottawa to Amarillo. Mostly because these days, instead of carefully weighing events and working to find info that reflects a true account of what occured, folks search out sources that support whatever world view they already have, read or listen to the spin , then call it good. Our world is now chock to the brim with "opinion makers". Takes all of five minutes to find one that agrees with your slant on things. Hell, I wonder if it is even possible anymore to find out what really did occur .

Your signature line by Mencken says it all......and Mencken didnt even have the internet around when he said it. Just take the word "idea" in the quote and change it to "news item".

 

Or.... We can all keep our thoughts to ourselves..... Let our country, our Nation, turn into an "Obamanation"....... History shows that 200 years is the limit that any democracy has ever lasted due to the people voting for getting freebies, to the point that they turn over all their control, and let the powers to be run the country.(Yea....the US of A has gone 400, or should we say 200+200 more, least we forget the war between the states....And that we are at the end of the 2nd 200 years....)

 

Enjoy the decay Monk...I am!

BZ

 

I fought in two wars... and at 64 I'm going to try and injoy myself for the years that are left..... As long as they don't outlaw bikes.... The average male lives to 75.... Hopefully they can't totally screw it up before then.....

 

Oh... I found my source.....

About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government."
"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury."
"From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."
"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history,has been about 200 years."
"During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
3. from courage to liberty;
4. from liberty to abundance;
5. from abundance to complacency;
6. from complacency to apathy;
7. from apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage"

 

Well done Monk,

I am familiar with those writings, the question is where do you think you are on that scale. Folks have been saying for years that we are at number eight. Since the late 1920's, another period when the country saw the fruits of greed and the ability of those in power to skew the rules in their favor, some folks have been complaining that we are at number eight. Others feel we are more likely somewhere between number five and six. Is big government the panacea for all societal ills? Of course not. Is one of governments functions to correct , when something is blatantly skewed in favor of a small group, the situation? Debatable.....

I seriously doubt the sky is falling........

 

I think we're in the "Top-of the-6th-inning".

 

Nah, Monk.
7th inning stretch!