So here we go. 😉 Erik Prince of Blackwater fame and sibling of Betsy DeVos is floating the idea of the ultimate outsource – turning over the prosecution of our longstanding war in Afghanistan to he and his merry contractor cabal. Says we’re spending $40 billion a year and he can do it for $10 billion.
Let’s look at the potential downside but you’ve gotta admit, outside of a GOT followup this is the most intriguing proposal to cross your threshold in some time. 😉
- Can Prince do it? Well, Afghanistan IS a failed state in utter chaos, wobbling into the 17th I’m sure he can find the warm, well armed bodies. I’m assuming he’ll outsource the medical care, insurance, logistics, air cover, munitions, etc…and probably still manage to turn a tidy profit.
- We’d (America) be off the hook for our own military casualties and life-long health care costs.
- Maybe we could get back into the proxy wars of old…probably find some deep pocketed Russian oligarchs willing to bankroll their own counter forces.
Forget morality for the moment; international law as well. (Yeah, how’s the Hague gonna view mass casualties inflicted by civilian mercenaries on sovereign soil?) COULD IT SUCCEED where we have not? How do we measure success in Afghanistan? ORDER. Could the Colonial Raj concept succeed in the 21st Century?