Current Events > Officials worry Trump may privatize war in Afghanistan

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/officials-worry-trump-may-back-erik-prince-plan-privatize-war-n901401?cid=sm_npd_ms_tw_ma

President Donald Trump is increasingly venting frustration to his national security team about the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and showing renewed interest in a proposal by Blackwater founder Erik Prince to privatize the war, current and former senior administration officials said.

Prince's idea, which first surfaced last year during the president's Afghanistan strategy review, envisions replacing troops with private military contractors who would work for a special U.S. envoy for the war who would report directly to the president.

It has raised ethical and security concerns among senior military officials, key lawmakers and members of Trump's national security team. A year after Trump's strategy announcement, his advisers are worried his impatience with the Afghanistan conflict will cause him to seriously consider proposals like Prince's or abruptly order a complete U.S. withdrawal, officials said.

In an interview with NBC News, Prince said he believes Trump advisers who oppose his plan are painting "as rosy a picture as they can" of the situation on the ground, including that "peace is around the corner" with recent U.S. efforts for peace talks with the Taliban. He said he believes Trump's advisers "over-emphasize the fluff and flare of these so-called peace talks."

Prince, a staunch Trump supporter whose sister is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, argues that after 17 years of war in Afghanistan, it's time for the U.S. to try something new.

"I know he's frustrated," Prince said of the president. "He gave the Pentagon what they wanted. ...And they haven't delivered."

Prince said he hasn't spoken directly to Trump about the plan, but told NBC News he plans to launch an aggressive media "air campaign" in coming days to try to get the president to embrace it.

His effort coincides with Tuesday's one-year anniversary of Trump announcing a strategy that increased the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan. Trump approved the Pentagon recommendations reluctantly.

"The strategy as announced a year ago was essentially just a dressed-up version of the status quo," said Jarrett Blanc, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who served as a special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan at the State Department during the Obama administration.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council said Trump is committed to the current strategy he signed off on after months of deliberations.

"No such proposal from Erik Prince is under consideration," the spokesperson said. "The president, like most Americans, would like to see more progress in Afghanistan. However, he also recognizes that withdrawing precipitously from Afghanistan would lead to the re-emergence of terrorist safe havens, putting American national security and lives in danger."

In recent briefings with Trump, the president's advisers have emphasized the possibility of a political resolution with the Taliban and downplay the lack of military advances, officials said.

"The president hears about Afghan military and political progress and the possibility of reconciliation during his briefings, but he rarely gets the full picture of security on the ground," said one senior U.S. official who has seen the briefing materials.
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Trump's renewed interest in privatization was stoked by a recent video shot by Prince, according to a senior administration official, in which Prince argues that deploying private contractors instead of U.S. troops, and using limited government resources, would save the U.S. money.

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Do you want to get MGS4? Cause this is how we get MGS4!
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A Republican president looking to help already rich white men make more money? NO WAI!

it took 10 years but we're finally seeing Kojima's brilliance in action

now I'm wondering how Phantom Pain will turn out to be genius
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So he doesn't want to throw resources into a money pit with no results?
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DragonGirlYuki posted...

So he doesn't want to throw resources into a money pit with no results?

I can think of a simpler way to avoid that than "hand the money pit over to the massacre profiteers."
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To be fair private contractors basically ended the Somali pirates naval attacks...

Hey guys, Blackwater is back! Remember how much fun and success it had in Iraq and how contractors totally didn't murder innocent civilians or be involved with a ton of shady and illegal shit their entire time?
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LuffySkull posted...

Do you want to get MGS4? Cause this is how we get MGS4!

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Well if taxpayers are not footing (as much of) the bill sounds good to me.
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LuffySkull posted...

Do you want to get MGS4? Cause this is how we get MGS4!

Counterpoint: It's also how we get Metal Gear Rising
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So in other words, Prince is looking to cash in on the dirty work he did for Trump just like his sister did
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The Great Muta 22 posted...

Hey guys, Blackwater is back! Remember how much fun and success it had in Iraq and how contractors totally didn't murder innocent civilians or be involved with a ton of shady and illegal shit their entire time?

Blackwater never left

The idea of a private military just sounds so absurd. Sort of like everything else in a MGS game.
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LuffySkull posted...

Do you want to get MGS4? Cause this is how we get MGS4!

This is exactly what I was thinking
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It's hilariously sad how many of Kojima's MGS future world preditcions have/will come true

Hell even the rant at the end of the end of MGS2 sounds more ominous as each year goes by
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Antifar posted...

a proposal by Blackwater founder Erik Prince

oh boy that fucking monster
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Alpha218 posted...

So in other words, Prince is looking to cash in on the dirty work he did for Trump just like his sister did

"But he's totally different from Dubya despite enacting roughly the same shit and putting the same people in control!"
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DragonGirlYuki posted...

Well if taxpayers are not footing (as much of) the bill sounds good to me.

Tax payers will be paying security contractors more than we would our own military.
And we trained them in the first place.

This isn't a cost saving measure.
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Anarchy_Juiblex posted...

DragonGirlYuki posted...

Well if taxpayers are not footing (as much of) the bill sounds good to me.

Tax payers will be paying security contractors more than we would our own military.
And we trained them in the first place.

This isn't a cost saving measure.

So a pass the buck measure then eh?
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Anarchy_Juiblex posted...

DragonGirlYuki posted...

Well if taxpayers are not footing (as much of) the bill sounds good to me.

Tax payers will be paying security contractors more than we would our own military.
And we trained them in the first place.

This isn't a cost saving measure.

The research I've done says this isn't true

Sons of the Patriots
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X-Pac_Heat posted...

The research I've done days this isn't true

Where does the money come from?

JE19426 posted...

X-Pac_Heat posted...

The research I've done days this isn't true

Where does the money come from?

They don't spend more on contractors compared with how much the spend using an actual military unit. This mostly comes down to the cost of tech and equipment and because military will use more manpower than private groups.

Could this change if Prince and others have more control? Sure but it isn't how it actually works right now.

DragonGirlYuki posted...

So a pass the buck measure then eh?

No, an enrich the crony measure.
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JE19426 posted...

X-Pac_Heat posted...

The research I've done days this isn't true

Where does the money come from?

"Blackwater contractors get paid more than enlisted soldiers but somehow they're cheaper!"

Dunno how that math works.
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Anarchy_Juiblex posted...

"Blackwater contractors get paid more than enlisted soldiers but somehow they're cheaper!"

Dunno how that math works.

In theory, the reason is lower overhead. In practice, low estimates just keep getting revised up as 'costs' keep appearing on no-bid contracts, even though the PMC is still drawing a profit.
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X-Pac_Heat posted...

The Great Muta 22 posted...

Hey guys, Blackwater is back! Remember how much fun and success it had in Iraq and how contractors totally didn't murder innocent civilians or be involved with a ton of shady and illegal shit their entire time?

Blackwater never left

Yep just changed names
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X-Pac_Heat posted...

They don't spend more on contractors compared with how much the spend using an actual military unit. This mostly comes down to the cost of tech and equipment and because military will use more manpower than private groups.

Why's the military using more manpower than needed?

JE19426 posted...

X-Pac_Heat posted...

They don't spend more on contractors compared with how much the spend using an actual military unit. This mostly comes down to the cost of tech and equipment and because military will use more manpower than private groups.

Why's the military using more manpower than needed?

support units, mostly.
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Anarchy_Juiblex posted...

JE19426 posted...

X-Pac_Heat posted...

The research I've done days this isn't true

Where does the money come from?

"Blackwater contractors get paid more than enlisted soldiers but somehow they're cheaper!"

Dunno how that math works.

Because you're not factoring equipment, vehicles and the fact they use more manpower.

JE19426 posted...

X-Pac_Heat posted...

They don't spend more on contractors compared with how much the spend using an actual military unit. This mostly comes down to the cost of tech and equipment and because military will use more manpower than private groups.

Why's the military using more manpower than needed?

Because it is in the budget and it is protocol.

Also I'm not saying the us army should use contractors they should start changing the way they do things and do it cheaper like contractors do.

It's so weird to me that Erik Prince goes on and on about how efficient they do things but instead of pushing to reach that standard they just pay contractors.

What can Blackwater do that the US Army can't? Because unless Blackwater's mercenaries are somehow better fighters than US soldiers, all they'll be able to do is lose the war more cheaply.

Firewerx posted...

What can Blackwater do that the US Army can't? Because unless Blackwater's mercenaries are somehow better fighters than US soldiers, all they'll be able to do is lose the war more cheaply.

Less accountable for human rights violations.

Otherwise, there's a shit ton of shit they can't do and don't have access to.
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Blue_Inigo posted...

LuffySkull posted...

Do you want to get MGS4? Cause this is how we get MGS4!

This is exactly what I was thinking

Same
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And thats how Iron-man was born.
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I'm confused, where are the usual suspects this time?
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Taliban controls like 70 percent of Afghanistan. Waste of tax dollars. Waste of funding. Leave the bases in Kandahar and Bagram and operate at them. Small special operation units to train and advise and provide minor air support to Afghan military including drones.

Don't forget about the cost after the war. Things like VA disability claims or soldiers separating requiring new recruits.
Usually on a government contract a company bids for the total cost of whatever job they are going to do. So let's say a war would cost 10 billion dollars for the government, a private company says I'll do it for 9. 8 billion and I'll let you wash your hands of any bad shit we did over there.
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But war has changed
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Erik Prince didnt donate to Republicans for no reason. Theyre gonna give him what he wants or hes going to get their opponents elected.
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Again, my point: losing a war cheaply is a false economy. If Blackwater can't win it, a taxpayer dollar wasted is still a taxpayer dollar wasted. Unless Prince has some magic formula that hasn't been tried, what's the point?

the only thing that surprises me about this is that the company he's considering isn't Trump branded
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pinky0926 posted...

I'm confused, where are the usual suspects this time?

in school
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Wouldn't it be cheaper for Trump to just attack negative stories coming out of Afghanistan as "fake news" spread by "the enemy of the people"? Stick with a proven policy of lie and deny. Just tell the public the war in Afghanistan is won; it'll save the taxpayer a fortune.
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Wow, a for profit militia not bound to any government. What the fuck is this? Imagine private companies hiring professional killers like this to kill off a town or village so they can take the land for themselves and do god knows what with the women and children.
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