I'm reading an increasing number of journalists who are concerned about a special executive branch mercenary contractor privatization and now expansion of our off the books covert military intelligence and operations cabability called JSOC.
This service was headed up by General Stanley McChrystal under the Bush administration. McChrystal is now in charge of our whatever it takes to get the job done quickly; Afghanistan/ Pakistan/ Yemen/ Somalia/ Indonesia, wherever the ungoverned areas are, predator drone assassination hit squad terrorist to the terrorists section.
The boom in private security contractor (PSC) work began with Cheney and Rumsfeld and the CIA as soon as the Bush administration took power and began giving them carte blanche to do whatever they deemed necessary, spend whatever they deemed necessary so as to avoid congressional oversight for things like civilian massacres, kidnapping, torture, murder, holding without rendition, dissapearing people; warrentless wiretaping, data mining, total information awareness, and immunity from prosecution.
Although the issue has been taking a back page to the news about Tiger Woods, Haiti, Healthcare, snowmaggedon, the Olympics, jobs and the econonomy, its worth noting that Journalists worthy of an occasional reference here have been trying hard to bring it to our attention.
emptywheel FDL January 26, 2010
Stan Goff Counterpunch Feb 1, 2010
Max Fischer edited by Marc Ambinder in the Atlantic on Feb 5, 2010
Max Fischer edited by Marc Ambinder in the Atlantic on Feb 17, 2010
The issues are.
1.) Working around congressional oversight of the large clumsy standing army navy, air force, marines and the slow reaction time caused by institutional rivalries, politics and all the various chains of command.
Even without waiting for the now no longer considered necessary Declaration of War to go through Congress, for Obama to put 30,000 troops in Afgahnistan will barely get them there before its time for them to leave.
2.) What allows the president to put a bunch of navy seal snipers in position to take out some pirates with a simple make it so type of command now seems to have expanded into taking out villages with predator drone attacks.
Its the immunity for private armies acting in ungoverned tribal areas of countries we aren't at war with that allows us, if someone suspects there may be a person of interest in or around the premisis, to take immediate action, collateral damamage to innocent men women and children be damned.
3.) The privatization of military intelligence, special ops, the CIA, covert actions, in a form that is outside any form of congressional oversight, or the control of any in theatre military chain of command, and answerable only to the people running the show does allow for quick action.
Whats scary is the lack of oversight. The cowboy approach that began with Cheney and Rumsfelds concept of a unitary executive in the opening salvo of the Bush administration is now reinforced by the SCOTUS decree of corporate personhood. The step from predator drones to the autonomous corporate robots of the scifi action adventure is not a big one.
4.) Stanley McChrystal who ran JSOC for the Bush administration when Blackwater, now Xe was at the height of its power now is in charge of gettinbg us out of Afghanistan and into all the ungoverned tribal areas in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Indonesia and wherever else we deem it necessary to go blowing up villages with predator drones without the nicety of any Declaration of War from Congress.
5.) A class of people has been created to whom our laws and the protections therein no longer apply. The presumption of innocence being changed to a presumption of guilt on accustation they may be kidnapped, tortured, murdered, indefinitely detained without access to a lawyer or the right to know the charges against them. They can now be assassinated even if they are an American citizen.