Obama on out-off-control private military

Sen. Obama has made his views known on rogue, secretive, private military for profit companies. These outfits are paid a staggering amount, hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars, amassing literally an armed force that outnumbers uniformed military in Iraq. They own and operate so many aircraft that they're literally amassing their own air force.

Obama realizes the implications of allowing corporations such as Blackwater to get so large they're out of control, and the dire prospects that they'll be used in the future within the U.S., as they were during Hurricane Katrina where armed Blackwater patrols roamed the streets accountable to no one and under no one's command.

Local politicians are utterly clueless and/or willfully blinded by getting some benefit out of allowing this to happen under our noses.

It doesn't take a lot of brainpower to see the potential for real problems with this situation, conflicts with regular military, local law enforcement, etc.

Do we really want a bunch of highly armed professional thugs employed to keep order, with the perceived authority to shoot to kill, detain or arrest citizens, etc.?

Local pols have been quiet about this issue, with the exception of one peculiar commenter who thinks Blackwater is needed because our military just can't handle doing what Blackwater does, (nonsense) and since there's large sums of money involved and flying around, this person likely sees a lot of it coming his way and couldn't care less about what it may lead to or whether the very concept of military for profit, accountable to no one but stockholders, is a good idea.

They couldn't care less about the large Blackwater operation expanding nearby, and won't say a word about it, UNLESS someone in the local press pursues the matter and makes a point to do their research and press these politicians about it.

I don't recall the American people being asked whether they wanted to fund such private armies, do you? As a matter of fact, they've become billion dollar behemouths without your government saying a word about it. It's only when they got murdered, mutilated, and hung from a bridge (the relatives of these mercenaries are sueing allegeing a total cover-up by the company and horribly callous treatment of family members, including lying and denying information.) or when they stage murders of innocent Iraqi civilians that they get into the news at all. Otherwise, they'd be reaping their millions without the public even being aware of what's happening.

Contracting out laundry or mess services is one thing, hiring a for-profit company to create a shadow military is another entirely.

The people have a right to know what stance our representatives are taking with regard to having a multi-million dollar armed camp in our midst.

I'd humbly suggest that this is a ripe topic for a local media outlet to pursue. I'd be happy to point them to resources to bring them up to speed with the huge Blackwater base expanding just north of the Quads.