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| Iraq |
| US State Dept comfortable with 2011 US troop pull out? Not so much. |
| 2010-06-15 |
| State wants to form a mini-army for Iraq security WASHINGTON -- The State Department is quietly forming a small army to protect diplomatic personnel in Iraq after U.S. military forces leave the country at the end of 2011, taking their firepower with them. Department officials are asking the Pentagon to provide heavy military gear, including Black Hawk helicopters, and say they will also need substantial support from private contractors. The shopping list demonstrates the department's reluctance to count on Iraq's army and police forces for security despite the billions of dollars the U.S. invested to equip and train them. And it shows that President Barack Obama is having a hard time keeping his pledge to reduce U.S. reliance on contractors, a practice that flourished under the Bush administration. In an early April request to the Pentagon, Patrick Kennedy, the State Department's under secretary for management, is seeking 24 Black Hawks, 50 bomb-resistant vehicles, heavy cargo trucks, fuel trailers, and high-tech surveillance systems. Kennedy asks that the equipment, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, be transferred at "no cost" from military stocks. Contractors will be needed to maintain the gear and provide other support to diplomatic staff, according to the State Department, a potential financial boon for companies such as the Houston-based KBR Inc. that still have a sizable presence in Iraq. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #2 Maybe if they didn't have the option of a Praetorian Guard they'd do a better job. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-06-15 22:43 |
| #1 Maybe if state did a better job at what they're *cough* supposed to be good at, they might not need a praetorian guard later on. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2010-06-15 11:19 |