Tuesday Morning Speed Post
Mornin', folks! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Just a couple of items this morning.
MSN had an interesting article the other day about Hummer enthusiasts who refuse to give up their lifestyle despite high fuel prices and criticism by dirty hippies. A couple of thoughts. First, good on them, if they're willing to continue paying high fuel prices in order to head out with their vehicles, that's the beauty of capitalism. Second, I've driven Hummers (the M1025), and I have no clue why anyone would want to drive one of their own accord.
I collect these articles, but I wanted to post this one today: Dogs of War: Life without Blackwater? is part of a continuing series of articles by David Isenberg about private military contractors, with a focus on security contractors like Blackwater Worldwide and Aegis. With operations in Iraq winding down, there's a real question as to where this new infrastructure of private security contractors will wind up.
The article notes that a Blackwater executive was quoted as saying that Blackwater will discontinue security operations, when he really said that Blackwater's plan is to focus on developing other capabilities because the executive planners see logistical operations as the most likely future for their operations. This makes sense, as a great deal of the work done by security contractors in Iraq takes the form of convoy escort. Also, even if things continue to escalate in Afghanistan, the Afghan population is only four million more than Iraq, spread over an area that's roughly fifty percent larger than Iraq. Also, whereas Iraq has seen violence in all major areas, violence in Afghanistan has been largely confined to about a third of the geographic area of the country. As a result, even if Afghanistan gets really ugly again (which is tough to say), the demand for security contractors isn't likely to surge to the degree that it did in Iraq. It'll be interesting to watch in the upcoming months and years. The demand for security contracting work is huge, but the funding from the various developing country governments in need is questionable.
Today's satellite image is Keflavik Airport in Iceland. It serves as a U.S. Navy/NATO base for the North Atlantic.
Have a great day, folks!
MSN had an interesting article the other day about Hummer enthusiasts who refuse to give up their lifestyle despite high fuel prices and criticism by dirty hippies. A couple of thoughts. First, good on them, if they're willing to continue paying high fuel prices in order to head out with their vehicles, that's the beauty of capitalism. Second, I've driven Hummers (the M1025), and I have no clue why anyone would want to drive one of their own accord.
I collect these articles, but I wanted to post this one today: Dogs of War: Life without Blackwater? is part of a continuing series of articles by David Isenberg about private military contractors, with a focus on security contractors like Blackwater Worldwide and Aegis. With operations in Iraq winding down, there's a real question as to where this new infrastructure of private security contractors will wind up.
The article notes that a Blackwater executive was quoted as saying that Blackwater will discontinue security operations, when he really said that Blackwater's plan is to focus on developing other capabilities because the executive planners see logistical operations as the most likely future for their operations. This makes sense, as a great deal of the work done by security contractors in Iraq takes the form of convoy escort. Also, even if things continue to escalate in Afghanistan, the Afghan population is only four million more than Iraq, spread over an area that's roughly fifty percent larger than Iraq. Also, whereas Iraq has seen violence in all major areas, violence in Afghanistan has been largely confined to about a third of the geographic area of the country. As a result, even if Afghanistan gets really ugly again (which is tough to say), the demand for security contractors isn't likely to surge to the degree that it did in Iraq. It'll be interesting to watch in the upcoming months and years. The demand for security contracting work is huge, but the funding from the various developing country governments in need is questionable.
Today's satellite image is Keflavik Airport in Iceland. It serves as a U.S. Navy/NATO base for the North Atlantic.
Have a great day, folks!
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