Nanny's Special Little Friend

"Even the most glittering and glorious of reigns must come to an end."

So it will soon be for Bliary Poppins, as she shuffles off into the sunset; leaving "Smiler" Brown in charge of the country.

Bliary insists though that she leaves a strong legacy, she cites her "achievements" re; anti social behaviour, the "respect" agenda, educashun and the health service.

Errrmmmmmm...run those by me again????

Poor old Bliary, it happens to all leaders past their sell by date, her memory seems to have failed her; surely the above issues haven't quite been "addressed" to everyone's satisfaction?

Oh, and by the way, aren't there a few other things that she will be associated with (she's far too modest in not mentioning those items)...what were they now???

Oooh ooh, I remember; cash for honours and the Iraq war.

How could she forget those two "legacies"?

Whilst we are on the subject of legacies, I would be remiss not to mention Bliary's special friend across the pond.

W is leaving office next year, and part of his legacy seems to be tad intertwined with out own "beloved" Prime Minister. Now W is working hard to try to fix one part of his legacy, namely Iraq.

The troop surge has, so he says, improved the security situation there; despite the fact that around 200 people were blown to bits in a Baghdad market the other day, and despite the fact that the "surge" will not reach its "climax" (can I say climax on this site?) until June/July (surely "surge" is a misnomer?).

Anyhoo, one teeny piece of information that W and Bliary haven't quite told the world relates to troop numbers.

Now, we know that British troops are being pulled out as fast as Smiler Brown can get them out (so that he doesn't have to face the issue when he is PM), and we know that the Iraqi leadership has said that security will be handed over within the year etc etc.

We also know how many US and British troops are in Iraq, don't we?

Post "surge" there will be 170,000 US troops and several thousand UK troops, right?

Right?

Wrong!

For you see dear reader, there are other US troops there as well; these troops are not included in the official reporting or body count figures when they are killed.

Why is that?

Easy, they are working for Balckwater and other private US companies (including one run by Halliburton, Dick Cheney's old company).

So how many private mercenaries are in Iraq then, on top of the 170,000 official US troops?

100,000!

That is the figure according to Jeremy Scahill in his book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army.

Scahill says that private contract companies take up to 40% of all of US money spent in occupying Iraq. These armies are expensive partly because the mercenaries who work for them earn around $100K, far more than the ordinary GI Joe.

Despite the costs, there are several advantages to using these private armies:

• The body count figures, reported by the media and Pentagon, exclude the 770 mercenary deaths.



• The mercenaries are unaccountable to public oversight by Congress, re their actions and their costs.



• When W announces in the future with great flourish that the US is pulling out of Iraq, the mercenaries will be left there continuing the war.

Quote:

"Blackwater has secured a position of remarkable power
and protection within the US military apparatus.
This company's success represents the realisation
of the life's work of the conservative officials,
including Rumsfeld, who formed the core of the Bush
Administration's war team. While initial inquiries
have focused on the complex labyrinth of secretive
subcontracts under which it operates in Iraq,
a thorough investigation into the company reveals
a frightening picture of a politically connected
private army that has become the Bush Administration's
praetorian guard.

Blackwater was founded in 1996 by conservative
Christian multimillionaire and ex-Navy SEAL Erik Prince,
the scion of a wealthy Michigan family whose generous
political donations helped fuel the rise of the religious
right and the Republican revolution of 1994..."

As the old saying goes:

"Judge a man by the company he keeps"

Bliary's legacy will be judged on his choice of friends, most notably his special little friend across the pond.

What a legacy to be proud of!