The public has opinions, and 90% of the times, they have opinions on subjects they have no idea about or base them on the wrong info.
What you see pictured is a Blackwater crew rescuing a wounded Marine, who was hurt during the Najaf firefight, and managed to save his life by risking their own. Contractors, unlike what most people think, are far from mercenaries and such. They are Americans who decided to serve our country's need in a different way, protecting American personnel in war zones and doing other tasks....for America. Yeah, they make a big paycheck (at least they used to), but hey, why the fuck not? And for some reason, even the military itself has a misconception about contractors, when in fact almost all of them have already worn the uniform and paid their dues (yes, some people fell through the cracks, but that's with any job in the world). I won't say that the world of contracting is perfect, and at times it's far from it, but labeling a profession because of a few bad apples, decisions and events, it's just not right. That's like labeling the entire military because some nut decided to kill a bunch of under aged goatfuckers. Contractors are professionals, and for a veteran coming back from multiple tours, only to go to school and have no job, then why shouldn't he get hired by PMCs and get paid for the skills that he learned overseas and put them to use when other companies in the US won't even look at him. On a personal note, I've worked on a gig with one of the guys from the Najaf attack (many years later) and all I can say is professionalism at it's best...same goes for all my buddies who have been or are still contracting. Like them or hate them, there will never be a war without them. Just my 2 cents. #zerofucks #nofucks #stayzero