The power of corruption

Last week Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq war combat veteran who directs Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, sketched for me the apocalypse to come. Should Baghdad implode, our contractors, not having to answer to the military chain of command, can simply “drop their guns and go home.” Vulnerable American troops could be deserted by those “who deliver their bullets and beans.

*from NY Times' Op-Ed Columnist Frank Rich's article
The ‘Good Germans’ Among Us

A worthy read. But, I fear that those who are parsing plans for leaving (or for forcing us to stay in) Iraq have left out this scenario:

Should Baghdad implode, the political leaders in Washington decide that CIVILIANS must be evacuated first, leaving 130,000 soldiers to guard the backs of 180,000 contractors - and that's just US's contractors. Other countries also have "contractors" - cooks, laundries, truck drivers, tastifreeze servers - as well as mercenaries who are committing atrocities just as often as Blackwater.

Isn't it amazing how thoroughly money corrupts politics? Time for mandatory federal funding of elections - if it's not already too late to save America.