I just Stumbled! upon a video by a journalist for the Nation which had some disturbing things to say about our candidates and their position on private contractors in Iraq.

View it in the extended entry and then tell me what you think.

It seems to me like exactly what we all DON'T want to have happen in Iraq.  John McCain mentions that we don't care about having soldier's in Iraq as long as they aren't getting killed.  "We have soldiers in South Korea and in Germany."

Well I for one DO care about soldiers being left in Iraq, Germany, South Korea, etc. etc.  Since when is it acceptable behaviour by any other country to have a military base in another country?  If there was an Iranian military outpost in Detroit, do you think we'd stand for that?

I'm all for "protecting American interests" but I think we're harming our long term interest by having bases in these countries by building resentment and putting more of our money into a military presence around the world (a la "Team America: World Police").

Anyway, Blackwater is a slightly different story, but one that at least Mr. Scahill thinks we're not going to get rid of with either of the candidates.

How can we change this?  Will Barack Obama end the Iraq War or will he bring a few battalions home and bring in more contractors to take their place?  What do you think?