Now that Obama is President, what exactly are his views about about the security contracting industry? I know Obama wants out of Iraq, and soon, but how would he go about it in January of next year? Will he implement a 16 month draw down, like he promised during his campaign? And if he does pull the troops out of Iraq in this fashion, how will he deal with the other non-military programs and reconstruction deals going on in Iraq?(read the SIGIR statement below, second story)
With that said, here are some interesting stories that give food for thought as to how Obama might view security contractors. The way I see it, it will be kind of hard for him not to use us for a withdrawal plan in Iraq, unless he wants things messy.
Or let’s say he stays the course in Iraq. And if the SOFA is agreed upon, then it is all systems go and we do a slow, ‘results’ oriented draw down(out by 2011 I believe). In this case, we will still need guys for the TWISS, GRD, and CMD programs over there, unless Obama is magically able to produce troops to fill the ranks of all positions over there. I don’t see it.
Then there are the troop numbers. If Obama wants to get rid of us, then he will have to increase troop numbers some how, and dramatically. Recruiting has not been easy, just to get the guys and gals we have now. If he wants to get more recruits, then they will probably have to pay higher salaries to attract those youths that voted for Obama in the first place. I don’t see it personally, because going to Iraq or Afghanistan is not the popular thing with today’s youth. And seeing how the youth vote was Obama’s bread and butter, I just don’t see him trying to sell the military to them. Maybe not, and we’ll see.