Taking aim at private contractors

Re “ ‘Wall of silence’ protects security contractor in Iraq,” Sept. 21

Can Americans even begin to imagine how we would feel if heavily armed convoys of foreign mercenaries regularly raced through our streets, shooting at anybody they deemed a threat? We may not like it, but certainly the Iraqis have every right to attack foreign occupiers, whether they be private contractors or regular U.S. military.

Philip Wagner

Playa Vista

How many private contractors did we have in World War II, the Korean War or in Vietnam? This war in Iraq was never intended to be fully manned by our armed forces; rather it was to be a cash cow for private business. There are more than 100,000 contractors in Iraq, many making in excess of $100,000 a year. What do our soldiers make and why aren’t our highly trained men and women capable of doing what the contractors do?

Leonard A. Zivitz

Fullerton

I thought we were outsourcing nonmilitary activities like laundry, food service and construction. And I understood that these companies would need to have their own security to protect their staff. But why are we hiring an outside firm to protect our diplomats? If our own soldiers can’t protect our leaders, then we have bigger problems than a few trigger-happy guards.

Chelsea Shure

Culver City