Privitize is the rallying cry of Republicans.  Government cannot do anything right.  Give it to the private sector and they will do it better.  As we let go of the fantasy about the free market, we should let go of this delusion too, especially when it comes to our military.  This country has abandoned their soldiers in so many ways to the private sector. 

The solitary goal of the private sector is profit.  Service is a necessary evil because service is an expense.  But by its very definition it is detrimental to the goal of profit.  So the gane is to provide as little service as possible with the most profit.  Service is best developed in the public sector by public servants, where everything is transparent, or at least there is the tool of the Freedom of Information Act.  Question the private sector and they move to an undisclosed location covering their flight with a phalanx of attorneys.  Question the government and eventually things do become known.  We did learn how Pat Tillman died.

The military does not perform more efficiently with employees from the private sector, not at all.  We need to have soldiers in all positions of support and especially in any positions requiring firearms.  Our soldiers went to war without body armor.  They showered in filth thanks to the profit motive.  They fought an insurgency because of undisciplined contractors.   They died when employees entered the mess hall.  Their security is at risk because of privitization and that means that ours is as well.

Every aspect of the military, IMHO, ought to be as self-supporting as possible.  Because profit produces wealth and power for entities, not countries.  Blackwater now holds incredible power that is not subject to the treasury but to a private bank account.  There is not a police station in the country that could defend itself against them.  Their soldiers are not all Americans either.  What we have done is weakened our own defense with every task we designate to the private sector.  We no longer have a real military, we have soldiers subject to a private sector now stationed in Dubai.  Lets get back to a United States military and not lose sight of the fact that a military needs to be self-relaint where people are directly accoutnable to the leadership of teh nation, not a private company.