The Huffington Post reports that House Democrats want to phase out armed military contractors in our theaters of war:

On Tuesday, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) introduced the Stop Outsourcing Security Act, which would make it the military’s responsibility to use its own personnel to train troops and police, guard convoys, repair weapons, run military prisons and do military intelligence activity.

Great.  And replace them with…?  Last year the military met and exceeded their recruitment goals for the first time since ending the draft in 1973.  I wouldn’t expect that trend to last as the economy improves.

More:

There are strategic reasons to move away from a reliance on contractors, says Schakowsky, a senior member of the intelligence committee. They damage the U.S. reputation with reckless behavior, are overly costly and hurt the morale of troops, who see private guards earning much more money than they do.

Ah, I see.  It’s about morale and keeping up the image of the United States.  Both good things, both good things.  Not sure I agree that having private contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq hurts morale, but I can respect the argument.  And yes, Blackwater is a pretty nasty name out in the military world right now, so much so that they changed their name.

But wait, there’s more:

“That is just so unthinkable,” she says. “I really believe that were they an individual — and nowadays you can call corporations individuals; they have the same rights, right? — they’d get a dishonorable discharge for what they’ve done. How many people do they have to kill? How many missions do they have to screw up before we say, ‘No, we’re not going to do that’?”

Now we get to the real reason Schakowsky has introduced this legislation.  This bill isn’t so much about boosting morale or improving the standing of the United States around the world, or any other real reason.  No, it’s just another attempt by a liberal in her vendetta against private business, and her long-running anti-war campaign.  And I don’t think I’m too off on my assessment.  After all, Govtrack places her as the most liberal member of Congress (in the 110th Congress), even more so than Bernie Sanders, who has no qualms about calling himself a socialist.

The facts are that contractors, love ‘em or hate ‘em, do provide a necessary role, so that the actual troops can do the job of rooting out terrorists and stabilizing the countries.  It simply cannot be any other way in a nation that does not draft its armed forces.  With recruitment traditionally low, you simply would not have enough people to do every job if you replied on the regular army, national guard, or reserves.

So unless Schakowsky has a better idea of what we should replace contractors with, she should admit to herself that they are here to stay, and drop this unnecessary bill.