US Troop Drawdown Imminent

Fred Kaplan at Slate.com has an article explaining how France might be the key to finding a lasting solution in Iraq.

Its pretty long, but its an interesting read especially the parts about the impending troop shortage (scheduled to hit in April 2008) that will force the US to either draw down the number of soldiers in Iraq or look for other alternatives. The article systematically explains away options such as the draft, increased troop deployment timetables, and reservist call ups. However, it does fail to mention another option: bringing in more troops from Blackwater.

I'm not sure about the legalities of this, let alone the wisdom of such a move. Moving military functions outside of the direct control of the nation-state might, in fact, lead to the disintegration of the nation-state. But thats only a long term concern, and democratically elected governments aren't very good at dealing with the long term. So here we are, there are already 20,000 men working for Blackwater that are stationed around the world, and the US government has plenty of money (just not enough man power).

Will we one day have more Blackwater soldiers in Iraq than US soldiers? That answer will begin to unfold in April 2008.

Update: Blackwater made a move yesterday to begin organizing a ground attack air force.