Iraqi militia frees U.S. man after 9 months

Militiamen loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr march while wearing shirts bearing the Iraqi flag, which reads "God is great" in Arabic, in the Sadr City district of Baghdad May 26, 2011. / AP Photo

(AP) BAGHDAD - The United Nations mission in Iraq said it took custody late Saturday of a man who was described as a U.S. citizen, who had been held by an Iraqi militia for about nine months.

U.S. officials said the man appeared to be an American contractor.

U.N. spokeswoman Radhia Achouri did not identify the man, whom she said was staying at the U.N. compound in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad also could not immediately identify the man.

Achouri said he was handed over by two Shiite lawmakers who represent the hardline followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. She did not provide any details.

In an interview with The Associated Press, senior Sadrist official Abdul Hadi al-Mutairi said the man was a U.S. soldier named Michael Hill who was captured June 18.

Al-Mutairi said the man was wearing an American military uniform when he was delivered to the U.N.

Several U.S. officials said he is a private contractor, not an active-duty soldier, although he may have previously served in the U.S. military.

Hundreds of thousands of contractors, both American and other nationalities, worked alongside American troops and in other support roles throughout the war.

Al-Mutairi said the man was released without any negotiation "as a good will initiative toward the American society and to (his) family."

He said the man, whom he said is married and has two sons, was treated well during his nine month imprisonment, "even though he contributed in the battles in Sadr City and in Najaf."

Al-Sadr is the spiritual leader of the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia that targeted U.S. troops throughout the nine-year war in Iraq.

[venusvegasvada]

They released him, but oh, he's not a soldier, just some contractor.

Welcome to the future of the US military. The throw-away solder.

No flag waiving. No national welcome for him at Andrews when he gets home. No VA benefits if he's injured. No other benefits. He's a nobody for volunteering to serve there. Just snide comments and general hatred from the American public?

Defense contractors are some of the most misunderstood, misaligned, mistreated and most prejudiced against people there are, and our own Govt. is leading the way. It's a good thing most are former military because you have to be tough to be a defense contractor, when your own country and public will throw you under the bus every time you turn around.

They say that less than one person in ten in the US today even knows of anyone in their families that EVER served in the military. That includes uncles, cousins and grandparents. That level of disconnect by the American public breeds opinions of a world they know nothing about. There are those in the military too that show contractor's apathy. It's not an easy job. Especially when a lot of them love their country and take those jobs not just for the money, but because they still want to serve and help save American lives. That's not BS. They are Patriots too.

The main disconnect with contractors is just who they are and why they are there. They are there to save the US Govt. and the American taxpayer money. They are throw away soldiers.

From a bean counter point of view, Soldiers, Sailors, Airman and Marines are very expensive to maintain over their lifetimes. The long term costs for them and their families are massive.

Retirement, medical benefits, education, housing, shipping of household goods all over the planet, etc.- all add up to a lot of money that Uncle Sam doesn't want to pay for. So the Govt. has been reducing the size of the military and directly replacing them with contractors. They normally don't get paid as much as people think either. They may make a bit more deploying to a hot war zone (rockets and mortars kill them too), but that's just because of the hazardous duty pay. Without that, they make about as much as a an E5 or E6. The companies they work for, (especially the big defense companies, make money, but little of that gets to the actual person in the field). Normally when the job is over, they are let go and are looking for another job. During their "service", they get nickel and dimed for every little cost you can imagine, by their own companies and the Govt. Food? Pay for it here. Need medical care in the field? Sorry, they don't get care from the military unless they are literally dying. Go somewhere else if you become ill. You're not our problem.

Contractors are treated as if they are a key part of the team, when it comes to them supporting the military. But when it comes to the military supporting them, that's another story.

There was a turning point when Iraq and Afghanistan came along. Before that, contractors were strictly technical support and there weren't that many of them. No shooting either. Not allowed. Remember John Wayne's movie about the Sea Bee's? Contractors used to be well taken care of by the military, they were happy to have the support. They appreciated that civilians would volunteer to suffer and die along side of them in the field.

But things changed. The turning point was that the Govt. didn't have enough soldiers to send to Iraq and Afghanistan. To do it by the book, they should have massively increased the size of the military. But they didn't do that. Instead, they massively increased the number of contractors. Also, for the first time, they brought in contractors as security. As shooters. That unprecedented change opened a huge can of worms that is still being fleshed out in the courts.

I think that was a huge mistake.

If the Govt. had increased the size of the military instead of using contractors, we would have hundreds of thousands of military people coming home now and probably getting out, as the military would be going through a huge reduction in force right now. The Govt. would be faced with massive additional costs as everyone of them would be getting free college benefits for themselves and their families, VA medical care benefits for the rest of their lives, retirement, etc. The list goes on and on. The bottom line is we as a nation, would have thrown our full support behind them. That's not what's happening.

Not contractors. They get nothing. A pink slip and there's the door. Not so much as even a thank you from the public or acknowledgment for anything.

Next time you see a story about a contractor coming home thank him for saving you and Uncle Sam a ton of money and for their service.

[euge005]

Now that we have he, carpet bomb the entire area they held him in. That terrorist al smucko, has been alive too many years already.

[carolhill814]

I really don't care who he is and what he did or didn't do I am just glad he is free to come back home and that is all that counts.

MAY GOD BLESS HIS ENTIRE FAMILY NOW AND FOR ALL TIME AS I AM SURE HE WILL!!!