"Blackwater" Author describes the US civilian Militia Group's relationship with BushCo. "Shadow War"
By John Amato Sunday Sep 16, 2007 4:54pm
Jeremy Scahill, author of "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," appeared on CNN and blasted BushCo. for fostering this private militia mentality because he wasn't able to build an international coalition to invade Iraq.
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Scahill: ...instead the administration is building a coalition of corporations. Right now in Iraq, private personnel on the US government payroll outnumber official US troops. There are about 186,000 so-called private contractors operating alongside 165,000 troops. The US military is the junior partner in this coalition.----This is a shadow war. We're in the midst right now of a discussion about a surge, and about troop withdrawals, and we hear conflicting messages. But there's been a surge on for four years of the private sector, in Iraq, this mercenary army that the Bush administration has built up all over that country.
The arrogance of the West, toward Iraq is incredible. This is a civilization that's been around for thousands and thousands of years. We think that we're going to somehow bring the solution to Iraq? No, these are people that can very much dictate their own destiny and they should be allowed to do so, and mercenaries need to get out of Iraq immediately.
And you want accountability? You mean the Cheney type accountability? This is a great clip because in a short time he gives us so much information. Our own Mark Groubert is reviewing the book at this time and we'll be posting it soon. Nate has more video on this...(full transcript below the fold)
UPDATE: My Man Waxman: "Oversight Committee to Hold Hearings on Blackwater"
HOLMES: Let's get some more perspective now on the Blackwater controversy and turn to a critic of that security firm, Jeremy Scahill authored the book "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army." He joins us live from New York.
And thanks for doing so. A lot of private security firms are fairly low profile and do their jobs less overtly like companies like Blackwater, which -- let's say, is an understatement that they are highly visible. What's your main concern?
JEREMY SCAHILL, AUTHOR, "BLACKWATER": Well, the in fact of the matter is the Bush administration failed to build the coalition of willing nations to occupy Iraq. And so, instead, the administration has built a coalition of billing corporations.
Right now in Iraq, the private personnel on the U.S. government payroll outnumber official U.S. troops. There are 180,000 so-called private contractors operating alongside of 165,000, 170,000 U.S. troops. So really now the U.S. military is the junior partner in this coalition. The mercenary component of the private sector involvement has been totally unaccountable. They operate with impunity. They kill Iraqi civilians and no charges are ever brought against them, in Iraqi law, U.S. law, military law.
HOLMES: Why is that, do you think? Do you think that's just an oversight? A slip through the cracks, the fact that there was a word missing from the military code of justice that allowed these guys to not get charged with anything? Or do you think there was something more intentional about that? As you say, they can't be charged in Iraq. They can't be charged in the U.S. They can't be charged at all.
SCAHILL: Right, it's hardly an oversight. Either we have tens of thousands of Boy Scouts running around Iraq calling themselves private security, or something is fundamentally rotten with the system. I mean, how can you have ten of thousands of mercenaries operating in Iraq and not a single prosecution? No, this is political expediency on the part of the Bush administration.
The deaths of these mercenaries don't get counted in the official U.S. death toll. Their crimes against Iraqis go undocumented and unreported. This is a shadow war. We're in the midst right now of a discussion about a surge, and about troop withdrawals, and we hear conflicting messages. But there's been a surge on for four years of the private sector, in Iraq, this mercenary army that the Bush administration has built up all over that country.
HOLMES: But the overtly aggressive contractors -- and, you know, we've seen them, they've pointed guns at our convoys -- but the overtly aggressive ones, what's in it for them to be overtly aggressive? How does that help the U.S. mission in Iraq to have guys going around shooting up Iraqi taxis because they happen to get too close?
SCAHILL: Well, I mean, it's shock tactics. The fact of the matter is that Blackwater guards, the senior U.S. occupation officials in Iraq, and their job is to so-called keep the noun alive, and they'll do that at any price. We've seen numerous reports over the years of Blackwater contractors opening fire on Iraqi vehicles and in some cases killing Iraqi civilians.
There was an incident last Christmas Eve, where an off-duty Blackwater contractor allegedly shot and kills a body guard to the Shiite vice president of the country. Part of it I think is shock tactics. And the fact is it is good for Blackwater's business when they keep Paul Bremer alive, they keep Zalmay Khalilzad alive, they keep John Negroponte alive. I mean, war is business and it's very profitable and Blackwater is doing an incredible job of making itself a lot of money.
HOLMES: If you're critical of what companies like companies like Blackwater are doing and how they are behaving, what's the alternative?
SCAHILL: I think the United States needs to withdraw from Iraq. And I believe the U.S. government needs to pay reparations to the Iraqi people. We hear all of this talk of militias and sectarian violence. What about the militias that the U.S. has deployed in Iraq that are running around the country unaccountable? No, I believe -- and I've spent a lot of time in Iraq -- I believe the United States needs to withdraw and pay reparations to the Iraqi people. The arrogance of the West, toward Iraq is incredible. This is a civilization that's been around for thousands and thousands of years. We think that we're going to somehow bring the solution to Iraq? No, these are people that can very much dictate their own destiny and they should be allowed to do so, and mercenaries need to get out of Iraq immediately.
HOLMES: Jeremy Scahill, author of "Blackwater: The Rise of The World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army", joining us from New York. Thanks for your perspective.
SCAHILL: My pleasure.
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I read this book last year and loved it! And Jeremy hit one out of the ballpark this morning, concise, forceful, and filled with facts not taking points like the pundits love so much. He's angry because he warned against this over a year ago and you STILL don't hear about this "shadow army". I just keep emailing CNN, NBS, etc. and hammer the point home. Still nothing. Maybe this suspension will bring it to the fore.
The Gestapo lives on and it's now controlled by Cheney.
Thanks for the link C&L... And much more importantly... Thanks for helping to drag this evil shadow corporate army farther out into the sunlight. They're like vampires and the more sunlight shining down on them the better.
Meet Blackwater >>> BLACKWATER : THE SHADOW WAR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfu44knmLOE
more fruits of privatization
Bush pays well for his friends to play with him, just like he did when he was a kid.
They'll all pay with their lives.
From Whitewater to Blackwater.
Guess which story gets more coverage and outrage from Zombie Nation?
-GSD
OMG!! What the fuck is Ameirca doing? This is not my America. We can just kill whomever we want whenever we want? FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is anyone listening?
Damn, Scahill is H-O-T! Ahem, sorry.
I think calling Blackwater a private group is terribly misleading, because I work for a private company (a contruction firm), and I don't think for one minute that my company and Blackwater share ANY similarities that can be talked about.
Blackwater is not private, they are paid for by the US government and depend on the government for its revenues, so it is a satellite entity of the government, much like the corporations in Nazi Germany. Although the corporations in Nazi Germany were NOMINALLY owned by private people, they still did what the Nazi regime told them to do. So Nazi Germany, which was fascistic, is more in line with the current state of the good ol' USA. Although Blackwater is NOMINALLY owned by private citizens, the US government tells them where to go, what to do, who to kill, and what areas to secure.
So I strongly believe that we should stay focused on calling things for what they are and not make the mistake of lumping innocent people into this terrible travesty. We should not condemn true private companies, I think we are doing that when we say that even having private companies is a bad thing.
Fascism is fascism, and I dare anyone here to say that private companies, if they are not told what to do by the government, are anything bad if they do not break the law.
If the majority of companies in a country are told what to do by the government, then this is called fascism. I think that is the trend of our country today. Corporations, faced with the prospect of power, money and control are only too happy to become close partners with the government, whereby the government steals money from the poor and then gives it to companies like Halliburton and Blackwater to achieve their sick agendas.
So the only question we have to answer is which group, corporations or government, should be minimized? Is there a healthy balance? Has there ever been one? I don't think it is possible to have EVERYONE agree on the right balance. Oh well....
Great to see Democracy Now regular Jeremy Scahill on the Big Screen! His blows against the empire are getting stronger.
Oh, Lordy. I feel a sinking spell coming on. Where's David Broder to explain this away?
I would note that the interview is from CNN International, I don't think an interview like that would ever occur on the US CNN.
Outlaw Blackwater
Impeach the Admin
FOR FUCK'S SAKE -DO SOMETHING!
As I wrote last week, Madeleine Albright had it exactly right when she said we needed to internationalize the conflict, which would begin with accepting responsibility for our mistakes. The first 30 seconds of this video say it all.
Pretty soon a corporation can pay to have a war named after it, just like they sell naming rights to stadiums (United, Cellular One, Enron Field…)
“Today in Iran, the G.E. World Federation of War (G.E. WFW) had a hard-fought battle in the streets of Tehran. With the help of Microsoft Mutant Battalions, the opposition suffered horrendous casualties, as the Mobile Oil Sahara Shiites were no match for Team USA.”
Hmm, private armies coming back to the U.S. All traiined up and ready to kill. Off the books. Who will feed these murderers when they get home? Elliott Abrams?
What I'd like to know is how much of the money he keeps asking for as emergency supplementals goes to these mercenaries ?
I was shocked when I saw this...never knew it was this big.
OT but this one might get lost in the OJ shuffle. ANOTHER GOP sex scandel. This time involving a US Justice Department official, John David Roy Atchison. He was caught in a sting trying to solicit sex from an undercover cop posing as a mother of a five year old girl offering the child up for sex. He said that he would be gentle and had done this plenty of times. He was even willing to fly out to see her. Why isn't this all over MSM?
Strawberry @ 19:
This is sick.
Its Rollerball!
jon-a-than! Jon-a-than! JON-A-THAN!!
This is exactly like the private companies and pirates who were on the payrolls of England, Holland, etc., doing their dirty work during the 16th-18th centuries.
The hell of it is congress- the only people who can stop this war- are intimately familiar with the corporate armies being built on taxpayer dollars. They simply do not care.
Johnny2Bad @ 21:
Of course, the 2002 remake strips all references to corporations taking over the world, and is filled with tits & explosions. Worst. Remake. EVER!
Here I am breaking Godwin's Law again. Is Blackwater more of a contemporary version of Sturmabteilung (SA) or Schutzstaffel (SS)?
More hearings so that the Democratic leadership can show how spineless they are. They'll hand another blank check to BushCo. just like they always do.
The Book on Blackwater is worth the read...scary stuff....and sadly accurate...and Iraq has every right to kick out Anyone and Everyone at this point...
Mike @ 13:
An astute observation...you are correct, only on CNN International or on BBC or in the
Guardian will we find stories/videos like this.."Our" MSM sucks and has for the last 4
plus years...but guess I should not be surprised since MSM is owned/controlled by
BIG business.
So, in truth, we have over 300,000 personnel (military and mercenary) in Iraq and we are still losing. Now what does that say? What a godawful mess!
Hathorn @ 29:
Hear Hear.
Curious???? Does anyone know exactly who Congressman Waxman will call before his
committee to give testimony regarding Blackwater? Will it be persons from the private
enterprise business, or from the Government, or the Pentagon, or the Military? I have
never seen or read WHO specifically is "in charge" of Blackwater. I noted at first hearing
held in Feb. of this year before Waxman's committee, the only person(s) to give testimony
were the widows of the Blackwater personnel killed in Falluja...
From Amy Goodman's DemocracyNow!
earlier interview, from January
Jeremy Scahill Testifies on Defense Contracting, 5.10.2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdk4dIXqs7s
gempei @ 30:
According to estimates I have heard(from Rep. Jan S., Illinois) there are "only between
20K and 22K Blackwater mercenaries in Iraq(however, she admitted that those guesstimates
were only that since she and other members of Congress are not privileged to much data).
So, I would assume the remaining numbers are made up of actual contractors in Iraq
who have been sent there to do the reconstruction of the Oil refineries and rebuilding
the interfracture WE have destroyed...and of course to be sure that the citizens of
Iraq have elec. and water at least for 4 hours per day....
Friday, May 11th, 2007
Author and DN! Correspondent Jeremy Scahill Testifies in Landmark House Hearing on Defense Contracting
gempei @ 25:
Neither. Definitely Brigate Nere. Blackwater...Black Shirts.
Brad @ 26:
Gonzales no longer has a job. Neither does Rove. Why do you think that is?
Chairman Waxman is not the problem -- the problem is that the JUSTICE DEPARTMENT has been put on jacks. The Democratic leadership is busily trying to rebuild the DoJ, but throw some more tomatoes at their heads, because blaming the wrong people is what is so wonderful about free speech.
911-INVESTIGATE! @ 34:
EVERYONE should watch this video. Does anyone know which House or Senate
Committee Scahill was giving this testimony before on May 10, 2007? Also, with
all the specific info. Scahill gave it is beyond belief(at least to me) that someone
in Congress has NOT done a damn thing in the 4 plus months that has expired
since he testified. WTF is "our" Congress doing????
Hathorn @ 29:
'We' (Bushco) ARE NOT LOSING. 'Our' (Bushco) policy, as Scahill points out, is CHAOS.
Pemanent airbases and a trillion dollars in spilled wealth for the MIC -- mission accomplished. What's losing is America -- but that's Bushco/Federalist Society/RNC job one, so mission accomplished again.
• The ONLY thing wrong with the picture is that Rove lost the election in 2006, and btw quite a few people in the world didn't put on the beer glasses and raise their arms in salute.
Now the AG candidate Bushco has decided to present is a CENTRAL Federalist Society/Bushco player. How much will you fight that candidacy? Versus how much will you just sit back, do nothing, and then blame the Dems for it?
Getting out of this war is the same as getting out of this COUP. We do not have a legal executive, so it's not surprising we don't have a legal anything going on in Iraq. They stole two presidential elections to foist this on us all -- try not to confuse THEIR policies for anything having to do with American national security. They make money on our pain.
Doggiebobo @ 35:
I suppose that not even all the 170,000 U.S. military personnel are fighting troops and that some percentage are there in a support capacity. But, it is unconscionable that congress has only "guesstimates" for the number of mercenaries in Iraq. This whole mishgosh reminds me of something an elder librarian once told me when her library was discussing "outsourcing" the cataloging. She said, "Outsourcing means out of control." I guess so.
I have
never seen or read WHO specifically is “in charge” of Blackwater.
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Blackwater has a history of being a front group for the CIA. Check out the book entitled "THE IRON TRIANGLE" about blackwater and the Carlisle Group's involvment in the Iraq war.
Doggiebobo @ 35:
That sounds about right. Scahill says in another video that there's hundreds of thousands of contractors, and tens of thousands are heavily armed. So really, maybe about 15-20% are mercenaries, while the rest are busy making sure the infrastructure remains in a 3rd world status while getting payed billions of dollars in tax payer's money.
If over half of the personnel in Iraq are private Blackwater contractors and they must leave...but at the same time they're exempt from any laws of accountability,then who's going to make them leave? Certainly not the U.S. military whom they're supporting.
was this only on cnn int'l or on reg and headline also?
maybe we should all send cnn a link to their video.
Haha! The Iraqi government is kicking Blackwater out of their country? What a joke. How the hell are they gonna do that? These fuckers are armed to the teeth and don't answer to anybody, except head office. I'm waiting to see what statement our fearless leader has got to say about this mess.
Doggiebobo @ 39:
Waxman, Government Reform Committee. Same as the new hearings.
The original hearings were for the Fallujah Four scandal/pogrom, where Blackwater sent a whistleblower to Fallujah to pick up kitchen equipment without armored vehicles, rear-gunners, maps, GPS, or right of refusal (all of which required in the contract).
This is how sophisticated propaganda has become.
They diffuse the truth by hitching it to madness.
Blame Blackwater for all kinds of crimes including murdering innocent women and children, as well as a criminal war-for-profit raqueteering, looting the People\'s treasury.
Then DEMAND the U.S. pay reparations to Iraq! (this is the madness)
You see...BLACKWATER should be paying reparations. NOT the U.S.
The U.S. is getting raped right alongside Iraq. We just haven\'t quite grasped it yet.
It\'s right there on the tip of your brains tongue. It\'s Ok, though. You\'ll get a good taste of it soon.
Who was it that spoke of the vision of a heavy boot stomping on a human face...forever?
Doggiebobo @ 39:
Never mind...I have now read the "Democracy Now"(Amy Gooman) interview w/Scahill
and see that his testimony was before the House Appropirations Committee..but question
still remains .."WTF is our Congress doing??"
The "private milita" mentality is of concern to American civilians: The same contractors deployed abroad are now working back home, being arrogant to American civilians.
richard rollins @ 44:
Scahill regularly makes this canard. NO ONE in the public knows how many Blackwater there are there, but there are about 100 companies supplying similar services -- and the 180,000 contractor number -- a guess based on CENTCOM doubletalk -- includes all contractors, not just those in arms.
Halliburton, for instance, was also investigated by Chairman Waxman, for receiving a men-in-arms contract, which is illegal for Halliburton and other contractor services not in the security side of the equation.
Make no doubt about it -- GW Bush and RB Cheney are warcriminals, and Blackwater deployment without legal protections for the population IS such a violation of the Geneva Conventions that they both could be hanged over just that.
Silk @ 48:
That was George Orwell in his dystopian book, "1984." It is just coming a few decade late.
dirty d @ 42:
Yeah, but the CIA is a front group fer people like Erik Prince, Blackwater's owner.
Prince's father, Edgar, got filthy rich off his invention- the lighted vanity mirror for automobiles- and his auto parts manufacturing business. Erik's older sister is married to Rich DeVos, AMWAY heir and Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate. The DeVoses and Princes donate a lot of money to the GOP and other right-wing/fundie causes.
When Nice Polite Republicans did a story on blackwater and thier latest crimes did they interview Scahill? Nope they used some hack from National Review Online.
Good to see it finally hit the mainstream
Doggiebobo @ 49:
Chairman Murtha's subcommittee.
Hathorn @ 52:
No, Blackwater should be disbanded, after warcrimes trials.
And the US should finally sign the UN International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries (4 Dec. 1989)
Johnny2Bad @ 37:
The Brigate Nere were relatively incompetent and harmless, plus their goose step was more akin to the "runing chicken"
SS were black shirts too, and far more dangerous... with real military training. So Blackwater is more in line with Himmler's boys. I always thought of the college republicans as the SA, instead of brown shirts they wear cacky pant (close enough chroma wise).
I am just waiting to see when the night of the long knives happens. I am trying to figure out the factions of the GOP competing for power... I am willing to bet that if one of the leaders is gay he will be the first one to go.
And then it will all be deja vu all over again...
90% of Blackwater revenues come from government no-bid contracts. How is this considered private sector? In fact it seems that Blackwater, percentage wise, gets more public money that actual public institutions like State Schools, which have to find private financing as the state will not finance nearly as much as a 90% of the budget as Blackwater does.
I am sure we could get a better deal deplpying the Chinese army. They have better equipment and can offer three times the man power for half of what Blackwater charges. If we are going the private route, let's do it all the way: competition baby!
Doggiebobo @ 31:
No such announcement has been made. The hearing will deal with the Iraqi gov't cancellation of Blackwater's contract, so more likely it would be two panels, someone from CENTCOM with a lawyer for BW itself, and a second panel of persons like Scahill.
[...] UPDATE: eremy Scahill on CNN [...]
Chris Hedges: American Fascists - The Christian Right and the War on America
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-505101822360712793&hl=en
Paul in LA @ 56:
Not arguring, but article on "Democracy Now" indicates he was giving this testimony
before the House Appropriations Committee on Defense...which may very well be
the committee chaired by Murtha. Again, not of you but of Congress, "what the
hell have you done in the four months since Scahill gave his testimony?"
Doctor Who @ 59:
Simple: They do not function under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Ergo, they are not US troops.
The Congress uses the gloss, "the term `Armed Forces' has the meaning given the term in section 101 of title 10, United States Code." And who knows what that means. But compliance with the UCMJ is required for all soldiers.
Another factor is that Bushco has written TONS of law in the form of secret executive orders, so it is impossible at this point to know what's going on. It will take a new president, and maybe ten years of hearings to work out the details to any real degree.
Doggiebobo @ 62:
The House Appropriations Committee itself is chaired by Rep. Obey. Scahill testified to the HAC Subcommittee on Defense, chaired by Rep. Murtha. (my mistake in the first response, re Waxman's committee)
Doggiebobo @ 62:
What do you expect Congress to do?
You realize, I hope, that Executive actions overseas are only minimally under the control of the Congress.
sharkcellar @ 46:
At the very least they did have to make the demand whether or not they can back it up, if only to show their own people what their intentions are. And it did have the added bonus that it made the news here so that our people have a little more knowledge of what is going on. It was all to the good and they had nothing to lose by it.
[...] “Blackwater” Author describes the US civilian Militia Group’s relationship with BushCo. “Sha... ILLEGAL CORPORATE MERCENARY ARMY DEPLOYED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! [...]
The AP sources and mainstream media I read this morning put the number of Blackwater mercenaries at 1,000. one thousand.
I am confused.
Why dont we know the real, or at least approximate number, and why the huge discrepancy? not suprising.....
shano @ 69:
I have read reports of over 150,000.
Even the Congress doesn't know how many mercs are deployed.
Another little piece of the puzzle to remember (Google: STRYDOM Fallujah) is that the merc outfits include/have included foreign deathsquad criminals.
Bushco went around the world hiring up the worst racists they could find, especially those who have worked for rightwing dictators (Indonesia, Guatemala, South Africa, former Soviets, Argentinians, etc.) The plan has been to foment civil war, followed by PARTITION.
R kissasses like (F)uckabee bring up partition regularly. As if that wasn't the policy all along.
"There is no more Iraq. There will be three territories."
-- Warcriminal (and Nine-eleven Commission Chair Nominee) Henry Kissinger, early 2004, overheard briefing his Saudi clients.
Iraq orders expulsion of US security firm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2171324,00.html?gusrc=r...
Blackwater is history in Iraq! hahaha
Hathorn @ 67:
Good point. But realistically Blackwater aren't the only mercs working in Iraq on behalf of the Republican States of America.
Duz ya no how manny of BushCo will be needing bodyguards fur the rest of their lives? At least this type of employment hasn't been outsourced as yet. (OR HAS IT)
No more supplementals!!!!!!
if iraq decertified all private contractors i would take notice
this is a drop in the bucket and means nothing
the graft will continue to flow
Paul in LA @ 66:
Yes, of course I do...I was just expressing my angry and frustration in written form
after first going out in the backyard and yelling so loud that the nesting doves flew
away from fear.
gempei @ 25:
I'd say the SS(blackwater has weapons)
Amy Goodman interviewed Naomi Klein on her new book "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" and it was a really excellant interview, and sounds like it will be an excellant book. Blackwater was mentioned as an aspect of Rumsfield's desire to privatize EVERYTHING.
anybody who has done any camping or who has a camper or trailer can tell you what blackwater is.....it ain't greywater .
richard rollins @ 44:
That's a great question. And through allllll these debates, why is it that it not asked to any candidate ?
They all say they want to bring the troops home! Why won't someone follow up and ask about the "private contractors" ?
whomever1 @ 78:
Two of my favorite women in the whole world. You can also see Naomi Klein videos on youtube about her new book. Just do a search for "Shock Doctrine".
[...] Video here [...]
I agree with Scahill 100%.
I think that it would really be great if the mercenaries names and addresses were obtained and printed on the internet.
Blackwater's the perfect name for a mercenary oil army.
Is Erik Prince really a Satanist with a wicked sense of humor?
juanchopancho @ 81:
If Amy Goodman sees any way to attack the Democrats, she does it. Even if it means withholding or slanting information. It's one of her main missions, bashing the Dems, and she does it with relish.
Otherwise, she's a meritorious person. But if you think she doesn't do PROPAGANDA (including lies), then you are a babe in the woods.
Mike @ 13:
Was just thinking the same thing. Scahill wouldn't have been permitted to finish his sentences.
Naomi Klein just released a book that puts all this in perspective. Here she is on Democracy Now! this morning. Can't wait to read it.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/17/1411235
Won't matter, you folks are still on the hook. After all, you guys let them get away with it. Hell, at the time this all started, you guys were pulling stunts like renaming food items because you didn't like French nuance on the whole imbroglio. The vast majority of US citizens not only knew that there were problems in the legality of the war, they reveled in it. Remember all that cheerleading about how you guys were going to kick ass despite all those namby-pamby legalistic sissies at the UN?
The rest of the world does, that's for sure. The US is on the hook for this, and trying to fluff it off on the paid lackeys (violent as they may be) reeks about as strongly as the efforts of the democratic party to fluff it all off as the fault of the Iraqi's: "They don't deserve us; they can't get their shit together".
Your country's been doing an exemplary job of covering itself in something since that little incident a few years back. By my calculation, you've caused the death of at minimum 200 people for every person that was killed that day... and possibly up to about 350... and yet, maybe a total of five or ten of the hundreds of thousands that you've had killed actually had anything to do with the crime.
Had enough yet, or are you going to continue demonstrating that Al-Qaeda was right in their assessment of your national character?
Jack @ 89:
While I would agree with many of the things that you have said, please remember that there are a large percentage of U.S. citizens that have been against the war since before it even began. We don't like the mess that so many of the people you describes have gotten us into and take it pretty hard that the reputation of our country has been destroyed. We are also not looking forward to the eventual clean-up that will certainly fall to those of us who tried to be reasonable while all the madness went unchecked.
This is the ONLY black water that is allowed, in my private Idaho, that is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqZ95a249p0
and FUCK THOSE MERCENARY ASSHOLES who can only kill for money -- they pick up a GUN because they don't have the GUTS to play GUITAR (or fiddle, drums, etc.)
Just a thought but perhaps Iraq is the trainiing ground for implementing martial law here.
Keep this clip away from the propaganda network, lest they feel compelled to share it with their sleepy nation viewers.
I am becoming more and more convinced this country is lost. What I grew up in is gone. We ARE a fascist state. We only think we have liberty and freedom. This is sad.
I say pull out NOW!! Leave these blood suckers there to fend for themselves. Maybe the Iraqis can have their vengence. They are certainly entitled.
jill @ 2:
To Cheney this is all part of doing business. Lots of money to be made in this war.
"Jeremy Scahill, author of “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army,” appeared on CNN and blasted BushCo. for fostering this private militia mentality because he wasn’t able to build an international coalition to invade Iraq."
Huh? What did the coalition have to do with it? Blackwater contributes heavily to the GOP, and has from Day One. "Drownie" of FEMA imfamy did his share of GOP contribution wrangling too, and that's how the horse show judge came to head FEMA. Cause-and-effect. Blackwater is enjoying a "private militia mentality" in Iraq because they paid for that mentality....through generous contributions to the GOP. They'd be there in droves whether or not an international coalition was built.
martial law is certainly in their playbook. they need to keep something in mind though.
certain kinds of ants can (because of their volume and tenaciousness) take down and strip clean a horse in less than 24 hours.
them = horse
us = ants
over the years i've asked many ordinary folks of all religious and political persuasions the question: if there were another attack and the govt sent forces into cities to impose curfews and take your weapons, would you submit?
the answer is always 100% NO. not just no but HELL no.
We know Blackwater is not govrned by any code of conduct or rule of engagement or even treatment of prisoners.
What needs to be asked is,
Can Blackwater be hired by Iran to provide security and help in its defense from the USA??
Can Cuba hire Blackwater, How about Hugo Chavez ? They could be hired to work against the USA?
Look, Odds are it has already happened and it has just been small scale and isolated events quietly kept.
But I am wiling to bet it has occurred. Where Blackwater povided for another country against America's interests.
who in the hell let Scahill on the show.
haha....cnn "international" I suppose.
About as much truth you can fit into a 4 minute window.
It is all a game though......................why else would cnn let Jeremy speak.
They (the people that run the show) thrive on conflict.
In all societies.
And yes, yours and mine.
(and if you don't believe there is a class system, maybe you should re-read them books)
Mike @ 13:
Your so right about that. If you did any deeper you'll find out more that the MSM and the administration has been trying to hide from us.
The "Bad Guys" are always the "other guys".
Jack @ 89:
Bigotry from overseas, such a new circumstance.
In your America-bashing mode, you don't notice that the 'Freedom Fries' Congressman, a Republican, has recanted his support for the Iraq invasion.
What country do you live in, where it is all sweetness and light?
I love this GUY! Why we no see here in u.s.? We need lots and lots of his exposure at this time.
[...] “Blackwater” Author describes the US civilian Militia Group’s relationship with BushCo. “Sha... [...]
After Blackwater loses all its government contracts, I wonder how long (not if) they will turn to bank robbery and their own campaigns of terrorism.
I give it one day.
[...] then that Jeremy Scahill who wrote the book on Blackwater goes on CNN and stirs the pot. We never could build a real coalition of nations to fight this war [...]
The worst thing about these mercenary companies is what they are doing to the country's military. Who is training these mercenaries? The United States taxpayers. As soon as they are trained and have enough experience to be effective troops they are hired away by companies like Blackwater. It is no wonder the companies are so profitable. It is no wonder things are going so poorly in Iraq. It is no way to fight a war when you are losing your best leaders to someone who owes his loyalty to the company balance sheet instead of to his country.
Historically mercenaries have never been good for a country whose war they are fighting. Just look at what happened during the American Revolution. The British were not willing to send enough of their own men to fight. So they hired German soldiers, the Hessians. The problem is America already had large numbers of Germans who had left Europe to escape the constant wars. When Hessians were captured they were sent to work for the German farmers on the frontier like here in Pennsylvania. Very fews of the Hessians ever returned to Europe. Most married the local German girls and settled here.
Do not fight a war unless you are willing to shed your own blood and treasure. Many of the mercenaries are Americans but most of the other contract laborers in Iraq are from all over the world. Over dependence on foreigners was one of the thing that caused the fall of the Roman Empire. The American republic seems to be headed in the same direction.
The problem with creating mercanary armies is that sooner or later either the government or the citizens end up having to fight them. Watch it happen.
in the early 90's, i used to read richard marconko's line of Rogue Warrior books.
not my usual sort of fare -when it came to military fiction, i'd dabbled lightly and enjoyed mostly the older stuff, submarine stories, flying aces, and so on. martin caidin as well as i'd had dinner with him at a fly-in in lakeland and he was wide-ranging as a writer and quite a crazy character to boot which came through well in his work.
martin caidin was from the old old school of military culture.
dick marcinko may be only a generation down the road but several in terms of [military] culture.
something happened between eras. some sort of cultural steroids.
empiricism &/or a general moral coarsening plus uber-sophistication.
anyway, marcinko at one point in his novels asserted that with the cold war over, our next big challenge, of that same magnitude, was gonna be -terrorists.
terrorists?? equaling the cold war? i cocked an eye there and wondered.
i am not sure, but i suspect he hadn't even started SOS Temps yet at that point.
the feeling i got was that he was letting us 'fans' in on things to supposedly come.
he well immersed in the culture for sure. one of it's bigger stars even.
-he well spreading that culture too. widely.
and it's huge now. huge.
(i imagine he's partied with prince a helluva lot.)
i think what we have on our hands is a cultural problem.
i'm 53, from miami, fl. and living in oklahoma city for 7 years now.
an aging hippie artist. lemme tell ya about cultural problems!
the mostly good people of OKC do not run W bumperstickers so much any more now.
but neither do they speak out (save for robin meyers in the okgazette - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=robin+meyers+christian+right&btnG=G...) and the prevailing ethic is 'Don't Make Waves'.
...and that's all that it takes for evil to triumph, etc...
here, we all speak up, you bet. but
it's those millions of quiet voices, those disturbed american consciences remaining silent yet, that are chewing earth up.
that's what i think anyway, from this midwestern perspective.
(on the whole i'd rather be in new mexico.)
i hear more less soldiers are republicans nowadays.
maybe some slight cultural good is in store for us all yet.
whatever.
god bless us all.
Jack (#86)
You're right. What can I say? I've never gone along with any of it. We've been outlaws and violators of every law ever written. And, while I have to offer a partial excuse in our defense, (we've been the victims of a political highjacking, (not 9-11) for 7 years now, and there are those who've never recovered.
Whomever said that we are as much victims as the Iraqis, are close. I wouldn't say quite, since we at least have electricity, or we wouldn't be sending these messages. And, probably we have water, and other basics as well.
But, it's been too long now, so we have to start taking some responsiblity for what the criminals have done in our names, and with our blood and money.
Still, we get your point. We aren't proud of any of this.
Cyrena @ 109:
That's a revolting and totally FALSE claim. Your family has not been splattered against your shirt in front of you.
Over a million people are dead in Iraq. NOTHING Bushco could do to the United States at all matches that disgusting display of avaricious, racist murder.
How long is it until you or I are held at gunpoint by a Blackwater Mercenary for speaking against this criminal administration? We need to write, call and convince our representatives that this must all end. Not one public debate discussed this shadow war. This is just scary.
Blackwater - Coming soon to your neighborhood.
Don't believe me? Ask the residents of New Orleans.
this guy is intensely sexy. don't mind saying.
The West is arrogant to third countries? Well I never...
pissed canuck @ 6:
It would have been better for us all if his mother had tied a pork chop around his neck.
Paul in LA @ 101:
I'm not overseas buddy, I'm less than twenty miles north of your country. Yep, Canuckistan. Your country's largest trading partner, your country's best friend, and the people most like you in the world... and we're getting that disgusted.
It's got nothing to do with sweetness and light, but how are things gonna be when you guys have killed a million by the end of the decade? You're talking getting close to Pol Pot, there.
Blackwater is hired thugs being paid with your tax dollars. These are people who love blood for money. 70 grand a year on the average tax free to stir up shit in Iraq. There is no place for merenaries in a conflict like Bush created in Iraq. This is only the first case of Blackwater's actions against the civilian population in Iraq. There are many more that have not came to light yet.
Jack @ 116:
To all and sundry - Jack is a righteous anger junkie. He comes to liberal sites like this one to spew righteous anger at those who are least responsible in the responsible country for the conditions he has chosen to get righteously angry about. He gets a kick out of getting those who have actually tried to fight the conditions he is righteously angry about to grovel and pour ashes on their heads and beg a "forgiveness" that will never be forthcoming. He will simply ramp up his rhetoric and accuse "you guys" meaning us of course, of being as bad as Pol Pot.
He doesn't particularly care that doing this doesn't encourage us, doesn't hearten us to continue to fight as best we can, in fact, doesn't help in any way whatsoever to right those wrongs he has chosen to get righteously angry about. He only cares about feeling righteously angry. Please, everyone, keep this in mind and try not to feed his habit.
This is a public service announcement.
Hathorn @ 118:
Yep, it's all somebody else's fault.
I don't particularly expect anyone to ask me for forgiveness; I'm not the wronged party here. However, I find it astounding that American's still don't realise just how deeply your national character has been besmirched here.
As for being as bad as Pol Pot, let's see, lotsa killing? Check. Waterboarding and other forms of torture? Check. Disappearing people in the middle of the night? Check. I'm not seeing a huge difference here, the main one being reach. At least one can say that you're not running reeducation camps, but after a certain point in the slide down the morality chute, such things stop being so important except to those who want to avoid the culpability due to their people.
When I say "you guys", I'm talking about your civilisation. It's a relatively young one, about as young as mine is, in fact. I've actually passed a reasonable amount of time in the US, mostly along the Thousand Islands, and I count a lot of Americans as friends. Actually, when it comes to direct experience with Americans, you guys are fine people. But, please please please take your heads out of the sand and look around at what has happened to you as a people. Every time one of your politicians talks about the 'failures of the Iraqi people to take advantage of what we're offering them' and the sage and wise of your country nod their heads, they look like incompetent, immoral, willfully blind buffoons who are so desperate to maintain their self-image that they will undergo incredible moral and intellectual contortions to do so.
If you want to save your civilisation (or at least its reputation in The Rest Of The World), you should be putting a million people on the Mall on a weekly basis (which is a beautiful place, I might add; I visited it in the late nineties) demanding that something be done about the war crimes and the criminals ordering them.
kac90b @ 115:
TIGHT.
Jack @ 116:
O, Canada. Just one question for you lot. Don't you have ANYTHING to say about the events of Nine-eleven. Can't talk about them here, but by the way, Canada is part of NORAD. So what's with the silence?
[...] (Read the rest of this story…) http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/…war/#more-21488 [...]
Jack @ 119:
You will note the typical mo of a typical righteousness junkie in the paragraphs above. How he advises us to take "your heads out of the sand and look at what has happened to you as a people," good advice perhaps if he were posting on Freerepublic or Little Green Footballs, but here at CrooksandLiars, it is bringing literally cartloads of coals to Newcastle. If he is unaware that people on this site are already soul-searingly alive to what is happening to our country, then he must have the thickest noggin since Popeye went head to head with an enraged bull. (I forget which Popeye cartoon that was in, but it made a lasting impression.)
I'm not too bothered by private companies providing meals or doing Laundry, but men with assault rifles and helicopters? That's just nuts.
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