Blackwater 'may be worse than Abu Ghraib'
By Steve Benen Tuesday Sep 25, 2007 7:17amTo describe the ongoing Blackwater scandal as a fiasco would be a dramatic understatement. Not only do we have a situation in which private security contractors stand accused of killing Iraqi civilians without provocation, we also have deep divisions brewing between the Pentagon and the State Department, coupled by State stonewalling a congressional investigation.
A confrontation between the U.S. military and the State Department is unfolding over the involvement of Blackwater USA in the shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians in a Baghdad square Sept. 16, bringing to the surface long-simmering tensions between the military and private security companies in Iraq, according to U.S. military and government officials. [...]
“This is a nightmare,” said a senior U.S. military official. “We had guys who saw the aftermath, and it was very bad. This is going to hurt us badly. It may be worse than Abu Ghraib, and it comes at a time when we’re trying to have an impact for the long term.”
At this point, the State Department seems to be treating Blackwater contractors as the agency’s own private army, accountable to no one outside the department. The Maliki government believes Blackwater is a criminal enterprise, the Iraqi people resent Blackwater’s presence, the Pentagon believes Blackwater is lying about the Sept. 16 incident in Nisoor Square, and congressional Democrats have questions about what has transpired — which the State Department refuses to answer.
This is a debacle so severe and humiliating, only the Bush administration could pull it off.
David Kurtz offers this helpful timeline of events that sets the stage for where we are now.
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FORGET ‘WHITEWATER’; ‘BLACKWATER’ SYMBOLIZES A REAL ‘FAILED LAND VENTURE’
I'm sure that Abu Ghraib's depths of depravity were never quite fully plumbed. Now imagine the sadists and creeps at that fabled institution being let loose to wander in the public, and all of them obsessively watching "24" re-runs. A recipe for further stains on the reputation of the United States.
Only the Bush Administration could pull it off, and only the Bush Administration could get away with it, which they will. Just like everything else.
Bushevik State Department Won't Allow Blackwater to Testify Before Congress About Its Contract in Iraq! Talk About Aiding and Abetting Murderers. - http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=792
Stopblackwater.net - http://box165.bluehost.com/suspended.page/
Gee....look what happened to that website....hmmm....looks like the Pentagon's outsourced asian hacker task force is doing some moonlighting....
Romney's Campaign Tainted by the Blackwater Affair - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070925/ap_po/romney_blackwater;_ylt=AmW77qq...
Dood @ 3:
And only the Republicans will accept this as being business as usual.
You just cant support Blackwater and support the troops at the same time. It is factually incorrect to say you can. Whats it gonna be Dubya the troops or Blackwater.
years ago it seems anyone who cried the horrors of blackwater were "tinfoil hat" sporters. i always wondered why there was so little discussion over what we've known for quite sometime to be a very real very violent secret police type group. the whole purpose, like the CIA, is that they can't cause trouble for the govt- it's supposed to be a "civilian" type agency, therefore, it's not w's fault.
Imagine a security firm in the US being allowed to treat a crowded American street as a free-fire zone. Even if there had been a genuine threat to their client (which doesn't appear to have been the case here) no security firm would be allowed to open up on a street crowded with US civilians. And to kill between 10 and 20 innocents with no penalties.
This is the private army that masks the level of US involvement in Iraq.
A couple of years ago, a brave young woman once asked bush II about what regulations were governing military contractors in Iraq. He tried to intimidate her by faking that he couldn't hear her, could she repeat the question. She asked again and bush II said: "That's a really good question. I'll ask Rumsfeld about it."
Apparently there is still no law governing these goons.
thwap
blackwater or similar groups are rumored to have been the disruptive forces/phony protestors who brought violence to a peaceful protest back during WTO/seattle. i won't be surprised to ultimately see it here as america slips further into fascism...
I was just perusing buzzflash and I came across a link entitled :
Stopblackwater.net Check out where it leads to now.
I guess Blackwater isn't to pleased with freedom of speech.
http://box165.bluehost.com/suspended.page/
These private armies that BushCo has incubated are a grave threat to our democracy...what little is left of it.
Is the US Army Chopped Liver?
Support Our Mercenaries
The Pentagon's ongoing failure to implement a Congressional "instruction" to put the armed contractors under the Uniform Code of Military Justice is a major unreported story. Why aren't the JAG officers involved facing contempt of Congress charges? In the 1950s when Dashiell Hammett took the 5th Amendment instead of naming trustees of the Civil Rights Congress Bail Fund, he went off to prison for contempt. Common sense says it's a much more serious matter when active duty military officers defy the Congress. Risen and Broder don't pursue the Pentagon-sabotage angle. Maybe they will now that they have a "hook" -the Maliki government trying to expel Blackwater- and we'll be grateful instead of angry that the Times looked away from the obvious major scandal all these years.
http://www.counterpunch.org/jones09222007.html
Given everything we are learning about Blackwater, it's not difficult to understand why Iraqis wanted to hang bits of them from a bridge.
So what does "worse" mean?
Are they going to send the slob who mops the floors to jail for life , and give the guys who shot civilians the Medal of Freedom?
"Private security companies" as hired mercenaries is UN-CONSTITUTIONAL! AND UN-AMERICAN!
Hand Blackwater and all the war criminals over to the Iraqis!
America's Mercenary Police.
Why Aren't We Banning Blackwater Here?
Let's give the Iraqi puppet government some credit: At least they have the sense to delicense and order out of the country the Blackwater mercenary outfit.
The real question is why we allow them here in the US.
Recall that FEMA and Homeland Security used heavily armed Blackwater troops in the aftermath of the Katrina disaster in New Orleans. They were seen wandering around in flak jackets and helmets, with no identifying tags, carrying heavy weapons and M-16s. It is not clear how many people they may have killed or injured in those terrible days.
Worse yet, there's word that Homeland Security has standing contracts with Blackwater and other private mercenary firms for other "national emergency" situations in the US.
This whole concept is an affront to democracy and a grave threat to the survival of our democratic freedoms.
http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff09222007.html
Simon White-Thatch Potentloins @ 13:
Katie Helvenston, mother of former US Navy SEAL Scott Helvenston, says her son had written to the CEO of Blackwater USA complaining about the 'extreme unprofessionalism' of the men.
It makes me wonder if Scott was made a target on purpose. He dies, his complaint gets buried, and the outrage against those horrible terrorists gets a free boost.
This is one subject even the chickenshit Dems shouldn't be afraid to touch. These goons are not "the troops," so they should be fair game for timid souls like Harry Reid.
Is there any reason why Iran couldn't hire Blackwater Corp. to fight the US Military? I saw
a news report that the US has paid Blackwater 500 million. If Iran pays Blackwater 1 Billion
will they attack and kill US soldiers? Just asking.
Private contracting is not a good thing regardless of where it is done..the military, healthcare,
etc.
It is all for corporate America and big money. Downsizing and contracting have not done this country any favors.
Necadawg @ 6:
For Republics, the order is:
1. Dubya
2. Blackwater
3. Troops
"So many of the troops, you know, are underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them." - Barbara Bush
The head of the Iraqi police was just murdered. Hmmm..
May be worse? What we have here is state sponsored terrorism..oh and Mr Dave....as of last June ..Blackwater had received 750 mill. So we can reach out and say to the Preznit Thank you very much...for turning us into them.
I see this as a continuation of war crimes.
Unfortunately the American people will become numb or indifferent to this like everything else.
privatization of government services, the neocon wet dream, has always been a fiasco.
take back our government
mudshark: Excellent comment. This IS state sponsored terrorism.
thwap @ 8:
BW is better equipped and supplied than the US Military. Wait until boy george uses them here to quell unrest.
Goddamnit, don't you people know that Blackwater is run by Bu$h's business buddies? They are a CHRISTIAN ARMY! They are fighting the evil arabs because GOD told Georgie to go and kill 'em all, he'll sort it out!
Badwater @ 20:
There! I fixed it! :)
How long before we hear this: "They're not merecenaries -- they're Freedom Contractors"?
citizen_pain @ 28:
yeah, except they are doing all that for a measly $700,000,000.00/year.
Blackwater is Bush's private military, we can't go asking questions about them, everything concerning them has to be kept secret because Bush doesn't want us know what his plans are for Blackwater, the true numbers it employs or what they have already done in the name of the USA that we haven't heard about yet.
Any chance they will all spend time in prison with Bush and Cheney and the rest of the gang in one of those nice new facilities Bush built for those who are a danger to this country? That would be fitting!
this entire incident needs to be carefully scrutinized. it is a microcosm of the entire bush administration for the past six years. time and again, they have brushed aside the various scandals that have plagued them on a daily basis, they have brushed them away and have emerged virtually unscathed. Now this greatest of scandals surfaces. all the previous scandals, as grievous as they were, were all dispatched as if prepping for this blackwater day.
and now sit back and watch this despicable machine as it pushes aside this latest scandal and it evolves into another day at the office, no real investigation, no real congressional questions, and no punishment forthcoming.
thwap @ 8:
and no answer to bush on the question; and no questions like this from congress or the senate.
Blackwater=American death squads. What is the difference between the US and a banana republic? Instead of a thriving heroin and cocaine trade, we use oil. Dependence..addiction (potAYto..poTAHto...) Bush and Cheney are the latest drug lords.
BaScOmBe @ 31:
Well, that's a small sum considering they are fighting the crusade! Anyway, it taxpayer money, who cares? This is America, pick yourself up by the bootstraps you sissy!
Wasn't there an incident a couple of years ago where either Blackwater, Caci or one of the other private security contractors shot up a US Army National Guard checkpoint while they were out shooting anything that moved?
http://www.populistamerica.com/blackwater_an_american_black_eye
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=3039345&C=america
I'm glad BWater is getting more attention.
Above are two great links about this country. the second is about how Blackwater is receiving contracts to "help out" on the war on drugs. 20% of their efforts will be DOMESTIC!
So, those of you who referenced Blackwater in the streets shooting americans, give it a few months.
country=company
Then again, the typo kinda works.
hanshiro @ 35:
I have been making this point for some time... we ARE a Banana Republic:
Big Oil and the polluters now run the EPA...
Big Pharma writes the prescription drug plan...
Credit companies and banks write the bankruptcy laws...
School testing firms write the No child Left behind act...
Almost every agency or aspect of our Government, under Republican rule, has been systematically turned over to moneyed interests, that have no country, no creed, no scruples... stricly FOR PROFIT.
Hence, Banana Republic!
Before it is over, either our armed forces, or American citizens acting together in self-defense, are going to be in a fight to the death with Blackwater and other companies like them. They are private, mercanary armies wserving the neocons. They draw the overwhelming amount of their operating cash from us by siphoning our tax dollars. They do not, in any way, serve America or its interests or its People. They are deadly parasites.
The neocons are establishing themselves as warlords of sorts as they work their work of consolidating the grip of fascism on this Nation. The Blackwaters are step whatever of establishing totalitarian rule: establish your own army of thugs to at first sidestep the law and institutions of a free society, and to later become the law and the institution of enforcing totalitarian rule.
The people who work for these companies need to consider what their fate will be when the People and the Law has had enough of them.
There is an excellent deconstruction of a Blackwater contract in the current issue of Harpers. The situation is even more fucked up than you thought because of the brazen unconscionability of their contracts with their employees (aka mercenaries).
It would seem that the Office of Accountability and Transparency is now unaccountably opaque.
who can we contact in government to see that the clowns are put out of business?
Keep in mind that it is Blackwater who currently guards American "VIP's" and diplomatic officials. This is their private army.
"At this point, the State Department seems to be treating Blackwater contractors as the agency’s own private army, accountable to no one outside the department."
And that's what scares the hell out of me
Remember one of Rumsfeld's first reactions about abu ghraib was to ban all cameras from the prison. He wasn't worried about what had happened to the prisoners, he was worried about more pictures being taken. He knew exactly what had been going on there.
This administration is more cruel and criminal, I fear, than any of us have imagined.
Jeff @ 44:
I think it is the same guy who can tell me next week's winning Mega Bucks number.
BlackWater - The Prince Family Connections.
RED FLAGS:
-Edgar Prince, Erik Prince's father. Helped to create James Dobson, Focus on the Family -- they gave them the seed money to start it
- Gary Bauer, who was one of the original signers to the Project for a New American Century, founder of the Family Research Council. He credits Edgar Prince, Erik’s father, with giving him the money to start the Family Research Council... at the forefront of the rightwing Christian..
http://www.newspeakblog.com/the_blog/2007/02/blackwater.html
Erik Prince founder and owner of Blackwater USA.
-founded in 1997
-Was an intern in George H.W. Bush's White House.
-Family Research Council College intern
-Ties to Project for a New American Century" white paper -- through the Family Research Council, another neocon outfit. Outfits like Blackwater, Raytheon and Halliburton provide cover for the Rumsfeld/ Friedman Doctrine
-Prince also serves as a board member of "Christian Freedom International, with a mission of helping Christians who are persecuted"
http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2007/09/blackwater_and_1.html
-Prince is the brother of Betsy DeVos, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Michigan
-Dick and Betsy DeVos Funded the MI Far Right through Foundation Grants
-Betsy DeVos' Connection to War Profiteering in Iraq
http://www.mediamouse.org/resources/right.php?personId=4
NEXT RED FLAG:
-Blackwater Training Center also offers tactics and weapons training to U.S. law enforcement agencies.
A military institution on our soil, planning to expand and they answer to no one but themselves. That's a frightening thing, no matter who you are or which party you belong to. Just suppose we get a democratic president who becomes mentally deranged. Yep, this should concern every damned person in America.
citizen_pain @ 40:
I agree. the problem is that the "American brand" has been sold (spoon-fed, brainwashed, insert adjective here...) as something benign and righteous for so long, its own citizens cannot conceive the monstrosity that the US gov't has been morphing into for years. It'd be like trying to convince people that Barney disembowels and feeds on the children who star on his show, even after they find a blood-soaked cage, piles of ripped clothes, steak sauce, DNA, and video.
But hey, stuff happens and indoctrination can be 'untidy.' Time to tranq the dinosaur. (And the enabling "DINOs." )
Oh OK so they aren't soldiers, they're christian crusaders. I feel much safer now.
Paul @ 41:
Blackwater is one of three major outfits contracted by BoosCheneyCo. The three account for over $1,000,000,000.00 in the Pentagon budget. (Whose idea was it to outsource State Department security anyway?) It will be interesting to see who in the military will leave to join those outfits when(or if) they are outlawed. One thing to keep in mind is that the military contracting apparatus has been used to replace functions in the military. therefore, our military may not be equipped to deal with them. also consider that there is much latent/hidden sympathy in rural areas for Blackwater and the agendas of BoosCheneyCo.
This will ultimately be messier than the War of 1860-64. It will certainly show that for some people this nation means nothing.
Blackwater is just another reminder to the Iraqis that they aren't really a sovereign country. They didn't agree to give Blackwater Immunity, they were told that Blackwater would have immunity from their prosecution.
Even is they decided that they wanted to do something about it and arrest the Blackwater employees, how would they do that? They don't have command and control of their own army. The Iraqi army is under the command and control of the U.S. Army. There is no doubt that the U.S. Army would defend Blackwater employees.
The Iraqi government as it is now only exists to give legitimacy to American actions in Iraq. How do you think Maliki keeps surviving? The Bush administration wants that oil deal signed, not because of the Iraqi revenue sharing provision, but because it guarantees American access to their oil. Now Bush is claiming that we will have permanent bases there because the Iraqis have asked us to stay for the foreseeable future. That would probably be a surprise to the average Iraqi on the street.
The last thing the Bush administration wants is a strong, independent Iraqi government. A strong Iraqi government might come up with an oil revenue sharing law that doesn't guarantee our access to their oil.
It boggles the mind the number of constitutional crises that this Administration is on the verge of causing. Separation of powers between branches of government, separation of the military and civilian oversight and all the rest, habeus corpus, etc.
If the Pentagon attempts to isolate the State Department, and de facto the White House, because of this fiasco...and the fiasco of privatizing a military operation to begin with...we are talking SERIOUS political, social and governmental fallout.
The impeachment word has been thrown around far too loosely, and that started with the GOP politicizing a PERSONAL transgression by Bill Clinton, to the point where it has lost the impact of its significance.
Impeachment is a serious issue, and there are serious issues here, serious transgressions, serious misuse of power by this President.
This IMBECILE acts as if this is just another "window seat" job, like he's had in the past. A job where he gets to flaunt his authority knowing that his Daddy or his Daddy's friends will protect him from himself and from doing real damage. Those "governors" on his behavior don 't exist now. His bloated head is filled with self importance, fed by the ass lickers and covert neocon lunatics that surround him.
George Bush has long passed the point of being simply a lousy President. He has become DANGEROUS.
pissed off patricia @ 49:
Hillary doesn't have to go crazy. All she has to do is make sure that money flows to the 'right' people, just as her husband did. Bill began the outsourcing of the military. the boosCheneyCo regime just upped the stakes dramatically.
The Smiths Go To Washington @ 48:
I forgot to mention the BIGGEST RED FLAG
Look at these Political Donations by the Prince, the Founder of Blackwater....
http://www.newsmeat.com/ceo_political_donations/Erik_Prince.php
"This is a debacle so severe and humiliating, only the Bush administration could pull it off."
The Bush Regime has be a 6 1/2 year severe and humiliating debacle.
How's that privatized war for profit working out for ya?
Liberal AND Proud @ 54:
What do you mean "on the verge of causing"? the media is cowered and the dems are now complicit. we know he's broken every law approached.
I feel sorry that the Iraqis have been caught up in the American civil war between Republican corruption and Democrat cowardice.
MooG @ 16
That would put Blackwater in the position of taking the traditional place of the National Guard, but under who's command and control? I doubt that you'll find any Blackwater employees doing rescues or transporting food or supplies.
Yes, it's called the "Geheime Staatspolizei", or, "Secret State Police", more affectionately known as "Gestapo", perhaps you've heard of it?---Welcome to the New World Order, the New American Century, the biggest banana Republic ever. Don't you love it? You'd better, because NOTHING will be done to stop this, other than giving them more money, and turning them loose on US.
"We're going to keep pushing and pushing until somebody stops us!"---VP Cheney
Lawmaker says Rice interfered with Iraq inquiry
A leading Democratic lawmaker on Tuesday accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of interfering in congressional inquiries into corruption in Iraq's government and the activities of U.S. security firm Blackwater.
Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman said State Department officials had told the Oversight and Government Reform Committee he chairs they could not provide details of corruption in Iraq's government unless the information was treated as a "state secret" and not revealed to the public.
THROW THIS B*TCH IN JAIL
Does anyone know if there is any evidence that Blackwater was ambushed? Apparently none of the Blackwater employees were wounded, but were there even any bullet holes in their vehicles? If there was a firefight, you'd think the other guys would have hit something.
A little more history (Wikipedia)
"The Gestapo was established on April 26, 1933, in Prussia, from the existing organization of the Prussian Secret Police. The Gestapo was first simply a branch of the Prussian Police known as “Department 1A of the Prussian State Police”.
Heinrich Himmler (left) chief of the SS, with Adolf Hitler (right)Its first commander was Rudolf Diels, who recruited members from professional police departments and ran the Gestapo as a federal police agency, comparable to several modern examples such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States. The Gestapo’s role as a political police force was only established after Hermann Göring was appointed to succeed Diels as Gestapo commander in 1934. Göring urged the Nazi government to extend Gestapo power beyond Prussia to encompass all of Germany. In this Göring was mostly successful except in Bavaria, where Heinrich Himmler (head of the SS) served as the Bavarian police president and used local SS units as a political police force.
In April 1934, Göring and Himmler agreed to put aside their differences (due in large part to a combined hatred of the Sturmabteilung (SA)) and Göring transferred full authority over the Gestapo to the SS. At that point, the Gestapo was incorporated into the Sicherheitspolizei and considered a sister organization of the Sicherheitsdienst.
[edit] Increasing power under the SS
The role of the Gestapo was to investigate and combat “all tendencies dangerous to the state.”[cite this quote] It had the authority to investigate treason, espionage and sabotage cases, and cases of criminal attacks on the Nazi Party and Germany.
Laws passed in 1936 effectively gave the Gestapo carte blanche to operate without judicial oversight. Nazi jurist Dr. Werner Best stated that “[a]s long as the Gestapo ... carries out the will of the leadership, it is acting legally.”[citation needed] The Gestapo was specifically exempted from responsibility to administrative courts, where citizens normally could sue the state to conform to laws.
A further law passed later in the year gave the Gestapo responsibility for setting up and administering concentration camps. Also in 1936, Reinhard Heydrich became head of the Gestapo and Heinrich Müller, chief of operations; Müller would later assume overall command after Heydrich's assassination in 1942. Adolf Eichmann was Müller's direct subordinate and head of department IV, section B4, which dealt with Jews.
The power of the Gestapo most open to misuse was called Schutzhaft—“protective custody,” a euphemism for the power to imprison people without judicial proceedings, typically in concentration camps[citation needed]. The person imprisoned even had to sign his or her own Schutzhaftbefehl, an order declaring that the person had requested imprisonment (ostensibly out of fear of personal harm). Normally this signature was forced by beatings and torture[citation needed].
During World War II, the Gestapo was expanded to around 45,000 members.
Keeping Hitler in power
German Gestapo agents arrested after the fall of Liege, Belgium, are herded together in a cell in the citadel of LiegeBy February and March 1942, student protests were calling for an end to the Nazi regime. These included the non-violent resistance of Hans and Sophie Scholl, two leaders of the White Rose student group. Despite the significant popular support for the removal of Hitler[citation needed], resistance groups and those who were in moral or political opposition to the Nazis were stalled into inaction by the fear of reprisals from the Gestapo. In fact, reprisals did come in response to the protests. Fearful of an internal overthrow, the forces of Himmler and the Gestapo were unleashed on the opposition. The first five months of 1943 witnessed thousands of arrests and executions as the Gestapo exercised a severity hitherto unseen by the German public. Student leaders were executed in late February, and a major opposition organization, the Oster Circle, was destroyed in April 1943.
The German opposition was in an unenviable position by the late spring and early summer of 1943. On one hand, it was next to impossible for them to overthrow Hitler and the party; on the other, the Allied demand for an unconditional surrender meant no opportunity for a compromise peace, which left the people no option (in their eyes) other than continuing the military struggle.
Nevertheless, some Germans did speak out and show signs of protest during the summer of 1943. Despite fear of the Gestapo after the mass arrests and executions of the spring, the opposition still plotted and planned. Some Germans were convinced that it was their duty to apply all possible expedients to end the war as quickly as possible; that is, to further the German defeat by all available means. The Gestapo cracked down ruthlessly on the dissidents in Germany, just as they did everywhere else."
"Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it"
What?? Having thousands of mercs running around without oversight is a problem?? I guess nobody could have predicted that, either.
So, why is it we have mercenaries on the payroll and why are they entitled to national security protection?
Once again, the Republcrites have exceeded themselves, proving YET AGAIN that they are even MORE smarmy, more godless and reprehensible than anyone could imagine, with ambition so brash and cruelty and arrogance so flagrant that is almost impossible to comprehend. Their mercenary psychopath armies (Blackwater is not the only one) are a shame and danger to us all. And the kicker? WE are funding them. WE pay for their slash and rage rampage street party. Unf*cking believable.
I have heard rumors that some people in the active duty military are training at blackwater facilities. That is frightening.
Worse the Abu Ghraib???
Uh...Duh. Hundreds killed? Yeah I'd say that's worse.
And Oh BTW, there's something much, much worse than "Blackwater" .
It's called The Office of the Vice-President:
Yr. / Dead/ Wounded
2003 / 486 / 2408
2004 / 849 / 8003
2005 / 846 / 5948
2006 / 822 / 6398
2007 / 797 / 4996
Total 3800 / 27753
every day there's a new Pinochetist horror and every day the media props up Bush with "aw, look at him hold barney" style puff pieces
We have Bush to thank for the National Guard not being here where they are suppose to be to help with disasters like Katrina. Our National Guard units should be here instead of Iraq.
jr @ 69:
But, don't you remember several months ago when the right wingers were all up in a tizzy about what a great guy Pinochet was? Pinochet=Bush=Right Wing Hero
"It is a farce to pretend that a man fights for his country, his hearth, or his altars, when he has neither liberty nor property. -- His property is in his nervous arms -- and they are compelled to pull a strange rope at the surly command of a tyrannic boy, who probably obtained his rank on account of his family connections, or the prostituted vote of the father, whose interest in a borough, or voice as senator, was acceptable to the minister."
-- Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Man
Phyltress @ 64:
"Gestapo."
Thanks Phyltress. These "private security contractors" such as Blackwater, DynCorp and Triple Canopy, mercenaries that we the people are being tapped to fund, are exactly patterned after the Nazi Gestapo. They are the Neoconservative's Gestapo, in other words their personal body guards and the muscle of the Corporatocracy and, as in Germany, could be trained against Americans in a second, just as they were in Germany, as the leaders began to lose power. Bush has already set up the legal smokescreen for them in his secret legislation and signing statements. How very, very ugly.
WTF? @ 62:
Second that.
Wake up, folks, and smell the Fascism! Blackwater is just like the Nazi Death Squads - perhaps even worse. It's time this country save itself and it's democracy from the Bush Fascist machine. It's not too late right now but waiting 14 months will be. Hate to predict the gloom and doom which is forthcoming if we continue to remain complacent and sit back and observe the Third Reich Redux coming soon to a city near you!
This is a must read: When America Went Fascist!
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/10121
ashabot @ 67:
All while Social Security goes unprotected and underfunded, all while rich people reap the benefits of tax cuts whhile the rest of us struggle to make ends meet, al while the Pretzelnit threatens to veto child health legislation cause he believes we can't afford to protect children from disease, all while corporations reap huge profits from cheap money sowed from the destruction of our national currency, all while our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters provide paid protection so those corporations can rape an innocent country, all while our own rights are destroyed.
slippytoad @ 74:
Throw her in jail? Hell, the Geneva Conventions don't apply. Try her in Texas...home of the "electric auditorium".
beth @ 72:
Beautiful! Seems we haven't progressed as much as we pat ourselves on the back for...same stupidity, different truncheons...
The conservative "privatize it!" philosophy has been more thoroughly disproven than communism. It's been a disaster on every front.
War tsar Gen Douglas Lute is expressly tasked with coordinating Pentagon with DoS ,so why has the MSM not asked him Whats up with the Blackwater killings?
You see? There are terrorists in Iraq!
zenia @ 76:
Thank you zenia! Horrific must-read.
Private "security" corporations are built with public-taxpayer funds, but are strictly private, highly secretive and unaccountable. They're also highly partisan and contribute large amounts of $$ to Republicans only.
Read "Disaster Capitalism" by Naomi Klein in this month's Harper's Magazine.
The Smiths Go To Washington @ 48:
Fuck, that's all, just fuck.....
Maybe our military is fighting the wrong groups over there to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. Sounds like they should be targeting groups like Blackwater to help restore the peace.
We used to have quit a number more people on this board, it seems logical that the CIA are going to start taking us out one at a time rather then in Martial law, our elections are a farst, so it is high time we change our currency to the canadian dollar or something else. Money is the root of evil.
Bascombe @52,
"This will ultimately be messier than the War of 1860-64. It will certainly show that for some people this nation means nothing."
Agreed. We are already in a civil war. Not many have noted it yet because hasn't yet started and the battles have been fought by subversion and corruption. At this point, it is those who have most wrapped themselves in the American flag or in the religious self-rigtheousness that I most fear. It's a lot later than most folks think.
Phyltress @ 61:
Phyltress,
That speaks volumes. I consider Blackwater to be the exact equivalent of the SA brownshirts. History is repeating itself.
BaScOmBe @ 29:
an excellent quote from a wrinkled up old uselss twat!
Loonie @ 82:
yes loonie @but were trying to bring them home!
Get those Blackwater cowboys out of there....!!
If the U.S. military cannot protect our own people on their own, then it is time to leave Iraq.
we can all ask these questions as to why blackwater is allowed to do what the hell they want to do , and youll not find the answers from this government , they are being formed not to protect government officals they are being trained to controll us, if the repigs steal the next election as they probably will, youd better arm yourself for protection cause they wont have any compuntuion when it comes to killing you your wife your kids, these are bastards who have sold thier ass for money and power, the corporations own them the tax payers pay them , get ready to fight thoes ileagle mexicans for thoes jobs picking tommatoes!hasta lavista greengo
tyree @ 92:
Hiya, tyree. If you're like me, you probably never thought that this is what you were fighting for all those years ago. They've nullified everything that's been done on behalf of freedom, liberty and human rights since the founding of the country. I think you're right, people are going to have to be ready to defend themselves.
E in MD @ 59:
You forgot to add an ignorant, passive, indifferent, greed-driven American public that has watched this country slide into an immoral albatross the last 6.5 years! Every time I hear Bush talk about promoting democracy around the world, I wonder why Americans don't look in our own backyard and clean up this mess.
MooG @ 16:
Haven't you heard? The Posse Comitatus Act has been nullified by the Bush administration.
I like this part:
"...the State Department seems to be treating Blackwater contractors as the agency’s own private army."
The ARE Dick Cheney's private army!
Paul @ 93:
greetings paul no i never thought id see this day come , and i never though the american people could allowed this faschist shit to get this far, as far me the haliburton prison camps told me it was time to buy weapons and i have , the others may be led off by these blackwater thugs or by our own military , i dont intend to live on my knees giveing blowjobs to thugs just to live one day longer, they come for me im not the only one going to breath thier last breath!
pissed off patricia @ 49:
What do you mean "suppose we get a democratic president who becomes mentally deranged."?
You already GOT.
These guys are criminals of the highest order. Arrest them; charge them; put them on trial; convict them; and put them in an Iraqi prison. Send all the rest home.
We now have Blackwater, but we also have recent stories of "baiting" Iraqis, where the U.S. military leaves what look to be bomb-making materiel and other things terrorist can use in some conspicuous place....when an Iraqi picks the stuff up, they shoot the Iraqi because he might be a terrorist....simply for picking up the stuff.
Bush and his administration have so much blood on their hands.
If anyone followed the invasion from day one they would know
BLACKWATER TRAINED OUR TROOPS TO DO TORTURE IN Abu Ghraib’
and other jails through out the world. The soldiers in jail said they were trained and
the pictures show Blackwater contractors over seeing the treatment.
Connie is right to protect them because they were hired killers and if you paid attention
to the Pat Tillman hearing you would have heard how the jeep drove up with three men
who were sharp shooter then they shot their target and left quickly. No guns or names
were ever known interesting how the Military known the names of each soldier there but
those men in the jeep are unknown and will never be known.
Imagine ..... After fucking up so many countries, so many elected governments, killing all those innocent people for everything from cheap bananas (Guatamala-United Fruit-Dulles brothers-CIA) to cheap oil, backed by the citizens of the USA (because they only do good and they need the stuff anyway), it looks like it is coming back to bite you in your own ass. What are all those flag waving USA USA shouting patriots gonna do now, as the whole thing blows up in their face. My prediction .... absofuckinglutely nothing. Maybe just one thing ... ADJUST!
=============
Rush to War Says:
We used to have quit a number more people on this board, it seems logical that the CIA are going to start taking us out one at a time rather then in Martial law, our elections are a farst, so it is high time we change our currency to the canadian dollar or something else. Money is the root of evil.
To late. You should have done it a few months ago. Now the C$ is at par with the U$.
I actually find it rather disturbing how quick people on this website are to throw Blackwater(BW) employees under the bus when, I would guess, that less than 1 percent actually know anything about what they do and the service they provide to the State Department. Most people who work for BW are normal vets who are trying to earn a living and do that while protecting people in high threat locations. In a country like Iraq, when a car runs a check point they get shot at, regardless if it is the Army, Marines, or BW doing the shooting. The response is always the same, and it is usually your life on the line if you dont stop the vehicle. The employees of BW should be treated exactely like our soldiers do because they are in the same situation doing the same job, they just happen to get paid a bit more and have ALOT less protection from "the enemy."
I really enjoy this website and am glad that it has become so popular, however, most of the above comments make me sick and I realize that us Liberals are often as ignorant as those crazy conservetives. Do some reading on both sides of the fence.
lordkoos @ 95:
And the REAL U.S. Army, you know the one committed to defending the Constitution, is OUT OF THE COUNTRY, as is the National Guard.
So, if the troops are still there by next November, who defends the people against the Bush insurgency and its private army?
There were "civilian contractors" hired to be interrogators and translators at Abu Ghraib. They were instructing the soldiers how to treat prisoners.
Companies like CACI were left off the hook by the Fay report. Funny that there had to be changes made after the scandal at the jail broke. Contractors weren't allowed the free reign they previously had.
No I don't think Blackwater is worse. Just more of the same.
LiberalGrunt @ 101
What is inaccurate in these comments?
LiberalGrunt @ 102:
Christ on a crutch! Another one of those "I really enjoy the site but...". Have any links to support your concern?
LiberalGrunt @ 103:
The hiring of mercenaries is against the Geneva Convention and is considered a War Crime. Accepting a job as a mercenary is a War Crime.
War Crimes pay the bills.
People who kill and rob other people are doing it to make a living too.
The workers at Auschwitz had families to feed.
If someone smashes in you head with a brick and steals your money, they deserve your respect, because they are just trying to make a living, just like you.
LiberalGrunt @ 103:
take a laxitive a bromo and call your doctor if you remain constipated!
Gates's press secretary, Geoff Morrell, said Wednesday that the Pentagon chief began asking questions about the military's relationship with these contractors after 11 Iraqis were killed Sept. 16 in a shooting involving Blackwater contractors protecting a U.S. diplomatic convoy in Baghdad.
The Blackwater employees in that case were working for the State Department.
"He's asked some early questions, he's received some early answers,'' Morrell said. "Those answers, at least when it comes to the oversight component, have not been satisfactory.'' -- http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6950837,00.htm
Guess that explains Condi's concern over the matter. Will be interesting to see what colour Gate uses for the white-wash.
Blackwater ‘may be worse than Abu Ghraib’
Well it doesn't sound very potable.
Almost a billion dollars to lackingorder, are they going to throw a coup on the US government? This sounds like chimpy has all the toys, money and personnel our tax dollars can buy.
Strange how troops die as soon as they talk out against lackingorder.
And, like Gitmo, nothing will be done about it because we're living in a neo-Con, facist dictatorship and the Dems are in it right up to their squinty little eyeballs.
has anyone...ANYONE..in Congress spoken up about this?? R or D ??...anyone even give a shit anymore......Im more than willing to give BW the benefit of the doubt, but this needs to be SERIOUSLY INVESTIGATED !!
"Blackwater ‘may be worse than Abu Ghraib’"
What do you mean "worse than Abu Ghraib? It is more likely a continuation of the same abuses by the same people... Blackwater!
In 2003 and 2004 the FBI dispatched their "Behavioral Analysis Unit" (the one portrayed in the show "Criminal Minds") to Iraq and Gitmo. They were asked to report on abuses during interrogation and issue a report back to the Director.
The ACLU found out about it and filed a Freedom of Information Act law suit against the FBI and won in court and got access to the report. They posted the communiques between the Unit and their headquarters on their website and they are still available today.
Here are two of the actual field reports. Please note the reference to DOD and Military "civilian contractors" impersonating FBI agents:
7/12/04, 8/2/2004 12/15/2004 FBI [OGC] "I am responding to your request for feedback on aggressive treatment and improper interview techniques used on detainees at GTMO. I did observe treatment that was not only aggressive, but personally very upsetting, although I can't say that this treatment was perpetrated by Bureau employees. It seemed that these techniques were being employed by the military, government contract employees and [redacted]." Reply asked for more details. Response: "Here is a brief summary of what I observed at GTMO. On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand a foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food, or water. Most times they had urinated or defecated on themselves and had been left there for 18 24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold. . . . On another occasion, the A/C had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room probably well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his own hair out throughout the night. . . ."
12/05/2003 12/15/2004 FBI [CIRG/ BAU] "Of concern, DOD interrogators impersonating Supervisory Special Agents of the FBI told a detainee that [redacted]. These same interrogation teams then [redacted]. The detainee was also told by this interrogation team [redacted]. These tactics have produced no intelligence of a threat neutralization nature to date and CITF believes that techniques have destroyed any chance of prosecuting this detainee. If this detainee is ever released or his story made public in any way, DOD interrogators will not be held accountable because these torture techniques were done the "FBI" interrogators. The FBI will be left holding the bag before the public."
These reports were read into the congressional record by Senator Durbin on the floor of the Senate and he attributed them to "sounding like some third world dictatorship", for which the GOP went nuts and attacked him... wuss boy later apologized if you remember the incident.
Bush and Cheney brought Blackwater in to Iraq and all of their illegal operations because outside of the US they are not subject to US law and as that they are not US military, they are not held to the Uniform code of Military Justice.
Its time for Pelosi and Reed to confront this head on, even if they lose a vote in congress... it is a moral imperative!
Stopblackwater.net appears to be back up. At least it loaded when I cut/pasted the address.
Does anyone know what it looked like before? Has it been tampered with, or did the site change hosts?
(When changing hosts, it can take a while for the IP change to be recognized worldwide. That could cause some people to get a notice like #4 got, while others get to the actual site.)
thwap @ 8:
Since Congress hasn't done anything about Abu Ghraib, what are the chances of them doing anything about Blackwater? And if Congress can't do anything, what can the general public do? Write our congressman?
One word. Impeach.
Start with Condi.
Why arent Blackwater categorised as a terrorist group? Why are they morally superior to the likes of Hezbollah and Hamas? Heavily armed foreign militants that are part of no recognised army, accountable to nobody and no law, that infiltrate a war zone.. sound like a pretty perfect definition of likely terrorist. They are mercenaries with no specific allegiance to the US or any nation. Its entirely possible (even probable ) they can and will be hired by Bin Laden or Saudi terrorist groups to kill Americans within the borders of the US, whats to stop one of these militants from gunning down a school or mall and then using their connections with the US Govt to evade law enforcement and escape prosecution?
Dood @ 3:
They will answer to it eventually....history will have it's way with the depravity of this administration.
Are you kidding? Are you people really this sick? They made the Abu-raqi's get in a naked pyramid! OH THE HUMANITY!!!!!!!!! BUSH IS SUCH EVAL!!!!! WHAT PROFANE TORTURE!!!! Believe me, what they did, is fucking candy land compared to what I'd love to do to one of your beloved Al-Qweerda members.
Oh yes, we live in such a neo-con fascist society!
Did you people study history? I'd really love for any of you to visit Nazi Germany in it's heyday. Then you'd understand what real facism is. Comparing George Bush to Hitler is like comparing a ingrown toenail to a full blown malignant brain tumor.
The real suzy doozy is that it's people like YOU, who are more totalitarian, who are more fascist, and ever so much more like Adolf Hitler than slow old GW will ever be.
PS. Please censor my message, because you know you'd love to.
All you whiny liberals can do is compare Bush to Hitler and postulate how Blackwater is the Gestapo reborn. You complain about how your so-called representatives are not. Then you make noises about how you want them to begin proceedings against members of the administration (Ms. Rice, Mr. Rumsfeld, etc.). If they have not listened to you in the past when you asked them to not give the president the authority to sent troops to Iraq (you did, right?) and when you asked them to not reauthorize the PATRIOT Act (you did, right?), why would they start listening to you when you demand them to begin impeachment hearings and possible criminal proceedings against the President and his administration?
The founders of this country (who wrote the Constitution, remember your history?), decided to proscribe limits on the reach of the federal government for this very situation. The Bill of Rights was hotly debated because people thought that if certain rights were enumerated, there would come a time when the argument would be made that ONLY those rights enumerated were protected. Rather, the rights enumerated were framed in language limiting the ability of government to effect those rights.
As much as each of you bleeding-hearts hates to admit it, the Second Amendment is still in force in America. A recent study claimed that there are more guns per capita in the United States of America than anywhere else in the world. Further more, a majority of the people who own those guns _legally_ (very important!!!), are as concerned about the direction the Bush administration is heading as you all are. (If you are interested, do a search for abuses by the BATFE against Red's Trading Post in Idaho.) Should the time come that President Bush (or any future president) truly attempt to implement martial law, it will be those gun-owners who will have the ability to counter that attempt. If you are interested in doing more than whining on the internet, go exercise your Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms and then, just as importantly, learn to use your gun safely. If you choose not to, please support those of us who do. Because permitting the government to disarm law-abiding private citizens will not stop the government from arming law-abiding private corporations.
Who let the militia nuts in?
tyree @ 98:
tyree,
Likewise.
LiberalGrunt @ 103:
As a vet, I think the only place to play soldier is in uniform, in the military branch of your choice. There's no other way to assure standards of behavior or accountability for breeches of those standards. That people criticize BW for the mercanary army that it is is neither ignorant nor in any other way reprehensible. Far as I'm concerned, mercanaries are the enemy.
Oh man, this is far worse than I thought. First of all, BW does not conduct any offensive or direct action against any enemies of the US or anywhere else. BW provides diplomatic protection to the US Govt. and private industry, period. I don't know where you guys are getting these sensationalized stories from but they are plain wrong. I am not saying this as a supporter of BW or of the Bush administration (because I agree that Bush is the anti-christ) but the truth has to be put out here. There are alot of good people that work for BW that I know personally and they would walk away long before any of this crazy 1984 type stuff starts happening. BW is not going to become some gestapo in the US and begin rounding up dissedents. I have been to Iraq and am going back soon. I have seen BW operate and they do their job well, albeit a bit agressively. It would take about 5,000 more US troops in Iraq to fill the gaps of the contractors currently in-country.
So Saddam can be tried in Iraq but BW can't ? That's interesting.
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