Blackwater: The Wal-Mart of the Military Industrial Complex?
By bluegal Tuesday Aug 19, 2008 7:00pm
David Isenberg, UPI [h/t MF]
Say whatever you want about Blackwater Worldwide -- and hardly a day goes by when something isn't being said about it -- it does not put all its eggs in one basket. Long before the company's recent announcement that it would seek to de-emphasize its personal security work in the future, it had created a diversified corporate structure. To use military terminology, it is a combined arms operation.
While most attention is focused on Blackwater Security Consulting, the unit that provides contractors for work in Iraq and elsewhere, there is far more to it than that. Blackwater has long sought to be a one-stop shopping center, a sort of Wal-Mart for all the U.S. government's military outsourcing needs, and a review of its business units shows it has gone a long way toward meeting that goal.
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"The Wal-Mart of the Military Industrial Complex?"
chilling.
They also own both candidates for President
Beef Jerky @ 2:
Keep talking that way it makes the GOP happy.
someguy @ 3:
Yeah, who needs ethics anyways?
Seems McCain wants to reinstate the draft.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/20/154212/708/283/571281
Maybe drafting the sons and daughters of the congress people who voted for the war in Iraq first would be appropriate.
War-Mart.
What we need is for citizens across America to go to their city council meetings and boards of supervisors, and their county commissioners and their state governors and get petitions and support for a ballot measure to make it ILLEGAL to hire mercenary trained people as law enforcement officers.
That means Blackwater trained people could NOT be your cop on the beat.
This little monkey wrench just might be the tool that's needed to stall these monsters until we can make their WAR SCHOOLS illegal altogether.
WTF is America DOING training KILLERS within our borders? KILLERS who do not answer to the people of America?
KILLERS who answer to some knee jerk wingnut from Krystal Kathredral Klanworld?
Geeez................
John - really disappointed by the Democratic Party @ 5:
Or at least make them buy their way out of service, like the rich did in Medieval times.
I'm waiting for the day when both sides hire Blackwater to fight their wars for them. Bring popcorn, it'll be quite the show!
I think the Russians just captured and killed a few of these bastards over in Georgia...Bush probly sent Blackwater (a few years ago) over to stir up trouble but Russia kicked their ass pretty good. Russia will probly put out a press release soon after they try to identify some of the prisoners.
I remember a story about Russia capturing a "black mercenary" in Ossetia...here it is cut-n-paste if the link aint workin'
http://kommersant.com/p-13081/mercenaries_Georgia_U.S._instructor
our tax dollars at work...at this point in history paying a federal income tax (and thereby funding an international war crimes machine) is a crime against humanity. ...are you guilty of funding the machine?
OT, but just clicked on TV here at my motel (I don't pay for this cable shit at home) and CNN has a fluff piece on Mc Shit-for-Brains and his POW time...
God, for those of you who PAY for this shit--you make too much f*cking money! Take up another hobby, like drinking or Russian Roulette...
blackwater is NOT the walmart of the military complex.
it costs more than hiring an army thru donald trump,
which is to say they cost 5 times or more than
a solidier of our army per day.
Beef Jerky @ 8:
Beef Jerky @ 8:
The rich during the Middle Ages were usually warrior barons and really did love to fight. If there wasn't a war going on, a pleasant little raid could always be arranged. And if then, there were the tournaments. A melee was just a good as a battle (with a few deaths.)
Peasants and serfs didn't have a choice. If the lord wanted you to fight, you fought (and died rather quickly). Most lords didn't want this due to the fact that the serfs who survived had an idea of how to fight and that wasn't good for the status quo.
Now, in the American Civil War, when the Union started drafting, several rich young men paid poorer young men to go and fight in their stead. I don't think that was done much in the South due to the fact the rich elite, like their Middle Ages counterpart, really loved a fight. By the time the South got to drafting old men and boys, there were very few rich fighting age men left.
Beef Jerky @ 8:
The rich in the Middle Ages were warrior barons and really loved to fight. If there was no war, they would make one. If they couldn't start one, they had tournaments. Melees were almost as much "fun" as a war. They didn't have to be forced to fight. Monarchs usually had a hard time stopping them from fighting (that is if the monarch was in the pitch of the battle, swinging a broadsword).
In the American Civil war, when the union started drafting, several rich young men paid poorer young to fight in their stead.
(I wrote this early and I don't think it got sent. If it did, I am sorry.)
Lyon @ 9:
that would be a monopoly with double the profits for the shareholders...let me guess, ...you own stock? (snark)
My God, this is frightening. A band of hired goons with immunity. This is truly a awful idea. An American Company to offer these services is astounding. there goes our reputation down the drain. More so.
dadams @ 12:
Blackwater...the "Gucci" of the military industrial complex?
Check this out Bluegal!
McCain on the draft:
Woman in the crowd: "And these are the people we tied yellow ribbons for, and Bush patted on the back. If we don't reenact the draft, I don't think we'll have anyone to chase bin Laden to the gates of Hell."
McCain: "Ma'am, let me say that I don't disagree with anything you said. Thank you, and I am grateful for your support of all of our veterans."
Yellowbird @ 7:
And then figure in that a lot of the mercenaries got the bulk of their training from the US Armed Services....Your dime and mine, even if the government drops the contracts with the contractors....Beautiful, no?
the REAL concern is blackwater being used on the homefront. The amount of blackwater personnel in Southern California alone is frightening. Once martial law is declared these guys will be called upon to "enforce" it
Well, McCain's gaffe on the draft may as well sealed his fate. Obama's camp better jump on this. There are many mothers and fathers who will not vote for a man who will but their children in danger. His 100 year statement, the saber rattling witth Russia and Iran will make Americans nervous.
Blackwater: the world's leading private army. What corporations rely on when you can't trust the government to do your bidding.
Barbara @ 14:
I guess I was thinking more of the Elizabethan Renaissance. "The favorite way for a captain to make money, one notorious enough to receive special mention in an act of Parliament passed in 1557, was to enroll well-to-do men, known to be reluctant to serve, and then allow them to buy themselves out at the highest price they could be induced to pay” J. Dover Wilson, The Fortunes of Falstaff (Cambridge: CUP, 1944)
john @ 20:
Amen...all the "non-american" blackwater employees will be "deployed" in America...
john @ 20:
They've already been used domestically. They were some of the first responders to New Orleans while Katrina was still going on. There's potential for them to do a lot of good but then there's even more potential for them to do harm. There seriously needs to be more congressional oversight. I'm not saying I trust this congress but at least if there were some kind of pressure on them to disclose more about their operations there'd be some kind of paper trail and maybe some way to catch them if they screw up.
BennyP @ 6:
You said it! The whole corporate image is straight out of a James Bond, Batman or Star Wars movie, including its leader Erik the Prince of darkness and the scary logo.
All the little minds have been brainwashed to worry their two brain cells about 'Islamic terrorists', but here is the group that will be taking over the world.
How about an Obama presidency and Democrat Sec. Def. putting Blackwater out of federal contracting altogether? Say Bye-bye to those contracts, bee-otches!
It is my fervent wish and prayer that Obama starves little Eric Prince's baby until it will fit in my bathtub, I will proudly give it the Norquist maneuver.
John - really disappointed by the Democratic Party @ 5:
GREAT IDEA!! In fact wouldn't it be beautiful if it were international law that the sons and daughts of a nation's leaders would have to be the very first on the battle field!?!
ciu @ 29:
I can see it now!!!.....Chelsea and the Bush twins followed by Obamas girls ...leading the charge into Iran
What a wonderful way to make money: cause (or exploit) catastrophes.
I do believe that companies such as Blackwater pose the greatest threat to our national security, far more than any Islamic extremist terrorists. Its a right wing, neo-fascist group of well armed thugs with years of brutality in Iraq under their belts.
This evil will be unleashed in this country someday soon
TC-14 @ 27:
The military industrial complex is well connected, and nefarious. It will be hard to eliminate these, and the more our military gets broken by the neocons, the more powerful this menace called Blackwater will grow.
Wars R Us.
Milquetoast @ 15:
........I'm guessing if you looked into the holdings of The Evil One (Cheney) and Daddy Bush's Carlyle Group you'd find a couple of certificates from some of those offshor subsidiaries.
odanny @ 31:
Right. I also find it rather troubling when I see local police forces these days. THey are all trained like SWAT teams now and rdress in black garb from head to toe, with weapons hanging around their necks and from their belts, and helmets with face shields like Darth Vader.
Now, there may be a need for some of this type of force in a big city with a high crime rate, but I live in a suburb, and there are a lot of small towns nearby. The police blotters in the local papers include such violent crimes as retail theft, stolen bikes, and DUIs. But, all of the police forces have at least some cops like that, who are obviously trained by the Blackwater types, ready to do war on Main Street.
odanny @ 32:
Barack's a CFR member so... no dice.
I don't pretend to know how the military contractual system works, but how about a tailor-made new policy, something like "Bids submitted by contractors involved in criminal investigations....in foreign countries...must be evaluated and approved by a special review board..." (Translate that into attorney-speak for an actual version.) I believe Blackwater is under investigation for that massacre in Iraq some time back when they blasted, what, 16 people, something like that. Use such a board (or equivalent entitity or regulation) to block future Blackwater bids.
I recall a regulation successfully implemented by a congresscritter some years back that limited its financial assistance to "American manufactured MRI imaging equipment of X power output...blah blah blah." The ONLY producer of hospital MRIs that produced such specific machines at the time was GE, who coincidentally had been a generous contributor to the congresscritter. How about blocking Blackwater through such as bidding bottleneck designed specifically to apply to Blackwater without specifically mentioning them by name, while the few others who might incidentally fall into the same category can simply manage to get through the "review board's" good blessings while Blackwater somehow does not. What's to stop an Obama Administration from being able to implement such a strategy?
You've got to watch Jericho -- there are sinister stand-ins for Blackwater and Halliburton (Ravenwood and Jennings & Rall) that take over the US after a nuclear strike. The 2nd season is pretty amazing.
well since i have been banned from huff post for speaking out
corp fascism is alive and well in america
while americans shop till they drop our industrial military complex does it thing
it is amazing to me that even the liberal blogs ban you for speaking out against capitalist america
the end is near too many years of imperialism
capitalism leads to imperialism t hen wars for profits then loss of freedoms then bankrupt then fascism
this country is so immoral we killed one million vietnamese and never batted an eye in that other illegal war
we actually call our soldiers war heros for the illegal invasions of countries like nam and iraq
patroitism and nationalism can overwhelm the rational minds of its citizens
Ah, Blackwater... the American version of the Waffen SS. And the fact that it was started by a Navy Seal who actually believes he's a Christian is just the icing on the cake.
Onward Christian soldiers... straight to hell!
Milquetoast @ 24:
Yes...and they will have no second thoughts about gunning down Americans.
The new league of Blackwater enablers.......PUMA!
Ancient Rome had it's Praetorian Guard, today's neo-cons have Erik Prince and Blackwater. Anyone who thinks Hitler's Brownshirts and Mussolini's Black Shirts can't exist today is sorely mistaken.
With 95% of our active-duty military and National Guard tied up overseas fighting the neo-con's endless wars, how easy it would be for Blackwater and it's spider-web of subsidiaries to execute a coup d'etat here. Who would be left to defend the US public against it?
No one, no group, no company or corporation should have the right to form a private army within this country. Security my ass, they want power and if we don't wake up soon, this country will be no more.
If Blackwater is truly the "Walmart" of the military, then they should hire Chinese soldiers. They would be the perfect employees for the company: well trained, disciplined and not the least bit concerned for the Geneva convention or human rights. Blackwater and the Chinese military are truly made for each other.
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