- whatever "accountable" means in this context - and with powers of arrest. See Truth Out blog and comments section on Interdictor blog.
Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans
By Jeremy Scahill and Daniela Crespo
t r u t h o u t | Report Saturday 10 September 2005http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/091005A.shtml
Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers in the world and they are accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences. Their presence on the streets of New Orleans should be a cause for serious concern for the remaining residents of the city and raises alarming questions about why the government would allow men trained to kill with impunity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here. Some of the men now patrolling the streets of New Orleans returned from Iraq as recently as 2 weeks ago.
<snip>
That raises a key question: under what authority are Blackwater's men operating? A spokesperson for the Homeland Security Department, Russ Knocke, told the Washington Post he knows of no federal plans to hire Blackwater or other private security. "We believe we've got the right mix of personnel in law enforcement for the federal government to meet the demands of public safety." he said.
But in an hour-long conversation with several Blackwater mercenaries, we heard a different story. The men we spoke with said they are indeed on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and the Louisiana governor's office and that some of them are sleeping in camps organized by Homeland Security in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. One of them wore a gold Louisiana state law enforcement badge and said he had been "deputized" by the governor. They told us they not only had authority to make arrests but also to use lethal force. We encountered the Blackwater forces as we walked through the streets of the largely deserted French Quarter. We were talking with 2 New York Police officers when an unmarked car without license plates sped up next to us and stopped. Inside were 3 men, dressed in khaki uniforms, flak jackets and wielding automatic weapons. "Y'all know where the Blackwater guys are?" they asked. One of the police officers responded, "There are a bunch of them around here," and pointed down the road.
<snip>
"When they told me New Orleans, I said, 'What country is that in?,'" said one of the Blackwater men. He was wearing his company ID around his neck in a carrying case with the phrase "Operation Iraqi Freedom" printed on it. After bragging about how he drives around Iraq in a "State Department issued level 5, explosion proof BMW," he said he was "just trying to get back to Kirkuk (in the north of Iraq) where the real action is." Later we overheard him on his cell phone complaining that Blackwater was only paying $350 a day plus per diem. That is much less than the men make serving in more dangerous conditions in Iraq. Two men we spoke with said they plan on returning to Iraq in October. But, as one mercenary said, they've been told they could be in New Orleans for up to 6 months. "This is a trend," he told us. "You're going to see a lot more guys like us in these situations."
If Blackwater's reputation and record in Iraq are any indication of the kind of "services" the company offers, the people of New Orleans have much to fear.
From the Interdictor blog entry for 10 Sept 2005 19:29
http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/
Anyway, when I tell you that these guys are armed, I mean they're carrying stuff that I didn't even know the US had in its arsenal as far as small arms go. <Elsewhere, Interdictor has said that he had spent six years in the US special forces.> And full body armor too. The two Marshalls reported that the high end physical security guys were making $500+ per day while he and his buddies were making about $300 per day.
Some commentators on the Interdictor blog think that the security is there to protect the contents of the bank vaults. One who says her husband is a corporate banker and she worked in retail branch banking for 17 years says, "Many people wealthy people in the south tend to purchase South African Rand which is priced by the year that it was issued. The 1962 to 1965 paper un-circulated is valued at about $25.00 to our one dollar. Nothing prevents this money was being put back into circulation by spending it......its all non traceable! ...
The safe deposit boxes have more cash value then the branch cash vault! Usually a main branch vault has a cash drawer of a minimum of $750,000 to $2,000,000 in paper and coin. ... If someone or some group were to hit the banks in NOLA, the money loss would devastate the economy in that area and elsewhere. FDIC would freak out! Just imagine using the money on the black market for weapons to use against the USA!"
So I think that we will go on being told that there are terrorists in NO until all the bank safe deposit boxes have been evacuated to safety. :-(
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