Blackwater - Bush's Shadow Army

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

Run time: 04:25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqM4tKPDlR8   Posted on YouTube: March 15, 2007 By YouTube Member: videonation Views on YouTube: 1609885   Posted on DU: March 18, 2007 By DU Member: WillYourVoteBCounted Views on DU: 897

 
Blackwater USA is a private military contractor with its headquarters in North Carolina.

This Nation Video talks about the presence of this Mercinary Corporation in Iraq and
the privatization of the war.

These mercinaries operate with impunity wherever they go, including in New Orleans
post Katrina, and that should scare us all.

Blackwater USA was co-founded by former Navy Seal Erik Prince, a "billionaire right-wing fundamentalist Christian from a powerful Michigan Republican family. A major Republican campaign contributor, he interned in the White House of President George H.W. Bush and campaigned for Pat Buchanan in 1992.

Blackwater USA received no-bid contracts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and "post-Katrina New Orleans" from the current Bush administration.

[tnlefty]

1. Just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy doesn't it?

Jeremy Scahill has done a good job in trying to document the contractors. I've seen him on Democracy Now reporting on the contractors. :thumbsup:

[purduejake]

2. I know somebody who almost worked for Blackwater...

after he returned from military service in Iraq. He was talking about how that corporation uses weapons that are banned from use by our military because they aren't bound by the same rules of engagement, etc. I'm not sure if this is true, but the guy is pretty credible from what I've seen.

[madeline_con]

3. Blackwater mercenaries caused the Fallujah massacre.

The massacre of civilians and trhe use of napalm an unarmed civilians.

Back in the day, all knowledge of mercenaries was disavowed by the gubbermint. But when 5 were strung up on the bridge and torched in Falluja, the whole town had to pay. They probably "operated with impunity" as they passed through there numerous times, and the people got sick of it.


BTW, check out AFCEA, the org whose podium the guy's standing behind. They seem like a fun group. You can even take classes in modern warfare techniques.

http://www.afcea.org/

[goddess40]

4. This is what needs to be de-funded

and Erik Prince and Blackwater USA need to be throughly investigated by Congress.

[livvy]

5. His book is quite good.

I've got just a couple of more chapters to go. It was released in Feb. 2007.
"Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army"

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/1560259795.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_V46956170_.jpg
http://www.amazon.com/Blackwater-Rise-Worlds-Powerful-Mercenary/dp/1560259795/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-0916536-6967950?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174227726&sr=1-1
Prince is the brother-in-law of Dick DeVos, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in Michigan this past fall. Both the DeVos and Prince families are extreme right-wing, Christian fundamentalists, that have donated millions to right-wing agendas and candidates. They have very tight political ties to those squatting in our White House, and darkening the halls of the Pentagon and Capitol Building.

Not only do they employ US citizens, but foreign mercenaries as well, including some from Chile (Pinochet era soldiers), and other questionable recruits from other areas of the world, who are not known for their outstanding human rights records. Blackwater and a few other companies like them operating in Iraq, have probably contributed greatly to the unrest among the people. They are not known to have a "soft touch" with civilians, and operate above the law.

They are contracted through our government, paid with our tax dollars (at a much higher rate than our soldiers: $300-$1,000+/day), and protected from prosecution for war crimes. Bremer's Order 17 in Iraq immunized foreign contractors from prosecution. It was his last decree before he scooted out of the country.

They are subject to no oversight, financially or legally. In fact there is often such a pyramid of contracts, it's difficult to figure out who is responsible for jobs in question. Halliburton subcontracts to another private company, who subcontracts again to another, and so on. The only thing that can be determined is that the American taxpayer ultimately picks up the tab.

Recommend the book....it's worth the read!



(Zovko was one of the men killed in Falluja.)