For Blackwater, a year in uncomfortable spotlight

[Fleshdancer]

BOO f*cking HOO :eyes:

http://hamptonroads.com/2007/12/blackwater,-year-uncomfortable-spotlight

On Christmas Eve 2006, in an alcohol-fueled confrontation inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, a Blackwater security contractor shot and killed a personal bodyguard to Iraqi Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi.

A year later, he has not been charged with a crime.

That shooting foreshadowed what has been a bloody year for Blackwater, literally and figuratively. The Moyock, N.C.-based private military company has taken a public thrashing from Baghdad to Washington to California for the actions of its armed security men in Iraq.

As Blackwater heads into 2008, a number of investigations, inquiries and lawsuits are still swirling around the company. Several were sparked by a Sept. 16 shooting in a Baghdad traffic square in which Blackwater guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians. The FBI and a federal grand jury are still looking into the incident.

[Wapsie B]

1. The way the Dems do it is what makes things confusing.

Here's a short and sweet version:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_caucus

[EFerrari]

2. We might want to watch their other brand, too, Greystone.

Greystone, Ltd. is a division of Blackwater USA formed to market Blackwater's services to governments and other entitities outside the United States. Its website describes it as "...an international supplier of turn-key security solutions. Greystone focuses on providing stability to locations experiencing turmoil whether caused by armed conflict, epidemics, or natural or man-made disasters. Greystone has the ability to quickly and efficiently deploy anywhere in the world to create a more secure environment for our customers. We take pride in our agility, speed, and ability to execute – taking into account the surrounding culture."<1>

Greystone is a member of the International Peace Operations Association and the Private Security Company Association of Iraq.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Greystone%2C_Ltd.

[Fleshdancer]

3. holy hell

where have I been? This is news to me. Damn. :grr:

[EFerrari]

4. I was thinking a little while ago that if Erik Prince was smart

he's have another brand ready in case the BW brand got too tainted. Sure enough, he does!

[Perry Logan]

5. Blackwater was supposed to be the paramilitary force in the Republicans' botched takeover.

[EFerrari]

6. Erik Prince sent them into NOLA on spec, then got contracts later.

They were making something like $600 a day and he was charging back 3X that much.

Dry run.

[Didereaux]

7. They are still thriving and with Americas' attention being equal to a hogs...

They will continue to operate and profit. My concern is that not a few Democratic Congressmen might be getting entirely to comfortable with this thing...I can see them projecting into the future when they see themselves in power and needing such faschist tools.