zed

I’m so mad I could spit

Oh, Big Mitch you are back in form.

BigMitch @ 3

Oh, Big Mitch you are back in form.

Even a blind squirrel. . .

YES this is the best news I have heard in a long while

YEEEEHAAWWW

Imagine Iraq having something to say about its own destiny. I’ll believe BW is leaving when I see it. Really don’t want them working in the “Homeland” however.

I’m so glad you are posting on this. This was just put up a bit ago at Crooks and Liars (includes a vid, dial-uppers) about Blackwater’s murderous actions earlier in the occupation.

War crimes. This country has a lot of ’splaining and correcting to do. Out loud.

Larry Johnson had this to say:

snip

First problem. Blackwater does not have a license to operate in Iraq and does not need one. They have a U.S. State Department contract through Diplomatic Security. Instead of using Diplomatic Security officers or hiring new Security officers or relying on U.S. military personnel, the Bush Administration has contracted with firms like Blackwater, Triple Canopy, and others for people capable of conducting personnel security details. State Department is not about to curtail the contract with Blackwater, who is tightly wired into Washington. Plus, State Department simply does not have the bodies available to carry out the security mission.

Second problem. The Iraqi government has zero power to enforce a decision to oust a firm like Blackwater. For starters, Blackwater has a bigger air force and more armored vehicles then the Iraqi Army and police put together. As Spencer Ackerman reported, Blackwater’s little bird helicopter (an aircraft normally used by U.S. special operations forces) that was firing mini guns at Iraqi targets on the ground this past weekend.

snip

Anyone going to tell me just who is going to enforce this?

Icky US Atty story http://www.clickondetroit.com/…..etail.html

Just in on CNN, Condi’s on the phone with the Iraqi government, no doubt pleading Blackwater’s case…

Eureka Springs @ 8

Larry Johnson had this to say:

snip

First problem. Blackwater does not have a license to operate in Iraq and does not need one. They have a U.S. State Department contract through Diplomatic Security. Instead of using Diplomatic Security officers or hiring new Security officers or relying on U.S. military personnel, the Bush Administration has contracted with firms like Blackwater, Triple Canopy, and others for people capable of conducting personnel security details. State Department is not about to curtail the contract with Blackwater, who is tightly wired into Washington. Plus, State Department simply does not have the bodies available to carry out the security mission.

Second problem. The Iraqi government has zero power to enforce a decision to oust a firm like Blackwater. For starters, Blackwater has a bigger air force and more armored vehicles then the Iraqi Army and police put together. As Spencer Ackerman reported, Blackwater’s little bird helicopter (an aircraft normally used by U.S. special operations forces) that was firing mini guns at Iraqi targets on the ground this past weekend.

snip

That’s what I’m talkin bout.

EPU’ed at end of last thread.

Maybe Blackwater can apply:No Experience Needed

Need a Job?

>‘Help Wanted’ Ad Belies Report on Iraq Security
By Walter Pincus
Monday, September 17, 2007; Page A17

A week ago today, Gen. David H. Petraeus started his rounds on Capitol Hill, reporting that security in Iraq was improving to the point that a small number of troops could begin coming home by year’s end.

But 10 days ago, his commanders in Baghdad began advertising for private contractors to work in combat-supply warehouses on U.S. bases throughout Iraq because half the soldiers who had been working in the warehouses were needed for patrols, combat and protection of U.S. forces.

“With the increased insurgent activity, unit supply personnel must continue to pull force protection along with convoy escort and patrol duties,” according to a statement of work that accompanied the Sept. 7 request for bidders from Multi-National Force-Iraq.

All of the small logistics bases, called Supply Support Activities, or SSAs, are “currently using about 50% of their assigned (currently less than 100% strength) military personnel for other required duties (force protection, patrols, escort duties, etc. along with performing 24 hour combat operations),” the statement says.

The contract proposal covers 10 of the logistics bases and another warehouse with chemical protective items. Although the initial request is for 101 individuals qualified in warehouse operations, “additional manning may be required and the contractor should anticipate possible increases,” according to the proposal. Some locations may end up being “completely manned by contract personnel,” the statement says.

The Supply Support Activities support day-to-day combat operations by providing parts and ensuring that stocks are received and distributed “in a timely manner.” In addition, the statement notes that “tanks, aircraft, wheeled vehicles and other equipment” are getting increased use and require more repair parts than are typically available in the warehouses. The increased contract personnel will allow the parts to get back to a central depot and returned to troops more quickly. The proposal, which is for six months and has a six-month extension option, calls for some personnel to be familiar and experienced with “hazardous/radioactive material handling.” At the same time, it states, “Contractor personnel are not required to have a security clearance to perform duties in the SSA.” A comment on the Web site version of the proposal adds, “Ensure this is correct.”

…

from larry johnson:

Blackwater does not have a license to operate in Iraq and does not need one. They have a U.S. State Department contract through Diplomatic Security.

more at the link

Arca @ 11

Just in on CNN, Condi’s on the phone with the Iraqi government, no doubt pleading Blackwater’s case…

Proly called collect.

See Larry Johnson’s post on this – he says BW doesn’t need a license . . .
http://noquarterusa.net/blog/

(I don’t know how to link – probably did it wrong. )-: )

ah… ES beat me too it!

I am pleased to see more are questioning the absence of a “spine” in my party. My party should be screaming it’s head off about what the Bush mob is doing. But of course they’re not. Why is that?

raven @ 15

Arca @ 11

Just in on CNN, Condi’s on the phone with the Iraqi government, no doubt pleading Blackwater’s case…

Proly called collect.

The oil revenue will pay for the call.

They’re a threat to national security.
Ominous

Oops – while trying to link, everyone beat me to it! Gotta be really fast around here!

Larry Johnson over at tpm doesn’t think much will happen

ot another ready why Diaper Dave got a pass and Larry Craig did not

Carolyn Lochhead: Craig’s List Undone
Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s bathroom travails may tank a farm worker immigration bill desperately sought by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Craig was the original sponsor and Feinstein’s GOP partner on the Ag Jobs bill that would grant legal status to 1.5 million farmworkers. With immigration now a four-letter word in the GOP, along with “closeted gay Republican” and “men’s stalls,” no Republicans are lining up to fill the shoes that have become a subject of late-night TV comedy.

Feinstein’s spokesman said she is “looking at options” and still hopes to move the bill this year.

California businesses are aghast at the administration’s new threat to crack down on false Social Security numbers used by the millions of illegal immigrants they employ. They had been awaiting with dread Sept. 14, the date set for the first issuance of “no-match” letters telling them an employee’s Social Security number does not match government records — but received a reprieve when unions and the ACLU won a temporary restraining order last Friday from a federal judge in San Francisco. A hearing is set for Oct. 1

Oklahoma kiddo @ 17

I am pleased to see more are questioning the absence of a “spine” in my party. My party should be screaming it’s head off about what the Bush mob is doing. But of course they’re not. Why is that?

I’m glad it’s your party. If people like Noriega can parade as progressives and take money from this scumbag it ain’t my fucking party.

How does Maliki, our troops, or anyone for that matter, establish domestic tranquility in Iraq with countless rogue unaccountable paid militia shooting everyone?

Wow, Amway’s DeVos is part of Blackwater, that is interesting, a big leap from laundry soap…!!!

Considering that the Blackwater team in question works for the State Department and not the Iraqi interior ministry it is highly doubtful that they will face more than a token investigation from that very same state department. It won’t matter if this mollifies the Iraqi government or not; all we have to do is put a tiny bit of pressure on our muppet Maliki and he’ll make it go away. Blackwater’s not going anywhere, most of all because there are barely enough people to handle diplomatic security as it is. This is yet another consequence of having failed to internationalize this thing.

Tweety says the ACLU is supporting Craig.

This is not good news.

I’ve heard tales of Blackwater terrorism in NOLA.

Do we want this trained terrorist network coming into our country, potentially armed with Iraqi patsies all framed up to take the fall for, say, a dirty bomb attack on a great American city?

Call me a conspiracy theorist if you will — but are you a Co-Incidence Theorist?

http://www.prismwebcastnews.com/pwn/?p=969

Well, I think it’s very interesting Iraq revoked Blackwater’s “licence”. I’ll be even more interested to see if Blackwater stays or goes.

CTuttle @ 25

Wow, Amway’s DeVos is part of Blackwater, that is interesting, a big leap from laundry soap…!!!

surely lots of money’s been laundered

Black water?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqZ95a249p0

Twain @ 6

Imagine Iraq having something to say about its own destiny. I’ll believe BW is leaving when I see it. Really don’t want them working in the “Homeland” however.

Jeebus, no. Can we toss ‘em overboard somewhere between here and there?

Yeeeeechhhh. What an ugly company.

I think too much ink (or electrons) is being spilled on this. It will amount to nothing, as Larry Johnson seems to think. Maliki will be called on the carpet by his American handlers, and some face-saving alternative will be announced in a day or two.

But, as Johnson points out, what are the Iraqis going to do about Blackwater anyway? The only force large enough to take them on is the US military.

The nightmare scenario from this is that Blackwater ignores the Maliki government and becomes even more lawless. Meanwhile the attacks will increase against these mercenaries, and we could see a huge spike in non-military deaths. But will we even know? Nobody reports on the “contractor” casualties.

Elliott @ 30

CTuttle @ 25

Wow, Amway’s DeVos is part of Blackwater, that is interesting, a big leap from laundry soap…!!!

surely lots of money’s been laundered

I thought you meant Devo! Are we not men!

raven @ 23

Oklahoma kiddo @ 17

I am pleased to see more are questioning the absence of a “spine” in my party. My party should be screaming it’s head off about what the Bush mob is doing. But of course they’re not. Why is that?

I’m glad it’s your party. If people like Noriega can parade as progressives and take money from this scumbag it ain’t my fucking party.

Lets just say I belong to the Democratic Party. ;0)

peanutbutter @ 32

Twain @ 6

Imagine Iraq having something to say about its own destiny. I’ll believe BW is leaving when I see it. Really don’t want them working in the “Homeland” however.

Jeebus, no. Can we toss ‘em overboard somewhere between here and there?

Yeeeeechhhh. What an ugly company.

OK, PB, get right on that!

Oklahoma kiddo @ 35

raven @ 23

I’m glad it’s your party. If people like Noriega can parade as progressives and take money from this scumbag it ain’t my fucking party.

Lets just say I belong to the Democratic Party. ;0)

Just ventin over here.

The Iraqi government has zero power to enforce a decision to oust a firm like Blackwater. For starters, Blackwater has a bigger air force and more armored vehicles then the Iraqi Army and police put together.

This is just so wrong on so many levels.

Puppethead — i’ve been wondering about contractor casualties for a long time. Do you have any idea how many there have been? Why is this being kept secret? (The last question was rhetorical.)

Oklahoma kiddo @ 35

raven @ 23

I’m glad it’s your party. If people like Noriega can parade as progressives and take money from this scumbag it ain’t my fucking party.

Lets just say I belong to the Democratic Party. ;0)

the Constitutional Core of the Democratic Party

Donate a couple million to Bush, get a half billion dollars in defense contracts after he’s elected. Blackwater. O’ black water, keep on rollin’.

Elliott @ 40

Oklahoma kiddo @ 35

Lets just say I belong to the Democratic Party. ;0)

the Constitutional Core of the Democratic Party

Indeed :-P

The progressive element of the DP. (What, you’re surprised? Well there IS one :-P )

BigMitch @ 39

Puppethead — i’ve been wondering about contractor casualties for a long time. Do you have any idea how many there have been? Why is this being kept secret? (The last question was rhetorical.)

Do you mean contractor casualties or casualties caused by contractors?

Eureka Springs @ 8

Larry Johnson had this to say:

Second problem. The Iraqi government has zero power to enforce a decision to oust a firm like Blackwater. For starters, Blackwater has a bigger air force and more armored vehicles then the Iraqi Army and police put together. As Spencer Ackerman reported, Blackwater’s little bird helicopter (an aircraft normally used by U.S. special operations forces) that was firing mini guns at Iraqi targets on the ground this past weekend.

snip

Blackwater can ask of al-Maliki what Stalin asked of the Pope:
“How many divisions does he have?”

BigMitch @ 39

Puppethead — i’ve been wondering about contractor casualties for a long time. Do you have any idea how many there have been? Why is this being kept secret? (The last question was rhetorical.)

Good question on the amount of Merc. casualties, one of the four that were dragged and hung was a Big Isle native!!!

BigMitch @ 40

Puppethead — i’ve been wondering about contractor casualties for a long time. Do you have any idea how many there have been? Why is this being kept secret? (The last question was rhetorical.)

The only reports I’ve seen are from at least a year ago, where about 650 had been estimated to have been killed. I’m sure it’s kept secret because dead contractors are bad for business, wouldn’t want to crimp the ability to hire naive or desperate truck drivers to ship to Iraq.

Laura Doty @ 43

BigMitch @ 39

Puppethead — i’ve been wondering about contractor casualties for a long time. Do you have any idea how many there have been? Why is this being kept secret? (The last question was rhetorical.)

Do you mean contractor casualties or casualties caused by contractors?

So total US casualties are more like 4,000. 3,000 troops 1000 contractors. Of course, some of the contractor deaths were doubtless foreign nationals.

Laura Doty @ 43

BigMitch @ 39

Puppethead — i’ve been wondering about contractor casualties for a long time. Do you have any idea how many there have been? Why is this being kept secret? (The last question was rhetorical.)

Do you mean contractor casualties or casualties caused by contractors?

If you check the link, you’ll see it’s not a secret. Just more ignored data.

According to the incident report, the skirmish occurred at 12:08 p.m. on Sunday when, “the motorcade was engaged with small arms fire from several locations” as it moved through a neighborhood of west Baghdad. “The team returned fire to several identified targets” before leaving the area. One vehicle engine was hit and disabled by bullets and had to be towed away. A separate convoy arriving to help was “blocked/surrounded by several Iraqi police and Iraqi national guard vehicles and armed personnel,” the report says

If they killed 8 of us and wounded 20 it goddamn sure wouldn’t be not skirmish.

BigMitch @ 47

Laura Doty @ 43

Do you mean contractor casualties or casualties caused by contractors?

So total US casualties are more like 4,000. 3,000 troops 1000 contractors. Of course, some of the contractor deaths were doubtless foreign nationals.

link tells you nationality.

ok, I mentioned this a few chapters downstairs and it is very VERY important;

I can see only ONE reason the bush adminsitration is allowing this to happen

blackwater can become the official Iraqi amed forces

this will legitimize the force and it will allow them to plunder more of the middle east’s resources

if this is the case and I am right, this was a stroke of genious

disconnect: I’m humming the Doobie Bros. “Black Water” again. it’s a cheerful, carefree little ditty, about as far removed from this BW as can be.

“The contractors are often accused of opening fire randomly and speeding through the crowded streets of Baghdad to avoid insurgent attack.

Lawyer Hassan Jabar Salman was hit by five bullets while trying to flee the scene in his car on Sunday, he told AFP in Baghdad’s Al-Yarmukh Hospital where he was being treated.

Salman said he heard an explosion near Al-Nissur Square and saw the convoy two cars ahead of him.

“The foreigners in the convoy started shouting and signalling us to go back. I turned around and must have driven 100 feet (30 metres) when they started shooting.

“There were eight of them in four utility vehicles and all shooting with heavy machine guns,” he said as he lay wrapped in bloodied bandages on the hospital bed.

“My car was hit with 12 bullets, of which four hit me in the back and one in the arm.”

Salman said he continued to drive fast and approached an Iraqi army checkpoint which also opened fire on him for fear that he was a suicide bomber.

“I hit a nearby truck full of gas cylinders and that is when the soldiers came to me. They smashed the window of my car and realised I was already bleeding. They took me to the hospital,” he said.

Salman said he had seen a woman and a traffic policeman killed and dozens of people hitting the ground to avoid the barrage of bullets.”

http://afp.google.com/article/…..28oCsEEfVw

perris @ 51

ok, I mentioned this a few chapters downstairs and it is very VERY important;

I can see only ONE reason the bush adminsitration is allowing this to happen

blackwater can become the official Iraqi amed forces

this will legitimize the force and it will allow them to plunder more of the middle east’s resources

if this is the case and I am right, this was a stroke of genious

Has the White House responded to this Iraqi action?

The Iraqi government is an illusion created by the U.S. Congress.

Blackwater need not worry.

Any Carlyle Group connections to Blackwater?

CTuttle @ 45

BigMitch @ 39

Puppethead — i’ve been wondering about contractor casualties for a long time. Do you have any idea how many there have been? Why is this being kept secret? (The last question was rhetorical.)

Good question on the amount of Merc. casualties, one of the four that were dragged and hung was a Big Isle native!!!

WTF? Small Arms fire??? Incredible!

punaise @ 52

disconnect: I’m humming the Doobie Bros. “Black Water” again. it’s a cheerful, carefree little ditty, about as far removed from this BW as can be.

you mean, pretty mama Condi ain’t gonna make everything all right?

There’s a lot of senseless killing going on over there. Home invasions, rapes and torture. Blackwater is part of the problem. Do some of the troops attempt to mimick Blackwater’s bad behavior? Are some troops envious of BW’s pay and civilian freedom? You betcha!

Cheney’s rather transparent remarks as CEO of Halliburton in autumn 1999 suggest what lies behind the cynical exploitation of genuine patriotism to recruit throwaway soldiers to trade for the chimera of control over the oil in Iraq:

“Oil companies are expected to keep developing enough oil to offset oil depletion and also to meet new demand…So where is the oil going to come from? Governments and the national oil companies are obviously in control of 90 percent of the assets. Oil remains fundamentally a government business. The Middle East with two-thirds of the world’s oil and the lowest cost is still where the prize ultimately lies.”

Not only Cheney, but also many of the captains of the oil industry were looking on Iraq with covetous eyes before the war. Most people forget that the Bush/Cheney administration came in on the heels of severe shortages of oil and natural gas in the U.S., and the passing of a milestone at which the United States had just begun importing more than half of the oil it consumes. One oil executive confided to a New York Times reporter a month before the war: “For any oil company, being in Iraq is like being a kid in F.A.O. Schwarz.”

[snip]

Why Are Americans Silent?

Could it be that most of us Americans remain “good Germans” because we are unwilling to recognize the moral implications of starting what is likely to be the first of the resource wars of the 21st century?; because we continue to be comfortable hogging far more than our share of the world’s natural resources?; and because we prefer to look the other way when our leaders tell us that aggressive war is necessary to protect that siren-call, “our way of life,” from attack by those who are just plain “jealous?” – Ray McGovern

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/26845

The future of both this nation’s conduct in the affairs of Iraq and the long-term future of Iraq itself is being decided right now, today, behind closed doors in the Senate, by Harry Reid and his leadership team and caucus, and in the House, by Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team (and maybe her caucus).

The FY 2008 Defense Authorization Bill is now on the floor of the Senate, available for amendment, under the management of Armed Services Committee Chair Carl Levin. Has a deal already been struck that enabled the bill to reach the floor for debate without a filibuster by the Republicans? We aren’t privy to the unfolding commitments being made for our nation for possibly decades to come that are effectively being made right now, out of public view.

Commitments to a new, permanent American colony of Iraq (whatever pretty label they put on it) which will be virtually irreversible without superhuman effort by the people of Iraq to somehow end-run the corrupt Iraqi figurehead elements in the American Green Zone who are cooperating with the American occupiers (and the U.N.) to slowly but surely sell off Iraq to the most-connected (American) bidder.

The carpetbaggers had a little bit of help from their quisling friends in their illegitimate and illegal carve up. Dr Adel Abdul Mehdi, Iraq’s “Vice President”, said: “Iraq’s new investment law will facilitate investment for both Iraqi and non-Iraqi businesses by providing a secure investment environment.” Referring to Iraq’s resources, he said the conference presented opportunities across a wide range of industries: oil, gas, agriculture, infrastructure.

Indeed. Up for grabs are: hospital and security equipment, medicines, road and rail machinery, oil production tools, finance and telecommunication systems. Rebuilding of roads, rail, hospitals, government buildings, schools, water purification plants and electricity, information technology, telecommunications, all to move from state owned to the “free market economy”.

If Iraqis are down to near no electricity now, due to the liberators’ inability to provide what Saddam Hussein’s government did within just months after the 1991 decimation, they won’t be able to afford it in the future anyway.

http://globalresearch.ca/index…..p;aid=6783

I wonder if the Iraqi man-in-the-street can distinguish between blackwater and U.S. military?

oddmommy @ 58

punaise @ 52

disconnect: I’m humming the Doobie Bros. “Black Water” again. it’s a cheerful, carefree little ditty, about as far removed from this BW as can be.

you mean, pretty mama Condi ain’t gonna make everything all right?

Miss Euphrates moon won’t you keep on shining…

Blackwater will be spun off, renamed to Darkpool and contracted in Iraq by the end of the week.

peanutbutter @ 29

Well, I think it’s very interesting Iraq revoked Blackwater’s “licence”. I’ll be even more interested to see if Blackwater stays or goes.

or Maliki’s government for that matter….

Since Blackwater has a vested interest in our most sensitive National Security concerns will this current development in Iraq put this special relationship at risk?

BigMitch @ 61

I wonder if the Iraqi man-in-the-street can distinguish between blackwater and U.S. military?

doubt it makes a difference to them

oddmommy @ 58

punaise @ 52

disconnect: I’m humming the Doobie Bros. “Black Water” again. it’s a cheerful, carefree little ditty, about as far removed from this BW as can be.

you mean, pretty mama Condi ain’t gonna make everything all right?

If Rice tries it won’t amount to a hill of Beans.

Eureka Springs @ 66

oddmommy @ 58

you mean, pretty mama Condi ain’t gonna make everything all right?

If Rice tries it won’t amount to a hill of Beans.

Great – LOL

BigMitch @ 61

I wonder if the Iraqi man-in-the-street can distinguish between blackwater and U.S. military?

After a while, guys with guns all look the same to me.

Gestapo, SS, fascism, Prescott Bush…the writing is on the wall.

raven @ 26

Tweety says the ACLU is supporting Craig.

I beat that just chaps Craigs ass. :)

Elliott @ 65

BigMitch @ 61

I wonder if the Iraqi man-in-the-street can distinguish between blackwater and U.S. military?

doubt it makes a difference to them

Me, too. I reckon they’re scared sh*tless either way. Wouldn’t you be?

The mercenaries were always a problem, because of ambiguities about accountability. If a Blackwater goon commits murder, who would or could arrest him? What laws cover their activity? In what court could they be prosecuted?

Because of these ambiguities, Iraq has essentially been a law-free zone for at least 4 years. Well, let’s say a somewhat selectively law-free zone. If you’re Saddam Hussein, well then by golly, we’ve got lots of laws to conduct a trial, find you guilty, and hang you by the neck until quite dead. But if you’re Blackwater, not so much.

Notice that the Blackwater folks were not arrested for murder; they had their license revoked.

But what’s to keep Blackwater from thumbing their noses at the Iraqi Green Zone government, and to keep on collecting money on their contracts? Who’s going to stop them?

Bob in HI

While the CNN report references small arms fire between BW and “gunmen,” Voices of Iraq (non-vid rpt, dial-ups) detail that a bomb went off and the BW folk went sideways on passersby (my words, not theirs).

marymccurnin @ 70

raven @ 26

Tweety says the ACLU is supporting Craig.

I beat that just chaps Craigs ass. :)

LOL!

Apologies if this has already come up, but how much would you bet against Blackwater simply transferring their Iraq-resident employees and assets to a front company, as a “legal” way to avoid eviction?

Or, I suppose, Uncle Sugar could just buy them out, making them part of a new “Freedom Corps”.

After all, it’s not how you deal with reality that counts, it’s how you manipulate language and legal boundaries to shape reality that makes you a real Republican these days.

LS @ 69

Gestapo, SS, fascism, Prescott Bush…the writing is on the wall.

Yup. And it was there for a long long time. Shame on us.

punaise @ 52

disconnect: I’m humming the Doobie Bros. “Black Water” again. it’s a cheerful, carefree little ditty, about as far removed from this BW as can be.

Funnee…

I would call that a protective measure, which I don’t blame you for indulging in….

For myself, sometimes I visualize myself sticking my head in the sand…

If I can’t see or hear it, it can’t get me, then I feel safe….

myxzptlk @ 75

Apologies if this has already come up, but how much would you bet against Blackwater simply transferring their Iraq-resident employees and assets to a front company, as a “legal” way to avoid eviction?

Or, I suppose, Uncle Sugar could just buy them out, making them part of a new “Freedom Corps”.

After all, it’s not how you deal with reality that counts, it’s how you manipulate language and legal boundaries to shape reality that makes you a real Republican these days.

If Uncle Sam buys them out, there goes “plausable deniability” of responsibility for their excesses.

EvilDrPuma @ 68

BigMitch @ 61

I wonder if the Iraqi man-in-the-street can distinguish between blackwater and U.S. military?

After a while, guys with guns all look the same to me.

There’s always Girls with Guns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25dSxa8-LdQ

ticktock @ 77

punaise @ 52

disconnect: I’m humming the Doobie Bros. “Black Water” again. it’s a cheerful, carefree little ditty, about as far removed from this BW as can be.

Funnee…

I would call that a protective measure, which I don’t blame you for indulging in….

For myself, sometimes I visualize myself sticking my head in the sand…

If I can’t see or hear it, it can’t get me, then I feel safe….

Head in sand, behind exposed.

Totally OT, I know…but
I was just telling the Mr. M and our hound doggy who was Scooby talking to me about the Kathy Griffin U-Tube the other night, and whattaya know, CNN announced that she’ll be on Larry King tonight.
(I’m channelling the universe I guess…not about anything Really Important, tho.)

Right after Katrina some mysterious security people were patrolling my parent’s neighborhood. Some filthy rich types live a couple of blocks away. I have always wondered if it was Blackwater. They were there within days of the breech of the 17th St. levee.

A lot of the world thinks we have a killer in the Oval Office. So do I. Can I go to jail for saying that?

Oklahoma kiddo @ 83

A lot of the world thinks we have a killer in the Oval Office. So do I. Can I go to jail for saying that?

I don’t know but I luv ya for it.

punaise @ 52

disconnect: I’m humming the Doobie Bros. “Black Water” again. it’s a cheerful, carefree little ditty, about as far removed from this BW as can be.

Well it could be worse. It could be “White Christmas” in the middle of summer.

Badwater @ 56

Any Carlyle Group connections to Blackwater?

And any Ghouliani connections to BW?

But we don’t want the Blackwater mercs to come home, do we? Does America really need 100,000 unemployed warriors-for-hire wandering the land — our land???

see ya, guys and gals. I gotta go!

For those of you who haven’t yet seen it, be sure and watch Jeremy Scahill (The Nation Magazine’s) short video about Blackwater… A must see!

Blackwater – Deeper Into Shadow!

petwrecker @ 86

Badwater @ 56

Any Carlyle Group connections to Blackwater?

And any Ghouliani connections to BW?

Any Klan connections?

Oklahoma kiddo @ 83

A lot of the world thinks we have a killer in the Oval Office. So do I. Can I go to jail for saying that?

You could be extraordinarily rendered.

TeddySanFran @ 87

But we don’t want the Blackwater mercs to come home, do we? Does America really need 100,000 unemployed warriors-for-hire wandering the land — our land???

Teddy… If you watch the video I just linked to, you’ll see they’ve already “come home”. They were in New Orleans after Katrina.

marymccurnin @ 82

Right after Katrina some mysterious security people were patrolling my parent’s neighborhood. Some filthy rich types live a couple of blocks away. I have always wondered if it was Blackwater. They were there within days of the breech of the 17th St. levee.

Mary… That’s exactly who it was. You can see them being deployed in New Orleans post Katrina to “confront criminals and looters”.

The whole concept of reliance on mercs undermines the very principles the republic was founded on… for centuries, the ruling famnilies of Europes waged war on each other using mercenary armies hired with the abusive taxes they inflicted on their unwilling subjects, and the mercs, in turn, raped, sacked and pillaged every chance they got.. the sacking of Dutch cities during the 80 years war, Germany in the 30 Years War, and even the British countryside in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars. We fought the Hessians and other mercs here, to win our country’s freedom. The largescale use of mercs in lieu of regular and citizen-soldiers is, simply, un-American, and it has to stop. We have to get Congress to look into this, and end this practice. If we need troops, we need a draft, or we need better recruiting.. or more likely, we need fewer wars of choice and outrageous military adventures.

I’m pretty sure the Iraqis can tell the difference.

Also, troops don’t really appreciate Blackwater – one group gets paid like 100x the other. Pretty sure the troops would defend them, but maybe not enthusiastically.

If Maliki can’t get something done, it will increase the unpopularity of his gov’t.

If Sadr decides to unleash his brigades, I would say all bets are off. And I think Sadr pulling out of the gov’t is a sign that he’s getting closer to making some kind of move.

After Blackater have paid the license “fees”, then they will be allowed to continue…

“fees” in cash…or Swiss Bank Account deposit

Well, well. It looks like the Iraqi government is beginning to stand up afterall.

Standing up, that is, against the corrupt war profiteers that are mindlessly killing their civilians.

puppethead @ 33

I think too much ink (or electrons) is being spilled on this. It will amount to nothing, as Larry Johnson seems to think. Maliki will be called on the carpet by his American handlers, and some face-saving alternative will be announced in a day or two.

But, as Johnson points out, what are the Iraqis going to do about Blackwater anyway? The only force large enough to take them on is the US military.

The nightmare scenario from this is that Blackwater ignores the Maliki government and becomes even more lawless. Meanwhile the attacks will increase against these mercenaries, and we could see a huge spike in non-military deaths. But will we even know? Nobody reports on the “contractor” casualties.

But surely al-Maliki knows the limits of his power. If he’s “revoking the Blackwater license” purely for domestic consumption, and gets told by Bush to back off, how does that help him? Why would al-Maliki be so overt? Especially if it won’t work.

oddmommy @ 58

punaise @ 52

disconnect: I’m humming the Doobie Bros. “Black Water” again. it’s a cheerful, carefree little ditty, about as far removed from this BW as can be.

you mean, pretty mama Condi ain’t gonna make everything all right?

Snort!!!

I have a friend who is an paramedic in northern Louisiana.. He was in N.O. before katrina hit and for several weeks after. No one was allowed to work unarmed and he saw many unidentified ninja cops all in black do a whole lot of random and not so random shooting of people, cars, and houses. No questions asked.

From an AP story I found on Yahoo:

“The Blackwater guys are not fools. If they were gunning down people, it was because they felt it was the beginning of an ambush,” said Robert Young Pelton, an independent military analyst and author of the book “Licensed to Kill.”

“They’re famous for being very aggressive. They use their machine guns like car horns. But it’s not the goal to kill people.”

What sort of U.S. license does this company have to have? What oversight is there to this business? What do their U.S. gov’t contracts look like? I have to hand it to the Bush administration. They’ve even out-sourced some of their war criminals.

hackworth @ 91

Oklahoma kiddo @ 83

A lot of the world thinks we have a killer in the Oval Office. So do I. Can I go to jail for saying that?

You could be extraordinarily rendered.

It’s the “extraordinarily” part I find titillating.

Twain….

Opps!

seriously, get the popcorn: things are going to heat up, and quickly.

TeddySanFran @ 87

But we don’t want the Blackwater mercs to come home, do we? Does America really need 100,000 unemployed warriors-for-hire wandering the land — our land???

We have to keep them fighting there so we don’t have to fight them here.

It looks like John Amato at C&L has a brand new post up about this right now. He’s got video of an interview with Jeremy Scahill and he even linked to my video of him.

Blackwater author describes US civilian militia’s relationship with Bushco.

Elliott @ 65

BigMitch @ 61

I wonder if the Iraqi man-in-the-street can distinguish between blackwater and U.S. military?

doubt it makes a difference to them

Ever see John Sayle’s “Men with Guns”. They would ask people in these devastated villages if it was “soldiers or revolutionaries”. They would reply, “I don’t know , they were men with guns”.

Nate @ 89

For those of you who haven’t yet seen it, be sure and watch Jeremy Scahill (The Nation Magazine’s) short video about Blackwater… A must see!

Blackwater – Deeper Into Shadow!

BigMitch @ 61

I wonder if the Iraqi man-in-the-street can distinguish between blackwater and U.S. military?

Does anyone know where we can see pictures of Blackwater mercenaries in uniform, if indeed they wear uniforms?

allan_in_upstate @ 105

TeddySanFran @ 87

But we don’t want the Blackwater mercs to come home, do we? Does America really need 100,000 unemployed warriors-for-hire wandering the land — our land???

We have to keep them fighting there so we don’t have to fight them here.

*wince*

Laura Doty @ 101

From an AP story I found on Yahoo:

“The Blackwater guys are not fools. If they were gunning down people, it was because they felt it was the beginning of an ambush,” said Robert Young Pelton, an independent military analyst and author of the book “Licensed to Kill.”

“They’re famous for being very aggressive. They use their machine guns like car horns. But it’s not the goal to kill people.”

What sort of U.S. license does this company have to have? What oversight is there to this business? What do their U.S. gov’t contracts look like? I have to hand it to the Bush administration. They’ve even out-sourced some of their war criminals.

It’s called “recon by fire”.

marymccurnin @ 70

raven @ 26

Tweety says the ACLU is supporting Craig.

I beat that just chaps Craigs ass. :)

That ought to put somebody’s knickers in a twist

allan_in_upstate @ 105

offer them a Caribbean retirement plan… Gitmo’ll should have some land available once we close down that prison. Better yet, shrub can use them to fight the Russians, Danes and Canadians for the North Pole… in the Great War for the Northwest Passage he seems so determined to wage. …that’s right, turn ‘em loose on some polar bears.

Laura Doty @ 101

From an AP story I found on Yahoo:

“The Blackwater guys are not fools. If they were gunning down people, it was because they felt it was the beginning of an ambush,” said Robert Young Pelton, an independent military analyst and author of the book “Licensed to Kill.”

“They’re famous for being very aggressive. They use their machine guns like car horns. But it’s not the goal to kill people.”

What sort of U.S. license does this company have to have? What oversight is there to this business? What do their U.S. gov’t contracts look like? I have to hand it to the Bush administration. They’ve even out-sourced some of their war criminals.

Sounds like they’re totally out of control.
Aggressive, use their machine guns like car horns, but they do not endeavor to kill people?

Who wrote that bullsh*t?

ticktock @ 112

allan_in_upstate @ 105

Comforting thought….

Now that my head in the sand deal isn’t working too well….

We have to keep them fighting there so we don’t have to fight them here.

No, we have to fight their existence HERE, so they don’t murder any more innocents over THERE.

Blackwater’s site is not available….

allan_in_upstate @ 105

TeddySanFran @ 87

But we don’t want the Blackwater mercs to come home, do we? Does America really need 100,000 unemployed warriors-for-hire wandering the land — our land???

Comforting thought since my theory about the head in the sand apparently isn’t working….

We have to keep them fighting there so we don’t have to fight them here.

Waxman’s comment on Blackwater:

Chairman Henry A. Waxman released the following statement this afternoon following the press accounts that Iraq had revoked the license of U.S. contractor Blackwater:

“The controversy over Blackwater is an unfortunate demonstration of the perils of excessive reliance on private security contractors. The Oversight Committee will be holding hearings to understand what has happened and the extent of the damage to U.S. security interests.”

LS @ 118

Blackwater’s site is not available….

…you prolly have to be a rethug to access it

Lynn Lightfoot @ 109

BigMitch @ 61

I wonder if the Iraqi man-in-the-street can distinguish between blackwater and U.S. military?

Does anyone know where we can see pictures of Blackwater mercenaries in uniform, if indeed they wear uniforms?

See video directly above your comment.

LS @ 118

Blackwater’s site is not available….

Try this BW

AZ Matt @ 120

Waxman’s comment on Blackwater:

Chairman Henry A. Waxman released the following statement this afternoon following the press accounts that Iraq had revoked the license of U.S. contractor Blackwater:

“The controversy over Blackwater is an unfortunate demonstration of the perils of excessive reliance on private security contractors. The Oversight Committee will be holding hearings to understand what has happened and the extent of the damage to U.S. security interests.”

Well, great, but what took them so long?

Surely the Democrats must realize at the very least, this Iraq thing is going to be dumped into their laps should they win in a little more than a year from now. I dunno. Perhaps it’s appropriate.

LS @ 118

Blackwater’s site is not available….

expect it to soon say’

I.A.F

Iraqi Armed Forces…this me thinks is next

Nate @ 89

For those of you who haven’t yet seen it, be sure and watch Jeremy Scahill (The Nation Magazine’s) short video about Blackwater… A must see!

Blackwater – Deeper Into Shadow!

We think
that 40 cents of every dollar goes to private military contractors.

We think
that perhaps 800 have died

We think
that there are 25 to 40 THOUSAND private contractors involved in COMBAT activities

“We don’t know and we can’t find out.” -Rep Schakowsky D-IL

In the words of Joe Wilson: “[T]he question will arise at some time: to whom do they owe their loyalty?”

i.e. BW

marymccurnin @ 70

raven @ 26

Tweety says the ACLU is supporting Craig.

I beat that just chaps Craigs ass. :)

Who says he doesn’t like having his ass chapped? :)

raven @ 123

LS @ 118

Blackwater’s site is not available….

Try this BW

But, their site, Blackwateusa.com is not working. I’ve been there a couple of times. It is caput.

Elliott @ 127

Nate @ 89

For those of you who haven’t yet seen it, be sure and watch Jeremy Scahill (The Nation Magazine’s) short video about Blackwater… A must see!

Blackwater – Deeper Into Shadow!

We think
that 40 cents of every dollar goes to private military contractors.

We think
that perhaps 800 have died

We think
that there are 25 to 40 THOUSAND private contractors involved in COMBAT activities

“We don’t know and we can’t find out.” -Rep Schakowsky D-IL

Thanks for posting the transcript of that segment Elliot. That scared the crap out of me too. That and the “troops” of Blackwater deploying themselves around New Orleans after Katrina.

LS @ 130

raven @ 123

Try this BW

But, their site, Blackwateusa.com is not working. I’ve been there a couple of times. It is caput.

Not a surprise. I just thought you were looking for info.

…soon they’ll be back home, patrolling the perimeter of the family compounds of the leading lights (and donors) of the rethug party, as their personal army… then we’ll be clear where their loyalties lie.

LS @ 118

Blackwater’s site is not available….

Probably have to shoot your way in, I imagine.

LS @ 117

Blackwater’s site is not available….

hmm..
wonder why

Blub @ 133

…soon they’ll be back home, patrolling the perimeter of the family compounds of the leading lights (and donors) of the rethug party, as their personal army… then we’ll be clear where their loyalties lie.

Oh, but as long as those donors give to Democrats too that’s ok.

raven @ 132

LS @ 130

But, their site, Blackwateusa.com is not working. I’ve been there a couple of times. It is caput.

Not a surprise. I just thought you were looking for info.

Thanks. The wiki site is pretty good.

perris @ 51

ok, I mentioned this a few chapters downstairs and it is very VERY important;

I can see only ONE reason the bush adminsitration is allowing this to happen

blackwater can become the official Iraqi amed forces

this will legitimize the force and it will allow them to plunder more of the middle east’s resources

if this is the case and I am right, this was a stroke of genious

And conduct black market operations in weapons, oil, and narcotics.

This may be part of a “Big Takeover” within these black markets.

Dis-band Blackwater!

Blub @ 131

…soon they’ll be back home, patrolling the perimeter of the family compounds of the leading lights (and donors) of the rethug party, as their personal army… then we’ll be clear where their loyalties lie.

Pray to the Lawd they don’t start patrolling the voting booths in 2008….

Geesh….

“We don’t know and we can’t find out.” -Rep Schakowsky D-IL

Totally unacceptable!

Laura Doty @ 101

Any Carlyle Group connections to Blackwater?

Carlyle Co-founder and Managing Director David M. Rubenstein
is a Trustee of the University of Chicago, which spawned
Paul Wolfowitz, David Brooks and Achmed Chalabi.

Maybe someone else can continue this edition of Six Degrees of Separation

just googling for images…

blackwater domestic counter-insurgency unit in training:
http://media.hamptonroads.com/…..15;325.jpg

nice portrait of America’s finest
http://www.nh-tems.com/images/Blackwater5.jpg

Try google images.. lots of good photos

Nate @ 130

Elliott @ 127

We think
that 40 cents of every dollar goes to private military contractors.

We think
that perhaps 800 have died

We think
that there are 25 to 40 THOUSAND private contractors involved in COMBAT activities

“We don’t know and we can’t find out.” -Rep Schakowsky D-IL

Thanks for posting the transcript of that segment Elliot. That scared the crap out of me too. That and the “troops” of Blackwater deploying themselves around New Orleans after Katrina.

and the quote underneath the video, profound

“Against all enemies, foreign and domestic…” so went the Constitutional oath that I, along with millions of other veterans swore.

Lynn Lightfoot @ 109

BigMitch @ 61

I wonder if the Iraqi man-in-the-street can distinguish between blackwater and U.S. military?

Does anyone know where we can see pictures of Blackwater mercenaries in uniform, if indeed they wear uniforms?

Check the Brave New Films video above. It doesn’t look like they wear any sort of recognizable uniform, just vaguely military-looking clothes in camo or black. Other than the lack of insignia, I can’t imagine anyone could tell the difference between them and official troops.

raven @ 134

Blub @ 133

…soon they’ll be back home, patrolling the perimeter of the family compounds of the leading lights (and donors) of the rethug party, as their personal army… then we’ll be clear where their loyalties lie.

Oh, but as long as those donors give to Democrats too that’s ok.

there’s our trouble

Cliff Varnell @ 138

perris @ 51

ok, I mentioned this a few chapters downstairs and it is very VERY important;

I can see only ONE reason the bush adminsitration is allowing this to happen

blackwater can become the official Iraqi amed forces

this will legitimize the force and it will allow them to plunder more of the middle east’s resources

if this is the case and I am right, this was a stroke of genious

And conduct black market operations in weapons, oil, and narcotics.

This may be part of a “Big Takeover” within these black markets.

Dis-band Blackwater!

ya

blackwater has to be federalized…there is no question about this

they have amassed resources and assets that rival most countries and our resources and assets have been shred to bits

it is VERY important we federalize blackwater…if they refuse we must declare them an enemy of the state and destroy them

I am telling you, this is a VERY serious situation this administration has deliberately created

remember cheney wanted his own private cia?

and this administration has deliberately stretched our armed forces beyond the breaking point

there is no option here, we cannot allow blackwater to keep the resources they have amassed under this administration

Time to pull the plug on Blackwater.

Then there’s Halliburton and Cheney. How transparent can you get? Christ!

raven at 23 says-”I’m glad it’s your party. If people like Noriega can parade as progressives and take money from this scumbag it ain’t my fucking party.”

i just wrote a letter to noriega……..

and i remember going nutty when it was announced that blackwater didn’t fall under any restrictions way back when……..did anyone honestly expect anything else than what has happened? they are allowed to do whatever they want, when they want, to whomever they want, they are the law……did anyone think they wouldn’t abuse it?…..makin’ lotsa money, and exempt from the law…..yup…..wonder what we don’t know about.

going to go finish up laundry.

ot
allan ’speaknoevilwhenitmatters’ greenspan is on fresh air=terry gross tomorrow…….

OK.. I’m getting angrier and angrier after every post. How did we get here??? Why do we have things like Blackwater around? Why?? I want a refund.

Laura Doty @ 147

Time to pull the plug on Blackwater.

pulling the plug is hardly enough

they have to be federalized, there is no two ways about that…if they are not federalized then for all intense and all purposes, they become a country to themselves

Blub @ 150

OK.. I’m getting angrier and angrier after every post. How did we get here??? Why do we have things like Blackwater around? Why?? I want a refund.

I wanna reset button.

Blub @ 132

…soon they’ll be back home, patrolling the perimeter of the family compounds of the leading lights (and donors) of the rethug party, as their personal army… then we’ll be clear where their loyalties lie.

That’s not nearly profitable enough, and therein lies the big problem. Their business is war, and there’s nothing that’s going to keep Blackwater raking in the billions other than more wars. If they’re not shut down, the U.S. is going to make the old South Africa look like pikers in the mercenary market.

Pull the plug on KBR.

Oklahoma kiddo @ 18

I am pleased to see more are questioning the absence of a “spine” in my party. My party should be screaming it’s head off about what the Bush mob is doing. But of course they’re not. Why is that?

We must be on the same wave length, and believe me that frequency needs some serious attention.

perris @ 151

Laura Doty @ 147

Time to pull the plug on Blackwater.

pulling the plug is hardly enough

they have to be federalized, there is no two ways about that…if they are not federalized then for all intense and all purposes, they become a country to themselves

A rogue one at that. I do agree with this. But I’m not sure I want Boosh & Co to nationalize it. I think more responsible figures need to be in charge of dismantling Blackwater.

And then something drawn up to prevent Blackwater from happening here, again. There’s a comment above about how mercenary troops were used throughout Europe by the aristocracy hundreds of years ago that is the perfect argument why mercenary companies cannot be allowed to exist anymore

We shouldn’t even have this debate now, but what needs to be done is clear…

Redshift @ 142

Lynn Lightfoot @ 109

Does anyone know where we can see pictures of Blackwater mercenaries in uniform, if indeed they wear uniforms?

Check the Brave New Films video above. It doesn’t look like they wear any sort of recognizable uniform, just vaguely military-looking clothes in camo or black. Other than the lack of insignia, I can’t imagine anyone could tell the difference between them and official troops.

Sure they can. No insignia. In big ass SUVs instead of army humvees. Don’t travel the same way, don’t act the same way, don’t do the same things.

Your typical Iraqi could probably tell at least 6 types of armed forces apart under Saddam at a glance. Iraq is nothing like a Latin or South Am country.

Oklahoma kiddo @ 154

Pull the plug on KBR.

I have said from the start we need to federalize all war profiteers

haliburton ahs been pillaging the middle class and making money over the dead body of our finest youth

this is with no doubt criminal

but more dangerous is blackwater…we definately have to federalize blackwater, they cannot be allowed to keep the assets they’ve aquired

Check out the site below regarding Blackwater….

http://www.thespywhobilledme.c…..billed_me/

A sign of the times?

When tourists ask for the bathroom in the Minneapolis airport lately, it’s usually not because they have to go.

It’s because they want to see the stall made famous by U.S. Sen. Larry Craig’s arrest in a sex sting.

“It’s become a tourist attraction,” said Karen Evans, information speci*list at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. “People are taking pictures.”

There is also Aegis and DynCorp doing the same sorts of things.

Re Blackwater, the eerie sense is that reality is imitating Hollywood.

Dubya and Sun Yung Moon will take some Blackwater boys to Paraguay with them. Take them all. Have they got steroids down there?

perris @ 149

they have to be federalized

assuming they haven’t committed crimes. If they have, we can always just add them to the 2-3 million Americans presently languishing in our prisons…. they should be right at home there. We can always use more forced labor… and we might as well let one abomination feed another.

As per my previous comment, here is a video posted by C&L where “Blackwater” author Jeremy Scahill says it all in the first statement:

“Well, the fact of the matter is that the Bush administration failed to build a coalition of willing nations to occupy Iraq and so instead the administration has built the coalition of billing corporations.”

Exactly right. I commented on this last week after Madeleine Albright published her excellent editorial in the WaPo on how we could get from where we are to an actual solution. Unfortunately, it begins with this administration taking responsibility for its failures, and therefore has a snowball’s chance in hell of actually happening.

Blub @ 148

OK.. I’m getting angrier and angrier after every post. How did we get here??? Why do we have things like Blackwater around? Why?? I want a refund.

Because the Republics seized complete power in 2001.

dmac @ 147

raven at 23 says-”I’m glad it’s your party. If people like Noriega can parade as progressives and take money from this scumbag it ain’t my fucking party.”

i just wrote a letter to noriega……..

and i remember going nutty when it was announced that blackwater didn’t fall under any restrictions way back when……..did anyone honestly expect anything else than what has happened? they are allowed to do whatever they want, when they want, to whomever they want, they are the law……did anyone think they wouldn’t abuse it?…..makin’ lotsa money, and exempt from the law…..yup…..wonder what we don’t know about.

going to go finish up laundry.

ot
allan ’speaknoevilwhenitmatters’ greenspan is on fresh air=terry gross tomorrow…….

That’s a lot more polite than mine was. I told him he a lot of guts posing as a progressive, to take me off his fucking mailing list and give me my dough back.

I just want to repeat this:

Rep Schakowsky D-IL says
that there are 25 to 40 THOUSAND private contractors involved in COMBAT activities in Iraq!

.

there are 25 to 40 THOUSAND private contractors involved in COMBAT activities in Iraq!

.

Blub @ 149

OK.. I’m getting angrier and angrier after every post. How did we get here??? Why do we have things like Blackwater around? Why?? I want a refund.

We got here because we have an administration that cares only about its own power right now. “Deficits don’t matter,” so they’re willing to waste any amount of our money to avoid losing political capital by engaging in the sacrifices necessary to have a military that can actually do the tasks they want it to do, and giving away the treasury to contributors is always a bonus. They never think further ahead than the next election; side effects, consequences, and blowback are somebody else’s problem.

got to go, a long drive ahead of me …we need to call our representatives

I know I’ve been saying to call the republicans but this time I think we need to start with the democrats because with no doubt, they will not understand the gravity of blackwater

as a previous poster noted after my comment, they are a country to themselves with their standing army and they are a rogue state at that

the democrats have to make this a big deal…republicans can be called as well but nobody understands the gravity of this rogue army as yet and we have to raise the alarm

long drive home

later all

Badwater @ 163

Blub @ 148

OK.. I’m getting angrier and angrier after every post. How did we get here??? Why do we have things like Blackwater around? Why?? I want a refund.

Because the Republics seized complete power in 2001.

And to many Dems just handed it over without a whimper.

Oklahoma kiddo @ 158

A sign of the times?

When tourists ask for the bathroom in the Minneapolis airport lately, it’s usually not because they have to go.

It’s because they want to see the stall made famous by U.S. Sen. Larry Craig’s arrest in a sex sting.

“It’s become a tourist attraction,” said Karen Evans, information speci*list at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. “People are taking pictures.”

From Blackwater to crack water.

This nation is fracking mess.

-GSD

peanutbutter @ 154

perris @ 151

pulling the plug is hardly enough

they have to be federalized, there is no two ways about that…if they are not federalized then for all intense and all purposes, they become a country to themselves

A rogue one at that. I do agree with this. But I’m not sure I want Boosh & Co to nationalize it. I think more responsible figures need to be in charge of dismantling Blackwater.

And then something drawn up to prevent Blackwater from happening here, again. There’s a comment above about how mercenary troops were used throughout Europe by the aristocracy hundreds of years ago that is the perfect argument why mercenary companies cannot be allowed to exist anymore

We shouldn’t even have this debate now, but what needs to be done is clear…

Bushocracy

Elliott @ 165

I just want to repeat this:

Rep Schakowsky D-IL says
that there are 25 to 40 THOUSAND private contractors involved in COMBAT activities in Iraq!

.
I suppose you all know that paid all the “Allied” troops in the Nam and we paid them what we got. A ROK soldier was set up for a long time after their tour. Plus, they really did hate commies!

Eureka Springs @ 168

Badwater @ 163

Because the Republics seized complete power in 2001.

And to many Dems just handed it over without a whimper.

Even with Dems back in power, there’s still barely a whimper from them.

LS @ 159

There is also Aegis and DynCorp doing the same sorts of things.

under the radar makes a more insidious private miliatary contractor

out of curiousity, any numbers on how many of our mercs have died in Iraq? Or is that classified, along with the number of people they murdered?

The drumbeat for a military assault on Iran is getting louder at some conservative think tanks, in the offices of hawks on the Bush and Cheney staffs, and among ground forces in Iraq dealing with weapons and explosives constructed in Iran.

Administration calls for aggressive action to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, and to cut off its funneling of arms and training to terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East, have featured increasingly tough rhetoric.

raven @ 23

Oklahoma kiddo @ 17

I am pleased to see more are questioning the absence of a “spine” in my party. My party should be screaming it’s head off about what the Bush mob is doing. But of course they’re not. Why is that?

I’m glad it’s your party. If people like Noriega can parade as progressives and take money from this scumbag it ain’t my fucking party.

If you’ve got a handy alternative, I’m sure that a lot of folks around here would love to hear about it.

punaise @ 52

disconnect: I’m humming the Doobie Bros. “Black Water” again. it’s a cheerful, carefree little ditty, about as far removed from this BW as can be.

Perhaps more suitable would be Laurie Lewis’s “Black Water” from her Bluegrass Pals album, but I can only find a sound sample on Amazon.com. The chorus is quite appropriate, speaking of “destruction on every hand”, but its a reference to mining in Appalachia.

Bob in HI

New thread

Senator Salazar is thinking about cutting off funds for the war. He visited Iraq this weekend and the troops said bring us home
p://www.denverpost.com/ci_6919211

Denver Post story also has a poll that does not require registration

GordonM @ 156

Sure they can. No insignia. In big ass SUVs instead of army humvees. Don’t travel the same way, don’t act the same way, don’t do the same things.

Your typical Iraqi could probably tell at least 6 types of armed forces apart under Saddam at a glance. Iraq is nothing like a Latin or South Am country.

Good point; I retract my statement. While there are probably some situations where it would be hard to tell (like being shot at from a rooftop), there are a lot more where they can probably tell easily (the latest shootout being one.)

Denver post link
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_6919211

GSD @ 169

Oklahoma kiddo @ 158

A sign of the times?

When tourists ask for the bathroom in the Minneapolis airport lately, it’s usually not because they have to go.

It’s because they want to see the stall made famous by U.S. Sen. Larry Craig’s arrest in a sex sting.

“It’s become a tourist attraction,” said Karen Evans, information speci*list at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. “People are taking pictures.”

From Blackwater to crack water.

This nation is fracking mess.

-GSD

It’s sure to only grow in popularity, how many Goopers will utilize the Loo during their Convention…?!!!

FYI, New post

Those BW ‘employees’ are a very very far cry from the American soldiers of whom parents and grandparents spoke with great admiration, when they came into Germany at the end of the war.

burnspbesq @ 177

raven @ 23

I’m glad it’s your party. If people like Noriega can parade as progressives and take money from this scumbag it ain’t my fucking party.

If you’ve got a handy alternative, I’m sure that a lot of folks around here would love to hear about it.

Do what you want to, I do.

Blub @ 175

Here ya go (just got here, eh? ; ) )

out of curiousity, any numbers on how many of our mercs have died in Iraq? Or is that classified, along with the number of people they murdered?

Laura Doty @ 48

Laura Doty @ 43

Do you mean contractor casualties or casualties caused by contractors?

If you check the link, you’ll see it’s not a secret. Just more ignored data.

Thanks… so 1,001 mercs have died so far in his war… how many people have they killed?

Blub @ 148

OK.. I’m getting angrier and angrier after every post. How did we get here??? Why do we have things like Blackwater around? Why?? I want a refund.

We got here the day the packed Supreme Court crown Bush kingident.

Hope I live to see the day when 200 million Americans behind a fiery leader rise up irresistably to seize power away from the evildoers.

We’re not there.

But I think we’re headed there.

Blub @ 188

Thanks… so 1,001 mercs have died so far in his war… how many people have they killed?

That I have no idea. Given that we can’t even get the military/administration/coalition of the guilty to acknowledge the dead they’ve created, it seems unlikely to me that we’ll ever know.

Blub @ 175

out of curiousity, any numbers on how many of our mercs have died in Iraq? Or is that classified, along with the number of people they murdered?

The link at Icasualties.org for contractor deaths is not working at this time.

But it was over 1,000 if I can recall correctly.

-GSD

more blackwater/republican ties=prince family money helped james dobson found focus on the family according to a journalist on npr………hemingway is his name…..wrote an article last year on blackwater in the weekly standard according to the report……

Oklahoma kiddo @ 176

The drumbeat for a military assault on Iran is getting louder at some conservative think tanks, in the offices of hawks on the Bush and Cheney staffs, and among ground forces in Iraq dealing with weapons and explosives constructed in Iran.

Administration calls for aggressive action to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, and to cut off its funneling of arms and training to terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East, have featured increasingly tough rhetoric.

Add France’s Sarkozy and their foreign minister Pepe LePew also.

-GSD

In case you’ve forgotten them:
Scott Helvenston,
Jerko “Jerry” Zovko,
Wesley J.K. Batalona,
Michael R. Teague

You may want to look up their bios before you tell more Blackwater guys, screw you.

raven at 165 says-”That’s a lot more polite than mine was. I told him he a lot of guts posing as a progressive, to take me off his fucking mailing list and give me my dough back.”

oh, i didn’t post my letter to noriega, my 147 about blackwater was a different remark……..and funny thing, i just got my letter back, bum address…….then tried to find an email contact on the website, none listed, now i’m gettin’ peeved….takes forever on dial up to look stuff up and i’m gettin’ annoyed….am going to call the office…….they did list a phone number…….

Some important background information needed for understanding modern Iraq is provided by Juan Cole’s 2003 essay, The Iraq Shiites. He notes that the invasion of Iraq started out on a faulty premis– no, I’m not thinking about WMD. He wrote,

The ambitious aim of the American war in Iraq—articulated by Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, and other neoconservative defense intellectuals—was to effect a fundamental transformation in Middle East politics. The war was not—or not principally—about finding weapons of mass destruction, or preventing alliances with al Qaeda, or protecting the Iraqi population from Saddam’s terror. For U.S. policy makers the importance of such a transformation was brought home by the events of September 11, which challenged U.S. strategy in the region by compromising the longstanding U.S. alliance with Saudi Wahhabis. In response to this challenge, the Bush administration saw the possibility of creating a new pillar for U.S. policy in the region: a post-Baathist Iraq, dominated by Iraqi Shiites, which would spark a wave of democratization across the Middle East.

This appears almost laughably naive now. Especially the vision of a democratic Shi’ite-led Iraq independent of Iranian Shi’ism. Juan Cole continued,

But the Bush administration badly neglected the history of the group they wanted to claim as their new ally. Who are the Iraqi Shiites? And how likely are they to support democracy or U.S. goals in the region?

But the arrogant and confident Neo-cons, filled with hubris, were not interested in such questions. Nevertheless, Cole provides some excellent background that is quite relevant today. The essay is long, and you may need more than one cuppa coffee, but it’s worth it.

Bob in HI

“Kicking out Blackwater is one way for Maliki’s government to assert sovereignty…”

Might it also be a way for the same government to protect itself from the onslaught of the Allawi-ites?

.

I live in the geographic center of San Francisco.

There are a couple of million O’ReillyBots out there who openly thrill over prospects of my town’s annihilation.

Blackwater is just the outfit for it.

So, yeah, I take this “bring the Blackwater boys back home” meme personally.

Jonathan @ 190

Hope I live to see the day when 200 million Americans behind a fiery leader rise up irresistably to seize power away from the evildoers.

We’re not there.

But I think we’re headed there.

Fiery leaders worry me. Adolf Hitler was a fiery leader. Fiery leadership is not compatible with calm, rational, reasonable thinking.

I’d rather have an eloquent leader– more like Martin Luther King, Jr.– who believes in good government and knows how to do it. Someone with the administrative skills of Lyndon Johnson. And someone with good judgment who knows when to admit a mistake, and change policies– like JFK in the wake of the plot to invade Cuba that flopped so badly.

Unfortunately, our present preznit has none of these skills.

Bob in HI

Blub @ 94

The whole concept of reliance on mercs undermines the very principles the republic was founded on… for centuries, the ruling famnilies of Europes waged war on each other using mercenary armies hired with the abusive taxes they inflicted on their unwilling subjects, and the mercs, in turn, raped, sacked and pillaged every chance they got.. the sacking of Dutch cities during the 80 years war, Germany in the 30 Years War, and even the British countryside in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars. We fought the Hessians and other mercs here, to win our country’s freedom. The largescale use of mercs in lieu of regular and citizen-soldiers is, simply, un-American, and it has to stop. We have to get Congress to look into this, and end this practice. If we need troops, we need a draft, or we need better recruiting.. or more likely, we need fewer wars of choice and outrageous military adventures.

A historical generality notes no surviving prince ever allowed another entity in their realm to accumulate enough power or resources to effectively challenge their position. A supporting aristocracy was maintained through wealth, privilege, and status that gave protection to the prince’s position but the resources utilized to maintain the aristocracy were strictly limited to localities, and the numbers were maintained to allow easy division of interests jealously guarded so that only rarely would a unity of purpose unite most into a common cause against the prince.

All of this “realpolitic” was undone in the U.S. during the Civil War and afterwards with the western expansion of the country across a wealthy continent which allowed natural and industrial wealth to accumulate into eventually very few hands that “owned” the economic sources of production, and still do today. Following the money, the top .01% or about 30,000 people directly or indirectly own or control nearly 50% of all assets, and are in an economic position to actually challenge the government itself as a coherent group. Blackwater is only one sign of that cohesion towards a common purpose by that group. There is an economic purpose that justifies the large expense of creating and maintaining such an organization, it just hasn’t been revealed yet.

Just because the government of Iraq wants Blackwater out, that doesn’t mean squat. We’re going to find out shortly just how little sovereignty Iraq has.

About time Praise Jesus! Blackwater is Gone! But what about the troops who were supposed to come home? Are the stuck there now because the mercs have to leave?

Arnie @ 201

There is an economic purpose that justifies the large expense of creating and maintaining such an organization, it just hasn’t been revealed yet.

It’s formulaic:

When an organization can murder with impunity, their economic purpose may be inferred: the smuggling of drugs and guns.

aw hell, I’m just going to cross-post what I said about this when the story first popped up (and I was drunk at the time, so forgive any factual/grammatical errors… burp!)!

here’s the first few grafs from the story:

Iraq ordered the cancellation on Monday of the operating licence of US security firm Blackwater after it was involved in a shootout in Baghdad that killed eight people, a senior official told AFP.

Blackwater offers personal security to US civilian officials working in Iraq.

“The interior minister (Jawad al-Bolani) has issued an order to cancel Blackwater’s licence and the company is prohibited from operating anywhere in Iraq,” interior ministry director of operations Major General Abdel Karim Khalaf said.

“We have opened a criminal investigation against the group who committed the crime.”

On Sunday, a US diplomatic convoy was involved in a shootout in Baghdad’s Al-Yarmukh neighbourhood which killed at least eight people and wounded 13.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki condemned what he called the “criminal” response of the contractors guarding the convoy which the US embassy said had come under attack from insurgents.

See, you have the interior minister (whose ministry has been documented in a US report as being so corrupt and infused with militants that their security forces should be dissolved and rebuilt from scratch) and al-Maliki (whose grip on power is dissolving by the day, with the US hinting that he should be replaced) coming out to condemn this incident. This could be a legitimate move, but it could also be meant to squeeze the US to tone down their rhetoric. They know if Blackwater gets thrown out of the country, it’s going to put that much more pressure on US ground forces, which are stretched out as is.

You can bet there’s a fuckton of negotiations going on right now, though.

eta: huh. have to amend my earlier comment; there are supposedly only 1,000 Blackwater security operatives in Iraq. Apparently another issue is that while US military personnel are exempt from prosecution by Iraqi authorities, contractors are not. Woo.

JH: Maliki’s government to assert sovereignty in ways that do not require the Democratic party to have a spine.

Why would al-Maliki want to assert sovereignty right now when he’s got Bush by the balls?

From a strategic point of view, why would al-Maliki stem the flow of American blood and treasure?

With each passing day, the US is getting weaker.

You are reading him wrong, as if you are unaware of the nature and history of al-Dawa and the SCIRI.

My sister happens to have worked for Blackwater, along with her now, husband.

These are men and women who were former marines, navy seals, green barrets, etc. They are as honorable, as are our military men and women. Not to mention that they are continually in harms way.

This is my first time to blog on this site, but I am ready and willing to take on any wacked case liberal on any issue, so bring it on! That is of course, unless Jane Hamsher is an advocate of censorship.

Mundy01 @ 207

My sister happens to have worked for Blackwater, along with her now, husband.

These are men and women who were former marines, navy seals, green barrets, etc. They are as honorable, as are our military men and women. Not to mention that they are continually in harms way.

This is my first time to blog on this site, but I am ready and willing to take on any wacked case liberal on any issue, so bring it on! That is of course, unless Jane Hamsher is an advocate of censorship.

Wacked case liberal. Good start. Are you familiar with the phrase “power corrupts — absolute power corrupts absolutely”?

I thank your sister and her husband for their prior service to our country, if they were indeed in the military.

And all the Blackwater employees who’ve served in the military — I thank them for their service to our country.

However, I think history has shown that when a large para-military organization is in an environment where they can murder without being held accountable, the leaders of this organization will add gun and drug smuggling operations to their business.

Blackwater employees have been reported gunning down civilians in New Orleans.

Why the hell shouldn’t we be opposed to this force — which, by the way, if run by a right wing religious nut.

Mundy01 @ 207

My sister happens to have worked for Blackwater, along with her now, husband.

These are men and women who were former marines, navy seals, green barrets, etc. They are as honorable, as are our military men and women. Not to mention that they are continually in harms way.

This is my first time to blog on this site, but I am ready and willing to take on any wacked case liberal on any issue, so bring it on! That is of course, unless Jane Hamsher is an advocate of censorship.

Well, first off: You aren’t “blogging” on this site. You’re posting a comment.

Next question.

Mercinaries can never be as hornorable as the military.Never, ever.no way, no how.

AAH! Redundant dollar signs!

How much did they pay their title guy, like $10 dollars?