I feel so much better now - I've just read on the wires that "Under continued pressure to exercise greater control over private security contractors in Iraq, Bush administration officials will outline stricter rules for these armed guards during a three-hour meeting Wednesday afternoon at the Pentagon."
"Senior representatives from Blackwater, DynCorp, Triple Canopy and Aegis Defence are scheduled to attend the meeting." but no one seems to know what the new "stricter rules" will entail nor how they will be enforced.
But we can rest assured - leading the meeting will be none other than Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.
While Blackwater mercenaries continue to operate free from oversight and legal limitations, seven demonstrators staged the first ever protest at the gates of the company's compound in North Carolina - and were sent to jail for five days after a secret trial. As Blackwater author Jeremy Scahill reports:
The arrest of the activists and the subsequent five days they spent locked up in jail is more punishment than any Blackwater mercenaries have received for their deadly actions against Iraqi civilians. "The courts pretend that adherence to the law is what makes for an orderly and peaceable world," said Steve Baggarly, one of the protest organizers. "In fact, U.S. law and courts stand idly by while the U.S. military and private armies like Blackwater have killed, maimed, brutalized and destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis."
The NC courts may silence protest against Blackwater, but one local Democrat refuses to be silenced. Bruce Falconer, who's been doing great coverage of Blackwater, tells the story in Mother Jones. It seems Marshall Adame, a Democrat, is running for Congress in the 3rd CD which includes Blackwater's HQ - and he's had the gumption to call them out. Not only that, he's a guy who knows what he's talking about:
Despite running as a Democrat in a strongly Republican district, Adame has the sort of military past that is appreciated in these parts. "I am a retired United States Marine," he tells me. "I'm a Vietnam veteran. I spent nine months in Kuwait right after we kicked Saddam out, helping to rebuild the Kuwaiti air force. I spent four years in Egypt with Kaman Aerospace"—a military contractor—"as their logistics leader in that country." More recently, he spent three years in Iraq working on reconstruction projects, ultimately rising to a senior position with the State Department's National Coordination Team in Baghdad, where he oversaw the work of roughly ten Provincial Reconstruction Teams. Two of his sons have served in the U.S. Army in Iraq—one was seriously wounded in an IED attack and is still undergoing reconstructive surgeries; the other is currently on his second 15-month tour, stationed in Tikrit. Now back in North Carolina, Adame has even opened his home to a family of Iraqi refugees.
So why is Blackwater out to get him? Because Adame answered a question during a liveblog at BlueNC on Blackwater with the following:
"There is no place in the American force structure, or in American culture for mercenaries," he wrote on the blog. "They are guns for hire; No more, no less… Private Armies represent the very things we despise as a people. Servants to the highest bidder with true allegiance to no-one."
And he's discussed his own experience being guarded by Blackwater:
As a State Department official in Iraq, he was protected by Blackwater, which, he says, used excessive force on at least two occasions while he was in their care. "I saw them shoot people," he says. "I saw them crash into cars while I was their passenger…. There was absolutely no reason, no provocation whatsoever." Once, while en route to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, Adame says he heard gunfire coming from the turret gunner in his own vehicle. He looked out the window of the humvee and "saw people ducking and falling…. The vehicle in front of us rammed into a car that was trying to get out of the way, and they just spun that guy around. He was out cold in that car, maybe even dead. I don't know, but we just kept on going."
Blackwater's response is in keeping with their usual thuggishness:
In an internal corporate email, Mathews encouraged his colleagues to barrage Adame with mail ("he was too cowardly to put a phone number on the web," Mathews noted in the message). "[H]e wants this company and all of us to cease to exist," Mathews wrote in the email, which was obtained by the Raleigh News & Observer and posted to the newspaper's web site. "Do you like your jobs? Are you sick and tired of the slanderous bullshit going on in DC? If so, would you all mind joining me in reminding Mr. Adame that he is running for office in our backyard…. Let's run this goof out of Dodge...!"
While Adame reports that he hasn't faced any danger as he continues to speak up, the Blackwater campaign against him continues. You can thank him at his campaign website here and follow his campaign at BlueNC.
Update on Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh:
Reporters Without Borders reports that 200 people demonstrated in Kabul in support of the 23 year old journalist who has been sentenced to death. Positions within the Afghan Senate seem confused but the reporter is left with two appeals - one to the supreme court and one to Karzai. You can sign RWB's petition on his behalf here.
h/t Eureka Springs for the Scahill tip!
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New thread?
ZED is dead but ZED anyway
Zed?
zed is dead? News to me…
:-( one awww shit for me now to read the thread!
Evening …
and I was just saying to mods, don’t worry too much tonight about being on topic … it’s that kinda day
And no way to edit the bad zeds. Gotta chase the kids back upstairs to zed.
Woo hoo. Touchdown Giants.
Negroponte will encourage the mercs to bury the bodies deeper and stonewall even harder.
-G
well OT rooting for the Pats is ok … the other side, no way!
;->
Greg … the idea of putting Negroponte in charge of cleaning up their acts is stomach turning …
The plot sickens on the Afghan journalism student.
link
Are you guys seeing this coke commercial with Frist and Carville?
Pandora manages own box.
That outta be enuf to clear up all the problems.
Watch Pulp Fiction sometime…
I thought it was a preview for a new Cryptkeeper movie …
Ooops. So sorry that I just put in a woo hoo for Giants TD.
Good to see CNN noticing … I have emails you can write to in last week’s post which you can check here
Creepy. Yes.
My daughter assures me that the Pats always win in the last quarter …
;->
A life-threatening Congressional run, no doubt. And I’m not kidding.
I like the guts of candidate Adame … talk about taking it to them!
I’m always the Patriots on Madden ‘08 and we always win …
Now I get the reference… duh. It’s one of my favorite movies. I musta seen it 10-12 times…
No. What up?
I guess the Giants might yet pull this off…10-7, 8:24 remaining in 4th Q…
Oh, it was Frist and Carville on a talk show and they said the same thing and then it was Jinx, owe me a coke and then they’re all buddy buddy drinking their cokes together. Like, coke brings people from opposite sides together. But, the problem is, we know better….they’re on the same team.
Petro? Am I right?
Demi - thanks … I missed that.
blergh
Yes … the irony was having both of them staring at the portrait of a true American patriot …
I can’t find anything recent on Blackwater in San Diego on google. I was wondering during Book Salon if they would go through the Pentagon to use eminent domain.
8:24 is half a game for the Patriots …
LooHoo … I think I saw something … let me dig a minute.
Sickening. I cannot believe how people can have so little self-confidence that they would sell themselves out like this.
Negroponte: OK everyone grab some coffee, danish and sancks, we’ll show a 10 minute video and then you can sign off on the clipboard.
-G
Jeez, what grammar … guess I’ll lay of the “Hot Cocoa”, Loo Hoo … *g*
Here we go:
You’ve got everyone’s number, don’t you? I absolutely love your snark!!
Ironic, yes.
Sheesh.
Can the Patriot(s) Act like the team that brought them to the SB?
Maybe so.
Next, we’ll see a commercial with Issa and Pelosi sharing a Bud Lite!
GregB is peerless !
Hey, highlight of tonight. I called my son & he answered his phone. First I’ve talked to him in a couple of weeks. Itsa big day.
Ugh, why’d ya have to remind me about Issa and his leather jacket …
No a glass of fine Cabernet :>)
Make that Blood Lite, as Issa is a vampire.
So is anyone doing GOTV … or have you seen some good GOTV in your neighborhood?
Hi Siun-
I’m sure you will approve ;) of the following:
Re: war profiteering — Anyone who did not see the BA chat with Alan Grayson, it is well worth reading. He has a huge amount of info on these guys, which he is able to speak about once he is elected to congress.
From BA:
~~As a no-nonsense attorney prosecuting war profiteers in Iraq, Alan Grayson has already accomplished more outside of DC than the hapless and corrupt incumbent could ever imagine. Alan would be the worst nightmare Insider criminals could ever imagine. He literally knows where all the bodies are buried. And he’s not shy about discussing impeachment. With Alan Grayson in Congress, no one will be sweeping the crime of the century under the rug. Be sure to check out his live FDL debut (Jan. 26) if you want to see why we’re so enthusiastic about him.~~~
http://firedoglake.com/2008/01.....son-fl-08/
I calls ‘em as I sees ‘em.
I get to talk to my buddy who was taken aback by my skepticism surrounding the election eve reports of Iranian speed boats provoking US ships in the Straights of Hormuz……
Skepticism that the facts have backed up yet again.
-G
Thanks Petro.
Valley Girl - thank you! Grayson is amazing! and really deserves our support.
Oh brother…
Right… as if Carville has a hard time “bridging the partisan divide”. I imagine he bridges that divide as often as he can manage it.
NE up 14-10, 2:39 remaining…
Siun, What disturbs me most about the protesters is the secret trial. Did you run across any explanation of that aspect?
Thanks, siun. I’m still wondering how the supervisors will vote on this.
If he wants some he has tooo :>)
They’ll vote for Blackwater. Their lives depend on it.
Negroponte should be sharing a cell with Ari Fleischer and Elliot Abrams.
Why aren’t these traitors in jail?
Victoria Secret’s ad … losing sight in both eyes … *g*
Biodun: back attcha.
The trial accounts made it sound like the judge felt they were entering irrelevant material into the case by raising Blackwater’s behavior in Iraq.
Having been involved with some similar cases in CT, usually protestors can get this in - appealing to international law, etc.
From the Scahill piece:
Why do the SB announcers wear those silly headsets? A simple earpice & lapel mike works just as well.
Karl Rove should be in the cell next to Fleischer, Abrams & Negroponte as well.
Hey, that was the best ad during that break.
Amp?
Big Ben singing?
Teddy … to this day, the fact that Abrams and Negroponte walk free astonishes me.
OT,
Move on sent email with this video in it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY&3
this man is inspiring a lot of people to believe that he can change this nation from the course it is on.
It’s all about hope.
… something about men with … ahem … large devices … *g*
When the only people in our government that talk about respecting the rule of law are labeled “outsider” and “maverick” - you have a very basic problem with your government.
Suspected it had to be something like that, but it’s not my gender’s place to make it explicit.
Lahoma and I would like to suggest that those of you who will be going to the voting booths day after tomorrow offer to give rides to those who might otherwise not be able to make it. We have taken Tuesday off from work to do that. We will transporting about 35 folks each that day. And we don’t ask who they will be voting for. We will do the same next November. ;0)
Hope & $2 gets you a ride on NYC subway.
We can argue all day about substance, Obama is generating interest unlike anything I’ve ever seen in politics …
Back ground noise
Who’s he voting for?
Tuesday may be one step for personkind. November will put us back on the road to freedom. Vote Democratic. Please.
We will vote for Senator Clinton or Senator Obama. Come November.
My mom sent me quite a note tonight … talking about how inspired she was by the women speaking for Obama today and saying something is in the air and this is “definitely different” … he’s inspired a lot of folks.
You’re so sweet to ask. If we talk about politics once, we’d never talk again. So I haven’t a clue.
As much as I denigrate my son’s politics, he’s no dummy, and I imagine he’s not happy about his choices. He now lives in TX, so I have no idea when voting is there.
I am commenting on what is appeal is so some many people. It is not that he has issued a laundry list of programs. But he seems to be inspiring people that change needs to be made and he is the agent for it.
Look, that’s not macho enough…ear pieces and all that..Are you a Giants fan? Looks like they’re going down.
Our cable just cut out.
No kidding
Aren’t they in sound proof booth? And the background noise we hear comes from the mics outside the booth?
We’ve been inundated with GOTV for Obama at our house. A young female precinct captain knocked on our door in the pouring rain yesterday morning, asking if we knew where to vote and if we’d like to vote for Obama. Previously, I’d been e-vited to rallies with Ted Kennedy (in Oakland) and John Kerry (in SanFran). Later yesterday, I got an e-vite to the Michelle Obama rally at UCLA this afternoon. And the fiance has gotten at least two calls from earnest young people eager to share their stories about working hard to get Iowans to the caucuses last month.
It’s a full court Obama press around here.
David Tyree of the Giants just made a most amazing catch on the 24 - 50 seconds remaining to make the winning touchdown.
Ok, back on now.
I’m not a fan of any pro sport or team, but tuned in after C-SPAN2 started showing things I’d already seen.
Obama is a smart man and if he is in the office, he may really rise to the occasion and lead the nation back to a democracy of, for and by the people. But he needs a congress and courts who will make the laws for that.
So what do you have for internet?
NY touchdown…upset in the making. My my…
You know, I’m thinking of getting our bargaining team to allow working the polls the same as jury duty. Free to participate. Poll workers are paid more than substitute teachers, so the money could go back to the district. No harm, no foul.
Biodun - you spoke too soon.
GIANTS WIN WITH 35 - 35 seconds before clock runs out. Woo Hoo Manning.
16 to 14 - hell of a save.
Um, not yet.
giant touchdowm
(damn … damn)
Goodnight all you patriots. We have to get up early, as usual and go to work tomorrow. We are so lucky to have jobs we love. Sweet dreams folks.
okk and Lahoma
Roadrunner - bundled.
We’re not happy, but we don’t have much choice around here.
35 seconds, 3 time outs left …
.35 remaining..bye bye Pats…It’s been real, as we used to say in the 1960s.
G’nite to you both…
I sense that people are disturbed by Hill not coming clean on her Iraq vote and the contradiction that she has 30 yrs of experience and in those 30 years we have lost a lot of ground. Some experience to put on your resume.
Bush proved that an idiot can be president. So that qualifies almost anyone in the country.
If Obama is not an ego maniac and listens to people, such as Edwards, or Dennis, we might see some serious changes. If he will really listen.
Si se puede.
uh oh - game not quite over with 29 seconds remaining with 3 time outs remaining.
But roadrunner is cable & you said your cable went down.
17-14…
Nite Kiddo
Beddy-bye…
SanderO - Are you suggesting Dennis for Secretary of Interior? :O
Good night kiddo & lahoma.
Nope. Denis has to Secy of Peace.
It’s all run through TimeWarner. We’ve had one drop without losing phone/TV/internet before. It really sux.
There were a couple of groups on Castro streetcorners for Hillary and Obama this afternoon. I have to say, the Clinton people didn’t screen their folks very well. Their enthusiasm was a little, um, off-putting and abrasive, to say the least.