Robert Greenwald vs. Frank Gaffney on Hardball

[MsFreedom4us]

he is a vile scumbucket!!

[dyingtolive123]

it really annoys me when these frank gaffney types duck questions an still act like they are right when they can not answer, he uses the 'these brave soldiers give their lives for us' when the issues were completely based on the top bosses making massive war profit not the soldiers. the soldiers dont really benefit from encouraging war but these guys at the top can make huge amounts without even needing to put themselves in any danger!!

[kingangis999]

Black water U.S.A (EX is what they are now called) is a killing force, the US army, Navy is the same we need are national force back not private forces, there are laws that keep army or any national force can not partake in U.S law inforcement but Blackwater does, WTF is really going on here this is aginst our laws !!!!

[bapyou]

I have the solution: Just start shooting these neo-con fucks. They're killing the rest of us just for the fuck of it ... why shouldn't we do the same?

So let's stop pussyfooting the fuck around. Just start shooting the useless fucks! What do we have to lose? Except the noose around our collective neck.

[Yoshua144]

Very interesting: Gates asking for a "Non-Compete Clause, this should be investigated with out a doubt.

[Yoshua144]

It was investigated:

Gates to Investigate Contractors in Iraq

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Presently in my opinion, Frank and the rest of these neo-con men should be investigated for all that has happened over the last 8 years and beyond.

[AtlasShruggery]

Frank Gaffney is the quintessential Republican chickenhawk.

[moctezuma112]

yeah Frank Gaffney is one of them on the list.

[elnegrobembon]

is this guy serious??? does he really think that money will not corrupt these contractors???

these people make money off of war!! they're nothing more than mercenaries! what they want is continuous war at the expense of the people..

this gaffney guy is incredible... smh..

[tommygunz05]

i love how frank mentions that we dont have the troop capacity of the 1990's, but yet we have enough "troops" through blackwater to get the job done. heres an idea what if all of the people working for blackwater were working for the gov't still. if they treated the military better with more incentive to stay in like better pay and stopped paying the private sector it would be a win win oh yeah except for the people trying to profit off the war sorry blackwater

[cwants]

there is your Bush and Mccain campaign! judgmentday will come on us from America!

[Knowgodz]

Forget keeping the US military at early 1990's levels, how about not misusing the troops by sending them into false wars.

[avatar723]

I wannna see every one of these PNAC Blood Profiteer's (Gafney, Wolfowitz, Pearle, Libby, Cheney, Kristol, Scheuneman, etc.) stock portfolios.

In a JUST country, free of Military-Industrial influence, that kind of transparency would be the law. You KNOW what you'd find there: Carlysle, Haliburton, Exxon, Boeing, General Dynamics, DynCorp, etc., etc. That would destroy their 'credibility' once and for all.

Too bad we don't live in that country.

[stama9]

I agree, getting a look at their stock portfolios would definitely be interesting. Profiteering should be minimized in a warzone. Gaffney's "helping with the war effort" explanation for all the contractors is weak and pathetic. He isn't even ashamed, and is buying his own lies. The really important question is how does the average Iraqi with a few family members dead or maimed, or forced to take refuge in a neighbouring country feel watching the profiteering taking place out of all this misery?

[pussyStarter]

Yes the US does need a larger military to keep the world save. That is way it is a good thing China is emerging as a world power, they have a huge army and they will keep us save.

[LorenzKamo]

Black Water = SS

[hmmyeah]

I do not understand why the government did not tell us about black water in the first place.

[kazooga1234]

well lets c if the government mentioned black water who would say thats a good idea

[jakatsakaprukken1234]

those questions are not fair. they are shaped in a way that favors Frank Gaffney.

it´s bullcrap

[Mystrohan]

Hmmm... I don't like Frank Gaffney, but I have to give these guys kudos - this little discussion has practically no interruptions whatsoever from either side. It's refreshing.

[mcotleur]

all that guy would do is dismiss greenwald's comments as "gobelty gook" and not actually address them, instead just saying the same thing over and over. obviously he was much less informed than greenwald

[tucanchew32]

Better be careful G.W's WAFFEN SS might come and visit you!!Good work man!!

[richardmartinezfilms]

"Golbelty Gook"?

[BaldEspresso]

It was sad to see Mr. Gaffney insist that citizens of US should be thanking Black Water, when in fact, it's the citizens' tax dollars which are overpaying for these non transparent services. A tool if I ever saw one.

[Democracy1st]

bs frank you know thats bs

[roastbeefdinner]

the vast majority of security contractors in iraq are not US citizens..they are brits, aussies, south africans, nepalese and then americans, in that order by number.

[roastbeefdinner]

total bullshit..this said "blackwater is one of the largest security forces in Iraq",...there is just under 1,000 employees of blackwater in Iraq right now!..how does that make them one of the largest contractors in Iraq, almost 95% of all contractors are truck drivers and food service personnel..get the facts straight.

[Teddyboy79]

I think he was referring to security contractors only, not to contractors in general. As far as security contractors Blackwater is the biggest company in Iraq.

[Fultron]

Anyone that uses "Golbelty Gok" in an intellectual debate is obviously not intelligent enough to participate in said discussion...Frank Gaffney is a dud.

[DonkeyofHeaven]

Frank Gaffney is a slimy spin doctor. He doesn't think that making millions in profits off the war qualifies a person as a war profiteer. What a crock of cr*p.

[eye8one2]

What is it...corporations with no tie to any nation just commerce, no rules other then to further the power of the elite. This is terrible stuff, they are recruiting soldiers from armed forces (many countries are losing their best), offering them $1k/day for corporate security, these are the worst of men and can be traced right back to the banking industry.

[SkipW]

i wonder if the privatization since ronnie-Ray-gun and Bush2 has any corelation in the Fed Deficit growing from 1 trillion$ in 1981 to 10 trillion$ in 2007, just follow the money

[rlh68]

"American Police Force" coming to a city near you :?

[temptation4life]

Blackwater + Neocons = screwed up!

[CityzenJane]

War profiteering is a crime. Skilled or not these guys are mercenaries. The right likes to change definitions.

[rolleleven]

Gobelty gok transcribed-

"The war profiteers are the heads of the corporations, it's Eric Prince, it's the head of Haliburton who made several hundred million during these people and it's this systemic problem if you believe that profit should be made during the war then I think that you raise the national security issue; who do they report to, what is their responsibility, when they're in the battle field, what is their first obligation? (continued)

[rolleleven]

Gobelty gok transcribed-

(continued) Is it to the corporation which has to make a profit or is it winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people and it's turned into a tragedy. And let me tell you this, you speak to any soldier and they will be/ tell you story after story of the toll it's taking on them and their efforts."

[rolleleven]

Gobelty gok transcribed-

Conclusion- Responsibility equals Gobelty gok

[SaintVengeance]

Gaffney... is ignorant and seems to be running scared.

[copcorona]

America is so messed up.

Americans can't be honest with themselves.

[copcorona]

I repeat, why can't they say the word mercenary?

[copcorona]

why can't they say the word mercenary?

[PhilMcKrakken]

DIE Blackwater. DIE!

[Tantegans]

omg, why does Greenwald even listen to this guy? He talks completely off topic. All this drives me nuts.

Notice how Neocons interrupt as soon as the other ones about to make a point they can't dodge?

Crazy USA

[Canamanda]

Did anyone actually watch "Iraq for Sale"?Greenwald was very compassionate in his film. I wish they had included the clip where the guy says it is a "turkey shoot" in the opening.

[hypnofan35]

Chances are, they believed they were in danger. Chances are; they got it wrong. Chances are; they did not wait to find out. War is like that: Even if they hallucinated there was an enemy there for BWs it probably seemed right to shoot first and screw the consequences. War is an amped up state of adversity where questions are not welcome. Wasn't this event inside the "green zone"?

[NY2216]

Greenwald makes an excellent point beginning at 3:25. Listen carefully. It's the truth. Gaffney's response is BS.

[Pleblian]

Did you know that two black water agents have resently pled guilty of aiding and abeitting the ememy in NC early this year which holds a max of 10 years and a $250,000 fine. They essentially sold arms to terrorist that were used against our own troops. To date they've done no time and payed no penalty saying they would testify against anyother blackwater employees charged with the same crime. This information should have been headline news but it wasn't, Why?

[Pleblian]

As you probably already know blackwater is now has been kicked out of the outlying provences of Iraq and pushed back into the green zone in Bagdad for an investigation into the murders some 11 (The number is increasing) Iraqi civilians where the Bush administration staunchly defended blackwater to keep them in place. Knowing full well that blackwater might have employees that may be aiding and abbetting the enemy, Why?

[DrakeMagnum]

Robert kept his cool really well despite Frank's constant dodging of the chance to really discuss the more important issues.

[bushputz]

A mercenary by any other name...

[agitcam]

Greenwald is a corporate tool.

[saully1966]

Your stupid.

[Jakolero247]

retard. go ahead and pay you tax dollars to a private company that does the shitty job (if you see the movie, from 2003-05, the govt was charged 1 billion for jobs not being done at all!) did the govt interfere??? nooooo!! NEOCONS ARE THE REASON THE COUNTRY IS WRONG!!!!

[Pleblian]

Oh and Frank Gaffney isn't?

[agitcam]

I made a mistake. I ment to say Gaffney is a corporate tool. I apologize to Mr. Greenwald and I thank him for his comments.

[jobson2000]

Greenwald says that privatization is a neo-con belief but it is a neo-liberal belief from way back when. The Democratic and Republican Parties are both neo-liberal believers. Neo-liberal dems are the problem.

[saully1966]

What the hell are you talking about?

[Pleblian]

explain?

[Blackheart77ce]

Remember kickbacks. More profit than you know. If you profit off of war, you're a war profiteer. Tax dollars pay to train them. Tax payers are paying profiteers, and they want us to go into debt to pay them more. Enough is enough. Blackwater down.

[getplaning]

It costs the U.S. government a lot more to hire contract employees as security guards in Iraq than to use American troops. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Baghdad overseeing more than 160,000 U.S. troops, makes roughly $180,000 a year, or about $493 a day. That comes out to less than half the fee charged by Blackwater for its senior manager of a 34-man security team.

[Oilwellian]

I wish Tweety had mentioned Frank Gaffney is president, CEO, and founder of the Center for Security Policy... a small think tank funded mainly by U.S. defense contractors. Is that gobblety gook too?

[metedude]

gaffney is a jackass fronting for the international bankers who profit from both sides of the wars they engineer

[CounterRevolutionary]

The guy with the beard is a tool.

[DelinquentFaith]

What a shame. The world must watch us in disbelief. How low will we continue to go?

[3henchmen]

wtf is gobbeldy gook? what a goon.

[donovonc]

who the hell counter arguments something with the words "gobbeldy gook"??? I would have Failed my high school speech class with that. And this guy gets paid to do it!!

[lighthammar]

huh, whenever i debate someone i'll just say "quit talking goblety gok" (and keep reiterating the same thing over again)

-and the war machine keeps going.

[ariakokoschka]

This whole debate is futile to begin with. The military equipment are produced by private contractors, food and utilities are provided by defense affiliated corporation, so why is all of sudden everyone surprised that the actual killing is being done by the corporations as well? If the war wasn't a money making of it all, then we wouldn't be spending couple of hundreds of billion dollars to beef it up every year. Come'n guys.

[jlm310]

one of those men is a skilled debater.

"thats all gobaldy guck... you're stringing together assertions."

brilliant.

[KIDiotequeA]

If the Government believes there is a significant threat to the people, it is their burden to convey that message to the people; so that we might decide whether or not we agree, that it is in our own best interest and/or and just cause. The answer is not to hire guns and pay them with our tax dollars much higher rates.  Whats the point in having a volunteer army if we'll fight the war whether we have the troops to do it with or not.

[rolleleven]

Cheney's special interests (Haliburton et al) along with all of the other neocon pond scum's special interests care not nay are willful that people of the US military and all other peoples of the world die (population control and all that) to suit their financial portfolios (read: world rule). By creating a sustainable war which escalates into a conflict which engulfs an entire region, in this case the middle east, they revive the fascism of Hitler.

[exile467]

Frank Gaffery for the "Center for Security Policy" did his job very well. And by well, I mean being nothing more than a think tank mouthpiece spouting rehearsed lines. "I do not know what to say about that, but here's the bottom line."

[TheNewYorkFloridian]

I wonder how much Blackwater paid Frank Gaffney to be their cheerleader?

[hypnofan35]

He is talking like the war is not for profit. The war is to make money; in this; all the oil in Iraq. Only Iran has more oil resources. So we can probably plan on that invasion soon.

[shrunkensimon]

Garh.. some people make me really sick. What doesn't Frank understand about contract security? Someone put a bullet in that guys head already!

[Articflame]

Sounds like a bunch of rich bastards benefiting off a bunch of ppl who can't find a better job.

[jonathanwindham]

at one point frank indicates is made up of soldiers like our men and women in uniform, and then at the next moment he refers to them as civilians and then back to soldiers and then back to civilians and so on and so fourth

what a spinmaster