BLACKWATER : GLOBAL THREAT

After $1.3 billion in government contracts and controversy over the killing of innocent Iraqi civilians, Blackwater Worldwide is moving on. The powerful military corporation has no plans to slow down after what has been an extraordinarily profitable decade.

"The greatest threat to our world and its peace comes from those who want war, who prepare for it, and who, by holding out vague promises of future peace or by instilling fear of foreign aggression, try to make us accomplices to their plans." - Hermann Hesse

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• blackwater
• mercenaries
• CIA
• Bush
• Cheney
• Clinton
• war
• GOP

[JFWilliam]

Jeremy Scahill Wins Izzy Award for Special Achievement in Independent Media

The Izzy Award is named after legendary maverick journalist I.F. Stone, who launched I.F. Stone Weekly in 1953 and exposed government deception, McCarthyism and racial bigotry. In announcing the award, the Park Center for Independent Media (PCIM) at Ithaca College cited Jeremy for persistence, independence and journalistic courage in exposing military contractor abuses and human rights abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[JFWilliam]

Blackwater is, and has been from the onset, a private army or extension of the CIA. An army that has been implicated in killing civilians, bombing mosques, torture, smuggling weapons, dressing up as aid workers, CIA Raids, and even running child prostitution rings only to be unsuccessful at paying off Iraqi officials in an attempt to cover up their crimes.

Republicans left office armed and dangerous.

[JFWilliam]

Allowing the CIA, the masters of overthrowing Governments and staging coups to have it's own private army, stationed in training facilities on American soil has got to be the greatest threat to liberty America has seen in recent years.

What we really see here is a covert, military backed force, circumventing the oversight and constitutional authority of our elected officials in congress, and is shaping up to be one of the biggest scandals of the decade.

[rjm4jmc]

Why is Obama using Blackwater? Because they both hold the constitution in contempt and seek to "Control" those they cannot coerce. They have both proven they're willingness if not eagerness to ignor the constitution(Katrina and Stimulus/Bailout/Healthcare/Ca­p&Tax). Seems like what's bad for America is good business for Blackwater and Obama.

[JFWilliam]

As barbarically unnecessary and costly as Blackwater is, the media has tried to dismiss a lot of these reports as just another one of Dick Cheney's Frankenstein monster hold overs from the Bush administration that is slowly being dismantled. Unfortunately, Obama has also been utilizing the ever-eager Blackwater special operatives for the Pakistani drone program that has been an absolute PR disaster due to the civilian casualties that stain headlines on a weekly basis.

[JFWilliam]

Blackwater Said to Pursue Bribes to Iraq After 17 Died

NY TIMES / WASHINGTON — Top executives at Blackwater Worldwide authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support after a September 2007 episode in which Blackwater security guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, according to former company officials.

[BadBunnyRides]

"The U.S. Marine Corps' investigation of the February death of a Westville Marine in Afghanistan concludes that he was fatally shot by an Afghan security contractor hired by an Afghan company" Yeah, pulling out the professionals and letting in those who hire TAXI Drivers hooked on Opium was a great idea. These "new" companys have killed more civilians in one month then all the rest combined....great move.

[JFWilliam]

Why Is Obama Still Using Blackwater?

On the second anniversary of the single worst massacre of Iraqi civilians committed by a private force since the US invasion, President Obama should be forced to explain to the American people and the people of Iraq and Afghanistan why he continues to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to this company and why he permits them to remain on the ground, representing the United States in these countries.

[JFWilliam]

Federal Prosecutors Say Blackwater 'Specifically Intended to Kill' Civilians

The US governments allegations back-up the explosive testimony of two former Blackwater employees. Govt says Blackwater shot Iraqis as payback for 9/11

It is also significant that federal prosecutors reject any suggestion by Blackwater or the defendants in this case that the men at Nisour Square acted in self-defense in response to an attack by insurgent, as Blackwater alleged from day one.

[JFWilliam]

Blackwater held a $1.2 billion contract for Iraq, where it employed 845 men.

Private security guards working for firms like Blackwater and Dyncorp were earning up to $1,222 a day or $445,000 a year. By contrast, an Army sergeant earned $140 to $190 a day in pay and benefits, a total of $51,100 to $69,350 a year.

Since U.S. taxpayers are underwriting private soldiers' paychecks, where's the savings? It is money from taxpayer's pockets that has made these shadow armies great.