...companies wishing to do business in Iraq should pay for the mercenaries not the US government - the occupation could then be financed through a moderate inflation of prices

really privatize it

This article by Naomi Wolf includes Blackwater as part of her 10 steps to a Facist America - I'm surprised actually that no-one here has written about the piece, it seems fairly contentious to say the least and I'd be interested to see some opinions on it.

From what I have heard and read of Blackwater they do amount to a very large and very, very, very well-armed private army out there somewhere in the woods, owing much of their current prosperity, to the current War on Terror.

Is that legal in the USA? I guess it must be, but if someone on the right did wanted to attempt a military coup (not that I believe that to be likely) they already have their troops in place.

Folks on this site are almost all right wing rednecks--they aren't going to have anything to say about Naomi Klein. They do not read anyone on the Left--ever.

Blackwater: Murder, Inc.

YOUR tax dollars at work.

All the perfumes of Arabia....

Wrong Naomi Moonraven.

I thought the idea might infuriate conservatives so much that they would wish to debunk it - but then I don't know if it's even had much exposure in the USA.

My tax dollar is a tax pound, so it's only British violence I pay for.

On progressive sites such as Common Dreams Klein is always reprinted.

She is also reprinted here in Mexico--in Spanish--in La Jornada.

The folks on this site are not conservatives--they are redneck rubes. They wouldn't be able to spot an actual ideology if it hit them right between the butt cheeks.

Wow. Offensive, ill-informed and mindlessly anti-capitalist all at the same time. A new low for Ash and that's really saying something.

Mindlessly anti-capitalist is an oxymoron--only capitalists are mindless.

[Personal attack deleted by Comments Editor]

Colin, Moon,

Don't fall over Moon, but I read Wolf's article. I found it excellent and revealing.

B-tone

We offer mexican immigrants citizenship and salary to join the military. Doesn't that make them Mercenaries too? For that matter we pay most of the expenses of the Polish army forces in Iraq so they are mercenaries too, right?

And i'm still not getting the murder claim. They shot some terrorists and were cleared by a review board.. This is another bogus smear campaign. It gets dull.

From the accounts I've read so far it sounds like the Blackwater guys started shooting with no provocation and then continued shooting until they had killed some more citizens.

Yes, the review report was titled "A Whitewash for Blackwater."

Totally balanced and objective.

B-tone

What is there to comment on? It's lame left wing propaganda put out by bitter idiots who attack the US system because in a competitive environment they're complete and utter failures. Welcome to their pity party; misery loves company.

Doug, what are you the spokesman for the the most privileged class ever to exist in the entire fucking world?

Doug Hunter, what you--white, male, protestant?

95% of corporate wealth, 80% of political offices held by white, male, protestants.

Coincidence?

You had no help at all getting where you are Doug. History wasn't kind to you. Fucking competitive environment.

I believe Doug is the spokesman for an even rarer group, people with half a brain whose minds aren't bizarrely warped by partisan propaganda.

I do love Blackwater, though. Wish it was publicly traded. I'd upgrade my KBR stock for Blackwater in an instant.

Dave

I agree with the half a brain part.

Half a brain being better than none.

Dave

"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."

This war thus far, has extruded 2.2 million Iraqis as refugees to neighboring states, mainly in Syria and Jordan causing double digit raises in their population; 2.5 million Iraqis are displaced internally in Iraq ; millions are reduced to penury, stripped of basic amenities and left to fend off militias(extremist and Blackwater kinds). Sure, Saddam is no more. Try taking that to the market and see how many eggs you can buy with that. Many of those embittered refugees will end up embracing Binladen & co. Right, left or center, if any of us American morons believe this war is good in the long run, we are so mistaken. On the positive side of things, maybe it will be a good enough reason for Jenna to start another Gulf War when these refugee kids are contemplating a strike years down the line.

Blackwater's behavior is a natural progression of the Bush-Cheney ideologue : Have no brains, am trigger happy, will shoot before my iota of grey matter can fathom, sometimes even at friends (Iraqis and hunting partners alike :) )

"...2.5 million Iraqis are displaced internally in Iraq ; millions are reduced to penury, stripped of basic amenities and left to fend off militias..."

This is of zero interest to the powers that be.

"Many of those embittered refugees will end up embracing Binladen & co. Right, left or center..."

This is of more interest. Who knows, it might even serve as a useful circumstance in the future.

Obviously, Iraq (read practice for Iran) wasn't easy as was planned.

The point is to control the oil in the middle east. Fungibility is not going to be as relevant as the ability to both control the reserves and reap the profit. When you have China and India whose demand will become huge, you can't have countries like Iran (who will be in a position to lock us out--making deals with China and India and controlling the oil production) sitting on oil that you need.

We can't have Iran acquire nuclear capabilities for the simple reason that once it does, we will have no say. We won't have the ability to just barge in on a manufactured pretext and take over.

All the money we spent and are spending could have gone to make other forms of energy more affordable. And we wouldn't have to kill people, and piss off not only Muslims, but the entire world.

"mercenary organizations like Blackwater whose soldiers, recruited from the scum of the earth -- the Stormtrooper thugs of former shady regimes in South Africa, Russia, Chile and elsewhere"

Disgusting. And dishonest.

Blackwater doesn't employ "mercenaries" or "soldiers" - they are civilians who provide security for diplomats, government officials, and others. Believe it or not, there's a difference. The security guard at your local bank isn't a "mercenary" or a "soldier" - he's a security guard. Sure, he might carry a gun, but so do police officers. Are cops "mercenaries" in your opinion?

Second, they aren't recruited from the "scum of the earth" - they are mostly retired American soldiers and Marines. Of course, as a Leftist, you probably view most American soldiers and Marines as "scum," but that doesn't make it so.

"Are Bush/Cheney raising their own private army of Mussolini-type Blackshirts or Hitler-type SS Stormtroopers?"

ROTFL! I thought the whole "Bush is Hitler" thing went out of style a few years ago...

"Bush/Cheney tried to privatize Social Security"

A lie. But then, since this is coming from someone who seems rather fond of Hugo Chávez Frías and his communist economic policies, as well as his clampdown on free speech, I probably shouldn't have expected much honesty...

"It's never too late to get fucked up on sex, drugs and rock 'n roll."

Apparently it's too late for you...

"if someone on the right did wanted to attempt a military coup"

If they "did wanted to," they would be turned back by the millions of Americans who own firearms. You know, the whole Second Amendment thing that the Left wants to essentially repeal...

"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."

Tell me, how many Jews would have been "left" in Europe had the United States not gone to "war" with Germany in WWII?

All Leftist slogans are easily refutable by actual real world evidence and common sense.

"If they did wanted to"

Whoops, sorry, bad typage! I don't believe it would be right for me to have a view on American gun ownership laws, I don't live there. I just thought the article might be of interest, that's all.

You may not be able to buy stock Dave, but you can buy the clothes at their online store

Your weaving of Milton Friedman references into your critique of the Blackwater situation indicates that you have never read a single word written by Friedman, let alone understand what he truly stood for.

"Of course, as a Leftist, you probably view most American soldiers and Marines as "scum," but that doesn't make it so."

So as a Rightist who prefers to stay home while sending American soldiers and Marines over to fight your battles for you, and then compares being killed in combat to traffic fatalities, you think you're better...?

It seems to be part of the Naomi Klein argument of Shock Capitalism Gator.

What did Friedman stand for? From what I have read (very little) it's basically free markets and privatisation with as small a state as is possible.

The legacy of Bush/Chaney & the Neocons:

The ends they seek justify any means they want to use.

They trivialize our ideals, attack our traditions of government of, by, and for the people, and corrupt our rule of law.

Their Big Lie is claiming--like every despot--that all their actions are for our own good.

We may or may not be able to repair the damage they've caused.

"What did Friedman stand for?"

Why, Friedman stands for Freedom To Choose, of course.

You would have Freedom To Choose among various manufacturers of light bulbs, for example.

That is, after the industrialists exercise their Freedom To Choose how to organize their monopolies, and after they've exercised their Freedom To Choose which government officials to bribe, and they exercise their FTC to exclude competitors, etc.

Get it?

You wouldn't need to bribe government officials if government didn't have it's nose in everything. The most regulated industries (gaming, pharmaceuticals, energy/utilities) are the most stagnant and corrupt, the less regulated industries (like the internet/technologies) are breeding grounds for new ideas, wealth and job creation, and the real drivers of our economy.

Anyway, at least Friedman stands for something all your precious leftist agitators have is hate of capitalism/freedom and whining about how brainwashed losers among their ranks can't compete in a free market.

Oh, and Cindy, thanks for bringing sex, race, and religion into the conversation. It really serves to prove my point about the whiny, excuse making types that so often reside on the left of the political spectrum. If that's all you got it's pretty weak.

Yeah, you're right, bliffle.

We should immediately pass legislation nationalizing all industry and let the government (the one that can't deliver the mail, protect the borders, maintain the highways and bridges, rebuild New Orleans, or win a war) run everything.

Of course, that might put a few million worker drones out of work and on the government dole, but we can always raise taxes on those evil industrialists. Oh wait, they don't have anything left to tax. OK raise taxes on the government-run industry. Oh wait, we're the government. OK, we'll just print more money.

Yeah, that'll do it.

"The most regulated industries (gaming, pharmaceuticals, energy/utilities) are the most stagnant and corrupt, the less regulated industries (like the internet/technologies) are breeding grounds for new ideas, wealth and job creation, and the real drivers of our economy."

VERY good point, Doug.

Doug-

You speak as if there could possibly be a meaningful discussion about why and how people operate outside the context of history.

I don't live in the past, I suppose it's one of those 'priviledges' you speak of. Do feel free to vent about how things used to be though. I promise I'll feel all bad and guilty inside.

Lee Richards demonstrates a fundamental logical fallacy, the assumption that because one thing is wrong doing the opposite is somehow automatically right.

The truth is that one thing being bad does not automatically guarantee that the opposite course or any alternative is automatically better.

The Bush administration may have fucked up in various ways, but that does NOT mean that socialism and anti-capitalism are automatically good. They can still be as bad or worse in their own way.

dave

"The Bush administration may have fucked up in various ways, but that does NOT mean that socialism and anti-capitalism are automatically good."

Are those REALLy the only alternatives?

How about honest capitalism that isn't allowed to openly bribe governments through lobbyists?

How dreary if those are the only alternatives. Is that really the limit of your imagination and reason?

Doug from Disneyland-

I'm not talking about the history as in my own personal history or in the sense of "the good old days."

I'm talking about History. As in, the history of our government, the history of our culture, the history of our world and our civilization. You know, the information that we look at to make sense of the present.

Judging by the breadth of your view on poverty (which seems to be limited to survey of your immediate neighborhood), my guess is that history, for you, goes back as far as whatever was on TV during the past week.

Talking with you gives me the sense of diving from a height into a goldfish pond.

Or maybe you are a kid, which would explain a lot.

If the rhetoric in this overheated but interesting article, and in the appalling, name-calling comments it has generated [on both sides], were turned down a couple of notches, a useful discussion might actually occur.

Instead, we get:
"Bush/Cheney raising their own private army of Mussolini-type Blackshirts" [plus irrelevancies about Milton Friedman]

"Folks on this site are almost all right wing rednecks"

"Offensive, ill-informed and mindlessly anti-capitalist "

"another bogus smear campaign"

"lame left wing propaganda put out by bitter idiots"

"the most privileged class ever to exist in the entire fucking world" [even the articulate Cindy D got caught up in the storm!]

"an even rarer group, people with half a brain whose minds aren't bizarrely warped by partisan propaganda." [comparing Doug Hunter favorably to Cindy! ludicrous!]

"the whole Second Amendment thing that the Left wants to essentially repeal..." [massively irrelevant, from someone who calls other people's opinions 'propaganda']

Whether Blackwater are just nice security guards with drinking problems, or potential blackshirt militias, the PR disaster from this recent incident has been severe enough for Condi Rice to get very publicly involved in damage control. It's pretty awful stuff, and it deserves more than a yawn from the rightists on here [and better reasoning and comparisons from those on the left]. In other words, it's definitely important enough to talk about.

So say something useful. Possible?

#2 --Colin

From what I have heard and read of Blackwater they do amount to a very large and very, very, very well-armed private army out there somewhere in the woods, owing much of their current prosperity, to the current War on Terror.

Is that legal in the USA?

Colin, it is not only legal, American history details the contributions of private contractors in the development of our Nation.

Examples include the Jamestown, Plymouth, and Massachusetts Bay colonies; all started as private investment endeavors whose security was provided by private military companies (PMCs) also known as security contractors.

Across the street from the White House is Lafayette Park; on its four corners stand statues of Lafayette, Von Steuben, Rochambeau, and Kosciusko. All were foreign professional military contract officers that came here to help build and develop the capacity of the Continental Army. The base of one of the statues bears the inscription: "He gave military training and discipline to the citizen soldiers who achieved the independence of the United States."

#4 -- Colin

Naomi Wolf - Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

It is always right to question government, to hold it accountable for its actions for preserving our freedoms and individual rights.

Naomi appears to try to do just that with her essay. Indeed the reasoning behind her concern is where she appears so noble. These noble concerns relate to the failed governments that have taken on the 10 steps she outlines with have complete disasterus effects on human rights, freedoms of the press, the right to organize and petition the government, the right to an life, liberty and the pursuit of open market ecomomy for a better life and happiness.

At face value, the case being made by Naomi is presented as admirable in this regard, but a closer look reveals her own agenda from the far left perspective by failing to apply the "single standard" to all those what-a-be 10 steppers, which the US in not (althogh is it right to question). This failure of Naomi to apply the one standard for all practiceing "10 steppers marks a falling short in openness and balance, it alos brings her intellectual honesty into question.

Naomi starts out with.......

From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all

First of all, making any comparison to Hitler of any western democracy, marks a glaring lack of comprehension of the once German Third Reich.

Second, to put Pinochet next to Hitler, and leave Castro and Chavez utterly absent in her assessment, indecates she is disclosing her acceptance of these other 10 steppers as many on the left do. There is no other reason for her to leave them out. This then casts suspicion on the intellectual foundation of her argument.

So let's MoveOn and take a look at Pinochet, Castro, and Chavez.

Pinochet was a dictator and he had his hands in torture and murder. But Pinochet, unlike Hitler and Castro, was not inebriated nor addicted to his own power and thus turned the country back over to free elections willingly and peacefully and stepped down as the country recovered economically. Today Chile, an open liberal democratic society, leads all of Latin America it economic growth and stability and it is currently internationally rated as one of the top three countries in the world for foreign investment.

Castro on the other hand, who Naomi dose not mention for reasons of her own, is still a living breathing dictator who forged the Cuban closed society on torture and murder and by employing all of the 10 steps she points out. He maintains his iron hold on Cuba to this very day by continuing to fully employ this same 10 steps.

Additonally, and in direct contrast to Pinochet, Castro promised the country free and open election when he came into power, then shortly after he reneged on that promise to the Cuban people and nationalized everything, even his mothers farm which she never forgave him for.

Cuba has been in the toilet ever since and has been living on handouts the past 50 years. At least on the bright side you could say that Castor has the world's greatest collation of old cars, something Naomi must find heartening.

Naomi also fails to mention Hugo Chavez, who is in the process of closing down an open society right in front of our eyes. Based on the Naomi step scale, Chavez has already completed 8 of the 10 steps that no one here on BC could successfully argue against. And if her premise is right, Chavez will have the last 2 coming to a theater near you soon.

Chile earned their economic standing in an open and free market economy from a right wing foundation. A reality that Hugo Chavez surly scratches his head over on how to deal with this living thriving successful democracy in his back yard.

Unlike Chile, Chavez will be nationlalizing everything and will have to buy Venezuels ecconomic recovery using his huge capitalistic profits from oil sales. A grand plan by an anti-capitalist buying his revolution with capitalist profits.

If alternative fuels sources are found to greatly reduce oil demand, Venezuela goes broke in a New York minute, Cuba starts looking for other hand outs, and Chile cashing in on the new fuel technologies.

Naomi is right to point out the ten steps, but the left enjoys the appearance of intellectualizing openly and honestly on realities, but instead they actually compartmentalize their ideologies in to agendas that are not open at all.

I think Naomi in more into making money off her books written for her leftest readers then she is in brideing the divide in a nation that needs bridges.

If the left wants the reality of being taken seriously by the majority of all Americans then they must deal with reality in their discussions. Otherwise they will continue to call themselves into question on the sincerity on their intellectual honesty.

Colin, it is not only legal, American history details the contributions of private contractors in the development of our Nation.

Not only that, but we've used private auxiliaries to supplement our military since the Revolutionary war. I'm writing an article on this and the Blackwater situation, but the key thing is that by all appearance Blackwater goes beyond just being mercenaries, to have the best interests of the US at heart - far more so than the internationalists and socialists like Adam Ash and Naomi Wolf. They also do a pretty damned good job of what they're hired for.

Dave

the question in this case however is who is supplementing whom - ?

replace the US military with a privatized force...and privatize the funding while your at it

Blackwater, hmm, it sounds so mysterious, and interesting. Where did the name come from?

I find myself both agreeing and disagreeing with it. The disagreeing part being why and how much of our tax money is being paid to them to do what our military is suppose to be doing anyway?

Excellent article about Blackwater founder Erik Prince in today's NY Times. It also covers Prince's father's involvement with conservative Christian causes. Here's the best bit:

"I think that he thinks he is like Bruce Wayne in Batman," said Robert Young Pelton, the author of "Licensed to Kill" (Crown Publishing Group), a book on contractors in Iraq, who is one of the few journalists to have interviewed Mr. Prince extensively. "Bruce Wayne lives in a mansion and then at night he is out in the bat cave with the Batmobile. And that is Erik. I think he is conflicted."

Whether Blackwater "does a damn good job," as Dave claims, or are lawless thugs, as apparently at least some are sometimes, they ought to be covered by some kind of laws, eh? But up until now, they have been exempt from Iraqi law [by order of Paul Bremer] and it's not clear what US laws apply in cases where they shoot at the wrong people [deliberately or not]. That's the reason Condi Rice and even Republicans in congress are rushing to correct the situation with oversight and regulation.

For Dave and others to paper over this as irrelevant is offensive...but all too typical. After all, it's only a few Iraqis that got killed, right? No casualties that actually matter. And wrapping the utterly profit-driven Blackwater in the American flag, with stories of Lafayette, is laughable. You can do better.

It's difficult for me to discuss what details may be acceptable within a war that is unacceptable. But here are the arguments I find compelling.

Private security in itself is not something I have a problem with if Senator Claire McCaskill's points are valid. McCaskill, who was escorted by Blackwater recently, says the contractors are used because military personnel would be spread too thin if they took on the security detail. If what she says is true, I would prefer private security over any possibility of a draft.

She also said, "...Blackwater's actions could be seen as 'unseemly' if the agents were not accountable to anybody." Unseemly--the political euphemism for reprehensible.

That is the other issue--accountability. From the same article:

"The House has approved a bill making all government contractors accountable for their actions under U-S law, even if the actions take place outside the country. The bill passed 389-30 although it is strongly opposed by the Bush administration."

The fact that Blackwater has been operating outside the law has given them license to kill civilians. That the bill passed is a relief.

I will leave off the quotes from Iraqi citizens whose accounts seem credible to me. And their position seems supported by this quote from the Washington Post:

"Separately, a U.S. official familiar with the investigation said that participants in the shooting have reported that at least one of the Blackwater guards drew a weapon on his colleagues and screamed for them to 'stop shooting.' This account suggested that there was some effort to curb the shooting, with at least one Blackwater guard believing it had spiraled out of control. 'Stop shooting -- those are the words that we're hearing were used,' the official said."

The fact that Bush was opposed to making private security accountable under U.S. law is revealing.

Anything Bush opposes automatically renders it telling as being worthwhile at least to think about. The only things that bastard thug doesn't oppose are increasing his own power and making his own power unlimited.

Thanks nancy for highlighting the nuance of the lefts arguments. Ignoring facts or evidence and replacing them with knee jerk Bush = Devil, exactly what your puppetmasters want you to do.

"The disagreeing part being why and how much of our tax money is being paid to them to do what our military is suppose to be doing anyway?"

I suppose we must have private firms to perform the deeds that the American media & friends will not allow our American military soldiers to do.

No matter how you rubes slice and dice it--nor how much Texas barbecue sauce out of the bottle you pour on top of it, this bullshit, murder and mayhem is being financed by YOU.

I fail to see what Hugo Chavez has to do with anyof this--and let me tell you he is completely uncoerned about anything in Chile.

Fucking nightmare, that place--you can't even take public transportation anymore because it was privatized to a group of thieves who sunstituted Lionel toy trains for subway cars.

And the second highest level of inequality in distribution of weath in SA--right after Brasil.

Meanwhile, Venezuela has the second highest level of development in the world.

And, a day early for the 40th anniversary of themurder of Che Guevara: Hasta la victoria siempre--cabrones.

Doug -
Answering each and every post you respond to by calling it partisan, while at the same time repetitively hawking your own partisan platitudes (examples: "whiny, excuse making types that so often reside on the left of the political spectrum..." "Ignoring facts or evidence and replacing them with knee jerk Bush = Devil") gets us exactly nowhere.

If you have something meaningful to say on the topic at hand, do tell.

The idea that Blackwater is 'unaccountable' here is an opportunistic fiction. There are specific provisions under the Geneva Accords covering the behavior, conduct and treatment of mercenaries. There is international law and there are international courts which could try not only the men involved, but their superiors and even Erik Prince. Hell, they could try them in absentia as they have done with others.

As for the incident in question, no argument from me that it's excusable. Those involved should obviously be punished for it. But think for a second about the number of mercenaries in Iraq (almost as many as regular soldiers) and the relative numbers of such incidents. It appears that the mercenaries are, if anything, LESS likely to commit atrocities or make mistakes and kill the wrong people than regular soldiers are.

Then there's the matter of the cost. The majority of these mercenaries are being paid for with funds from outside the government or at least outside of the military budget. What's more, the US government is not directly responsible for a lot of their expenses so the cost per man in the field is often lower with mercenaries than it is with our soldiers. And let's not forget as someone pointed out earlier that the use of private auxiliaries reduces the need for a draft and putting additional soldiers at risk. And finally, a lot of these guys are our army veterans who are getting paid a decent wage for their work because of their military experience, something that they never had when they worked for the military.

Dave

Published on Monday, October 8, 2007 by the New York Times

Blackwater Shootings 'Murder,' Iraq Says
by James Glanz / Alissa J. Rubin

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi prime minister's office said Sunday that the government's investigation had determined that Blackwater USA private security guards who shot Iraqi civilians three weeks ago in a Baghdad square sprayed gunfire in nearly every direction, committed "deliberate murder" and should be punished accordingly....

moonraven, I see you're online (or were 15 minutes ago). Be interested to see your thoughts on the latest couple of comments posted on the Chavez/education thread...

Meanwhile, recent documents reveal, even as they were denying it, the admin was authorizing torture.

Ace reporter Kati Couric reported that....airplane tickets were going up!

Not good news for the bird addicted to flying, bliffle.

Speaking of which, I should be packing my bag instead of shitting around with you punks on BC.

[Personal attack deleted by Comments Editor]

1. I was ASKED on this thread to respond to the bogus posts on the Chavez thread.

2. I am going to the US--so will definitely NOT be spreading goodwill. You [Personal attack deleted by Comments Editor] deserves NOTHING but bad will--and bad everything else.

Even the Canadian dollar is booming compared to your puny currency.

I was ASKED on this thread to respond to the bogus posts on the Chavez thread.

So respond there rather than posting 5 personal attacks here that Chris had to delete.

dave

Defense Secretary Robert Gates to Congress regarding private security contractors:

"My concern is whether there has been sufficient accountability and oversight."

"...his press secretary, Geoff Morrell, said Gates has received some preliminary answers to his initial questions about contracting in Iraq.

"Those answers, at least when it comes to the oversight component, have not been satisfactory," Morrell said.

Henry Waxman, Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and other members of the committee on Blackwater:

'Short' on standards

'Unaccountable'

A drunk Blackwater security guard killed the Iraqi Vice President's bodyguard and was flown out of Iraq without facing any charges.

"Mr Waxman's staff produced a scathing report on Monday that released details of several incidents involving Iraqi casualties, in which Blackwater employees had fired first on 163 out of 195 occasions.

In the majority of cases, the guards fired their weapons from moving vehicles without stopping to count the dead or assist the wounded, the report said."

Blackwater has been paid over $1 Billion in government contracts since 2001.

No matter how you slice it...if they are not being held accountable. They are Ipso facto not accountable.

Maybe the defense secretary and the Congress members are engaging in "opportunistic fiction" because they are left-wing international socialists.

"Even the Canadian dollar is booming compared to your puny currency."

Seems strange that you would gloat about that since your pension is obviously dollar-denominated, making it worth fewer pesos every day.

#55: Moonraven, if you're going to cite the Canadian dollar as a means to belittle Americans I hope you have some knowledge as to why the Canadian dollar is rising. Tying a rise in a currency to nationalism is a fool's game.

As if a weak U.S. dollar is a sign of "weakness."

Macchiavelli was no fan of mercenaries: "He who holds his State by means of mercenary troops can never be solidly or securely seated. For such troops are disunited, ambitious, insubordinate, treacherous, insolent among friends, cowardly before foes, and without fear of God or faith with man. Whenever they are attacked defeat follows; so that in peace you are plundered by them, in war by your enemies. And this because they have no tie or motive to keep them in the field beyond their paltry pay."

And

"AUXILIARIES, which are the other useless arm, are employed when a prince is called in with his forces to aid and defend..."

Now of course, how this applies to fighting terrorism in today's context is subject to debate.

Doug, my estimation of Bush's character (or lack thereof) isn't formulated by any "puppetmasters", but by the scumbag himself. There are plenty of GOPs I hold as high as I hold any Dem (which, actually, is pretty low, all told). In a nutshell I've come to the conclusion ALL politicians need to be eradicated - along with (as Ruvy calls them) their special interests masters. I am an equal-opportunity politician-loather.

Today comes news of more Black Deeds by the Blackguards at the aptly named Blackwater: two innocent women shot to death in their car. Without provocation.

More infamy and calumny to come down on our heads because of these irresponsible maniacs.

And, incidentally, we've given the lie to the fiction that the Iraqi Maliki government is free of US domination: Bush revoked Malikis demand to remove Blackwater.

Of course, nobody in Blackwater (nobody important anyhow) will be held accountable.

Just as the life failure who appointed them, George W. Bush, has never been held accountable for anything in his misspent life.

Isn't it about time we all hold him responsible?

Has it been confirmed that the guards were Blackwater employees? The report I read said that the company hadn't been named.

Oh great! Do we have even more cowboys in Iraq spraying bullets in all directions?

This is not the way to Win Hearts And Minds.

Dave,

I will do whatever I damn please. You are not the owner of this site. You don't like what I write--have me banned, you hypocrtical free speech advocate.

Dr. D, there are about a half-dozen mercenary groups operating in Iraq, and most of them are not up to the standards of Blackwater. It could very well be one of those other groups.

Dave

#61 -- October 9, 2007 @ 11:38AM -- bliffle

"Just as the life failure who appointed them, George W. Bush, has never been held accountable for anything in his misspent life.

Isn't it about time we all hold him responsible?"

Maybe so bliffle, but lets start with you first.

bliffle sez......"Today comes news of more Black Deeds by the Blackguards at the aptly named Blackwater: two innocent women shot to death in their car. Without provocation."

Bliffle comes to us with clear facts without any emotional biased neither ruling his reason nor effecting his judgement. bliffle was there folks, he can share the facts with us here and now. He knows every detail of what happened, who did it and exactly why.

Bliffle's experance in the combat war torne streets of Iraq, coupled with his extensive contact with the highly clever and ruthless enemy, the citizens, and the constantly unknown mixture of both, has allowed him to gain special insights in knowing that all Iraqis, with few exception, can be taken at there word when they provide any negative accusations about Americans.

He knows the Iraqis people share the same sense of responsibly for getting to the truth as he does. He has full faith in their shared GOOD WILL EFFORT!

He also knows it is completely insane to think for a minute, that the possibility exists that that Iraqis themselves could have orchestrated the killing to blame it in Americans, including these two women. Especially when the world is watching right now the Congressional hearing on other questionable killings. He knows all of the Iraqi government officials' ethical standards would never try and falsely trying influence the American people..

bliffle sez......."More infamy and calumny to come down on our heads because of these irresponsible maniacs."

Biffle knows how to drive in a 24/7 war zone and stay alive. His ability to decisively know who the enemy is, where and have the set up traps, even though they look like everybody else, he has the skills to never make a single mistake in knowing the difference between the two.

bliffle sez........"And, incidentally, we've given the lie to the fiction that the Iraqi Maliki government is free of US domination: Bush revoked Malikis demand to remove Blackwater."

Biffle is right again. He knows that even if the Iraqi government, God for bid, were to be infiltrated with Sunni or Shia militia representatives secretly backing a civil war, or secretly ordering Iraqi Sunni or Shia police to carry out kidnapping, tourter, and murder of the other, or secretly inform their militia agents when and where new Iraqi police recruits where to gather or where they lived so they could be either blown up, shot on the spot, or kidnapped, tortured to death, and their bodies dropped in piles some where the city as a warning.

Even if the government secretly and purposely dragged its feet to create killing and chaos in the streets, extending the war effort to furustrate and dishearten Americans at home as American soldger casualties mount up, even if all this craziness were to come true, biffle is right, Buch should not intervene.

"Reports today confirmed that the group involved in the recent shooting was a smaller Dubai based security company not Blackwater."

Tsk, tsk.

How inconvenient.

Both ABC and Fox News announced in their evening broadcasts that the company involved is not even American.

It's Australian.

dave sez: "...and most of them are not up to the standards of Blackwater."

Oh great! They only kill 2 civilians at a time instead of 17!

Raise high the standards!

Increase that kill-ratio.

Franco sez:

"Even if the government secretly and purposely dragged its feet to create killing and chaos in the streets, extending the war effort to furustrate and dishearten Americans at home as American soldger casualties mount up, even if all this craziness were to come true, biffle is right, Buch should not intervene."

Are you drunk! Again!

which rules out the likelihood that any of them figured they are accountable

apparently every tom, dick and harry operation out there, knows they aren't accountable

The most provocative word in the title turns out to be a red herring. Adam's big connection between Christianity and Blackwater? The founder's father donates to charity.

Erik Prince's father donated gazillions to the Family Research Council [and Focus on the Family's James Dobson gave the eulogy at his funeral]. Maybe you consider these two orgs 'charities.' I consider them nut-job political groups.

This does not mean that Erik Prince shares his father's predilections. He is described by friends as 'more of a Libertarian.' With a Bruce Wayne complex. He's fascinating and a bit of a weirdo.

Handy, I appreciate that you're clearsighted enough to differentiate between Erik Prince's motivations and those of his father.

Prince seems to be up to something much more interesting and much more revolutionary. He's found a way to do the work that the US military isn't prepared to do and that America's leadership lacks the backbone to do. By all accounts he does it very, very well and his motivation seems to be at least as much patriotism as profit.

This issue with the unfortunate civilian casualties has to be seen in context. There are almost as many mercenaries in Iraq as there are regular US soldiers, and the truth is that their record of restraint is pretty impressive. They haven't been involved in nearly as many 'unfortunate' events as the regulars, though to be fair the regular military has to do more of the high profile work.

Prince and Blackwater are fascinating. Keep your eye on them. We'll be hearing more.

Dave

Adam Ash's main opinion piece, along with many of the people posting here are taking decisively pointed attacks at both Christianity and the free enterprise system by intentionally combining them in with the evil of the monster they are trying to make Blackwater out to be.

Case in point.......

Adam Ash sez........"In other words, Blackwater is where three current strands of American Taliban-style fundamentalism meet: Chicago School free-market fundamentalism, right-wing evangelical fundamentalism, and American militarism.

Picture today's perfect three-handed US fundamentalist: he's got a Bible in one hand, Milton Friedman in the other, and a Glock in the other."

Right here in that last short sentence, Adam Ash attemmets to inciminte three important rights of the American people.

1. Right of the people to freedom of religion and the right to worshop.
2. Right of the peole to freedom of liberty and the pursuit of happiness (free enterprise being just one of those)
3. Right of the people to bare arms.

First, Blackwater is made up of some of the most highly professionally trained military personnel in the world. Go ahead and call them all the irresponsible adjectives you want and make yourself look like an idiot, I don't have to defend them, Blackwater can defend themselves.

The main issue at hand is getting lost in all of the progressive left's emotionalism and misguided agenda. The main issue is about accountability of Blackwater. How does Blackwater feel about accountablity? Erik Prince stated before Congress that Blackwater would support such accountably. Something not one poster on this thread has pointed out.

Instead, Adam Ash and the others like him are attacking the freedoms of the American people. I assert it is Adam Ash and the progressives here, not Blackwater, that poses the real threat to our county.

I assert that the efforts of Adam Ash and those who support him are trying to incriminate Christianity and free enterprise in the progressive left witch hunt of Blackwater. These assertions comes dangerously close to the very same religious persecution, and over taxations on earnings, suffered by the people of Europe, who escaped and came to establish an America free of such tyrannical thinking.

First, the freedom to worship as a Christian and to freely give money in support of Christian organizations is not illegal.

Second, making profits from a successful company, whether it's Blackwater, or Erik Prince's fathers company, or anyone else's, is not illegal.

Until those of the progressive left recognize what they are doing and how they appear, they will be meet with opposition from the people. Our forefathers took this stand before, and the overwhelming majority of the people will take that stand today.

Adam sez......."In the name of our Constitution, in the name of justice, in the name of good governance, in the name of all we hold dear -- what next, America?"

I assert that Adam Ash, and those like him, need to read and understand our Constitution along with our Bill of Rights, so they can refresh themselves on the facts (that are with out confusion) on how it guarantees us the right to freely worship, the rights to bare arms, and the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness (of which a free enterprise and profitable business would surly apply).

Adam sez... "they're a massive para-military outfit with their own helicopters, powerful enough to overthrow governments, ....they can let loose these Blackwater guys on US citizenry."

Adam, I'm glad you brought that up. The reason the second amendment exists, and the only reason it exists, is to guarantees the American people the right to bare arms to protect themselves from the tyranny and oppression of individuals or governments who would try and criminalize the freedom of worship and free enterprise. Three (3) Rights that you have tried to incriminate.

Something to think about Adam, in the name of all you hold dear, if you can, when you Dingbots fill the inside of your cerebellum and are fucked up on sex, drugs and rock 'n roll.

The right to bare arms...nah.

I think both left and right wingers should keep their upper limbs covered with appropriate clothing.

Re: Franco's impassioned Constitutional meltdown -

I can't speak with certainty for Adam or others, but I don't believe any of us who call James Dobson a nutcase and a genuinely unpleasant human being are in any way interested in interfering with Dobson practicing his religion.

But if he believes that part of his religious practice should consist of publicly attacking and defaming others, Dobson and his ilk deserve to be criticized, loudly, which is what leftist critics of fundamentalist politicos do. Then Dobson is free to return the favor, and so on.

And if we believe nutburgers like Dobson have at times exercised too much influence over government and policy, we'll complain, loudly, about that too.

This is not a constitutional crisis, but simply the free exercise of democracy.

And if anyone can convince us that Erik Prince is not a religious fanatic/fascistic creep a la Dobson, then we should certainly not conflate the two, as Adam did in this deliberately provocative piece.

[Dave's infatuation with these gunslingers is pretty disturbing, but I'll hold off on further comment until he publishes his promised love letter/article.]

they're a massive para-military outfit with their own helicopters

Adam, you left out their APCs, tanks, airplanes and warships.

Dave

Franco, in his customary incurious and unexamined way, sez" ...attacks at both Christianity and the free enterprise system by intentionally combining them..."

But of course this is exactly what most bozos masquerading as thinkers and citizens do : they confute morals and economics. Usually in order to justify their own rampages of torture and murder. Whether it's colonialists massacring the natives or street rabble guillotining the heads of the Royals.

Is it not so?

It's not a coincidence that so many Country Parsons become economic theorists fraught with ideas that, voila!, confirm their ethical predispositions!

In fact, rationalization of ethical precepts with economic hoo hah is so deeply embedded in most peoples consciousness that they are simply unable to disentangle the two. And the result is that they always lie, dissemble, falsify information and cherry pick in order to ensure that their economic analysis comes out the right ethical hole.

#91 --handyguy

handyguy,

From my understanding of what you said, no argument from me, I agree with everything throughout your post #91, except the last paragraph, which is at the heart of my previous post.

You'er last paragraph states.........."And if anyone can convince us that Erik Prince is not a religious fanatic/fascistic creep a la Dobson, then we should certainly not conflate the two, as Adam did in this deliberately provocative piece."

I assert that no one is obligated to convince you (and who ever "us" is) of anything regarding Erik Prince's personal faith, unless someone has just cause and can show he is using it in breaking the law.

Even if Erik Prince were a religious fanatic/fascistic under your interpretation of that, or Adams, you would have to show just cause that he, through his faith, is committing some crime. You have failed to do that. People are considered innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around.

Through the laws separating Church and State, what Erik Prince of Blackwater dose at work for a living, and what he pays in taxes to the State on his earnings, has to do with the State and the laws of the State, and has no bearing what so ever on what he does in his private religious life.

Your mistaken request to be convinced of his innocence of being a religious fanatic/fascistic creep belongs in another county where one is presumed guilty until proven innocent, but not here in America.

America ain't easy baby, ain't if fun!

Coming back at ya,

And if you can convince us that Erik Prince has made any indications that he wants to use his faith to criminally break the law, and or if he has made even the slightest indication that he would try and militarily take over the US government in an effort to force changes in the laws so he can force national conformity to his faith, like Muslims want to do, then you should certainly conflate the two, as Adam did in this deliberately provocative piece.

Otherwise, as the law is written, you (and who ever "us" is) are being dangerously reckless with the law by using insinuation as if they were facts that need to be argued otherwise.

This kind of thinking is dangerous, because as a man thinketh, so he is.

#93 -- bliffle

bliffle sez......."In fact, rationalization of ethical precepts with economic hoo hah is so deeply embedded in most peoples consciousness that they are simply unable to disentangle the two. And the result is that they always lie, dissemble, falsify information and cherry pick in order to ensure that their economic analysis comes out the right ethical hole."

One of the best reasons I have heard why the "big government" left progresses should be kept from incresing taxes to justify starting more programs to take care of us, because as they say, they know wants best for us.

Some excellent points here Franco. I'm waiting to see if anyone comes up with a meaningful attempt at a rebuttal.

Dave

Rebut what? his tiresome use of outworn TV sitcom catch phrases?

rebuttal to #81: calling a person a Dobsonian 'religious fanatic' and 'fascist creep' is not claiming a breach of law as Franco assumes - and presumption of innocence has no clear meaning outside the 'courtroom'...especially in light of original sin

rebuttal to #82: why worry about taxes when the 'big government' right has shown that spending is not dependent on them

Denial is not rebuttal.

And original sin? Give me a break.

Dave

...and calling my response a 'denial' doesn't make it less of a rebuttal - I avoided the overused term 'straw man argument' to describe Franco's comment

the point - gossip and presumption of guilt are pretty common in every day life and don't threaten the rule of law...at least not nearly as much as these mercenary foreign legions

....as for 'original sin' - I'm hoping that Franco will enjoy the reference as a good Christian

#85 --troll

"Rebuttal to #81 calling a person a Dobsonian 'religious fanatic' and 'fascist creep' is not claiming a breach of law as Franco assumes"

You are corredt troll, they don't. But I am not saying that they do, and no where have I said they did.

That is not the argument here, it's apparent that you have missed it. My post #81 to handyguy's post #91 #78 to my post #76, is where the heart of that argument lies if you are truly interested.

"and presumption of innocence has no clear meaning outside the 'courtroom'...especially in light of original sin"

I am really not sure what your point is troll, would you please elaborate.

Franco - having read the argument I ask: what does The Law have to do with an attack on Prince's religiosity - ?

there's nothing un-American about presuming that Prince is a toad

re 'presumption of innocence' and original sin - church dogma presumes that folks are guilty from the get go...hence the need for the Church and structured expiation

I am disagreeing with Dobson's politics, not his religion, Franco. And if Erik Prince shares his father's support for Focus on the Family et al, those are political beliefs, not religious beliefs. In any case, I can criticize Dobson [and if appropriate, Prince] without stepping on his religious freedom. Dobson certainly does more than his share of excoriating others.

I would think Dave would agree with me rather than you on this one, given his disdain for religious-political nut cases.

I actually agree with both of you. If Prince shares his father's religious views I think it's quite unappealing, but at the same time I also think that since he's being hired to provide military auxiliaries rather than teach high school or write textbooks it's largely irrelvant. Would it matter to you if the guy you hired to pave your driveway was a snake-handling jesus freak or a whirling dervish?

Dave

I bet it matters to the Muslims his employees are shooting.

#89 -- October 11, 2007 @ 11:51AM -- troll

"there's nothing un-American about presuming that Prince is a toad"

I repeat, I never said, nor even implied there was. It is not my argument.

The argument has to do with Adam Ash's opinion piece that intentionally tries to criminalize Christians and free enterprise with the evil of murder and guile by associations within a Blackwater murder witch-hunt.

This is totally unrelated to presuming that Price is a toad. He may very well be, but this is not relevant to my contention no matter how hard to try and make it seem that way.

If you choose not to recognize the clear intentional criminaliztion being asserted in Adam Ash's article Privatizing Murder, Or Blackwater: The Perfect Combo Of Christianity, Capitalism And Killing as trying to incriminate Christians and entrepreneurs as killers, then you will continue to miss the argument. If you purposely intend to miss it, that is you right, but if that is the case, go blow your denial up someone else's ass. Your done here.

"re 'presumption of innocence' and original sin - church dogma presumes that folks are guilty from the get go...hence the need for the Church and structured expiation"

True, but in America we have a separation of Church and State to protect you troll from being forced to believe in the structured expiation of the Church.

The Church exists to punch the ticket on original sin, as the State, by its own laws, and the laws of the Church, can not do that. Just in the same way the Church can not over ride the law's of the State, the State can not override the laws of the Church in this regard. For the same reasons the Jewish priests, using Pilot, tried and failed.

I am all for criminalizing Christians.

Never met one that wasn't a murderous hypocrite.

I am all for criminalizing Christians.

Never met one that wasn't a murderous hypocrite.

Wow, maybe you should think that through a little more. I can understand them all being hypocrites, but murderous? I think you're being a little rash in saying something like that.

The raven speaks moonlight into the gloomy night of life.

--- borrowing from Jean Paul Richter

Mmmm ... the joy. Do go on.

Well kids, as of an hour ago, it looks like they will get their day in court...

Iraqi families sue Blackwater in US
1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- A US rights group announced Thursday it was filing a lawsuit against private security contractor Blackwater on behalf of a survivor and the families of three victims of a deadly September 16 shootout in Baghdad.

The suit in a Washington federal court accuses Blackwater of murder and war crimes and seeks unspecified damages, the Center for Constitutional Rights said.

#90 -- handyguy

I acknowledge your point, it is rational and I agreed with it. My arument has never been on that issue.

My argument has been on Andam Ash's "accusations" that are a world apart from "disagreements"

Adam Ash recklessly cast aside the rational assertion supporting the right to make "disagreement" and he replaced that with the irrational right to make "incriminating accusations of murder".

If you can not discuss the distinction between one and the other, and why there is danger in that difference, then you and I can get now were.

Martin Lav

I bet it matters to the Muslims his employees are shooting.

So you're actually saying that dead people care about the religion of the person who killed them?

That really makes no sense at all. Are they less dead if they're killed by an animist or a Buddhist? Do their souls get sucked out if a Voodoo Houngan kills them with a magic knife?

Dave

Nalle,
I'm sure some of them were only wounded or maimed, as I doubt even the fine security guards employed by Blackwater are perfect shots. After all it's not that easy to hit a moving target, especially those that are running away from you.
....and besides since you are admittedly half-brain dead anyway, even you know that the Muslims think all the driveway pavers we've hired are whirling dervishes.

"Blackwater goes beyond just being mercenaries, to have the best interests of the US at heart - far more so than the internationalists and socialists like Adam Ash and Naomi Wolf. They also do a pretty damned good job of what they're hired for."

Nalle

How would you know what they have in their hearts or even what our best interests are? Speaking of Whirling Dervish.....

Pretty good at shooting at unarmed civilians?
What is their chain of command?

Are these hired security guards part of the troop surge numbers?

No, they're not part of the troop surge numbers. They've been there since before the surge. As for their chain of command, they do have one. They are answerable to their employers who in this case are the Department of State, who are answerable to Congress who are answerable to the people of the US.

As for shooting unarmed civilians, how do you know that to be the case? Are they guilty until proven innocent? They claim to have been fired on first.

And you can get a good idea what their motivations and interests are by reading their website and their other statements, but I'm sure actually knowing what they think is of no interest to you.

dave

MR, Blackwater has been involved in 1800 missions in Iraq and there are about 5 where anyone they were guarding or any civilian was killed or injured. I challenge you to find any other group active there with that good a record.

You certainly can't claim as good a record for your Salafi buddies. They use civilians as human shields, after all.

Dave

"There was definitely incoming small arms fire from insurgents" in the September 16 incident in Baghdad, founder and CEO Erik Prince told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "Late Edition."

There was no "deliberate violence," committed by Blackwater employees, he added.

Prince on Sunday told CNN, "In the incident reports I've seen, at least three of our armored vehicles were hit by small arms fire, incoming, and one of them damaged, which actually delayed their departure from the traffic circle while they tried to rig a tow.

"So there was definitely incoming small-arms fire from insurgents."

He added, "I guarantee our guys weren't shooting at each other."

"In Baghdad, the most dangerous city in the world, to say that it was a callous, rampant, evil action, you know, when the guys get it right 99 out of 100 times and don't have to use any force or any violence at all, I think they are doing very well," he said.

Prince called the lawsuit "politically motivated" for "media attention," and rejected the depictions of his company.

We'll see what the FBI report comes up with, but I'm confident that the kind of people we have out there are proven military professionals," Prince said.

CNN

Blackwater needs to do some more PR work to educate the US public. When people think of Mercenaries they think of the ex-foreign-legion types who were fighting in Angola and Rhodesia in the 70s. That's hardly what we're dealing with in Blackwater. It employes mostly US veterans and maintains a very high level of training and discipline. They've got their own impressive trainign facilities in South Carolina and they equip their men better than the US military does. Their Grizzly APC is much safer than a Humvee, for example.

Dave

I agree Dave.

Ya know, there is something going on in Congress right now that is really weird.

They can't halt funding of the war. So if they can ham string Blackwater and the like, it will leave the US military short handed?

Add to this, the Congress's action against Turkey which IMO could be a backdoor into slow bleeding the war if Turkey cuts off our access roots through for supplying our troops. I understand 40% of what the troops need to maintain troop levels passes through or over Turkey. Now granted, the 1915 Armenian issue needs to be address, but why right NOW?

Do you think things are that crazy up on the hill

I think the Amenian business is about the most transparent attempt to exert clumsy leverage I've ever seen. And the situation is made worse with the Turkish election. But I have to say that something needs to be done to bring the Turks in line. Chances are we're going to see a more or less autonomous Kurdish state - hell, we already have one. And a war between the Turks and the Kurds would be about the most disastrous thing that could happen right now.

Dave

Anyway, didn't Prince declare he was pulling all Blackwater guards out of Iraq?

And didn't the congressional investigators find that Blackwater initiated 80% of the gunfire exchanges they investigated?

Then, somewhere, I read that the contract average per Blackwater employee was about $445,000, which, allowing a $100k salary and 100% overhead, allows for a handsome profit for Mr. Prince.

Anyway, didn't Prince declare he was pulling all Blackwater guards out of Iraq?

I would think that would put him in breech of contract.

And didn't the congressional investigators find that Blackwater initiated 80% of the gunfire exchanges they investigated?

I didn't see a hard number on that in the report, but the report did disingenuously claim they initiated more reports than the next largest two contractors combined, while omitting the fact that Blackwater has far more men in Iraq than those two contractors combined.

Then, somewhere, I read that the contract average per Blackwater employee was about $445,000, which, allowing a $100k salary and 100% overhead, allows for a handsome profit for Mr. Prince.

And you believe that profit is evil? I actually think the profit is lower than you suggest because the overhead is likely well over $100K.

Dave

Good thing Rumsfeld cut back combat pay for US soldiers from $150/month to $75 so we can pay the Blackwater bill.

Eric Prince was interviewed by Charlie Rose and he emphasized that he sees Blackwater as a training operation, not as supplying mercenaries. So, I bet he pulls his guards out and goes back to supplying 'advisors'.

Good thing Rumsfeld cut back combat pay for US soldiers from $150/month to $75 so we can pay the Blackwater bill.

No, Bliffle. Rumsfeld increased the combat pay bonus BY $75 a mont, from $150 to $225. That's added on to normal service pay and any other special pay. And that's in addition to the $250 family separation bonus they are paid if they are deployed outside of their home base area and have a family.

The Bush administration has done more to increase military pay and benefits than any previous administration. One of the first things he did when taking office was to institute an immediate 5% pay raise for all military personnel, followed by an additional 2% per year since then.

Dave

"Rumsfeld increased the combat pay bonus BY $75 a mont, from $150 to $225."

Only after an uproar from military families. First he tried cutting combat bonus to save $150million/yr.

Blackwater is good at what they do that's for sure.
One diplomat is quoted as saying:

"all the progress we made while meeting with our Iraqi counterparts, seemed to have gone in the ditch along with all the cars that Blackwater personnel ran off the road on the way back to the airport".

Franco:

Quoting Prince as a reliable witness about his own mens performance is like Cheney quoting the New York Times to claim that Iraq was trying to acquire Yellowcake from Niger.

Gimme a break!

How's about the US Troops that actual arrived after Blackwater carnage, they claim the found no weapons, eye-witnesses reported no gun-fire and it seems that the attackers must have been rushing at the Blackwater Warriors with their cars in reverse, which would explain why their rear-windows were shot out.

Continue to peddle.....

Dave Nalle,
According to this, our contractors don't answer to the military command.


" Last week Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq war combat veteran who directs Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, sketched for me the apocalypse to come. Should Baghdad implode, our contractors, not having to answer to the military chain of command, can simply "drop their guns and go home." Vulnerable American troops could be deserted by those "who deliver their bullets and beans." "