Blackwater Banned In Iraq; See The Short Film That Exposes These War Profiteers

Blackwater, as you may know, has been banned from Iraq for shooting civilians. Whether this ban lasts, or this business with numerous right-wing Republican connections will prevail, is yet to be seen (sadly I would bet on the latter, as some experts on warfare already have).

Yet, if you want to really know what makes Blackwater tick, from private armies to no accountability, right-wing connections and no-bid contracts, here is a short film Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films put together. Anyone wanting to better understand these war profiteers might wanto to give it a glance:

Comments

[Collielady]

Yes, Blackwater was banned, but in the meantime, Condi has stepped in and Blackwater is again in the good graces of the Iraqi government and able to commit their crimes, business as usual (I wonder what leverage she used?).

Blackwater will eventually fulfill the police state that is being set up in this country. Katrina was their first mission, as far as we know. They were paid just under $1000 per day, per soldier, while the citizens of New Orleans couldn't get fresh water or a decent meal. Blackwater was called in to take down the looters who were trying to get a loaf of bread from the stores that were flooding.

The use of Blackwater during Katrina was illegal because the Posse Comitatus Act forbids the use of military as law enforcement in the United States. Yet, the government called in Blackwater anyway, to use against its own people. This is how the fascist neocons are setting up the citizens of this country.

In just a few short years, since the neocon adventure began in the Middle East, Blackwater has become big and powerful. As private contractors they are raking in huge amounts of our tax dollars and are expanding their training facilities in this country and their personnel. Why do you think this is?

By the way, Blackwater is owned by a wealthy, neocon Christian so there's everything to worry about.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

[macguyver]

USAtoday = 5 nukes
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/09/report-air-forc.html?csp=34

CNN = 6 nukes
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/05/loose.nukes/index.html

"It was originally reported that five nuclear warheads were transported, but officers who tipped Military Times to the incident who have asked to remain anonymous since they are not authorized to discuss the incident, have since updated that number to six."

[macguyver]

anyone else see something eerie about this + the recent B52 that flew from ND to LA with 6 nuclear warheads onboards.

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/09/marine_nuclear_B52_070904w/

they try to assure us that this was just an accident & that everything is fine because they never left american soil. but maybe THAT is the scary part of it all. with blackwater's close ties to the military, just pay off some people, load 6 nukes onto a plane & they somehow wind up missing. now your private army is a nuclear power.

=====

now onto the conspiracy theory:
airman 1st class todd blue, assigned to the unit that provided security when those nukes went missing, died while on leave 10 days later.

http://www.minot.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123067840

=====

military times says 5 nukes went missing
cnn quote military officials saying 6 nukes

there's either one missing nuke or the accounting for the warheads really sucks. in either case where is the oversight for this kind of incompentence?

[wingnutslayer]

I live in an area (Southern Maryland) that has an economy almost solely based on the defense contracting industry. Balanced opinion on the Iraq nightmare is pretty hard to come by in these parts. But even in a solidly pro-war, pro-profiteering community, Blackwater is considered by many to be an embarassing excrescence and that's saying something around here. I mean, we're used to taxpayer money just literally disappearing in the millions and shrugging our shoulders and saying Oh well, that's chicken feed, no biggie. I'm serious, one contract run by 5 competing contractors (!) was nearly ruined because the contractor responsible for accounting for expenditures could not account for 2 million dollars. Poof! Gone! Was this contractor held responsible for "misplacing" 2 million dollars? Nope, no questions will be asked when one of your vice-presidents is an ex-CIA chief, signatory of the PNAC, and one-time attorney for Ahmed Chalabi. I'm not at all surprised that a contractor that's nothing but a clearing house for mercenaries isn't held responsible for their hideous behavior. It's business as usual in the contracting world. One must hold one's nose when collecting one's paycheck.

[mosquito]

If you want to know what's going on with Blackwater read Jeremy Scahill's Book: Blackwater The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army.....

We have read the book and will be attending a local event on Blackwater next week featuring Jeremy Scahill. Blackwater is approximately 20 mins from us and we have grave concerns about them.

Buzz...Buzz...

[GhostofBillHicks]

I bet NOTHING will happen to Blackwater.They[Iraq] will not make Blackwater leave.Bet ya,any takers?

[hsmoke]

Blackwater is nothing more than extreme right-wing christian crusaders killing for there god. If they can't get you convert, they kill you. It's the evangelical thing to do.

[blutopie]

The Iraqi's call Blackwater 'the Mossad'. That's perfect - I wonder how many of these Blackwater thugs are Israeli intelligence or ex-IDF. It's widely known that there are tons of these bastard Israelis up in Kurdistan in the north gearing up for attacking Iran

from the AP:

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Hated by Iraqis who refer to them as "Mossad," Blackwater contractors are also mistrusted by fellow private security guards operating in Iraq who say they are arrogant, rude and dangerous.

[JudyGee]

widely known. that's excellent. almost as good as Fox News, "some people say". a real basis for your factual reporting. btw, which AP is this, the one you typed in. Your mother must be so proud.

[Spookcatcher]

The Vast majority of the Blackwater and "other" contractors are ex-Veterans (good and bad) and military men or from and "agency", they have no boundaries and answer to no one. Rumsfeld even set up his own special services (SS, seriously)group. While these type of personnel could provide valuable dependable security and perform other functions that could work around and help ease the burden of some of the Military, what they have graduated into is just plain Blackmailers, Extortionists, Drugs and Arms traders, and of course, thugs, Murderers, mobsters and goons. What else would trained armed men who can prosecute willful violence in a open ended "war" against whoever they say is a threat, turn into? It is so sad that the Iraqi people, even the Government has been so intimidated by them, that thousands of Iraqiis have been killed and beaten up by these punks before they have now stood up, and despite many journalists and reporters trying to get this issue adressed for years, too!

[mae692]

I wish to demonstrate further the infelicity of these arms. The mercenary captains are either capable men or they are not; if they are, you cannot trust them, because they always aspire to their own greatness, either by oppressing you, who are their master, or others contrary to your intentions; but if the captain is not skilful, you are ruined in the usual way.

The Prince
by Nicolo Machiavelli
CHAPTER XII
How Many Kinds Of Soldiery There Are, And Concerning Mercenaries

http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince12.htm

[ajax2]

Blackwater will not be removed from Iraq. They have unconditional support from the WH and the Democratic Congress.

[Galvestonians for Dr. Ron Paul]

They wont be removed from Iraq unless they are needed somewhere else.

[shades3]

Did I not read that private contractors, such as Blackwater and their like, are immune to prosecution for war-crimes, along with the U.S. military?
So, if that's true, Bush and Co. have carte blanche to do whatever damn fool thing they want, with no fear of accountability.
Is that what the American people want?
If they don't, why is Bush still President??

[Atombstoner]

Paul Gaskin's comment is correct. Blackwater is a vets term for Equine Syphillis. They have shown up at places as diverse as Ed & Elaine Brown's private property in Plainfield, NH, all the way to the streets of Tombstone, AZ. They are the cartel smugglers friends in the Gunbelt along the borderwarzone of S. AZ. They are plain & simple mercenary killers working Both Sides against each other, simple traitors.

[politigal]

Bush& Cheney's private Army. They are being relieved of their duties in Iraq.
We the people need to write our Representatives to make sure they stay gone. And we need to demand that this practice of hiring private entities to fight our wars be stopped entirely!
These mercenaries should not be representing the United States of America abroad, much less be deployed by our Government within our borders.
I truly feel like we have all fallen into the rabbit hole- & into a skewed world devoid of the meerest shred of logic.

[DemandTruth]

So true. It's scary to think about, actually. What makes us believe a Blackwater operating in America would be any more accountable than a Blackwater in Iraq (meaning, not accountable at all)? The only ones who should have the guns and power in the US are the military and the police because citizens still (somewhat) have some recourse (complaints, law suits, etc) in case of abuse of that power.

Once we lose even that thin veil of public accountablility, we're truly lost. Down the HalliGitmo rabbit hole, never to return.

[Galvestonians for Dr. Ron Paul]

I heard 1800 prisons have been built around the country, so far.

[Nova16]

You can ignore the will of majority of American People, the Constitution, the congress If you base your support on the army, hired mercenaries, soldiers of fortune, private contractors to cover your backside as the dictator in the White House continues his arrogant and cocksure approach as the "decider" in telling the nation he is totally in control of our destiny. We are in a true test as to our survival with "Blackwater" allowed to continue its "war" abroad and eventually here.

[PaulGaskin]

Blackwater has already been deployed on American soil, deputized to kill Americans.

I saw them in New Orleans. I spoke to a couple of them at a bar in post-Katrina New Orleans within the first few weeks after Katrina.

They really don't like attention. One of Michael Moore's camera men pointed his camera at him which took some guts because they keep their fingers in the triggers.

They wear their brown t-shirts with the Blackwater logo on it. They carry M-16s with lots of extras and two side arms.

I'm not sure if any Blackwater mercenaries have killed any Americans on American soil yet, but it seems plausible that it could have happened in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Check out the new TV show on FOX called K-ville. It seems to take delight in the lawless atmosphere of New Orleans.

I think a certain category of people with a predatory social vision are looking forward to more breakdown of the social integrity of the United States.

One important thing to notice about Blackwater is how white they are.

[jdfast]

Well of couse, the president of blackwater is a far right wing Catholic (converted evangelical) and started the organization of ECT. ECT is Evangelicals and Catholics Together. What a scarey thought. Radical Catholics and Evangelicals going to war in the name of God. Sound familiar?

[Boobaloo]

How white indeed.

This new brand of right wing religious homicidal manicas are the new arm of the KKK. They are white, 'christian', supremcists, supported by the government and armed.

Blackwater is the new KKK.

[BushSunkOurShip]

Cheney has over 160,000 contractors in Iraq. Cheney has created a shadow government of Blackwater and private contractors all through our government agencies including our our intelligent agencies.
People had better get very concerned , Bush has his spy network through our country , has his concentrations camps by Halliburton , non-man spy plane making flights over our country , has everyone scared as hell to say no to him , the right wing conservative ?Christians? fall behind him as Hitler had the Germans doing.
Bush has just about destroyed our regular military , while he has funded Blackwater mercenaries with all the funds and equipment they need.
With his shadow government Bush can just bypass our government , as soon as he starts his war with Iran , declare marshal law and take over our country and who will stop Cheney...