Blackwater and Blood: Spilling it in Iraq, Donating it at Home

Erik Prince: We saw a need for the community to receive more blood.

Originally posted at AlterNet

If there's one thing that can be said about Blackwater Worldwide, the Bush administration's favorite mercenary company, it is no stranger to blood -- its operatives have caused a lot of it to be spilled in Iraq. Last September, Blackwater forces gunned down 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square and wounded more than 20 others. It was reportedly one of 10 such deadly incidents involving the company in Iraq since June 2005. After all the carnage and death, Blackwater is now giving back. Not in Iraq, but right here at home.

This week, the company received an award from the American Red Cross -- not for its skill at making Iraqis bleed, but for Blackwater's recent blood drive, where company employees reportedly gave 264 units of blood. "That means that well over 600 lives have been saved in this region," said Georgia Donaldson of the Mid Atlantic region Red Cross.

The group presented Blackwater's owner, Erik Prince with a plaque, honoring the company. "I'm proud of the folks we have here. We have a great team, they constantly go above and beyond the call of duty, they give back and they're giving to their local community here," said Prince. But here's the money quote: Blackwater "saw a need for the community to receive more blood, so we made it available and our folks answered the call." Sort of like what they do in Iraq for Bush. Oh, and this blood must be mighty special. As Prince told Congress last year, his men "bleed red, white and blue."

This isn't the first time Blackwater and the Red Cross teamed up. After Hurricane Katrina, where Blackwater raked in over $70 million in federal "security" contracts, the company held a Red Cross fundraiser and pulled in $138,000 -- about $100,000 short of Blackwater's estimated daily take at the height of its Katrina operations. The keynote speaker at that event? L. Paul Bremer, the original head of the US occupation.

As for the recent blood drive, maybe the Red Cross should ship some of it over to Iraq for Blackwater's next victims.

Comments

[Norge]

Yes it is the method blackwater uses to self glorify themselves and their money machine.

It is a horrific business enter-prize system and the mere fact the American people are powerless to do anything about them speaks volumes of what has happened to their constitution, not only the people's written constitution of their country but also about the people's moral and ethical constitution by which each day of their lives they must live with themselves.

[theBooHooBand]

Is Jeremy taking on Blackwater single-handed?

[Semaj51]

I don't understand this. I can see quite easily why there needs to be complaints and protests against Blackwater and its operations, but to complain about them donating blood is just too petty.

[BobHiggins]

Thank you Jeremy,

Keep after this slime.

Exposure to sunlight is the best way to drive these mercenary cockroaches into the open where they can be stomped on by the foot of justice.

Bob Higgins
http://worldwide-sawdust.com

[socal55]

Blackwater has recently hired some of the most expensive lobbyists and public relations flacks on the planet. That they would allow Blackwater to be associated with blood, even for the Red Cross, at a time when there hands are dripping with so much innocent Iraqi blood seems an odd way to take the public's mind off the subject.
They also shameless tried to horn in on a good deed that reservist Marines did for a young Iraqi girl with a heart condition. A few unsophisticated small town papers ran the Blackwater puff piece. Happily major news organizations praised the Marines and ignored the self serving Blackwater angle.

[desmirl]

The American Red Cross needs a steady supply of blood to provide for the sick and injured. That they commend Blackwater for their contribution doesn't bother me. That we have a government that would allow such an entity as Blackwater, that would PAY Blackwater for the kinds of crimes they commit--THAT BOTHERS ME.