Blackwater to California: Hire us to Put Out Your Fires

We couldn't make this stuff up. Brian Bonfiglio, vice president of Blackwater West, "I see a tactical operation center for East County fires," said Bonfiglio, noting that Blackwater's proposal includes water tanks capable of holding 35,000 gallons. "Can you imagine how much of a benefit it would be if we were operational now?"

This takes great big balls. This is from the guy who takes orders from billionaire Erik Prince, whom Congressman Waxman is now investigating for tax fraud, among other abuses. It's from the same company that sent an email Tuesday asking its undoubtedly well-paid supporters to lobby congress for Blackwater and help promote a newer, softer logo.

Mr. Bonfiglio has learned at the Mark Penn School of PR, where George Orwell lives. As a reminder, Hillary Clintons' top advisor, Mark Penn, runs a huge PR firm called Burson Marstellar which was hired by Mr. Prince before he appeared before Mr. Waxman's committee. Let's see if we can tie all these strands together.

1. Blackwater kills Iraqi civilians in open daylight and then claims that they are helping America improve its image. The Iraqi government excoriates Blackwater and the US Government for allowing these guys to run wild. US general officers point out that killing unarmed civilians while moving American diplomats around is bad for America's image in a country in which they already distrust us. And besides, it makes it much harder for our soldiers to do their jobs.

But here's the Mark Penn/ George Orwell/Blackwater summation: A few dead Iraqis is a small price to pay for America's democracy.

2. Blackwater hires soldiers that cost US taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars each to train, but they are only paid maybe $3,000 a month. Blackwater then makes a sweetheart, no bid deal with Bush and Co. to be able to hire those same men for $20,000 or more a month. It's still your taxpayer dollars, but now these talented men are outside of the chain of command, providing exorbitant profit to Mr. Prince and unavailable to the US government. Put simply, we are paying Blackwater to poach our best soldiers and ultimately make us LESS SAFE in Iraq. Ask the US Army colonel who nearly got shot by a Blackwater operative.

But here's the Mark Penn/ George Orwell/Blackwater summation: Blackwater does a better job of protecting American interests than the US military for a lower price. Huh?

3. Fires of historic proportion break out all over southern California, including an as yet to be contained fire in Potrero, hundreds of yards from where Blackwater wants to open its 824 acre base including eleven live fire ranges. As Courage Campaign and 10,000 others wrote to Senators Feinstein and Boxer weeks ago, one of the major concerns people have about such a mercenary training facility is the risk of fire. It already happened without Blackwater there; think what would have happened had Blackwater been there with tons of live ammunition? And what about a spark from a live round used in training? Blackwater would be required by law to have 35,000 gallons of water on such a facility as a minimal defense to prevent itself from blowing up the neighborhood. That's equivalent to just under three DC-10 tanker runs. It's taken hundreds of such flights and a shift in winds to begin to contain the fires. It is literally inconceivable that the wilderness and small towns near such a base would be safer by having Blackwater there.

But here's the Mark Penn/ George Orwell/Blackwater summation: Blackwater needs to build a base in an environmentally sensitive fire hazard area because we'll make you safer.

I have begun to think of Blackwater as the Wal-Mart of mercenary firms. The laws don't apply to Wal-Mart or Blackwater. They say whatever they have to say in order to grow. And they'll do it again as long as we allow. Just this week, the people of neighboring Orange County, California succeeded in preventing Wal-Mart from opening another job-sucking superstore. Let's work to assure that the trend continues for Blackwater. If Mr. Prince were a true patriot, he'd announce that his firm will not proceed to build a fire-inducing mercenary training facility in East San Diego County. He'd give the several million he's spending trying to cram this down the local residents' throats to help them rebuild their lives. And he'd go shoot 'em up somewhere else. Like maybe in the Sahara Desert.

Until that time, we have to support our friends in Potrero as they recover from this conflagration and as they then face the Blackwater juggernaut.

Comments

[politicky]

The Harris fire started in Potrero where Blackwater wants to build a training center:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20071021-1245-bn21fire.html
http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/breaking/2007/10/fire_spreading_near_potrero.html
http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/breaking/2007/10/smoke_causes_concern_in_north.html

http://copswiki.org/twiki/bin/view/Common/BlackwaterMercenaryCamp
(scroll down to watch video)

[abbyowner]

First point is at least 2 of the fires are arson. Do you not think it likely that the fire started near Potrero are arson? I don't support Blackwater at all. However, they do what every Federal contractor does. (I work for one). They pay their people X, and turn around and charge the government 3X. It's called a weighted rate. And if we ask Blackwater to leave Iraq, then DynCorp and Triple Canopy will hire the former Blackwater employees. That is how it is done.

[DemandTruth]

What does it matter whether it was arson or not? A man-made fire or a natural fire encroaching on thousands of pounds of live ammunition would still have the same result: kaboom!

Arson/not arson has NOTHING to do with this argument. Why are you trying to change the subject?

[JulieSA]

That is true, and DynCorp already has the aerial firefighting contract for the state of CA, so what's the diff? Those companies all pretty much do the same thing.

[JulieSA]

DynCorp has used Blackwater for subcontracts before, so may be they'll give Blackwater Aviation a subcontract on aerial firefighting. I wouldn't be surprised if that happened.

[Liberterna]

"everybody does it and I get a paycheck from them so that makes it OK, get a life"

take a deep long look at yourself in the mirror, try to remember a time when you had morals, go all the way back to the womb of your mother if you had to, but you must have been less indifferent at one point in your life before you were part of the system... ??

[JulieSA]

True, and DynCorp already has the contract with the State of CA for aerial firefighting.

[Moshe]

"Blackwater: Hire us to put out your fires"

Aren't they already too busy training to put out our democracy when the Chimp declares martial law?

[srmorris]

Of all the scary things to come out of the Iraq war (and there are a lot of them) Blackwater might be the scariest.

Never before have we invested a powerful corporate interest with the equipment, personnel (most of whom we trained) and right to wage war on their own.

This is an organization who's profits depend on a continued state of war. Defense contractors in the past could still make money building weapons that were never used but Blackwater needs a live fight to survive.

I for one don't like the idea of a heavily armed, highly trained military organization, who loses money when we're at peace.

[Kenny2k]

If you want to know more about Blackwater and disaster capitalism, please read "The Shock Doctirne" by Naomi Klein. I think every American NEEDS to read this book.

[1man1voicenovote]

Bottom line...Private Militias take orders from their president not ours, profit by themselves and FOR themselves. All flag waving aside, we can't trust em to Uphold and Defend anything but their own existance.

We should assume they started the fire.
It suits their goals.

Security is just one of their services.
Torture renditioning and Death Squad details are also available.

[EdRocktober]

This is just the begining,After all of us Huffposters are deemed to be "Homegrown Terrorists" It's off to the Corporate Gulag

This is more Facsist by its real historic nature than any Islamo varaint that is touted in the MSM

[Pericles]

History lesson: Crassus, the richest man in Rome at the time of Caesar and (along with Caesar and Pompey) a member of the first triumvirate, made his money by having a private fire-fighting company of slaves. It worked like this: When a fire broke out in Rome, Crassus and his fire-fighting slaves would appear -- and do nothing until the owners had sold their properties to him at a deep discount.

Privatized fire-fighting. What a great way to make money.

[JulieSA]

Almost all of the fire fighting aircraft the government uses are owned and operated by private contractors. I haven't heard of any of them extorting fire victims.

[somegirl]

have you got anything to back this up? in reading about the cali fires i've seen lots about military planes but no mention of private contractors.

[horhay]

Those private contractors have been known to fly drugs into the country for Oliver North (Iran-Contra funding), Vietnam era opium/heroin smuggling and other CIA covert ops.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/archives/1993/9310250073.asp
http://www.mega.nu:8080/ampp/webb.html
http://www.csun.edu/CommunicationStudies/ben/news/cia/980415.steller.html
http://www.air-america.org/About/History.shtml

[rucognizant]

PPAtt,
So far my mailcarrier is only getting a hernia from the 1 lb. Medicare 2008 glossy full color 117 page brochure, so I can look up who to call when they refuse to pay my $149.00 Dr's bill for a regular PAP/GYN exam. I'm supposed to be entitled to one of those every other year.!
I calculate that the mailcarrier packed, repacked and delivered approxamately 600 lbs of Medicare mail the other day!

[villastrangiato]

Just what Cauleeforwyah needs - an overstuffed SWAT team running around drought stricken areas, holding up people at gunpoint to fill their water tanks so they can waste large quantities of precious H20 on forest fires burning out of control....Or better yet, maybe Erik Prince will consult with Red Adare on how he can use high explosives to vanquish forest fires by starving them of oxygen with massive bomb blasts....­oy.....And this just in.....Erik Prince has just completed construction of a new firefighter's training wing at his company's campus in North Carolina..­....Prince says the new facility will be used to train Blackwater employees in the latest bomb blasting techniques for super accelerating and vanquishing forest fires.....


I can see it now, Democrats will be dragging their feet on bills to defund the new Blackwater firefighter operations­.....Harry Reid will have to worry about his image if his party is seen as the group of politicians that took money away from Blackwater firefighters while they were battling the flames in Southern Cauleeforwnyah - "in harm's way".......

Just when you thought this couldn't possibly get more ridiculous­.......oop­s.....ther­e it is......

[maggipost]

Nonsense ... this facility can have nothing to do with fighting forest fires. The real reason for this Blackwater - Portrero is that, sooner or later, the need for Blackwater in Iraq will be gone. Ah, but the need for Blackwater at the Mexican border can be seen to run far into the future -- unless we can somehow get rid of Lou Dobbs and his ilk.

[Wiredwilly]

Why do the words Reichstag and Gestapo come to mind ?
Hitler had " private security" as well. To hell with that.
The U.S. Marines are good enough for me.

[EdRocktober]

They come to mind because that is exactly what this BS is!!!

GOP or NSDAP?

Blackwater and thier ilk or The Shutstahlfen Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler?

FACSISM is what its called

[protagonia]

Maybe it's not good to be in California much longer.

[thatvisionthing]

Where's Blackwater going to get the 35,000 gallons of water in Potrero? San Diego County is in severe drought. The backcountry wells are going dry. The oaks are dying. http://www.sdreader.com/php/cover.php?mode=article&showpg=1&id=20071018

If Blackwater makes water magically appear wherever they build their bases, send them to Georgia. Alabama. Florida. Now.

[iswearington]

what? you mean black water is not already there...driving around in pickups with the national guard and renegade sherrifs deputys shooting innocent people willy-nilly like they were in new orleans?

[JulieSA]

Did Blackwater really go around shooting people in NOLA?

Do you have a link to any story that proves this?

[HotheadPaisen]

Remember all the stories about the people trying to escape the floodwaters by crossing over a bridge whoe were met by heavyly armed men who turned them back? And yes, there were groups of people shot at and several hit while trying to escape. That was Blackwater. The only question was who was paying them.

[RnR]

I equate Blackwater with scabs - you know, the guys corporations used to bus in to work at facilities under a current strike.

Here's the plan: start wars, hustle off all our legitimate military to those wars. Blackwater comes in, offers to fix whatever problem there is.

See the beauty of it all? We're paying twice. Once for the legitimate military (national guard included) and then Blackwaters' 5 time inflated bill for their superior services.

It's kind of like Bartending school - what a ripoff, wish I'd thought of it :)

[thatvisionthing]

Randi Rhodes on Wednesday, about the California fires: "But I do find it fascinating that the fire started in Potrero, which is where Blackwater wants to build Blackwater West, in Potrero. Mmmm. I just want to tell you a story unrelated really quick. You ever hear of a guy whose car, he doesn't want it anymore but he can't really sell it 'cause nobody's buying it, and so he just torches it, get the insurance money. I just want to tell you that story, unrelated."

[jazzman]

This is an interesting comparison. Many commentators say that Blackwater is the modern day equivalent of the Pinkertons, a private security force that was made up former Civil War soldiers and used to guard the railroads and bust up strikes.

I like to think of them more as the introduction of 'brown shirts' or a corporate 'gestapo' into the American scene as our country continues on its speedy road towards totalitarian fascism.

[Chukchi1]

Yeah, paying twice. And Blackwater will be right there to put down any political uprising should the Chimperor decide to suspend elections or declare martial law. Though the bovine American public grazing in its feed lot of reality shows and FAUX news appears more than happy to comply with the budding Bush police state, it is still always good to have heavily armed, murderous partisan zealots around to enforce your ideas just in case.

And besides, it's a great way to reroute your tax dollars to those who share your values and ambitions.

Blackwater is, after all, a right wing extremist organization with a religious agenda. They kill for money and they sell themselves to whatever corporations can afford to hire them, including the government, to help force the corporate way on those around the world who may not want their natural resources stolen by conglomerates.

Blackwater has also set up shop frighteningly close to Chicago. Handy, I think. A lot of lefty types in Chicago may need to be shot or rendered or Gitmoized by right wing paramilitary enforcers.
And so called progressive Obama wants to make sure they receive congressional oversight. OVERSIGHT!
How about the federal government stopping the privatization of the military right now before we are living in prison camps and taking away the billions of dollars in no bid contracts handed to Blackwater and other mercenary companies?

[RnR]

What American Democracy? Has Eric Prince et. al. slept through the patriot act, military commissions act and illegal warrentless wiretapping?

Blackwater crossed my mind also...but not in the role of "savior". The fact that any organization like this can exist is proof positive of the road we're going down.

Personally, I think anyone who would choose to earn their living in this way needs to be locked up - psychiatric care is too expensive.