NC's Blackwater Banned From IRAQ?

NC's Blackwater Banned From IRAQ?

by Liv | Published on January 24th, 2007, 5:22 pm | News

Imagine my surprise when I found out North Carolina is home to one of the largest Private Armies in the world. One growing at phenomenal rates because it's current contracts with the US Government. I did not know such things were even legal. A Private company, a corporation if you will, designed to train private sector rent-a-cops now has a massive army on demand?

Does something just not sit with your right on this one? What if this company decides to use it's army in ways that may not be in-line with the US Government?

The company called Blackwater USA, has been offline since CNN broke the story, but of course you can always check your search engines cache. I copied and pasted the homepage text here, so you can get an idea of the mindset of this Company. This just gives me the shivvers.

Blackwater USA is the most comprehensive professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability operations company in the world.

We have established a global presence and provide training and operational solutions for the 21st century in support of security and peace, and freedom and democracy everywhere.

We customize and execute solutions for our clients to help keep them at the level of readiness required to meet today's military, law enforcement, peacekeeping, and stability operations challenges.

Our customers include the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and most other federal agencies, multinational corporations, non-governmental organizations, and friendly nations from around the world.

We specialize in, but are not limited to:

Basic Military Training
Design and Operation of Law Enforcement, Counter-terrorism, and Military Training Facilities
Counter-terrorism, Anti-terrorism, and Force Protection
Programs
Military Transformation Programs
High-threat Security Operations (Ambassadors, Generals, CEOs, etc.)
High-value Asset Security and Threat Assessment
Fixed and Rotary-wing Aviation Operations and Logistics Programs
Foreign Internal Defense Missions
Security Sector Reform

This is big news. BlackWater, North Carolina's own private army has been blamed for the Baghdad massacre last Sunday, and banned from Iraq. This problem means, this huge company is going to start losing tons of money, and alot of crazy, military thugs are coming home unemployed. Great! Just what we need, more homeless people in North Carolina. More interesting is these homeless have memorized the "10 ways to slice your throat". Oh that's going to go over great.

CNN:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's Interior Ministry has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, an American security firm whose contractors are blamed for a Sunday gunbattle in Baghdad that left eight civilians dead.

Blackwater USA is headquartered near Moyock, North Carolina.

Blackwater, one of many security firms contracted by the U.S. government during the Iraq war...

In addition to the fatalities, 14 people were wounded, most of them civilians, the official said.

The ministry said the incident began around midday, when a convoy of sport utility vehicles came under fire from unidentified gunmen in the square.

"We are taking it very seriously. We are cooperating with the Iraqi government on several different levels and will continue this cooperation with Iraqi officials," the embassy official said.

"We have revoked Blackwater's license to operate in Iraq. As of now they are not allowed to operate anywhere in the Republic of Iraq," Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf said Monday. "The investigation is ongoing, and all those responsible for Sunday's killing will be referred to Iraqi justice."

Blackwater is one of many security firms contracted by the U.S. government during the Iraq war. An estimated 25,000-plus employees of private security firms are working in Iraq, guarding diplomats, reconstruction workers and government officials. As many as 200 are believed to have been killed on the job, according to U.S. congressional reports.

The men in the SUVs, described by witnesses as Westerners, returned fire, and the witnesses said the vehicles are the kind used by Western security firms.

If they were from NC, it was primered Chevy 4x4's with confederate flags hanging out the back, the driver having a huge lump in his cheek with chew, and the entire team sporting the necessary mullet. That's probably how they knew it was BlackWater.

You know you've got to be in bad shape, even by mercenary standards, when Iraq thinks you've stepped over the line. Yikes!

But there's no need to worry on account of the good folks at Blackwater, Liv. If there's one thing that's certain in this world, it's that there will always be plenty of work to be found for contracted killers.

They'll easily pick up work one of the other firms.

I know someone in that line of work. They are not all blood-thirsty killers. Many are just continuing their infantry training after leaving the service and getting paid boat-loads of money doing it.

Faimly Dollar is always hiring associates with killer skills.

Matt wrote:They are not all blood-thirsty killers.

Sure. All armies have to have clerks.

SouthernFriedInfidel wrote:
Matt wrote:They are not all blood-thirsty killers.

Sure. All armies have to have clerks.

the clerks are the ones to watch out for!

I was reading this CNN story this morning about the Blackwater hearings. Two things struck me as important here.

First, we see more glaring evidence that Bush's wars have been playgrounds for far too many yahoos that never grew up, yet are being handed the responsibility for carrying out our national interests on the world stage. One wonders how many of these idiots on the ground even dream that they are in a war?

Second, Henry Waxman says that there is corporate culpability for this situation, and I agree with him on that point. However, I tend to disagree with his identification of Blackwater as the main culprit. Sure, they have a lot of responsibility in regards of hiring a lot of bad apples for their barrel, but they're bordering on being mercenaries, after all. What I wonder about is the bit in the story about how Blackwater had to rush their hiring of personnel in order to gear up to meet the terms of their contract.

Who made the decision to create such a contract with unrealistic timelines? Was this ultimately another result of Donald Rumsfeld and his boss deciding to go into a war without adequate or even minimal preparations for the clean-up afterwards? These are some of the deeper questions that Congress should be digging into. I only hope that Waxman and co. will bother to consider asking these things. I don't know how hopeful to be -- the Democrats have not inspired much confidence with their actions so far since taking office.

An Iraqi probe finds Blackwater security team committed unprovoked, random killings of civilians, Iraqi spokesman says. -CNN

Saying that the name of "Blackwater" has been tarnished because of news coverage of their work in Iraq, the company is changing its name. From now on, it's to be called "Xe." Yeah... that should solve their problems right there.

:roll:

Err... yeah.... I think if I was working for them, I'd be looking for a new line of work... well, that and the check printing company... cough.

Blackwater Boss Murdered Investigators?

A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia. The two men claim that the company's owner, Erik Prince, may have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company. The former employee also alleges that Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe," and that Prince's companies "encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life."

In their testimony, both men also allege that Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq. One of the men alleges that Prince turned a profit by transporting "illegal" or "unlawful" weapons into the country on Prince's private planes. They also charge that Prince and other Blackwater executives destroyed incriminating videos, emails and other documents and have intentionally deceived the US State Department and other federal agencies. The identities of the two individuals were sealed out of concerns for their safety.

An unsurprising outcome of the Bush Crusade, where private firms were hired to perform do work outside the law that the government or military could not do. It's also not surprising that they would be lead by a Christian zealot, since that was the unifying theme to the Bush years.

"views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe,"

I caught this last night on MSNBC....

That says it all, right there.

A Person wrote:An unsurprising outcome of the Bush Crusade, where private firms were hired to perform do work outside the law that the government or military could not do.

An activity known in other venues as "hiring mercenaries."
We haven't had any shame as a nation for far too long. :oops:

I just don't get it, someone explain to me why the greater world has reservations about us? The man was just trying to bring them closer to our Christian God. Sort of like a missionary? I mean look at what we've done for the Native Americans. They with their casinos are thanking us for it now.

Well if I didn't live here, and knew Blackwater was here... and say McCain was in office... I definately wouldn't move here given what I know... I watched the last season of 24.... and it's a very real possibility.