In a House oversight committee hearing today Erik Prince, CEO of Blackwater, said many interesting things, including that he did not want to disclose how much profit his company had made off of the American taxpayer. But one thing that struck me as particularly interesting was when he said his people couldn’t get a fair trial in Iraq. He didn’t elaborate, and no one pursued the issue further.
Mr. Prince was discussing an incident in Iraq where a drunken Blackwater employee allegedly murdered the Iraqi vice president’s security guard on Christmas Eve of 2006. The employee was fired, and quickly shipped back to the States before any investigation could be done.
What was Mr. Prince hinting at in his testimony before Congress today when he said Blackwater employees couldn’t get a fair trial in Iraq? That the Iraqi people are inherently unfair, and would never give anyone a fair trial? How could a country of people like that be worth “liberating”? How could inherently unfair people ever form a functional Democracy?
Or was Mr. Prince more likely hinting at something else. Was he admitting that Blackwater personnel are distrusted, or even hated by the vast majority of the Iraqi people, and therefore couldn’t get a fair trial for crimes they commit? If that is the case, which it appears to be, then how can we liberate the Iraqi people with hired guns? If we are employing forces that are distrusted and hated by the population, then how can we end the so-called insurgency, when the actions of contractors undermine the very goal of gaining the support of the population?
Contractors such as Blackwater are costing US taxpayers more than if US troops performed the same duties, and they are operating outside the military chain of command. The Justice Department is not prosecuting any contractors, such as the Blackwater employee accused of killing the Iraqi Vice President’s security guard, so there currently is no accountability. Excessive use of force is undermining the “mission” of quelling the Iraqi insurgency, and prolonging the occupation of Iraq. This prolongs the profitable situation for Blackwater.
The Democrats on the committee brought up many of these points, which is a small start in what is going to have to be a long fight over privatizing our military, and the issue of war profiteering on the backs of the American taxpayer.
Dr. John Moffett is an active research neuroscientist in the Washington, DC area, who has published articles on the nervous and immune systems. Dr. Moffett is also the author and webmaster of the political opinion website www.Factinista.org, and is a Managing Editor at OpEdNews.com.
Nearly as I can tell, John, Blackwater employees haven't been prosecuted in any trial, anywhere. Blackwater defines themselves as a 'private military company.'
Since when have we had a 'private military' of any kind in this country. Wasn't that what the ATF raid on Branch Davidian was all about?
It's quite a leap from the 2nd amendment to an 'individual right to bear arms' to the 'largest private military company in the world.' Apparently, these people are under no one's control.
The U.S. Marines and the Diplomatic Security Service used to provide protection for the State Department. Have those two organizations been relieved of duty?
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Jim Freeman (107 articles, 40 quicklinks, 149 diaries, 325 comments)
on Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at 4:56:06 PM
Blackwater runs an American private military thousands strong. Somehow, they get all those fancy military equipment even US allies don't. They operate according to their own rules, answerable only to the CEO, a businessman out to make tons of money. Then they jetterson themselves into a foreign country running around lawless and shoot the hell out anybody that stands their way. Proud to make the Wild West looks tame, they shoot Iraqis like Indians. And like the West Indians, they take lives, foreign citizens in their own country, always in self-defense. The CEO even has the gull to come to Congress after they killed a dozen Iraqis and basically says "What we do is none of your business."
This then is America post 9/11. Back to the Wild West. Just like Bush.
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TomK (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 194 comments)
on Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at 7:58:26 PM
John Moffet's "Blackwater CEO Says His People ......in Iraq"
Who cares about Iraqis? At the best they are gooks or hadjis OR worst still, they are all TEGHOGHISTS (terrorists), as the Israelis pronounce this TRILLION DOLLAR FORTUNE making word! Who cares about American Tax Payers dimes and dollars? The American Tax Payers should care because the 'genies' that have been let out of the bottle by Bush & Co, the likes of Blackwater, Kelloggs Brown & Root (KBR) and Haliburton would target the US Homeland itself. That day is not very far away.
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syed mahdi (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 117 comments)
on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 at 2:31:30 PM
