Lots of stuff about Blackwater in the news today.
At the Washington Post, see “Report Details Killings by Blackwater Staff in Iraq” by Karen DeYoung, “Gold-Plated Rambos” by Patrick Pexton, and an editorial, “Blackwater Waves.”
At the New York Times, John Broder writes “Report Says Firm Sought to Cover Up Iraq Shootings.”
At TPM Muckraker, Spencer Ackerman writes, “Email Shows State Officials Doing Blackwater Damage Control.”
At Salon, see Ben Van Heuvelen’s “The Bush administration’s ties to Blackwater” and P.W. Singer’s “The dark truth about Blackwater.”
At Newsweek, see “Death From All Sides” by Kevin Peraino.
And, finally, see “Republicans ask Waxman to postpone Blackwater hearing” at Politico.
It’s about time that Blackwater cesspool was exposed to the air.
There are so many angles regarding fiscal responsibility, morality, geopolitical stability etc. that can be applied to the abominable use of mercenaries. However, I need nothing more than the war worth fighting is the one for which citizens enlist.
As soon as an elected leader can wage a war with our money and without our commitment then the situation is ripe for dictatorship. The questionable domestic use of a pointless mercenary force in place of our National Guard of/for/by the people only adds insult to injury and is frightening as our military keepers have yet one more degree of separation from the voting public.
If anyone had asked 10 years ago whether this would come to pass, my answer would have been “Never in America!”
When innocent life is lost…it’s regretable
We are looking into the facts.
Blah, blah,blah…
It will be business as usual. No accountability, and just a waste of taxpayers money in going through the motions like something is going to change. I never thought I’d see the days when private armies who can operate outside the law would be acceptable in America.
Remember Paladin?..” Have gun, Will travel”… sorta like an early Blackwater type of hired gun.
I got some “infowar” posts defending Blackwater, from a guy at the Institute of World Politics.
My first case of that.
Three of the complaints from the Declaration of Independence apply to the discussion of Blackwater:
“He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.”
“For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:”