Blackwater secretly opens new facility on US-Mexican border
Submitted by loftT on Sun, 05/04/2008 - 9:02pm
Just two months after local opposition thwarted its effort to build a massive outdoor training facility near San Diego, the private military company Blackwater USA is being accused of secretly trying to build a new one just blocks from the US-Mexico border. Blackwater received approval for the 61,000 square-foot indoor facility in Otay Mesa, California, by filing for permits using the names of two subsidiaries.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re on the road in San Diego. The private security company Blackwater USA is being accused of trying to secretly build a military training facility in San Diego, right here, just blocks from the US-Mexican border. Blackwater received approval for the 61,000 square-foot indoor facility in Otay Mesa, California, by filing for permits using the names of two subsidiaries. It was only last week when San Diego officials learned Blackwater was behind the project.
The news comes just two months after local residents successfully blocked Blackwater from opening an 824-acre military complex known as Blackwater West in the rural hamlet of Potrero, California.
Opposition is now growing to Blackwater’s plans in Otay Mesa. Last week, Democratic Congressmember Bob Filner led a protest at the site of Blackwater’s future facility. Several local officials question how Blackwater’s presence will affect US-Mexican relations. The site is located just three blocks from the international border.
The tip came from a friend of an ex Blackwater employee without which we would still know nothing of this. Neither do we know of other facilities they may be starting in other places since it is all being covertly hidden from the public.
democracynow.org
The upshot of this story...
is that Blackwater is positioning itself to replace the Minutemen militia with government contracted security work at the border.
This is unsettling news. In southern California the situation is fragile with generations of Mexican Americans living and working beside undocumented Mexicans. The last thing they need is commando mercenaries in the mix.
Progressive Democrats of North Carolina
Progressives are the true conservatives.
Very bad.
It doesn't seem that Blackwater has been adversely affected by news of its antics. The public is going to shrug. It's scary to think of that company just growing and growing and growing in power. It's like something out of Orwell.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing
-Edmund Burke
I find it terrifying.
And you're right. The public is going to shrug, because immigration is going to be the next issue. Terrorism was last cycle. Immigration is the next one. Watch - that's what the Republicans will hit us with - protecting our borders. With mercenaries.
Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi
Pointing at Naked Emperors
No Blackwater fan here, but
Blackwater employs lots of former Navy Seals. The Seal Community is in the San Diego area. Maybe Blackwater can recruit better if it has facilities near where their potential employees already live. Just a thought and a possible simple explanation.
If I do make it to the Congress.. I wll make this a big issue...
I will out each and every US representative and Senator who support Blackwater....The public has a right to know.
Marshall Adame
I don't have a problem with the government contracting with
private companies to reach certain goals. I do have a problem with the government attempting to bypass laws by using these private contractors -- and I have a HUGE problem with the fact that these contractors get paid exponentially more than actual soldiers.
Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi
Pointing at Naked Emperors
One cannot equate "Mercenaries" with the classic contractor.
The US Military must never augmnent itself or it's mission with mercenaries. This is what third world dictaters do.
The rise of companies like Blackwater in America and other places is a dangerous sign of things to come.
This trend is a sign that "The Rule of Law" is losing its power and adhesion in America.
Marshall Adame
Blackwater CA facility to go ahead.
According to a San Diego Union Tribune reporter who emailed me, in a story to be published tomorrow:
A damned shame
Just another reason for my siblings to abandon that land and come East.
Gitcher loved ones OUTTA that state, folks. It's a paradise lost ~
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing
-Edmund Burke