Blackwater

Voice Your Choice in the Corporate Hall of Shame 2008

This is just scary.

In a recent op-ed piece for the L. A. Times, Jeremy Scahill writes about Blackwater's bright future, no matter who inhabits the White House come 2009. He talks about how Blackwater sued the city of San Diego, bringing them to their knees, then gives a brief bullet summary of some of Blackwater's more recent ventures, above and beyond their run-of-the-mill mercenary solder work.

Blackwater got themselves a nice shiny new toy to play with. Not sure were this toy is at, but why on earth do they need it?

W. Jones, Burr, Dole, if this thing is in our state, why?

and from the AP

The Embraer spokesman confirmed the sale of a Super Tucano to Blackwater subsidiary EP Aviation.

Ok, so prince wants a new toy. The Brazilians sold him one, it was not suppose to have any weapons on it, but, Im fairly confident that blackwater has a few .50cal rifles lying around collecting dust near Moyock.

Is Blackwater preparing to fight legal charges with more than lawyers?

Joseph Neff at the News and Observer has a great round-up story on the trials, tribulations and triumphs of Erik Prince, dark lord over all things Blackwater. Mr. Prince, as you know, is the top dog among mercenary mongrels here in the states. I hope you'll go read the article and learn how the Democratic Congress is continuing to pour money into Prince's pockets.

Southern California Residents Gear Up for New Fight to Stop Secretive Expansion by Military Firm Blackwater

I got a call from my son today. Billy is the son who was wounded in battle in Iraq just outside of Baghdad in 2006. He has shrapnel in his neck and shoulder, still. He has had surgery on his leg and it is well again. He is suffering from, and has been diagnosed with, Traumatic Brain injury (TBI). Consequently he now has a type of Tourette Syndrome and suffers from "tics", sort of involuntary jerks or sudden movements. I am happy I still have my son.

Anyway Billy called to tell me that he has been informed, by the Army Medical Board, that he is being retired with a 50% disability. My son understood the risks of being a career Army soldier. He had seen me serving in the Marines almost his whole live as a young man. It seemed a natural transition for him when he decided to make the Military his home. He also had the understanding that the Army too understood and accepted their responsibilities to him. That part hasn’t worked out that well. Our President must not have factored in the cost of wounded soldiers when he let us borrow the money from China to wage war in Iraq.

From the New York Times, this editorial about Blackwater's tax and employment practices:

As the nonpareil war profiteer in Iraq, Blackwater Worldwide keeps outdoing its own mercenary record. Ranking Blackwater executives have used inside
influence as administration fund-raisers to multiply their no-bid war contracts a thousandfold to more than $1 billion. Armed Blackwater guards redefined Ugly American for the Iraqi people last September in fatally shooting 17 civilians with impunity in a burst of “spray and pray” panic on the streets of Baghdad.

Editor note: Original source: Serviam Magazine

Just How Overpaid are Private Security Contractors?
By Ann Jocelyn

A base pay of $165,000 per year is a lot of money for most people, especially to a soldier. It’s no wonder that some military professionals aspire to become highly paid private security contractors (PSCs), and that others will simply resent them for earning these high wages.

Compared with the basic pay of an active duty E-6 staff sergeant with 10 years of service, the cash compensation of a top-end PSC is a small fortune. Some critics are outraged that a high-end contractor is paid nearly five times as much as that of an E-6. The contracting system, they say, is unfair to the troops and is a rip-off of the taxpayer. For every one contractor, the reasoning goes, the U.S. could pay for five staff sergeants.
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One can slice and dice the compensation figures in endless ways. The point is simply that the contractor’s U.S. government–approved pay, while higher than the sergeant’s pay in terms of cash received, is more economical for the taxpayer when taxes and benefits are counted.

Edit by gf

When did it become acceptable for Americans to allow

Torture? Yesterday, after congress failed to override a presidential veto of a bill outlwaing "Torture". The president referred to "Torture" as a valuable tool in America's ability to fight terrorism. Now it is absolutely our national policy.

Rendition; Where was the outrage?

When we all learned about the Secret prisons, where we took people to be tortured and that our President and Vice President had approved them; Why was our President not impeached?