Blackwater (Xe) Should Roll No More
By Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy on August 6, 2009 at 5:00 PM in Afghanistan, Blackwater, Campaign promises, Crime, Current Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Hillary Clinton, Iraq, Islam, Muslim, Muslims & Arabs, President Barack Obama, Presidential Candidates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Many of us were up in arms that Blackwater, a private “security” force was sent to Iraq, and New Orleans, while being paid handsomely with our tax dollars. There were a number of concerns with Blackwater, particularly how they were operating in Iraq with impunity, accused of being a bunch of cowboys shooting up the joint. In fact, six Blackwater guards were put on trial for murder after shooting 17 Iraqi civilians. Contractors for Blackwater were also put on trial for their actions in Afghanistan. I hope I am painting a picture here of what kind of organization this is.
The founder of Blackwater, Erik Prince, is a Navy man, is also a Christian of the conservative strand. He has given a bunch of money to conservative causes, including James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” group. Just to set the stage.
And Obama said, as a candidate, that he would not “rule out” keeping Blackwater, now “Xe,” in Iraq. Hillary not so much, not even close:
(she) released a statement announcing that Clinton is now co-sponsoring legislation to “ban the use of Blackwater and other private mercenary firms in Iraq,” saying, “The time to show these contractors the door is long past due.”
Uh huh. And what has Obama done since becoming president? He’s given Blackwater, aka, Xe, a $70 million dollar contract. Doesn’t that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
Here’s the thing: the founder of Blackwater, Erik Prince, has been implicated by two former employees for murder. Yep. And you are not going to believe this story. It is going to make you SO happy (that’s snark) that Obama has chosen to give this man, and his company, more money to stay in the Middle East. I’ll give you some of the highlights, but I urge you to read the whole piece (and the author, Jeremy Scahill, has written a LOT about Blackwater. He was a bit snide about Hillary Clinton and her resolve to NOT have Blackwater on the payroll any longer, even though that was in the same article in which he pointed out that Obama the Candidate he wouldn’t “rule it out.” Still, the articles are worth reading.). To the article:
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.”
Now is when I remind you that Obama chose to retain this company. A “Christian crusader” hellbent on wiping Muslims off the map. WOW. There’s more:
Doe #2 states in the declaration that he has also provided the information contained in his statement “in grand jury proceedings convened by the United States Department of Justice.” Federal prosecutors convened a grand jury in the aftermath of the September 16, 2007, Nisour Square shootings in Baghdad, which left seventeen Iraqis dead. Five Blackwater employees are awaiting trial on several manslaughter charges and a sixth, Jeremy Ridgeway, has already pleaded guilty to manslaughter and attempting to commit manslaughter and is cooperating with prosecutors. It is not clear whether Doe #2 testified in front of the Nisour Square grand jury or in front of a separate grand jury.The two declarations are each five pages long and contain a series of devastating allegations concerning Erik Prince and his network of companies, which now operate under the banner of Xe Services LLC. Among those leveled by Doe #2 is that Prince “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe”:
To that end, Mr. Prince intentionally deployed to Iraq certain men who shared his vision of Christian supremacy, knowing and wanting these men to take every available opportunity to murder Iraqis. Many of these men used call signs based on the Knights of the Templar, the warriors who fought the Crusades.
Mr. Prince operated his companies in a manner that encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life. For example, Mr. Prince’s executives would openly speak about going over to Iraq to “lay Hajiis out on cardboard.” Going to Iraq to shoot and kill Iraqis was viewed as a sport or game. Mr. Prince’s employees openly and consistently used racist and derogatory terms for Iraqis and other Arabs, such as “ragheads” or “hajiis.”
Among the additional allegations made by Doe #1 is that “Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq.” He states that he personally witnessed weapons being “pulled out” from dog food bags. Doe #2 alleges that “Prince and his employees arranged for the weapons to be polywrapped and smuggled into Iraq on Mr. Prince’s private planes, which operated under the name Presidential Airlines,” adding that Prince “generated substantial revenues from participating in the illegal arms trade.”
Doe #2 states: “Using his various companies, [Prince] procured and distributed various weapons, including unlawful weapons such as sawed off semi-automatic machine guns with silencers, through unlawful channels of distribution.” Blackwater “was not abiding by the terms of the contract with the State Department and was deceiving the State Department,” according to Doe #1.
This is disturbing on so many levels, isn’t it? Naturally, Prince denies any wrongdoing:
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.These allegations, and a series of other charges, are contained in sworn affidavits, given under penalty of perjury, filed late at night on August 3 in the Eastern District of Virginia as part of a seventy-page motion by lawyers for Iraqi civilians suing Blackwater for alleged war crimes and other misconduct. Susan Burke, a private attorney working in conjunction with the Center for Constitutional Rights, is suing Blackwater in five separate civil cases filed in the Washington, DC, area. They were recently consolidated before Judge T.S. Ellis III of the Eastern District of Virginia for pretrial motions. Burke filed the August 3 motion in response to Blackwater’s motion to dismiss the case. Blackwater asserts that Prince and the company are innocent of any wrongdoing and that they were professionally performing their duties on behalf of their employer, the US State Department.
Yes, Prince is claiming everything he did was on behalf of the State Department. Oh, sure. I have no doubt that, given how Hilary Clinton spoke of his organization during the campaign, that she was all behind what he was doing in Iraq. Again, that is snark.
So - will Obama be held accountable for keeping Blackwater/Xe on the payroll and at the State Department, or will he pass the buck (again) and blame Clinton, even though she wanted nothing to do with them?
Will Erik Prince get his comeuppance for his private “crusade” against Muslims? Will he be held to account for smuggling weapons into Iraq? If what has been alleged against him is true, he deserves everything that is coming to him. Personally, I am exceedingly offended that this man and his company have been on OUR payroll, operating this way on OUR behalf. What he has been accused of doing is obscene. Just reprehensible.
Tell me again why Obama renewed his contract, because I don’t get it (even before these allegations)…
(Release: November 13)
on sale for only $16.95.
has a spatula.)
And check out these: 
("This crazy redhead is on to something. Her pink Rambler story alone is worth the price of the book," writes 
- “Richard Sale’s reportage on Washington, the CIA, the American armed forces, and foreign intrigue has created a perfect background for this account of the steady growth of President Clinton as a master of the game of nations.”--W. Patrick Lang, former head of Middle East Operations, DIA
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You know I hate to say this, and everyone already knows it, but anyone can claim to be anything they want. To hide their true agenda. The hypocrisy. Look what was promised with this president. Hope and Change, truly just words.
I don’t know why people fell for that anyway when he did nothing more than copy that from Raila Odinga’s campaign. We saw the hope and change that brought as thousands were hacked to death with machetes and him saying I can’t do anything about it. If Obama had lost and there had been riots what do we seriously think Obama’s reaction would have been any different?
And that man is not a Christian. I don’t care what he claims to be.
Far too many that claim to be Christians forget the second one or choose to ignore it completely. No where in there does it say the exception to the rule is Muslims. Nor does it say Gay people. Handicapped People. Poor people. We all are neighbors.
Obama goes out of his way to surround himself with anything/anyone controversial. Why?
Thank you! They CLAIM to be Christians.
Erik Prince’s Blackwater has been accused (sworn Affidavits of 2 ex Blackwater employees) of PROSTITUTING YOUNG GIRLS AND BOYS FOR ONE DOLLAR EACH ACT IN GREEN ZONE. Surely, these are very serious acts and Obambi should kick XE’s butt out of any government contracting. Blackwater’s men were hiring these kids for a buck each to perform sexual acts while engaging in behaviour that made the clerk reading the affidavit almost faint!
These young Iraqi youngsters should come to the States and testify against Prince and then he’d be thrown in jail where this MONSTER belongs! He told his men to do as they please as these kids were starving….amazing! Isn’t there an attorney or a Christian mission that could take up these poor damaged kids’ cause….SHAME ON OBAMA AND HIS PIMPS.
BLACKWATER PEDOPHILES SHOULD BE PROSECUTED!
Obviously, it goes without saying that if anyone has evidence of a capital crime, they should come forward so the grand jury can convene. Otherwise, it’s trial by innuendo.
I agree, Doc99 - apparently, though, these men fear for their lives. Given some of the things we have learned abt Blackwater/Xe, I don’t blame them. But hopefully they will give others the courage to come forward.
Rock on, Diana - you said it all!
Private “security” firms probably know a lot of secrets. All I know about private security firms is what I see on TV and the movies and read in books. Those characters are always running scams and stings and blackmailing and intimidating their opponents one way or another. I can imagine a private security firm like XE playing those games with a political party or a politician. And then if Mr Prince is a big contributer to Focus on the Family, Obama is going to want to string that voting block along at least until the next election. Obama has no principles; he has none. So just uncover the rock and no telling what you will find crawling around underneath.
Thank you, Reverend Amy. This topic cannot be allowed to disappear.
Rather than attacking Blackwater per se, I would just like to make a general statement: the U.S. government should NEVER hire mercenaries for military activities of any kind in foreign countries. If they’re not U.S. soldiers subject to the military command structure and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, they should not be acting in a military capacity under our flag.
If we need to reimpose the draft to maintain our commitments and defend our country, then so be it: even that is preferable to the use of mercenaries.
I agree.
And frankly, I think it is a theft from the soldiers on the ground to pay mercenaries. It also undermines morale on several levels.
Agreed, Karma.
jbjd, excellent point!
I read “Blackwater” by J. Scahill last year. I would say anyone who has read that book would have a very bad taste about Blackwater in particular and mercenaries in general. What this group represents has nothing to do with Christianity, anymore than it represents who and what we [Americans] are suppose to be.
Bush was dead wrong and the Obama administration is wrong. If these wars are truly worth fighting then reinstitute the draft. And let the chips fall as they may.
PS, yes, and include women. It is the only way to guarantee full equality between the sexes. Because as things stand now, when push comes to shove, a man - check, that is, a heterosexual man or, a gay man who hides his sexual orientation - retains only 1 (one) trump card he can hold over a woman: You will never have to fight or die for your country.’ (True, a male dominated Congress made that law…) Once you put your life on the line, no one, and I mean, no one, can tell you, you are not equal.
I agree, jbjd. Actually, there are many women who want to serve in combat, taking all the risks that men do. So, bring it on. If these wars are truly important, absolutely critical to our self-defense, then the draft [men and women] is warrented.
And if they [the wars] are not? Then none of our men and women should be over there. And mercenaries would be unnecessary.
Yes, Peggy Sue. And if nearly every family has an immediate personal stake in waging war, through an impartial draft, the rush to war will not be so easily accomplished.
The documentary Iraq for Sale told it all. I was and still am upset that not enough people were going to watch films like that and others–for instance, No End in Sight, or The Control Room. It seems all people wanted to watch were a bunch of action films or chic flicks. I would be in the audience for these very informative films and have practically the whole place to myself.
Forgot to say thanks for the post, and to say Hillary is right AS USUAL.
Yes, she was.
Great comments, folks. It is astonishing that we have resorted to using mercenaries. Remember when they went to New Orleans after Katrina?? Oh, yeah, nothing like a bunch of mercenaries roaming the streets…
But what they have done in Afghanistan and Iraq under OUR name is just shocking. And what impact that has on our military operating in both theaters…
Speaking of Katrina/New Orleans, it just burns me up when I think abt Obama painting Bill Clinton as a racist after all he did (along with George H.W. Bush) for the people of New Orleans. He did far more than Rep. Jesse Jackson did, who made that assholic statement abt Hillary not crying for the victims of Katrina. Bill was THERE, he raised a ton of money for them, and he CARES what happens to them. Grrrr.
I know - I just went O/T in my own post, but it just gripes me…
can I go o/t too? http://www.advocate.com/issue_story_ektid102115.asp
But of course, CG!
I have to say, the author almost lost me when he impugned Hillary from the GET-go, then claimed Obama “talked to us more than any other nominee” is just crap. Hillary was the one who talked to, and WITH us, every step of the way. She’s the one who was marching, saying she would give GLBT people the same benefits as heterosexuals, and on and on. Obama didn’t do ANY of that.
And the so-called fed benefits HE gave us? MOVING EXPENSES! That’s IT - hardly worth the paper it was printed on for all intents and purposes.
I noticed that he didn’t mention the ANTI-GAY people with whom Obama associated/associates, either.
But of course, the bottom line is that it’s OUR fault we haven’t gotten farther…
But this was the biggest reason for me to be less than enthusiastic abt this article: “He looked like a hero, and that was the problem. His apparent integrity frightened us at first. Then it became the reason we chose him. We voted for Obama because he appealed to our better angels, because we wanted to be better.” Integrity?? Are you kidding me?? WHAT did Obama do to demonstrate that? “Appealed to our better angels”
Yeah, this author is most DEFINITELY on some high octane KoolAide if you ask me…
But thanks for the article, CG!!
What O did, Reverend Amy, is he took the American presidential election and moved it from the usual secular plane to a rarified imaginary spiritual plane upon which he starred as the Saviour, and his supporters had the unprecedented opportunity to become part of his angelic hierarchy. “Appealed to our better angels–” indeed. That statement unwittingly reveals so much . . . And his imagery was so blatant!
“Obama “looked” like a hero; he appealed to our “better angels.”
But where was the evidence of that? Nada. No where.
Any more than a Madison Avenue advertisement program, claiming wrinkle-free concoctions or middle-aged, sexual dominance.
The American public was had, snookered by the wilest con-men in the business. They played off: the American public will buy anything if of the “product” is positioned artfully, correctly.
Snake-oil salesmen!
They won. We lost. But we can fight back. And we are.
Are people waking up? Indisputably. Even Lincoln and/or Barnum knew you couldn’t fool all the people all of the time.
Remember: there are more of us than there are of the hucksters. And numbers are everything.
Numbers do not lie, only the people trying to massage them. The American people, by the ever-rising polls, are on the right side.
We won’t give an inch. It’s in our blood. It’s who we are. It’s everything.
Amy I thought you might be interested in this story. I don’t know if it’s happened to other teens or if this will become the norm. This is fairly new in China. Internet addiction clinics are popping up all over China because they feel the children are becoming too addicted to the internet. This young man was beat to death for it in the clinic his parents put him in. I can’t get anything to go through on your site. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I signed in with AIM name.
This is just one article on it, there are several others.
For full article from Times Online.
http://tinyurl.com/kwwzta
And here is one of the many articles on the 8 year old that was shunned by her family after being raped by 4 boys in AZ
http://www.startribune.com/nation/51624042.html
PBS has great videos on line, too.
I would like to point out the hypocrisy that the politicians dance around on this matter.
Politicians have been protected by this particular private security firm, since roughly 96′ 97′.
The US State Dept. has employed this firm to protect political figures all over the world.
Jeremy is a hypocrite when it come to Blackwater.
I read his book. For him to endorse BO and dis then Senator Clinton, who’s position was WAY closer to his, illustrates what a BS artist he is.
Blackwater had /has the largest private weapons mil spec cache in the US. If you recall NQ had articles about 1 billion dollars of missing weapons in Iraq. An army Colonel was murdered, the Rezko power guy was released from a green zone prison with a Chinese passport, escorted by Blackwater personnel, shortly AFTER the governor of Illinois signed a deal with Blackwater for a facility downstate, and during the time that Durbin and BO were solicited by the “family” of Ayham al-Samaraie. Ayham al-Samaraie, a wanted felon in Iraq, finds sanctuary in the burbs of Chicago. Rezko was taped during the time the deal goes down. Auchi gave money to Rezko, which found it’s way into BO’s boneheaded house deal during this time. Brennan has ties to Erik Prince. Starting to get the picture?
BO is a political favor machine in all of this. 70 million dollars is chump change for what Blackwater did for BO and friends, but running guns to Sunni and Shia, is serious money and since Auchi had investments in the power plant deal, it would be of no use to have his point man sitting in the pokey being waterboarded. Is there any wonder why BO met with and gave a toast to Auchi?
It would not surprise me that Blackwater was doing merc-ops for the Cheney crowd and secret prisons, infiltrating the CIA and other defense intel structures. They are still operating under BO. Presidential Airlines… BARF. BO thinks this McKool.
Great points Rev. Amy, the corruption runs real deep.
Blackwater needs to go….It is dangerous, unAmerican and has been documented to do more harm than help. Obama is just more Bush-like than Bush! Tsars and private armies are pretty scary in any country….
Great article and well researched
This group may be just as bad as stated. They may be Knights Templers, or their decendents, or play acting.
Some of my far off grandparents were involved in crusades, one gave the Kinghts Templers a castle. So Knights Templers did exist at one time. Plenty of stories have been written about them too, they are always potrayed as wicked, and they may be.
I said all that to say this. I do not believe any information that comes from the MSM. They may be Christians or they may be from the moon. The MSM lies and desperately wants to demonize Christians.
We were warned. Eisehower warned about the military-idustrial complex.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY
Harper’s Magazine contributing editor Scott Horton will be my guest Monday Aug 10 at 5 PM NY time on News Talk Online on Paltalk.com to discuss the allegations against Blackwater.
Please go to my blog, http://www.garybaumgarten.com to join in the conversation then.
Thanks,
Gary
[...] are plenty of bloggers talking about the Obama administration continuing to support Xe, but where is the mainstream media [...]
it is so evident that these men will be tried and found guilty by the press first. so why waste the money on a trial lets just line them up against the wall and shoot them will that appease your blood lust. i am sorry but most of the comments i have seen are from people who have never been in a combat zone or seen the horrors commited by the so called religion of peace. how soon we forget the sight of soldiers being hung from a bridge in iraq. this happened before blackwater. if they are genuinely found guilty then they will be punished. you better start opening your eyes to what the government is capable of. who do you think coined such terms as plausible deniability or executive action.