Blackwater
The Associated Press

A Blackwater employee participates in a firefight near Najaf in 2004.

Featured Topic | Posted 39 weeks 4 days ago

Should Blackwater's contract in Iraq be renewed?

Amid investigations into fatal shootings of civilians and allegations of tax violations, Blackwater USA's multimillion-dollar contract to protect diplomats in Baghdad has been renewed, the State Department said Friday. The announcement came as U.S. officials said they'd charged another civilian contractor in a stabbing, the first time a contractor has faced charges in Iraq. Should the U.S. continue to use civilian contractors in Iraq?

Read More

Ben likes: Hot water for Blackwater

Mark Corallo/National Review

The men of Blackwater were true patriots, heroes who volunteered to go into harm’s way to protect the lives of American diplomats and elected officials, some of whom were attacking the very company that kept them safe overseas. Yet because the antiwar Left (most vocally supported by liberal Democrats in the House and Senate) wanted to score political points, they constantly accused Blackwater of being unaccountable and above the law. Nothing, I said, was further from the truth, and these so-called legislators should be ashamed of themselves for being ignorant of the statutes governing the conduct of security contractors overseas.

Blackwater is a great company that protects Americans in hostile environments. They haven’t lost a single one of the Americans in their care, despite suffering over 30 deaths and countless injuries. They are maligned daily for doing exactly what their government has asked them to do, and they do it better than anyone else in the business.

Read More

Joel likes: How not to use contractors

Michael Cohen/Democracy Arsenal

Part of the reason the Nisour Square incident created such a furor is because this was not the first time that Blackwater guards were accused of indiscriminately discharging their weapons against civilians. The Iraqi government has repeatedly complained about BW guards and yet here is the State Department blithely ignoring these complaints and rehiring these guys. It's sort of hard to believe that these guys are in the diplomacy business.

What is so aggravating about this is that many of folks who see benefit in using private contractors (or at least have accepted it as a reality of 21st century war fighting) have been for years calling for increased government oversight and enhanced accountability for  groups like Blackwater. In recent months, we've seen real progress on this front, particularly from the Pentagon, which has finally codified the application of the Uniform Code of Military Justice to PSCs. In addition, there is legislation on the Hill to create better legal frameworks for holding contractors accountable. And yet, here we have State thumbing its nose at these efforts and hiring the same bad actors who have given the industry, and practice, such a bad name.

Read More

Where do you stand on this issue?

Click on the graph to cast your vote.
average
vote
your vote
  • Delicious
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Propeller
  • Reddit
  • Magnoliacom
  • Newsvine
  • Furl
  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Yahoo
  • Technorati
  • Icerocket

Thoughts

Patriot?

Submitted on April 5th, 2008 by Anonymous

Black Water "guys" get payed a hole lot more than our standing military and taxes are paying for both.

A large part of the

Submitted on April 5th, 2008 by wishnevsky

A large part of the Revolutionary War was fought against Hessian Mercenaries in the pay of King George III. The aroused a lot of hostility among the Americans, and as is less well known, many were deserted or were bribed with land grants into the Colonial forces.

I don't suppose many Blackwater employees will join the Iraqi insurgents, but they sure are arousing resentment, even in our puppet government.

And now they plan to use Blackwater in America, as they did in New Orleans. This is probably unconstitutional and is surely a threat to the spirit of the American tradition.

Great plan, send all the police and firemen in the National Guards and Army Reserves to Iraq, and then hire mercenaries at ten times the price to police American cities after floods and storms.

Genius, that is.

Corporatist Army funded by ignorant US taxpayers

Submitted on April 5th, 2008 by Anonymous

Amazing that the "average" USA citizen doesn't seem to realize that we are funding a private army in Iraq, under the direction of Blackwater.

We the people of USA do not have the money to pay for this war. We need to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions -- monetarily, morally, strategically and tactically.

All USA citizens must take a stand NOW.
Write your elected officials and voice your opinions.
Start with this one: USA Citizens Must Stop Funding Blackwater.

what is a terroist

Submitted on April 5th, 2008 by Anonymous

I bet there are Iraqy people who would call this group an AMERICAN TERROIST GROUP.I personally would agree.I have researched them extensively an find no good reason for them.They are nothing less than hired hit men an should not only be banned but should be put in prison.For killing innocent iraqy people.