Mothers of slain Blackwater guards slam company in ABC report

[Rose Siding]

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina-based security contractor Blackwater USA refuses to share the results of the company's probe into the killings of four employees in Iraq a year ago, the mothers of two slain employees tell ABC News.

"At one point, we were actually told that if we wanted to see the paperwork of how my son and his co-workers were killed that we'd have to sue them," said Donna Zovko, mother of Jerry Zovko, said in an interview slated to air on "Primetime Live" on Thursday night. She is from Bratenahl, Ohio.
.....
Blackwater contends the families cannot sue the company due to the Defense Base Act, which established workers' compensation insurance for employees of overseas government contractors.
.....
"You know what they had for armament on that vehicle? A reinforced back bumper. That was their armored vehicle," said Helvenston-Wettengel, of Leesburg, Fla. "I'm a very forgiving person, but I don't think I will ever forgive them for that, and I think it was all about greed and the dollar."

"I know Blackwater didn't pull the trigger but they put Scotty and these other three guys in that spot at that time with no way to protect themselves," Helvenston-Wettengel said.

http://www.klrt.com/news/national/story.aspx?content_id=604E4D80-0681-452C-AFE6-1AB648E1A087

[Coventina]

1. "All about greed and the dollar"

Yeah, that's why your son was there Ms. Helvenston-Wettengel, greed and the dollar.

:eyes:

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CarinKaryn]

3. What a joke!

They raise their children to be mercenaries than complain when the citizens of the invaded country drive the mercs out. Now they want a fistful of money for being incompetent mothers.

[MissMarple]

6. You two, if that is supposed to be sarcasm...it is a pitiful attempt.

You don't even know these women or how they raised their children.

[rwork]

4. ABC seems to be getting a little braver.

The first time I noticed anything was when they did the story on Sharon Bush and the Bush family disowning her after her divorce from Neil Bush.

[AValdoux]

5. Helvenston was a SEAL

Helvenston was a retired Navy Seal and Seal Trainer, so much for insufficiently trained. He was on a reality show a few years back with all Seals, Green Berets, Swat guys, etc. I remember him, take charge leader type guy. This was no rent-a-guard.

I feel sorry for his mother but he knew what he was getting into and was probably better trained than most of Blackwater employees. You'd think ABC would do some research on this guy before they call him "insufficiently trained"

AValdoux

[saigon68]

11. He may have been a SEAL but he's dead meat now

Killed in an attempt to earn Filthy Lucre.

A $2000.00 per day guy greasing brown skinned people for Halliburton and the Bush Criminals.

[0007]

20. The whining wheel gets all the grease

:thumbsdown: to greedy men

[katty]

24. Need more whinning from families on the frontlines

[saigon68]

38. Need fewer Rustics Re-Enlisting

And then having the families complain when their "Rustic" is blown to bits by the Iraqi Resistance.

When these Dumb shits all along knew it was all for the Bush Criminals and Hollyburton Stockholders.

Greed and re-up $$$$ are wonderful to these people, until their Rustic is turned into SHREDDED HASH

[NNN0LHI]

22. I don't care if he was a former Penguin

He is nothing but a dead mercenary right now.

Don

[DinahMoeHum]

7. Sorry, but I cannot feel any sympathy for mercenaries/their families.

That profession is not an honorable one - better that they should have worn real uniforms and serve in the real armed forces, like our other troops.

:thumbsdown:

[leetrisck]

8. Most had been there and done that

already - veterans

[KoKo]

9. And to think that Rummy probably wants to replace our US Military

with these Private Mercenaries makes it even worse. All the interest of Privatization to give Blackwater and the other secretive groups big money without having to provide Veterans benefits or health care.

I'm glad these parents are speaking out though. We can't be responsible for the lives our children lead, but we can at least hope that they will work for honorable people. Blackwater and these other groups are nothing but "Guns for Hire" and accountable to know one but their investors. Most Americans have no idea what's going on with these private armies and exposing them is important. What if these people turn on US Citizens some day.

I live in NC and Blackwater scares me...including the people training there who might "go over the edge" at some point.

[olddad56]

10. To me, death seems like an occupational hazard for this guy.

It isn't like his national guard unit got called up. It isn't like he didn't know that it would be dangerous. It was a career option and a bad one at that.

[colonel odis]

12. if you can't feel sad for a mother who lost her child, you're no better

than a freeper.

at the very least, their story is casting light on one of the more disgusting aspects of bush's little war.

[olddad56]

13. Of course everyone can feel sad of a mother who lost her son....

that isn't the issue. The issue is that her son made a conscious choice to pursue a very lucrative and dangerous career opportunity. He choose to be part of the invasion. I feel sorry for his family. But her son knew what he was getting into and and she can't hold the company who hired him responsible.

[DS1]

14. Exactly! He could have quit before going on the mission, unlike our

soldiers in real uniform. He could have relied upon his million dollar SEAL training to recognize a potentially lethal situation, what with an insufficiently armored Hummer. But he chose to go for the fast buck. Sucks for his mother, but he wasn't forced to do anything in Iraq.

[leetrisck]

15. Most have been soldiers in " real uniforms"

and unable to get those much deserved veteran's benefits that everyone talks about.

[DS1]

16. Most?

Got numbers?

[leetrisck]

18. Yes, yes & yes but you

can look that up for yourself. You certainly wouldn't believe me or anyone else.

[The_Casual_Observer]

17. These guys were parading around in a suv acting like bad asses

like they owned the place, and were put in their place by the locals. Tough shit for Scotty.

[leetrisck]

19. Totally sick

to say something like that. He knew what he was doing as do the soldiers - some want to be there, some don't - all of these people are from the general populations - policemen, firemen, etc. -some good, some bad - but people just the same - earning a living doing what they know how to do.

[daleo]

25. If they don't want to be there...

Couldn't they just not be there?

[The_Casual_Observer]

35. These people were hired to go there, that was their career

it wasn't a part time patriotic kind of thing. Getting killed was a very real possibility for them, a calculated risk that a pro takes.

[NNN0LHI]

37. "earning a living doing what they know how to do"

Do you have the same compassion for mafia hit men? They too are earning a living doing what they know how to do.

Don

[TahitiNut]

21. My 2nd cousin is a merc (sniper/security) for these people.

His father (my 1st cousin once removed) is someone I hold dear. Both his nephew (another 2nd cousin) and I are the same age and, as boys, looked up to him as an NCO in the Coast Guard. He's no small part of why I, as a teenager, looked forward to attending the USCGA.

My merc-2nd-cousin, in his 40s now, stands a good chance of getting killed on one of his 'assignments' and his kids will likely lose a father. He freelances - 'hiring on' to one of these companies on a contract basis - and has been in Columbia (drug interdiction), Panama (Noriega), Afghanistan, Iraq, and other hot-spot locales.

If anyone thinks the family dynamics are simple, they have another think coming. Mostly staunch liberals, we have a neocon wing in our family. Thus, we have "no-man's-land" topics we can't discuss. Nonetheless, we'll probably be agreed in grief if my merc-2nd-cousin gets killed. We libs detest the idea that he does this. I suspect his father's not keen on the idea, either ... but it's not discussed.

Dysfunctional? Probably. Simple? Nope.

The greatest of my disgust is reserved for the bottom-feeder companies that profit from this garbage ... and the detestable government functions that trade dollars on the realpolitik market for the lives of former servicemen like my 2nd cousin. There's no way he could have made the kind of money he got as a newly-minted veteran ... and is now all he knows.

[leftchick]

26. Thank you for the first hand knowledge TN....

and your thoughts. Any death in War is a bad thing but your last paragraph gets to the gist of it all. Who the Hell is benefiting from all of this death and destruction. :grr:

[leetrisck]

29. First hand knowledge here also

agree with your last statement - see so very much of it.

[msanthrope]

23. I feel bad for any mother losing a child, but as for

the dead mercenary?

Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas.

[Daphne08]

27. I cannot believe the attitudes of some of the posters here

Where's your compassion? That's why I've always been a Democrat. The Democratic Party is supposed to be about compassion!

I don't care what they were doing there. They didn't deserve to die like that. Their bodies didn't deserve that treatment, and the mothers didn't deserve to be losing their sons like that... just as the mothers in Iraq and Afghanistan don't deserve to be deprived of their own innocent children!

Damn, I hate war. It's brought out the very worst in everyone, but then, that's what war does, isn't it?

[alfredo]

30. I've known some mercenaries.

Maybe they have become more professional, and better educated since my day. I had a chance to take part because of my experience, but I just didn't want to associate with those people.

I could have done some industrial espionage for an American oil company in Saudi Arabia, but their survival rate was not too good. There was always a chance someone would rat you out to a rival oil company for a few dollars. Having my head explode from a sniper's bullet was not my idea of a retirement plan.

I don't like seeing anyone die, but if you become a mercenary, you must know that you are considered the lowest of the low, the dregs of the earth. Don't expect to be treated with any mercy.

[Daphne08]

32. I really don't know anything about mercenaries, but I

do feel for the mothers, being a mother myself.

Anyway, thank you for the explanation.

[olddad56]

33. so, I didn't read about any compassion for all of the innocent..

civilians we have killed, maimed and otherwise screwed up. We have destroyed an entire nation of real people with our illegal invasion. If we left yesterday, Iraqi people will be dying from the effects of depleted uranium for the next billion years or so. You have compassion for the mercenaries who we hire to slaughter innocent civilians, but none for the civilians. I guess if it isn't a dead American it really doesn't count.

[Daphne08]

34. You are wrong in your assumption.

I lived in the Middle East many years ago, and the people were always very warm, friendly and accepting of me there. In fact, I have many happy memories of that time, and what has happened to the innocents of Iraq has disturbed me greatly.

The only people I do not have any compassion for are murderers no matter what nationality they may be.

[NNN0LHI]

28. I think Willie said it best

Mama's Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys.

Don

[struggle4progress]

31. kick

[catnhatnh]

36. So the mercs are the lowest....

...of the low and earned their horrible deaths.How about the bastards who hire them at $2,000 a day, risk nothing, and then pass the bill on to the US taxpayer at cost plus ten percent???Someone wanna tell me what THEY have coming??