Jeremy Scahill: Blackwater is here to stay

[babylonsister]

Blackwater is here to stay

Despite reports that the company is leaving the mercenary business, Blackwater's future is secure

o Wednesday July 23, 2008


It seems that executives from Blackwater Worldwide, the Bush administration's favourite hired guns in Iraq and Afghanistan, are threatening to pack up their M4 assault rifles, CS gas and Little Bird helicopters and go back to the great dismal swamp of North Carolina whence they came. Or at least that's how it is being portrayed in the media.

This story broke on Monday, when the Associated Press ran an article based on lengthy interviews with Blackwater's top guns. Since then, the story has picked up considerable steam and generated a tremendous amount of buzz online and in the press. After all, Blackwater has long been a key part of the US occupation and has been at the centre of several high-profile scandals and deadly incidents. Add to that its owner's ties to the White House and the radical religious right in the US and it is clear why this is news. On top of that, Barack Obama - a critic of Blackwater - just completed a tour of Iraq, where he was touting his withdrawal plan.

Among the headlines of the past 24 hours: "Blackwater plans exit from guard work", "Blackwater getting out of security business", "Blackwater sounds retreat from private security business", and "Blackwater to leave security business". One blogger slapped this headline on his post: "Blackwater, worst organisation since SS, to end mercenary work."

Frankly, this is a whole lot of hype.

Anyone who thinks Blackwater is in serious trouble is dead wrong. Even if - and this is a big if - the company pulled out of Iraq tomorrow, here is the cold, hard fact: business has never been better for Blackwater, and its future looks bright. More on this in a moment.

more...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/23/usa.iraq

[blm]

1. New World Order. Some believed it left with Bush41. It NEVER left. It just went unscrutinized.

And some powerful Dems helped every step of the way.

[BonnieJW]

2. You know,

once we get Obama elected and all the dem candidates for the house and senate elected, we need to start "cleaning house" within the dem congress. We have to get rid of the dem enablers who have been complicit with every evil repub, like Pelosi, Landrieu, Feinstein, Hoyer, Reid, not to mention lieberman who it goes without saying needs the boot. We need to get dems into office who realize they represent us, rather than the big money. I know they're out there and we have to find them and support them.

[Demeter]

3. I Wouldn't Put Money On Blackwater's Longevity

Not when so many venerable corporations are going belly up, having their executives convicted, or both.

Blackwater will get its turn in the defendant's box, and sooner than they think.