NBC Blackwater Report: This is a company that increasingly has its sights on domestic deployments...

[Flabbergasted]

Blackwater Report

POSTED: 10:46 am PDT August 10, 2007
UPDATED: 11:12 am PDT August 10, 2007


LOS ANGELES -- They say they are not a mercenary outfit, but Blackwater USA has one of the most profitable private armies in the world, with outposts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, it wants to come to San Diego County, and one SoCal activist is gearing up to take them on.

JACOBS: We told the story of Blackwater as probably the most egregious of the private contractors that have really privatized the war in Iraq.

MOYER: Now Rick is worried about another aspect of Blackwater's agenda – its plans to create a massive training base in a desert east of San Diego.

JACOBS: Blackwater arguably is on its way to becoming auxiliary policemen in this state.

MOYER: Jacobs, an LA-based political activist, has organized a grass-roots crusade to keep Blackwater out of California -- and he's attracted some powerful allies, like Congressman Bob Filner of San Diego.

BOB FILNER: The same group that is training for foreign mercenary groups can be used in domestic situations whether it's a riot or some other a disaster. That worries me that we don't have any way of knowing what they're doing really.

MOYER: Why does Blackwater inspire such intense emotion? Speaking broadly, it's just a private company doing business here and abroad.

BRIAN BONFIGLIO, Blackwater West: We're not a mercenary army.

Blackwater as a whole, as a company, does not engage in offensive operations. Never have, never will. And we've never worked for any other state than the United States of America. So mercenary doesn't apply.

MOYER: And he says the company is accountable – to the law and whoever contracts its services. Not everyone is reassured.

JEREMY SCAHILL, Author Of Book Blackwater: Out of the rubble of 9-11 it has risen to become one of the most powerful private actors operating in the so-called war on terror.

Blackwater operates the largest private military base in the world in North Carolina. It has operatives deployed in nine countries around the world. They boast of having 20,000 troops at the ready that could be deployed at a moment's notice.

MOYER: After the Faluja disaster, says Scahill, Blackwater took legal action to keep the families of its own slain operatives from questioning its policies in open court. And, he says, it got more government contracts from the conservative friends of its billionaire founder Eric Prince.

SCAHILL: It is a company that is operated in secrecy and is largely protected by the uber-secretive administration of George Bush. They don't appear to be accountable to the elected officials of the US Congress or the taxpayers who foot the bill.

MOYER: Gradually, says Scahill, Blackwater has begun to move in a new direction.

SCAHILL: This is a company that increasingly has its sights on domestic deployments inside the United States.

MOYER: During the Katrina disaster, says Scahill, he spotted armed Blackwater operatives in New Orleans… initially looking for work…finally hired as protection by FEMA and private citizens.

SCAHILL: Where I think it gets terribly disturbing is when you have the prospect of wealthy individuals hiring what is essentially a militia to quote unquote protect their private property.

MOYER: Last April a top Blackwater official, Cofer Black, became senior adviser to GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, thus expanding the company's political potential. Meantime, Blackwater has set up shop at various locales across the country – a development that particularly troubles Rick Jacobs.

JACOBS: Blackwater's objective is to have a base of operations in just about every geographic area of the US. They have one in Chicago, they have one in North Carolina.

MOYER: And now, he says, they're looking to snap up this patch of territory near San Diego

JACOBS: This one's close to the Mexico border. Some people argue that Blackwater's attempt to be near the Mexican border is a way to militarize that border with private security people… with mercenaries so that the federal government doesn't have to get its hands dirty.

MOYER: Jacobs says Blackwater wooed local officials into green-lighting the project.

JACOBS: Their facilities consist of, and in this case they have advertised will consist of a driving range of 10 football fields in length, several firing ranges, about 350 people there at any given time.

MOYER: It's a picture confirmed by Brian Bonfiglio of Blackwater West.

BONFIGLIO: A lot of if not a majority of this facility will be leased by law enforcement organizations, and the same holds true for the military.

MOYER: Publicly the proposed facility is touted as a training base for police and security personnel.

BONFIGLIO: They'll have their unit instructors come out with units prior to deployments, conduct their training and then go back to their bases. Small arms training, no explosives taking place out here, no artillery, no tanks.

MOYER: Whatever the training, says Jacobs, if the police or military are involved, this gives Blackwater a relationship with them it could exploit in an emergency.

JACOBS: Imagine that organization just loose in this state, not answering to any one.

MOYER: Sound far-fetched? Jacobs points out that a former spokesman for Blackwater, Chris Bertelli, has, until recently, been working for Governor Schwarzenegger's homeland security committee and is still attached to his administration

JACOBS: Governor Schwarzenegger comes out of a certain heroic film background. You can imagine him in various roles where he saves the day. And Governor Schwarzenegger may have a very good heart about all of this. He really probably does want to save the day, if there's ever a reason to do so. Now he has a guy next to him whose history and background is hiring guns.

MOYER: Bertelli declined to be interviewed, and Brian Bonfiglio of Blackwater West says he's had no dealings with the former company official. But he does confirm Blackwater is hoping to get into Border Patrol work.

BONFIGLIO: I do believe that augmenting much needed force here on the border, whether it be on the Mexican border or the Canadian border is something that we'd potentially look at.

MOYER: Some people who live near the proposed Backwater facility support it.

LOCAL CITIZEN: Anything that can seal or tighten that border is for the good.

LOCAL CITIZEN: The engineers have come up with a computer model for the noise that indicated that the community would not hear any noise coming.

MOYER: Other locals are opposed.

LOCAL CITIZEN: The fire danger will be enormous from their armory. The noise will be intolerable for people who live within five or six miles. The traffic will be enormous.

LOCAL CITIZEN: We love the beauty of the place and want to keep it that way.

MOYER: Jacobs says his campaign against the proposed facility is gaining support and Congressman Filner is planning to sponsor legislation to bring private security outfits like Blackwater under tighter Federal control.

FILNER: We have seen democracies undermined by mercenary armies. This is something that all Americans need to watch very carefully.

MOYER: Blackwater emphasizes in a written statement that it supports enforcement of all US and international laws. The California Office of Emergency Services tells us in writing it is unlikely to contract from the private sector in an emergency.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/13866589/detail.html

[bluestateguy]

1. These people are just trained professional goons

I also wonder, are they allowed to use weapons that other civilians are not allowed to use? If so, why?

[Wiley50]

5. Although a ban on Fully Automatic Weapons in the US in 1986

is supposed to mean that only the fully automatic weapons
that were in the US on that date are allowed to be here,

I think they have some loophole that allows them to have NEW Automatic weapons
manufactured since the ban to be here.

I hope people who have more knowledge on this, like BenEzra or Slackmaster
will see this and help to clarify this.

Seems to me that they are training with fully automatic
AK-47's, M-4's and H&K MP5's

[beevul]

19. In 1986...

the registry of new automatic weapons was closed, and only those that existed on or before that date and were in the country were allowed to remain, as I understand it.

I think (and I could be wrong) that it was the "firearm owners protection act" that did this.

In any case, I believe there is an exception built into the law that allows military, government, and orgs like blackwater to squeak around it.

[Wiley50]

21. Thanks!

There was another act restricting machine gun ownership
between WW1 and WW2, but the 1986 act really nailed it.

I know that if you are a corporation that you can get
around a lot of hassle in owning a auto weapon,
but I think it's still limited to pre-1986 weapons

I'm sure that there is a law enforcement exception
because many police depts own H&K MP5's which
were not even made in 1986

[beevul]

22. YW. The other act you refer to is...

The national firearms act of 1934. That one I am slightly more familiar with. It regulates automatic weaponry, short barreled shotguns, most rifles over .50 caliber, grenades, and destructive devices.

Slackmaster and Benezra have better and more complete knowledge of both than I, however. They are the go-to people for the clear and the concise, IMO.

[benEzra]

33. Private security firms operating under government contract can possess post-'86 machineguns, I think

I know corporations can own machineguns under Federal law, and I believe private security firms operating under government contract can own and use post-'86 machineguns, I'm pretty sure.

I didn't see anything in the NFA FAQ about it, but that FAQ pertains to the hoops non-government civilians have to jump through to lawfully possess NFA weapons, rather than to security firms and contractors:

http://www.titleii.com/BardwellOLD/nfa_faq.txt

[LiberalEsto]

2. Gestapo II

Here they come

[Myrina]

3. "V for Vendetta"s Fingermen.

:scared: Look where we're headed peeps ... it ain't purty.

[Megahurtz]

8. This is Not Looking Good.

Look where were headed is right. :scared:

[msongs]

4. another thing the democrats are apparently doing NOTHING about

all this privatization should come to a screeching halt.

the war profiteers and mercenaries need to be shut down.

won't do any good for obama or clinton to launch a war on pakistan with these people taking over at home.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[Parche]

6. Sandiego

Fukwad Darrell Issa will be happy to hear this.................




:grr: :grr: :grr:

[C_U_L8R]

7. Blackwater Brownshirts

Thugs for Hire.

Mercenary forces are against the Geneva Convention....
whether or not you call them "security" or "contractors" or whatever

[Miss_Underestimated]

9. I met the father of a a soldier serving in Iraq a few weeks ago, he told me

that Blackwater automatically will hire any soldier who serves 3 tours of duty, and the Blackwater salary makes the military salary look like pocket change. So the father's son is gung ho to finish his tour so he can apply as soon as he's out

[Flabbergasted]

10. Good god you should post that as a topic! nt

[Miss_Underestimated]

11. I don't think I have enough posts to do that

but if you would like to, it's fine with me

[Flabbergasted]

13. It's been a while but I believe you can. Try it out.

[Flabbergasted]

14. Oh BTW Welcome to DU

:toast:

[Miss_Underestimated]

23. thanks for the welcome! also thanks to you I just did my first op

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1564254:toast:

[Flabbergasted]

28. Link isn't working : ( nt

[tbyg52]

29. Here's one that works

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1564254&mesg_id=1564254

Go rec this up, people! They're taking the country's military and sucking them into their private army!

[RainDog]

12. Blackwater is a dangerous development

Erik Prince, its founder, is a right winger Catholic who has had a working relationship with Gary Bauer in the past (this from Scahill's book on Blackwater. They are like a potential SA... why were they in New Orleans, but no relief?

I know the reason for the no relief because of the fighting for control between LA pols and Bush. That would have set a precedent to allow Bush to take over and strip state powers in an emergency of any kind.

What I do not understand is how any fool can think "privitization" is cheaper than direct funding of the military -- and why the govt is so cheap when it comes to paying the military and taking care of vets after they have served. I mean, these people put their lives on the line and in return they get shat upon -- or, now, they can join Blackwater. I know what I'd likely do if I were a career soldier.

But Halliburton has made sooo much money because of this war. I cannot believe that the U.S. military could not have done a better job painting schools and creating working toilets. Not to mention how much they overcharged. It's a total shell game that kicks back money to republicans who claim they hate govt/taxes... only if they don't get to pocket all that money, I guess.

[AX10]

15. Blackwater "mercenaries" are thugs.

I never shed a tear when they are harmed. They are lowly thugs.

[superkia]

16. People have no idea where our country is headed!

This is what I fear would happen if policemen and soldiers decided to step down because of something the government tried to implement. These hired thugs would just continue making huge money to take anyone out that was in their way! Doesn't it seem like our country has become like a really bad movie? Its slowly been going down over time but its almost like they realized that most peoples heads are suck in their tv box and it will be too late once they figure it out so they have stepped up their pace. I hope we have a "V" thats going to save us if it gets there!

[Hubert Flottz]

17. Baldwin Felts rides again...

THE LUDLOW MASSACRE
You can't mine coal without machine guns. --Richard B. Mellon, Congressional testimony quoted in Time, June 14, 1937

http://a4a.mahost.org/ludlow.html

The Hatfields and the Baldwin-Felts

http://www.glendale.edu/chaparral/may05/hatfields.htm

Paint and Cabin Creek Murders
Francis F. Estep

Francis F. Estep and Cleve Woodrum were both shot and killed by Baldwin-Felts mine guards during the 1912-13 strike on Paint and Cabin Creeks. Both were given a bronze tablet with the seal of the United Mine Workers of America for their graves. The inscription reads,"Dedicated to the memory of ___________ for distinguished service and self-sacrifice in the cause of labor and advancement of the United Mine Workers of America. Each inscription is the same except for the name.

Francis F. Estep was born at Hudnall(Kanawha Co, WV) on October 15, 1882, and used the nickname of Cesco. He married Maud Gallian, born in KY in 1890. Cesco could barely support his family, even though he worked ten hours a day and six days a week. He decided to go with the union while he was working at Acme on Cabin Creek. He then had to move out of the company house, his home and and settled in a small frame house in Holly Grove.

On May 7, 1912 the first group of Baldwin-Felts mine guards arrived at Paint Creek, and the first of June, the coal operators declared that the strikers would be evicted in five days. The Baldwin-Felts mine guards began carrying out those orders. Hundreds of miners and their families ended up living in tents in the Paint Creek area. This caused a lot of hatred and hard feelings on the part of the miners since the mine guards were ruthless in ensuring that everyone was evicted.

Martial Law was in effect twice in this area, but did not settle anything as the problems continued to escalate. On the morning of Febuary 7, 1913 there was another shootout between guards and miners at Holly Grove. Rumors began circulating that guards were going to wipe out the miners in the tents and the attack would come from the "Bull Moose Special". The "Bull Moose Special" was an armored built by the coal operators to transport scabs and mine guards. More...

http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvcoal/war2.html

Same crap different assholes...Blackwater is much bigger and has a lot more firepower. The Robber Barons are alive and well in America and since the Reagan years the GOP has undermined the government's ability to stop them from doing whatever the decide to do. Couple that with a force like Blackwater operating without any government oversight and we're back to 1912 again labor wise. America is a powder keg and a deranged chimp and his gangster pals are playing with the matches.

[JohnyCanuck]

18. Recent Guardian article on Blackwater:

A very private war


There are 48,000 'security contractors' in Iraq, working for private companies growing rich on the back of US policy. But can it be a good thing to have so many mercenaries operating without any democratic control?

Jeremy Scahill reports

Wednesday August 1, 2007
The Guardian

Blackwater is far from being the biggest mercenary firm operating in Iraq, nor is it the most profitable. But it has the closest proximity to the throne in Washington and to radical rightwing causes, leading some critics to label it a "Republican guard". Blackwater offers the services of some of the most elite forces in the world and is tasked with some of the occupation's most "mission-critical" activities, namely keeping alive the most hated men in Baghdad - a fact it has deftly used as a marketing tool. Since the Iraq invasion began four years ago, Blackwater has emerged out of its compound near the Great Dismal Swamp of North Carolina as the trendsetter of the mercenary industry, leading the way toward a legitimisation of one of the world's dirtiest professions. And it owes its meteoric rise to the policies of the Bush administration.

Since the launch of the "war on terror", the administration has funnelled billions of dollars in public funds to US war corporations such as Blackwater USA, DynCorp and Triple Canopy. These companies have used the money to build up private armies that rival or outgun many of the world's national militaries.

SNIP

While the private military/security industry rejects the characterisation of their forces as mercenaries, Blackwater executives have turned the grey area in which they operate into a brand asset. The company has been quietly marketing its services to foreign governments and corporations through an off-shore affiliate, Greystone Ltd, registered in Barbados.

In early 2005, Blackwater held an extravagant, invitation-only Greystone "inauguration" at the swanky Ritz-Carlton hotel in Washington, DC. The guest list for the seven-hour event included weapons manufacturers, oil companies and diplomats from the likes of Uzbekistan, Yemen, the Philippines, Romania, Indonesia, Tunisia, Algeria, Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Kenya, Angola and Jordan. Several of those countries' defence or military attaches attended. "It is more difficult than ever for your country to successfully protect its interests against diverse and complicated threats in today's grey world," Greystone's promotional pamphlet told attendees. "Greystone is an international security services company that offers your country or organisation a complete solution to your most pressing security needs."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2138878,00.html

[hootinholler]

20. How are they different from Pinkerton?

Back in the day, Pinkerton oversaw Lincoln's security, Hmmm, wonder if they were on the job at Fords.

-Hoot

[illinoisprogressive]

24. Bush probably plans to use them against us when he takes his new emergency powers

[The Backlash Cometh]

25. Rent-a-vigilante.

Why San Diego? Part of me thought they'd be better off in the midwest where that kind of militia group would find appeal and recruits. But then it dawned on me, that the question of deployment would be resolved if they were already in the state they planned to find work.

Perhaps the Mexican border is in their sights?

[1776Forever]

26. Senate Passed $3 Billion For Border Patrol 7/26 & Blackwater is going to get a big chunk - Link

http://controlcongress.com/immigration/bla...

Hired Guns at the Border? The Contracting Has Begun: I take it that a private contracting company, DynCorp International of Virginia, is sending out press releases (basically advertising itself) hoping to be hired by Homeland Security in this border region. It is offering ‘to train and deploy 1,000 private agents to the U.S.-Mexican border within 13 months, offering a quick surge of law enforcement officers to a region struggling to clamp down on illegal immigration.’

It’s starting to look like that movie we’ve already seen too many times during the Bush/Cheney regime. A caller to the Ed Schultz show named “Captain Bob”, former USMC officer, informs us that a fellow jarhead he’s friends with is working for Blackwater, and that Homeland Security is currently working on a contract negotiation with them to patrol the US-Mexico border. They’re (right at this very moment) arranging for Blackwater personnel to be deputized! Where did this money come from?

7/26/2007: “Senate Passes $3 Billion For Border Patrol” — The money approved Thursday would go toward seizing “operational control'’ over the U.S.-Mexico border by using additional Border Patrol agents, vehicle barriers, border fencing and observation towers. In addition, there is Cornyn’s effort against people who overstay their visas. Graham said the $3 billion would pay for “more boots on the ground, more people patrolling our border making it harder for somebody to come across illegally. We should have done this a long time ago.'’ The deal, approved by an 89-1 vote, resurrects a GOP plan to pass some of the most popular parts of Bush’s failed immigration bill. That includes money for additional Border Patrol agents and fencing along the southern border.

Was this the plan all along? Starve the beast until the clamor for border security grew loud enough that they could justify outsourcing it? Let’s check the archives:

2/9/2005: “Bush budget scraps 9,790 border patrol agents” — President uses law’s escape clause to drop funding for new homeland security force — Officially approved by Bush on Dec. 17 after extensive bickering in Congress, the National Intelligence Reform Act included the requirement to add 10,000 border patrol agents in the five years beginning with 2006. Roughly 80 percent of the agents were to patrol the southern U.S. border from Texas to California, along which thousands of people cross into the United States illegally every year.

But Bush’s proposed 2006 budget, revealed Monday, funds only 210 new border agents. The shrunken increase reflects the lack of money for an army of border guards and the capacity to train them, officials said. Retired Adm. James Loy, acting head of the Department of Homeland Security until nominee Michael Chertoff takes over, said funding only 210 new agents was a “recognition that we need to balance those things as we go on down the road with other priorities.” The White House referred questions about the border agents to the Homeland Security Department.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[aikoaiko]

27. The rich and powerful have always had access to this level of personal security.

But the little guy, not so much. There is no stopping Blackwater from doing what they do because they are merely a security firm. The only way to stop them is to prevent the government from hiring them. Thats a political matter for Congress and the Executive Branch. When the war in Iraq and Afghanistan ends or subsides, they will be looking for ways to make more money. Its up to us to tell Congress and White House who they should and shouldn't hire.

But for those who fear this organization will become the strong arm of American fascism/theocracy, the answer is a strong interpretation of the 2nd amendment now -- not when things go wrong. For example, let people who are willing to go through the security screening (finger print, background check, interviews) necessary to acquire new select fire weapons that Blackwater and others use. If there is going to be fight, we have to be ready.

[bobthedrummer]

30. K&R#25

To get some idea of what this is about here's a page on Erik Prince from Grand Rapids Independent Media's mediamouse.org-spend some time checking out the various links and foundations. As far as domestic deployment, well just check those links to your own community.

"The Far Right in Western Michigan: Erik Prince"
http://www.mediamouse.org/resources/right.php?personId=8

Fair use cited

[bobthedrummer]

32. .

[warren pease]

31. Blackwater and a few other "contracting" firms are the Bush Crime Family's enforcement arm...

And they're getting their urban warfare training in Iraq so that, if dissent goes beyond keyboards and blogs, they'll be paid with our tax dollars to kill and otherwise suppress and oppress us. Blackwater has the NC site, another around Chicago and now they want this huge property by San Diego. Why on earth would a "security force" need such facilities unless they're preparing for something besides guarding diplomats?

There's also DynaCorp, MPRI, Vinnell Corp., KBR, Aegis Defence Services and a few more from around the world -- from Chile to South Africa.

All in the name of privatization, which means absolutely no scrutiny from the public or congress. At least the official military is nominally subject to congressional oversight, for what it's worth; not these guys.


Here's a good piece on a few of them and their activities:


http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/03/28/MNGHC5SKQS1.DTL


and this one:


http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3394.htm



wp


On edit: Privatization gets around Posse Comitatus quite nicely, too.

[Karenina]

34. Kickarooni!

:kick: