AF Officers Clash with Contractors

[donsu]

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,131411,00.html?ESRC=airforce.nl


Even though they won't face a court-martial, two Air Force officers involved in a road-rage incident with a Blackwater USA contractor in Afghanistan have been slapped with administrative sanctions.

The discipline was meted out by the same general who dismissed criminal charges against Lt. Cols. Gary Brown and Christopher Hall.

Brown's civilian attorney has fired back with an angry letter, calling the sanctions a "laugh-out-loud joke" and suggesting that the general bowed to pressure from Blackwater, a private military company based in Moyock, N.C.

It's the latest turn of events in an escalating clash between uniformed military personnel and private contractors on the battlefield.

-snip telling of the events)

In his letter to North, Gittins said the general appears unconcerned that "attempts were made to frame my client." He referred to the investigating officer's report that Afghan security guards who witnessed the confrontation said they were offered bribes to give false testimony about it.

Gittins blames Blackwater for the alleged witness tampering. Blackwater says the allegation involves someone else trying to pin blame on Bergeron.

The Air Force says it is investigating the allegation.
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all is not peaches and cream between the US military and Blackwater

[atreides1]

1. Who wants to bet

That the general in question will be working for Blackwater or one of its associates when he retires?

The general basically ruined the career of those 2 men, he made sure that neither of them will get promoted.

[EnviroBat]

2. Now can we abolish these Blackwater assholes?

Just think about the shit they will pull on us civilians when the chimp gives the word...

Threatening civilian attorneys? WTF?

Gittins suggested that North was pressured by officials of Blackwater's parent company, the Prince Group, who he said have threatened him and newspapers that have been following the case

[baldguy]

3. With the GOP in power, more likely the USAF will be abolished and replaced with Blackwater.

[Peace Patriot]

4. De-fund Blackwater, pull their corporate charter and seize their assets for the common good.

And do it before they escape to the UAE, as Halliburton is trying to do.

We really DO have this power as the SOVEREIGN PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. WE are the rulers here. WE say who gets chartered here and who doesn't, and who can do business here and who can't. We can put any conditions that we believe are in our interest on ANY business corporation that wants to operate from our shores, and if we get any guff from Bush-appointed, Global Corporate Predator judges, we can impeach them for malfeasance and treason.

This is what the nation that Thomas Jefferson helped to found, and that Jefferson wrote most of the ground rules for, was intended to BE: A nation of free people empowered to act in their own interest.

And this is WHY the bad guys took away our right to vote--with their Bushite-corporate controlled "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY vote counting code, don't ya know? They are aware of the powers of the American people, and of what we are like, as a people, when sufficiently provoked.

I'm glad to hear that some AF officers are getting riled at these overpaid, out of control, private thugs. I hope somebody is keeping a list somewhere of all the heroes who should be rewarded, and their careers restored, when we finally evict the Bush Junta, which I have every confidence that we are going to do. We may have problems down the line with the massive mess they have made of the federal government, the military, the economy and foreign relations, and may not find it so easy to shed Global Corporate Predator rule (in another guise than Bushism), but we're learning a lot from the Junta, about what has gone wrong over the last 40 years and what needs to be put right. I have never stopped believing in the American people, 56% of whom opposed the invasion of Iraq way back in Feb. '03. 56% would be a landslide in a presidential election--and, if the truth were known, it was. And the truth IS getting known. Also, we have gained the practical knowledge that we can outvote the machines. With 75% now opposed to the war and wanting it ended, but still only a 50/50 Congress, it's clear that our will is being handicapped. But it is only a matter of time before we chuck that handicap and begin to elect our best representatives and leaders. And then we are going to see American Revolution II: our declaration of independence from the Corporate Rulers.

[EnviroBat]

5. Please join me in my personal Jihad against these assholes.

I've been calling my state reps almost every other day now, and demanding they do something to pull the funding of this organization. We need some sort of protest rally to really get the countries attention. When I call, I think I'm being ignored. Blackwater MUST GO! Wha the hell can we do? I feel really fuggin powerless, but people need to be outraged over this stuff!

[Peace Patriot]

6. Well, we can try the pressure route, but just look at the election system in San Diego,

for starters. Votes "counted" by RIGHTWING BUSHITE corporations, using 'TRADE SECRET,' PROPRIETARY programming code, and zero or pathetically weak auditing. So total assholes get elected, or rather, (s)elected. Duke Cunningham. Bilbray. The election theft system is run by corrupt officials who have sold the voters out to Diebold and ES&S. Try pressuring Bilbray about Blackwell. Har-har. He's probably on the payroll.

Until we fix our election system--which I think can only be done at the local/state level (where ordinary people still have some influence, if they would only exert it)--we have very limited powers of persuasion. Even the best of our representatives owe their power more to Diebold/ES&S than they do to us, because Diebold/ES&S can UN-elect them next time around (--and also have nefarious connections to the Bush Junta).

I think we showed in '06 that we can outvote the machines, in some cases. But we need to get rid of these machines and/or institute a 100% handcount of ballots against machine totals, if we want our representatives to listen to us, AND if we want our good reps to have enough clout in Congress to DO something.

My experience of public protest--which goes way back (first antiwar march, 1967)--has taught me that you can put half a million people on the streets and it means absolutely nothing as to government responsiveness, if you don't have the power of the vote to enforce the will of the people. This is NOT to say that a well-organized campaign wouldn't work in San Diego--and could conceivably be the spark for a national anti-Blackwater movement. But it would involve being there, and keeping close track of any public hearings and other proceedings, connecting with the affected neighbors, raising funds for lawyers, and getting people to events: hearings, protests. It COULD work--because the issue is localized. But it's a tough, uphill battle. And Blackwater may back off, if the fuss raised is big enough, and relocate to another county or state. So, you would have spared San Diego this outrage--but you have, in effect, inflicted the problem on someone else. It might well be worth it, though--whatever the outcome--to spotlight this bad actor, and to demonstrate at least one community's resistance to it, and to all that it stands for. But be aware of, a) the difficulty of it, and b) the real problem--our lack of public control over vote counting.

I'm too far away to be involved in such an SD campaign. But I will give this advice to anyone who wants to undertake it: Don't write off all San Diego Republicans as the opposition. I heard an interesting first-hand story about a bunch of retired military-foreign service-doctor-type Republicans in San Diego, during the 2004 election, that indicates rather amazing hostility to Bush (and supports theories that the Bushites did much of their vote stealing in Republican areas, from Republicans defecting to Kerry) . There used to be quite a large progressive Republican movement in California--and those types of Republicans may still be the majority, but have been disenfranchised. Also, military people themselves, big in San Diego (because of the naval base) may not be all that sympathetic to Blackwater. Military personnel owe allegiance to the Constitution and the UCMJ. Blackwater does not. They are mercenaries. Military people may feel contempt and anger towards them.

Another ally--specific to SD and Calif--could conceivably by Schwarzenegger, who is trying to distance himself from the Bushites these days, and is on the "green" thing. Saving open space could be an issue. And not offending Republican homeowners near the proposed Blackwater compound could also influence the situation. State party Dems are into "cooperating" with Schwarzenegger. I'm thinking: some kind of "odd bedfellows" coalition to keep them out. I'm anti-Schwarzenegger and furious at the state party leaders who play these kinds of games (their collusion has been especially heinous on Diebold/ES&S issues). But I'm not against coalitions, in principle, to achieve specific goals, if the goals are fundamentally good ones. And spotlighting Blackwater--and even denying them an evil roost in San Diego--is a good goal.

EnviroBat, there are SO MANY issues. I was just reading about the Connecticut librarians' fight against Patriot Act/FBI data-fishing in their library patrons' records. It's enough to turn any real American apoplectic, it's such an outrage. They were issued a letter that tied their tongues for their LIFETIMES. They could not even tell their wives or husbands that they had RECEIVED the FBI letter. These heroes decided to fight it and got their gag order lifted, but there are at least THIRTY THOUSAND other Americans who have been told they must rat on their fellow and sister citizen's reading habits, and can NEVER SPEAK about. And this particular gag order was not lifted in time for these librarians to testify against the re-authorization of the Patriot Act. They lucked out in getting a non-Bush Junta judge. But the Gonzo Justice Dept. was so nutso that, even after the librarians' names got leaked out and their story appeared in the NYT, the NEWS ARTICLES were put UNDER SEAL in court documents. Can you believe that?

Then there is the torture issue. And now, Rove appointing US Attorneys to pollute our justice system with fascist operatives. And 600,000 people slaughtered in Iraq, and the endless war that 75% of the American people now oppose and want ended. And treason--outing a CIA agent and an entire WMD counter-proliferation network. And interment and cruelty to illegal immigrants. And the collusion of our fascist government with the war profiteering corporate news monopolies. The list of visceral outrages is beyond belief.

I've settled this problem with my conscience by looking to the mechanism of power: the vote. With transparent vote counting--vote counting that everyone can see and understand--all of this would go away. Believe me. The American people are a peace-minded and law-abiding people, and want a peace-minded and law-abiding government, and they are remarkably consistent and strong in their progressive views, in general, despite six years of non-stop fascist propaganda. I have great faith in them. I think we will put this right. But we have to be practical and attend to the basics of our democracy, with our first priority being transparent elections. So that's where I concentrate my activist energy. But I do have much sympathy with your "jihad" against Blackwater. They are up to no good. And I wish you well in campaigning against them. If you post stuff about it here at DU, please PM me so that I can support your posts.

[Name removed]

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