Blackwater's Noble Gas

The name search took a year, while the company became persona non grata in Iraq, but now it's a reality. The notorious Blackwater Worldwide has officially rebranded itself Xe. According to a company memo, "Xe will be a one-stop shopping source for world class services in the fields of security, stability, aviation, training and logistics."

It's pronounced "Zee," by the way, and it's also, oddly enough, the symbol for Xenon, a colorless, odorless noble gas found in trace amounts in the Earth's atmosphere. If only Blackwater and its ilk in the hire-a-gun private security business were found, under whatever names, in mere trace amounts in American foreign and military policy. But no such luck.

In the last eight years, many of the tasks formerly associated with the U.S. military have been privatized and outsourced in a wholesale way -- from guard duty for U.S. diplomats to peeling potatoes and delivering the mail, not to speak of building and maintaining the U.S. bases that now dot the Middle East and Afghanistan. Without its private crony corporations, the Pentagon might, in fact, be on something like life support.

Maybe, in the end, Blackwater, under pressure from the Iraqi government, can be separated from U.S. operations in Iraq, but -- it's a guarantee -- some similarly outfitted private contractor will simply fill in. This is one of the more entrenched legacies Barack Obama has inherited from the Bush years. It doesn't matter whether you're talking about those security firms or KBR, the former Halliburton subsidiary that does just about everything the U.S. military needs to survive but actually fight, separating them from the Pentagon would involve an almost inconceivable set of operations at this point.

No one has done more striking work on this question than the managing editor of the website Corpwatch, Pratap Chatterjee, who has traveled the world, visiting U.S. bases and spending time with KBR's employees, mainly Asian migrant workers who make up a hidden "U.S. Army" in Iraq and Afghanistan, just to see how the largest of these crony corporations actually functions. Now he's written a remarkable new book, Halliburton's Army: How A Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War, on just how it all works, up close and personal.

If only his book were history. Unfortunately, it's evidently going to be our military future, as well as our past, as long as the American "mission" in the world isn't downsized. As Chatterjee sums the situation up in his latest piece, "The Military's Expanding Waistline":

"Obama needs to ask his Pentagon commanders this: Can the U.S. military he has now inherited do anything without KBR? And the answer will certainly be a resounding no."

As Kurt Vonnegut might once have written, so it goes.

Comments (50)

1. I didn't even have to click on the link to this thread to know that it must be written by Tom "facts don't matter to me" Engelhardt-aka "I hate the American Military Engelhardt.

   try and get a life where you actually say or do something productive.

   Posted by antisocialist at 02/20/2009 @ 11:17am

2. How are they even still allowed to operate over there with their track record...does that stupid name change make them any less like thugs??

   Posted by Caj at 02/20/2009 @ 11:24am

3. We the People get to vote. And vote. And vote. What fun, participation.

   But the corps get the most of our tax $$$, the ultimate staying power, the final word ... with most pols, once bought, staying bought.

   Welcome to the Greatest Show on Earth.

   Posted by sloper at 02/20/2009 @ 11:44am

4. Dear Readers, Xe so pronounced Zee has an interesting connotation to old generation Michiganders. Zeeland is a community near Grand Rapids. It is known for its zealous religious adherence to the Dutch Reform faith, a hotbed of 17th century Calvinism. Coincidence?

   Posted by canoe at 02/20/2009 @ 11:47am

5. I would suggest to Engelhardt that he take a close look at Pelosi's husband, B Boxers husband and Feinstein's husband, 3 of the wealthiest women in govt...and where their husbands make money with bid or no bid contracts off of the wasr machine...I believe the country of Iraq, Afganistan and the US military might be in the mix.

   I think there might be a bigger example of hypocriscy here than ALGORE himself.

   Posted by YourJomamma at 02/20/2009 @ 12:51pm

6. How are they even still allowed to operate over there with their track record...does that stupid name change make them any less like thugs??

   Posted by Caj at 02/20/2009 @ 11:24am

   I heard that they have never lost a client that they were guarding..

   Posted by YourJomamma at 02/20/2009 @ 12:55pm

7. These private security companies are an albatross around the neck of the military services. They cost to much, and they are worthless. This is nothing , but more corporate welfare. This is the first war in modern times that the logistics and some combat operations have been privatized. We could have fielded more troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan with the money wasted on private contracts. Government, in general, would be cheaper, if it was purged of these private contractors. These idiots threw out over 200 years of American military experience out the window by bringing in these private militias. They haven't got a clue about providing for the "Common Defense".

   Posted by P. J. Casey at 02/20/2009 @ 1:17pm

8. Worthless? Their job is to protect the people that hired them and they do a very good job. You want the US military to protect civilian contractors? Ok, have congress give them that mandate (but they won't). In the meantime people need to be protected, and it would be fun to watch some of you critics, after being dropped into a war zone, and see how long you would survive without heavily armed Blackwater types. My guess is you would need several changes of underwear.

   Posted by pyeatte at 02/20/2009 @ 2:03pm

9. "Dear Readers, Xe so pronounced Zee has an interesting connotation to old generation Michiganders. Zeeland is a community near Grand Rapids. It is known for its zealous religious adherence to the Dutch Reform faith, a hotbed of 17th century Calvinism. Coincidence?"

   ~canoe at 11:47am

   Dear "canoe",

   Interesting thought. Seems not particularly likely, but you never know. Of course, Blackwater's founder is from the area --Holland, MI to be precise-- and I've heard a story that his grandfather died of a heart attack during business travel along the Holland-Zeeland corridor as a vegetable peddler.

   I suspect that the primary connotation of the rebranding is to associate the company with the idea of "nobility" as in the noble gases of which Xenon is a member. They are exceedingly unreactive elements as a class.

   Nice try, no cigar.

   By the way, NATIONHEADS......

   Here's a couple of excellent links.

   A short, but powerful speech by Ron Paul:

   www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fHfdSi-GDo&eurl

   And a very significant article of portent regarding SW Asia:

   tinyurl.com/b2ppuf

   You'll definitely want to click on the link below the airfield image, "Graphic: Recent image".

   We're gettin' in deep, people. Way too deep.

   Posted by b_kool_66 at 02/20/2009 @ 2:41pm

10. And if there were any doubts about what kind of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would make, here is an early indication:

    tinyurl.com/bb9ytf

    Way to go, Ice Queen. Smooth......real smooth.

    Pretty easy to predict that this is just for starters.

    Posted by b_kool_66 at 02/20/2009 @ 2:51pm

11. I should add to the above......

    Of course, the U.S. is entirely over a barrel with reference to China.

    Posted by b_kool_66 at 02/20/2009 @ 2:54pm

12. My guess is you would need several changes of underwear.

    Posted by pyeatte at 02/20/2009 @ 2:03pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    Kidnapper fodder without Xe types one and all for sure, however, there may be more of Xe units operating in the U.S.A. particularly in Arizona soon! That is unless Obamanation and the Undemocrats don't send our servicemen to protect the citizens from Mexican drug lords and gangs. Some may be crying for hired milita help here if things don't change!

    Posted by comancheamerican at 02/20/2009 @ 6:04pm

13. I'm going to learn to write code, and create a little automated analysis of HHHA

    Hater's Hypocritical Hot Air v.1.0

    The Maaaash, Auntie Sosh, all of their vehemence will let me know the merits of the article without reading it. The more the heat, the more the meat.

    A little scan of the neocon posts here tells me this article's probably a good one!

    Posted by winyahn at 02/20/2009 @ 9:40pm

14. Certainly with Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State (Blackwater paid off Bill in the last years) the State Department is not threatened.

    Posted by syfriendly at 02/20/2009 @ 11:01pm

15. try and get a life where you actually say or do something productive.

    Posted by antisocialist at 02/20/2009 @ 11:17am

    yeah, like dismembering brown kids.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 02/21/2009 @ 12:13am

16. I heard that they have never lost a client that they were guarding..

    Posted by YourJomamma at 02/20/2009 @ 12:55pm

    so you favour paying people 27 times the military to do the military's work.

    maybe they should run the dmv, ¿too?

    Posted by frosty zoom at 02/21/2009 @ 12:14am

17. Engelhard is a naif.

    Before and after the Boxer rebellion our gunboats in South China were run almost completely by local help hired for a pittance. They stoked the boilers, cooked the meals, polished the brass, swabbed the decks, did the laundry, etc. Up until the 1950s Filipinos did every menial job in the Navy on shore and aboard ship.

    Before and during WWII the military hired civilians to help build fortifications, sometimes while bullets were flying.

    And this is not just a US practice. There are stories of British warships suddenly running out to sea with civilans still aboard who had been servicing the engines.

    Today in the Marine Corps, and the other services, civilian contractors have largely replaced garrison cooks in stateside mess halls and overseas.The Air Force did away with KP completely. Much clerical work has also been contracted out. A great deal of what the military used to do for itself civilian contractors now do better and cheaper.

    There are even radar installations and delicate electronic systems, run by civilian operators. This is one way the military has slimmed down while building up its fighting muscle. There is nothing wrong with KBR and other such companies.

    Posted by Hugo_Pirovano at 02/21/2009 @ 01:35am

18. I heard that they have never lost a client that they were guarding..

    Posted by YourJomamma

    No...They just "lost" several innocent Iraqi pedestrians.

    Dump these second hand Green Berets and the KBR profiteers too.

    These parasites are a symptom of an empire...Look at history, empires need mercenaries.

    Posted by koroviev at 02/21/2009 @ 01:47am

19. Koroviev hits on the biggest problem with Blackwater (aka 'whatever'). the problem with mercenaries is that the are not accountable, yet they are seen in the context of the Iraqis as what America is all about.

    Mercenaries do dirty work in dirty ways. The problem is that perception and reality become distorted because these private companies get away with things uniformed military could not.

    Posted by erazma at 02/21/2009 @ 08:52am

20. Do they do it cheaper than the Army?

    Nope.

    It costs more to have mercenaries.

    So, where is the outrage from fiscal conservative?

    hiding, because these guys wear uniforms and carry guns. that means they must be worshiped, no questions may be asked.

    ANTI- what part of this story is "anti-military"? It is about a private contractor that has had it's license pulled in Iraq, whose mercs are currently being tried for murder, and who charge more to do a job than the military.

    -----

    Posted by Hugo_Pirovano at 02/21/2009 @ 01:35am

    Scale? Maybe private contractors in Iraq reap a larger % of your tax dollar than private contractors in the Boxer Rebellion? And, BTW, what was the tax rate during the Boxer Rebellion and WWII?

    Do you think Blackwater is working for "a pittance"?

    One source I found says 20% of the cost of the on-going war in Iraq goes to private contractors.

    [First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting, which immediately precedes Blackwater on the Top 100, came under fire in July after a pair of whistleblowers told a House committee that the company essentially "kidnapped" low-paid foreign laborers brought in to help build the new U.S. embassy in Baghdad. First Kuwaiti and the U.S. State Department denied the charges.

    According to David Walker, the comptroller general of the United States, the outsourcing of government has escalated across the board over the past five years, although oversight of the process has shrunk during this same period.]

    Lot's outrage lately from the neo-cons over money that will be spent IN THE USA , nothing about $1,000,000,000,000 that will be spent in Iraq . Why, if we even question where the money went and if we got worth out of our tax dollar....we must hate America and want to see the Army fail.

    Posted by crabwalk at 02/21/2009 @ 10:08am

21. So, neo-cons, why the double standard?

    You favor virtually unlimited, unaccounted, off budget spending in Iraq to save you from mythical wmd's..

    but you are against on budget spending in the USA to attempt to stave off a real, deep, recession.

    Why is that?

    Is socialism for Iraq good, socialism for USA bad? Good to 1/2 build hospitals and schools in Iraq at cost plus with no bids, leaving the work unfinished... bad to rebuild hospitals, roads and schools in the USA at "low bidder"? You are FOR private, foreign contractors in Iraq, OPPOSED to non-uniformed unarmed US citizen contractors in the USA?

    why? ideology? Nah. Fear? nah. myopia? Gettin closer.

    Posted by crabwalk at 02/21/2009 @ 10:15am

22. Of course, the U.S. is entirely over a barrel with reference to China.

    Posted by b_kool_66 at 02/20/2009 @ 2:54pm

    I would say the term "over a barrel" is a bit of an understatement. Recent reports are that China is spending about 40 to 50 billion dollars a month buying up bits and pieces of planet earth. Also they are spending over 800 billion at the moment for light rail systems, interstate type roads and other infrastructure. Guess who helped them with all that Walmart shoppers? I just ordered up one of those Rosetta-Stone language programs for Chinese. I for one want to be able to communicate with my new masters..

    Posted by chaoszen at 02/21/2009 @ 10:17am

23. [Of the $13 billion awarded through cost-plus contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan for 2004 to 2006, 30 percent was awarded through simple cost-plus, fixed-fee arrangements that offer no incentives for performance or cost savings. The largest amount awarded to one vendor through cost-plus contracts, more than $8 billion, went to KBR. Much of that was the result of a contract to provide logistical support for U.S. Army combat operations.]-center for public integrity

    Are the pro-bidness, fiscal conservative, free marketeers against incentivization and performance review? Fascinating, because I thought that is what you guys preached day in and day out here at The Nation Blogs.

    Posted by crabwalk at 02/21/2009 @ 10:24am

24. There is nothing wrong with KBR and other such companies.

    Posted by Hugo_Pirovano at 02/21/2009 @ 01:35am |

    Yeah, as long as you don't mind being electrocuted while taking a shower.. Or drinking contaminated water.

    Posted by chaoszen at 02/21/2009 @ 10:38am

25. Here is a question.

    When the Earths population exceeded the 2 billion carrying capacity of human beings on this planet, did "God" or whatever start scraping the bottom of the barrel for souls?

    I was thinking that might account, in part for all the lowlife right wingnuts that skulk about here.

    Posted by chaoszen at 02/21/2009 @ 10:47am

26. There is nothing wrong with KBR and other such companies.

    Posted by Hugo_Pirovano at 02/21/2009

    So you would not mind them using similar business practices with the Stimulus Pack money? Cost plus, little oversight, contracts do not have to be completed, buildings do not need to be inspected before draws are made, whistle blowers should be fired and silenced and profit from tax payer money can be kept off shore, and they can use foreign labor and Iranian parts?

    Posted by crabwalk at 02/21/2009 @ 2:01pm

27. ...the problem with mercenaries is that the are not accountable,....

    Posted by erazma at 02/21/2009 @ 08:52am

    Really? Then God pays them?

    Compared to the US Gubberment--a really, really, really "accountable" bunch (see Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Tim Geithner, etc.)--Blackwater is far, far, far more "accountable"...ironically, to the very same US Gubberment that is NOT accountable!

    Posted by Happy at 02/21/2009 @ 2:19pm

28. Think about it. The real reason our military is out there in Iraq is for the benefit of the contractors. What benefit is the United States getting in throwing the money down the black hole of occupation. The real question is: What benefit are the contractors getting by having money shoved down their throat holes? They are otherwise having a lucrative opportunity given to them for years to come. After this ends, there will not be any open bids. They were given the keys to the truck. And their not giving them back. The profits are not being taxed like they should.

    Posted by valiant at 02/21/2009 @ 2:59pm

29. "When the Earths population exceeded the 2 billion carrying capacity of human beings on this planet"

    Posted by chaoszen at 02/21/2009 @ 10:47am

    Carrying capacity? Deserves some research lets us start with Darwin;

    The full or shall we say real ... name, of Darwin's book the "Origin of Species," is," Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of the Favored Races ..." Exactly who was to be so favored?

    Now, it is well-known, or should be, that Darwin's thesis of the "struggle for existence" and "natural selection" was key to the ideology of, guess who, the Nazis.

    The following characterization by Prof. Percy Ernst Schramm, in the preface to Hitlers Tischgespräche (Hitler's Tabletalk) by Dr. Henry Pickering (Stuttgart: Seewad, 1963), is quite accurate: "Pseudo-Darwinist argumentation has played a more or less important role in the political polemics of all developed nations since the Nineteenth Century.... But no one before Hitler actually based policy on principles derived from Darwin; no on before Hitler drew the final consequences from those biological premises in such a systematic and merciless way, and realized them in action."

    Carrying capacity, is a lie, a preliminary mind set and point of view set up so as to excuse genocide. One has to dig deep to find its true meaning, but it is nonetheless as categorized, and characterized above.

    No deprecation is implied or intended.

    Posted by V at 02/21/2009 @ 3:16pm

30. The tremendous cost and unaccountability of mercernary arms has already been covered on this thread. Performance has always been an issue. The reason the modern army was invented was that private companies are in it to make money--not to defend the state. Read Machiavelli for some amusing examples. That being said, the real problem I have with "contractors" is philosophical. I can't think of a republic in history that remained free and kept its long term viability after coming to depend on mercenaries. Citizenship and military service are indivisible in a healthy republic. Militaries that have citizen participation (a draft) are just as viable, and cost less than mercenaries. They also give the citizenry a real "stake" in the governmental system. And please don't even bring up the National Guard--that's just "All Volunteer" on the cheap. If EVERYBODY is liable, you'd be suprised at how interested voters would become when decisions of war and peace were made. I believe that the infantilism of modern American political discourse is due in part to a total severance of rights and duties. Citizens are encouraged to become juvenile consumers with no thought for anything larger than their own desires. As long as someone, ANYONE goes "out there" and does the dirty work, they don't care. This is the mindset not of a member of a free republic, but of an imperial subject.

    Posted by Hamiltonian at 02/21/2009 @ 4:55pm

31. Cap'n Chaos,

    Always enjoy the lightly humorous posts, sir.

    I don't have much here to add to the mercenary "debate", but I will say --to you and "V"-- that in regards to carrying capacity E.O. Wilson's sublimely enjoyable "Future of Life" has an excellent discussion which speaks in terms of 'ecological footprint' --i.e. how many acres of land that an individual theoretically uses up to support their existence.

    Bottom line right now is that the Global ecosystem is ominously groaning like the Titanic upon impact. It is a well established fact that the sixth mass extinction is underway and accelerating as we type.

    I'm sure the Cap'n probably agrees, but not quite sure regarding "V" who is obviously quite bright but also often opaque or even obtuse on these threads. Please take no offense, "V".

    And finally, yeah, China has the U.S. in a serious bind. Then again, China has some significant problems of its own that could soon rear up and bite them in the ass.

    P.S. I've been reading James Bamford's new blockbuster, "The Shadow Factory", and it gives a whole new spin to the concept of the innate human self-destructive impulse. I'm thinkin' I'll have a post or two coming on the topic.

    Posted by b_kool_66 at 02/21/2009 @ 6:32pm

32. Here is a question.

    When the Earths population exceeded the 2 billion carrying capacity of human beings on this planet, did "God" or whatever start scraping the bottom of the barrel for souls?

    I was thinking that might account, in part for all the lowlife right wingnuts that skulk about here.

    Posted by chaoszen at 02/21/2009 @ 10:47am

    Cute...where did you pick that cozy little number?

    no one knows what the earths capacity is because life and technology are always changing..

    the number I see is more like 20-25 billion.

    Posted by antisocialist at 02/21/2009 @ 7:04pm

33. so God will stop us from procreation when we reach a global population of 25 billion? Wow, thanks for the newsflash.

    Posted by erazma at 02/21/2009 @ 8:48pm

34. Cute...where did you pick that cozy little number?

    no one knows what the earths capacity is because life and technology are always changing..

    the number I see is more like 20-25 billion.

    Posted by antisocialist at 02/21/2009 @ 7:04pm

    I didn't pick it. Others have. Here is a link.

    http://www.dieoff.org/page174.htm

    Posted by chaoszen at 02/21/2009 @ 11:17pm

35. "I don't have much here to add to the mercenary "debate", but I will say --to you and "V"-- that in regards to carrying capacity E.O. Wilson's sublimely enjoyable "Future of Life" has an excellent discussion which speaks in terms of 'ecological footprint' --i.e. how many acres of land that an individual theoretically uses up to support their existence."

    I am gladdened that, lets us say, you had the biochemistry sublime. However, I could, were I of a mind to, find it sad ... that such a study was not reserved for the higher primates, where based on the information provided so far, it is more applicable. A human discussion is better tasked, in regards to how can be, produced... per kilometer.

    A subtle difference, perhaps, but when one removes human creativity ... ones metaphor no longer rises to fit its stated need, and reduces the discussion to one better fit for beats of the field.

    "Bottom line"

    You have yet to prove such ...

    Posted by b_kool_66 at 02/21/2009 @ 6:32pm

    Posted by V at 02/21/2009 @ 11:33pm

36. Posted by b_kool_66 at 02/21/2009 @ 6:32pm

    "right now is that the Global ecosystem is ominously groaning like the Titanic upon impact. It is a well established fact that the sixth mass extinction is underway and accelerating as we type."

    Specifics follow the aforementioned proof ... doubtless.

    "V" who is obviously quite bright but also often opaque or even obtuse on these threads.

    ... (I like opaque though.)

    Please take no offense, "V".

    None taken.

    "And finally, yeah, China has the U.S. in a serious bind. Then again, China has some significant problems of its own that could soon rear up and bite them in the ass."

    Not if they start thinking.

    '"The Shadow Factory", and it gives a whole new spin to the concept of the innate human self-destructive impulse. '

    What? Poor childhood, "bad" bio-neuro-chemistry, environment, when did they become, "innate," in the sense ... the author is disposed to mean, here?

    Posted by V at 02/21/2009 @ 11:47pm

37. "A human discussion is better tasked, in regards to how ..much.. can be, produced..."

    And of course Kool my comments were and are reserved for the "author" of your discussion.

    And as to my earlier post I simply spoke to the source, origins, and usage of a term. As for whatever fruits some may think (still) it has, its roots are in genocide.

    It essentially says that people dying in a famine are dying because (quiet as its kept, and lets be truthful shall we?) they are supposed to ... it is the natural order of things, it is natures law.

    Never mind the man behind the fucking curtain.

    Posted by V at 02/22/2009 @ 12:03am

38. Now, it is well-known, or should be, that Darwin's thesis of the "struggle for existence" and "natural selection" was key to the ideology of, guess who, the Nazis. Posted by V at 02/21/2009 @ 3:16pm

    Any ideology based on a misrepresentation of Origin of Species is not the fault of Darwin. Although it has been used to excuse selfish, ruthless and vicious behavior for many years. Darwin was a humanist and spoke of compassion and morality in many of his works.

    Posted by chaoszen at 02/22/2009 @ 12:42am

39. Posted by chaoszen at 12:42am

    A slam dunk if there ever was one.

    Thanks man, I neglected to address that point on first pass.

    As you were...I mean.... party on dude.

    ;-)

    Posted by b_kool_66 at 02/22/2009 @ 01:26am

40. Posted by b_kool_66 at 02/22/2009 @ 01:26am

    Yeah, I didn't want to let that one slip by. Sometimes Darwin sounds similar to the Dalai Lama. Or vice versa. Anyway, I'm off to work. Later.

    Posted by chaoszen at 02/22/2009 @ 01:45am

41. "Any ideology based on a misrepresentation of Origin of Species is not the fault of Darwin."

    Posted by chaoszen at 02/22/2009 @ 12:42am

    There was no "misrepresentation" Darwin. And no "V" is not about reveal any creationist nonsense (just the truth relative to Darwin being only marginally better) . Darwin as scientist is laughable, his status has as its foundation ignorance and statecraft. Period.

    Mere opinion will not be sufficient to carry the day, not in this interrogatory... And that sans submission to various and sundry figures of authority is all you are capable of, as truth is on the side of yours truly.

    Science is not a fraternity, nor a club ruled by consensus as a path to truth.

    Posted by V at 02/22/2009 @ 11:37am

42. There was no "misrepresentation" _of_ Darwin.

    (My focus is on french toast)

    Posted by V at 02/22/2009 @ 11:46am

43. Posted by crabwalk at 02/21/2009: What part of this article is anit-military? Every article that appears in the Nation that remotely touches the military is anti-military (unless they are talking about communist or muslim militaries).

    Posted by pyeatte at 02/22/2009 @ 3:09pm

44. Posted by chaoszen at 02/21/2009 @ 10:47am: "I was thinking that might account, in part for all the lowlife right wingnuts that skulk about here."

    Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you lefties. :)

    Posted by pyeatte at 02/22/2009 @ 3:22pm

45. To the surprise of absolutely no one, this is what the wing-nuts here are reflexively defending in Blackwater...

    http://tinyurl.com/6laj7o

    In pleading guilty to manslaughter, the sixth security guard, Jeremy Ridgeway of California, described how he and the other guards used automatic rifles and grenade launchers to fire on cars, houses, a traffic officer and a girls' school. In addition to those killed, at least 20 people were wounded.

    .

    http://tinyurl.com/dc38yn

    An American official familiar with the investigation said those involved in the incident claimed that at least one Blackwater guard had drawn a weapon on his colleagues and shouted at them to "stop shooting", the newspaper reported.

    .

    On Tuesday the Oversight Committee held a hearing on Blackwater, examining several incidents in Iraq involving the private security firm. One such incident involved a Blackwater employee who shot a guard of the Iraqi Vice President, apparently while drunk, and whether the Justice Department has truly been investigating as the State Department claims. The Blackwater employee was flown out of the Iraq within two days of the incident before a proper investigation could be conducted:

    Posted by Lillian at 02/22/2009 @ 10:08pm

46. Basic question...

    why did not approving of the idea of privately-run soldiery, i.e. mercenaries, become being "anti-US military"?!??!?!?

    Do our right-wing friends have bumper stickers saying "I Support Our Hessians!"?

    Posted by Mask at 02/23/2009 @ 09:16am

47. Do our right-wing friends have bumper stickers saying "I Support Our Hessians!"?

    Posted by Mask at 02/23/2009 @ 09:16am

    Mask, your giving them way to much credit for having an imagination. The only right wingnut bumper stickers I see say "Bush/Cheney '04" or the like.

    Posted by chaoszen at 02/23/2009 @ 11:30am

48. Posted by pyeatte at 02/22/2009 @ 3:22pm

    Funny thing is, this is a progressive blog. And we don't need to skulk..

    Posted by chaoszen at 02/23/2009 @ 11:34am

49. Every article that appears in the Nation that remotely touches the military is anti-military (unless they are talking about communist or muslim militaries).

    Posted by pyeatte at 02/22/2009 @ 3:09pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    .

    The article I just read was about Blackwater, a private firm.

    which part did **you** think was about the military?

    Posted by Lillian at 02/23/2009 @ 11:47am

50. Posted by chaoszen at 02/23/2009 @ 11:30am

    Actually, according to their own logic....in 1776, as "loyalists to George", they WOULD have been defending the use of the Hessians!

    LOL

    Posted by Mask at 02/23/2009 @ 1:38pm