American Conspiracies - Jesse Ventura [111]
By the summer of ’09, word was out about a clandestine CIA program to assassinate al-Qaeda members. The private company enlisted was identified as Blackwater,11 which started out protecting our brass in Iraq. Today, even though the Iraqi government has kicked them out, they’re still under contract to our own government for “black ops.” I read a chilling book about Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill that I highly recommend. They’re in the vanguard of privatization of our armed forces. It’s astounding to consider that we have more private soldiers (74,000) than uniformed troops (57,000) in Afghanistan, as of summer 2009.12
Blackwater—which recently changed its name to the more innocuous-sounding Xe Services—is run by Erik Prince, who one former employee says “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe.”13 After getting some bad press for mowing down 17 Iraqi civilians on a crowded street in 2007,14 the company set about to clean up its image. They don’t call themselves mercenaries anymore, but “global stabilization professionals.” Their Web site claims a corporate vision “guided by integrity, innovation, and a desire for a safer world.” They sponsor NASCAR events and have performed dramatic parachute landings at college football games. Blackwater, as Erik Prince puts it, “is going to be more of a full spectrum” operation.15
Hmmmm, wonder what “full spectrum” means. One arm of Blackwater is called Total Intelligence Solutions, run by J. Cofer Black, who used to head up the CIA’s counter-terrorism branch. The company has bid for a $15 billion Pentagon contract to “fight terrorists with drugtrade ties.” They’ve got an offshore affiliate, Greystone Ltd., in Barbados. And, while Iraqi civilians are suing Blackwater for murders and other war crimes, the Obama Administration has replaced them with a new outfit called Triple Canopy, giving the company a billion-dollar contract to provide private security services in Iraq. Not only did they hire some of Blackwater’s finest, but some company employees have claimed Triple Canopy has used stolen cars and weapons taken from Iraqis to lift their profits on certain contracts to more than 40 percent.16 Meantime, Blackwater also remains on our government payroll to arm drone aircraft in Afghanistan, among other lucrative missions.17
After Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, Blackwater got itself a mission there, too. About 150 of its mercs fanned out around the city in full battle gear, carrying automatic assault weapons and with guns strapped to their legs. When Jeremy Scahill talked to four of the men, they described their work as “securing neighborhoods” and “confronting criminals,” on behalf of Homeland Security.18
I find it so disturbing that our country is allowing professional mercenaries to take over protection of our nation. If that’s the case, what do we need the military for at all? In Iraq, Ambassador Bremer went over and absolved them of anything they did. They could literally commit murder and just walk away. If, because of terrorism, laws don’t matter anymore, then we’re no better than the terrorists. We can’t just have the law when it’s convenient.
But this is only one of a host of assaults on our Constitution and the Bill of Rights since the events of 9/11. We would do well to review elements of the USA Patriot Act, passed by Congress a month after the attacks. Among other things, the new law made it a crime for anybody to contribute money or material support for a group that appeared on the Terror Watch List. It allowed the FBI to monitor and tape-record conversations between attorneys and clients, once considered privileged. It let the FBI order librarians to turn over information