Blackwater was involved in a couple battles last week. I'm pretty new to the idea of private mercenaries. If you are anything like me you might think the "Private Contractors" in Iraq are the people who are preparing meals for the troops or maybe they are hired workers to help reconstruct Iraq. But Blackwater is a little bit different.
This Blackwater company is owned by an ex-Bush Admin intern named Erik Prince, and his company owns some lucrative contracts to provide security in Iraq. Don't make me explain it, Jack Cafferty and Jeremy Scahill to your left will provide you with some background information. One of the things I wondered was "how much do these guys make?", well according to the Washington Post (2004) these armed commandos earn about $1,000 each day they are in Iraq. If your interested in researching this interesting topic there is a plethora of links available on Wikipedia.
You might still be asking yourself, "Whats the problem?" That is exactly what Jon Stewart asks Scahill in this interview conducted in April.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. As advertised, the USA is a capitalist society, where capital, ie: money, and the acquisition thereof, is the primary duty, responsibilty, and goal, of every citizen, and the lack thereof of capital/money is seen as "un-american," and then consequently, he/she who fails to do so, that is not being able to acquire capital/money, is a failure as a citizen, and is to be scorned and pitied. Blackwater is a "sterling," to borrow the United Kingdom's word for "good money," example of how to be a good citizen, ie: acquire capital/money. And those employed by Blackwater are the brightest, most successful, military-minded "American" citizen's, way ahead of the curve in performing a service for god and country, being well-vested in the "American way," acquiring capital/money for their participation in a well-oiled, capitalist-invested and politicaly-supported endeavor, with the goal of sponsoring, vesting, and franchising Iraq with "American-style democracy," which means "free-market capitalism," of course! Quite simple formula! Blackwater well-represents the goals of a free society."
wilycoyote at 9:09PM on May 30th 2007
2. Why does Blackwater remind me of the Black and Tans that England sent to Ireland years ago. I give men a license to kill, and sometimes the victims are not even connected to war. They may be a politician they don't like, or a Doctor that helps the other side, or even the mother of someone they don't like. Give a man a license to kill, and they forget the worth in choosing targets. That all sound black and white, but it isn't always so. Even in my state of residence we have private self funded militia that has one agenda. Stop the infiltration of illigal imigrants coming across the Mexican border. To date I have heard of no deaths caused by this militia, only the sending the Mexicans back across the border. I approve this militia, but the Bush terrorists called Blackwater, I do not approve of. Their goals are not so clearly defined.
Kat at 10:43PM on May 30th 2007
3. I hope WilyCoyote has his tongue deep in his cheek.
The US wasn't founded as a capitalist country. It was a FREE country. Over the last 25 years (thanks to Ronnie) made greed and acquisition THE driving force.
What scares me about Blackwater is that, now that they are successful getting money for war, their natural desire is to continue war. Doesn't matter if it's a "good" war, just continue it so they get profit. BAD IDEA. Maybe this is a reason that certain governmental functions shouldn't be privatized.
No One at 9:32AM on May 31st 2007
4. I love how any time a government contractor makes a ridiculous amount of money through lobbing and backroom deals someone screams "failure of the free market!" How does that even make sense? This is clearly a failure of the government. This is a great example of the problem with letting the government do much of anything. The government doesn't have to care how much money they spend because it's not theirs, it's ours. They really don't care how well the job gets done because they don't have any competition. So, who are you going to give the job to? Your friends, cronies and people who give you the biggest kickbacks.
fearcomplication at 11:00AM on May 31st 2007
5. Reminds me of ROBOCOPs' OCP, except scarier. The point of Sergio Leones "spaghetti westerns" was always that in America, when someone dies someone else profits. Boy , has that "changed".
Bush and Cheney are the pits; vote Ron Paul!
brianfile23 at 12:47PM on May 31st 2007
6. Hitler had his own private militia: the SA. Our Republican leaders have their own private militia: Blackwater and its clones. Scary.
Phil at 6:11PM on May 31st 2007
7. I believe we as americans and of the HUMAN race have failed to understand the materialistic items i.e. money homes cars technology ect. aren't garenteed and true freedom is freedom from our possesions that own us and our minds way we think
sam houston at 5:11PM on Aug 19th 2007