Investigation of Blackwater
A sighting! Erik Prince, religious fanatic, former Navy SEAL and founder of Blackwater USA, has testified before a Congressional Committee. Protecting New Orleans mansion-owners from the riffraff after Hurricane Katrina, shooting at suspicious-looking swarthy people in Iraq — Blackwater has earned a hell of a reputation over the years. And now Congress has finally taken an interest.
Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said: “Privatizing is working exceptionally well for Blackwater. The question for this hearing is whether outsourcing to Blackwater is a good deal to the American taxpayer, whether it’s a good deal for the military and whether it’s serving our national interest in Iraq.”
Prince responded: “
One of the Blackwater incidents being investigated: In December ’06, a drunken Blackwater employee shot an Iraqi guard. The State Department advised Blackwater to offer a payment to the deceased’s survivors, and then quickly hustled the Blackwater guard out of Iraq. Internal e-mails showed State Department employees arguing over how much money to pay the Iraqi family.
Regarding that incident, Waxman said “It’s hard to read these e-mails and not come to the conclusion that the State Department is acting as Blackwater’s enabler.”
Right now there's a bill pending in the House — by David Price (D-NC) — that would make all contractors subject to prosecution in American courts. Right, that'll happen.
Labels: Blackwater, David Price, Erik Prince, Henry Waxman
posted by Tom Harper @ 11:42 AM
11 Comments:
If we subject Blackwater to the law, then the terrorists will be able to kill your family. We must not show any weakness!
Assuming the human race hasn't killed each other off, this episode of history is going to be really, really funny in a few centuries. "What the fuck were they thinking, those simpletons!"
Randal: Oh, you mean those terrorists in Eye-Rack, the ones who will be following us home if we cut and run. I can't imagine what future generations will think when they look back on this era. It won't be pretty.
even if Congress passes some law to reign in the PMC's, my guess is Bush will just issue signing statements exempting them from the law yet again.
Sort of like what he did with torture..."we do not torture! (but as Decider I gets to decide if we need to torture someone or not)"
Nothing is going to happen to the Blackwater fucks, because there is never any accountability EVER.
PoliShifter: Ah yes, saved by a signing statement. Supposedly Erik Prince is in favor of this law to regulate contractors, but if it passes (unlikely) you can count on Dumbya finding a way to weasle out of it.
Lizzy: I'm afraid you're right. Blackwater seems to be falling between the cracks when it comes to any sort of accountability.
PoliShifter makes a good point and I concur. Any bill passed by this Congress, as long as Bush is in charge Blackwater will be exempted by this President.
Let's Talk: No doubt about it; if this law passes Bush will dilute it with a signing statement, or he'll quietly delete a few key phrases and change the entire meaning of the bill.
It's amazing how this concept of signing statements continues to go unchallenged. Yes, they've been around forever, but if the executive can do this as often as he or she pleases, Congress is a pointless body. You'd think that the primitive human need for self-preservation would at least get the Dems to fight on this point. Even if they were to "lose," I can't imagine the majority of Americans (I'm laughing as I type this) would welcome the idea of, for all intents and purposes, a king.
Another reason why the whole veto-proof line is a crock. Fine, garner 70 votes. Bush hates the law? Signing statement! He knows no one will challenge him.
Randal: Something needs to be done about those signing statements. God knows how many more he'll do before he slinks off to Crawford (or Paraguay) for good. "Democrats fight"? LOL.
great post thank you...ugly subject...
Enigma4ever: Thanks. Yes it is an ugly subject.
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