Blackwater is that point in the ocean or any deep body of water where light no longer penetrates. Lacking illumination, the activities taking place at those depths remain mysterious, unknown, and unverifiable. Thus, by accident or design Blackwater Worldwide, the “privately owned security” organization is aptly named.
Transparency is a fundamental precept in the American Democratic system that is of paramount importance. Organizations such as Blackwater Worldwide exist in a style that is counter to transparency. That makes them very scary. Much evil intent can masquerade as national security interests, and Blackwater markets itself as a righteous effort whose only function is to protect American interests. “Guided by integrity, innovation, accountability, and a desire for a safer world, Blackwater Worldwide leverages state-of-the-art training facilities, professional program management teams, and innovative manufacturing and production capabilities to deliver world-class, customer-driven solutions.”
This kind of hyperbole is the common marketing language found on the Blackwater Worldwide website. Within the mission statement is a single revealing word, and I believe that single word defines their mindset. Possibly it was a Freudian slip, but why use the word “leverages”, as opposed to blends, or combines, or tailors? Leverage is a power word, a word of force.
While being critical of Blackwater, I will freely confess to having a Special Forces background; a very modest experience during another lifetime forty years ago. But, it was my exposure to the special operations mindset that provides me with at least an inkling of understanding about what we are facing with the birth and growth of a “privately owned” domestically based special operations force. Trust me, it takes one to know one, these fella’s are nothing more than boys with huge egos and a love of pyrotechnic toys. They like blowing stuff up. They like surveillance. They like playing 007. More than like it, they LOVE it. And to get paid more than our military pays and to have greater latitude and more flexible rules of engagement than our military permits, is their collective and individual nirvana.
As a domestic paramilitary entity with a growth rate similar to that of Islam, Blackwater threatens to be yet another nightmarish organization that will have the methodologies and operators to become a formidable domestic surveillance organization. All while providing a veil of plausible deniability to those employing them. And make no mistake again, they ARE mercenaries and will allow themselves great latitude when choosing for whom they will work.
The very fact that Blackwater exists is a barometer of our times. They are not the stylized Pinkertons, or Wells Fargo of the 19th century where those private security contractors actually provided quantifiable and measurable service. Rather, Blackwater is more akin to the renegade Quantrills Raiders that wrecked havoc during Americas Civil War guided only by anger and bigotry. Blackwater's existence is anathema to America’s long term interests and is the kind of agency which has the potential to become a black hole into which many American freedoms can be twisted, subverted, and maybe even forever disappear.
This can happen because while Blackwater is technically a privately owned corporation, their cash flow in large part comes from the US government. Blackwater wants to become a privately owned hybrid CIA/NSA/ONI/NRO/KFC, and in today’s climate they may succeed.
And here is the damnable irony of it all. We need the kind of talent and skills employed and deployed by Blackwater Worldwide. In today’s world abstraction is a luxury that we can indulge only as we do in parallel whatever it takes to remain free to abstract. (Thus, opening the discussion as to just where ARE our American military volunteers during Americas time of need? Like it or not, I will remind that we ARE involved in a modern Hundred Years War. I am ohhhh soooo glad that the greatest generation, those that dealt with Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany did not become emasculated by political abstraction. Not knowing or understanding specifics about where the guilt fell, that generation simply buckled up their bootstraps, volunteered by the millions, died by the many tens of thousands, and gave us a future.)
However…..an organization like Blackwater Worldwide would not have been their motivation! There is something about Blackwater that makes my skin crawl. . The thought of an organization such as Blackwater Worldwide actually having worldwide/domestic influence is as scary as the black plague.
