Donald Vance, a 29-year-old Navy veteran from Chicago, was a whistle-blower who prompted the raid by tipping off the F.B.I. to suspicious activity at the company where he worked, including possible weapons trafficking. He was arrested and held for 97 days — shackled and blindfolded, prevented from sleeping by blaring music and round-the-clock lights. In other words, he was subjected to the same mistreatment that thousands of non-Americans have been subjected to since the 2003 invasion.
Even after the military learned who Mr. Vance was, they continued to hold him in these abusive conditions for weeks more. He was not allowed to defend himself at the Potemkin hearing held to justify his detention. And that was special treatment. As an American citizen, he was at least allowed to attend his hearing. An Iraqi, or an Afghani, or any other foreigner, would have been barred from the room.
Yesterday, David Johnston reported that nearly 20 cases in which civilian contractors were accused of abusing detainees have been sent to the Justice Department. So far, the record is perfect: not a single indictment.
Their Myth: Blackwater is accountable under the U.S. Constitution, international treaties, U.S. regulations, defense trade controls acts and numerous U.S. statutes.
Specifically, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) applies to contractors accompanying the total force and the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) creates jurisdiction for federal court trials. Any wrongdoing is covered under statutes such as the War Crimes Act, the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, the Anti-Torture Statute, the Defense Base Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and many other domestic and international regulations. Blackwater advocates stricter enforcement of existing laws.-Blackwater USA website
Sure they are. I think with all the current events we know about, they most certainly are not accountable to anyone!
My Reality: It is "wrong" to have contractors working with the U.S. military.- Yes, it is unfortunate for our guys in the military to have to resort to using these mercs in the field. To have to look at the "above the military" hardware, hear about the mercs salaries, which far exceed their own, and the obvious "cowboy mentality" displayed, without accountability, that they [U.S. Military] themselves are accountable for, will make a huge dent in the soldiers' morale. SO YES IT IS WRONG ON SO MANY LEVELS!
Their Myth: Blackwater professionals are former servicemen and law enforcement personnel who continue to serve their country with duty and honor, selflessly placing their lives at risk to serve at the behest of the United States Government. Thirty of Blackwater’s contractors have been killed. No one who Blackwater has protected has ever been killed or seriously injured.-Blackwater USA website
They can't even refute the statement that it is wrong! Instead they just throw more of their propaganda at you claiming statements that they won't even release the statistics for. "At the behest of the United States Government?" I thought they had no government contracts in Iraq. They are for-profit so there is no voluntary "behest of the government", it's all under contract, seen or unseen.
My Reality: Blackwater's CEO is a "Christian Supremacist."
Their Myth: Blackwater’s founder and CEO is a Roman Catholic. His views, which are hardly radical, are shared by over 1 billion Catholics worldwide. Blackwater employs people of many different religious beliefs.- Blackwater USA website
Roman Catholic? Focus on the Family, Promise Keepers, Holland Christian H.S.? These aren't schools of thought by Roman Catholics. These are right-wing christian fundamentalist.
My Reality: Blackwater's work in executing military coups world wide in dangerous places is it's core competency.- Here is another excerpt from an article in Mother Jones Magazine by Barry Yeoman:
The United States has a history of dispatching private military companies to handle the dirtiest foreign assignments. The Pentagon quietly hired for-profit firms to train Vietnamese troops before America officially entered the war, and the CIA secretly used private companies to transport weapons to the Nicaraguan contras during the 1980s after Congress had cut off aid. But as the Bush administration replaces record numbers of soldiers with contractors, it creates more opportunities for private firms to carry out clandestine operations banned by Congress or unpopular with the public. "We can see some merit in using an outside contractor," Charles Snyder, deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, recently told reporters, "because then we're not using U.S. uniforms and bodies."
Like the Clinton administration, the Bush administration is relying heavily on private military companies to wage the war on drugs in South America. Federal law bans U.S. soldiers from participating in Colombia's war against left-wing rebels and from training army units with ties to right-wing paramilitaries infamous for torture and political killings. There are no such restrictions on for-profit companies, though, and since the late 1990s, the United States has paid private military companies an estimated $1.2 billion, both to eradicate coca crops and to help the Colombian army put down rebels who use the drug trade to finance their insurgency. -MotherJones
Sounds to me like the government only uses Blackwater and the like for these types of operations. Blackwater wasn't a business in the spotlight before its supposed inception in 1997; all of the guys who run it were in all of these situations....good practice, no?
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