http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070918_checkbook_imperialism_the_blackwater_fiasco/
Checkbook Imperialism: The Blackwater Fiasco By Robert Scheer Truthdig: September 18, 2007 Please, please, I tell myself, leave Orwell out of it. Find some other, fresher way to explain why "Operation Iraqi Freedom" is dependent upon killer mercenaries. Or why the "democratically elected government" of "liberated" Iraq does not explicitly have the legal power to expel Blackwater USA from its land or hold any of the 50,000 private contractor troops that the U.S. government has brought to Iraq accountable for their deadly actions. Were there even the faintest trace of Iraqi independence rising from the ashes of this failed American imperialist venture, Blackwater would have to fold its tents and go, if only in the interest of keeping up appearances. After all, the Iraqi Interior Ministry claimed that the Blackwater thugs guarding a U.S. State Department convoy through the streets of Baghdad fired "randomly at citizens" in a crowded square on Sunday, killing 11 people and wounding 13 others. So the Iraqi government has ordered Blackwater to leave the country after what a government spokesman called a "flagrant assault ... on Iraqi citizens." But who told those Iraqi officials that they have the power to control anything regarding the 182,000 privately contracted personnel working for the U.S. in Iraq? Don't they know about Order 17, which former American proconsul Paul Bremer put in place to grant contractors, including his own Blackwater bodyguards, immunity from Iraqi prosecution? Nothing has changed since the supposed transfer of power from the Coalition Provisional Authority, which Bremer once headed, to the Iraqi government holed up in the Green Zone and guarded by Blackwater and other "private" soldiers. They are "private" in the same fictional sense that our uniformed military is a "volunteer" force, since both are lured by the dollars offered by the same paymaster, the U.S. government. Contractors earn substantially more, despite $20,000 to $150,000 signing bonuses and an all-time-high average annual cost of $100,000 per person for the uniformed military. All of this was designed by the neocon hawks in the Pentagon to pursue their dreams of empire while avoiding a conscripted army, which would have millions howling in the street by now in protest. Instead, we have checkbook imperialism. The U.S. government purchases whatever army it needs, which has led to the dependence upon private contract firms like Blackwater USA, with its $300-million-plus contract to protect U.S. State Department personnel in Iraq. That is why the latest Blackwater incident, which Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki branded a "crime," is so difficult to deal with. Iraqis are clearly demanding to rid their country of Blackwater and other contractors, and on Tuesday the Iraqi government said it would be scrutinizing the status of all private security firms working in the country. But the White House hopes the outrage will once again blow over. As the Associated Press reported on Monday: "The U.S. clearly hoped the Iraqis would be satisfied with an investigation, a finding of responsibility and compensation to the victim's families-and not insist on expelling a company that the Americans cannot operate here without." Or, as Ambassador Ryan Crocker testified to the U.S. Senate last week: "There is simply no way at all that the State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security could ever have enough full-time personnel to staff the security function in Iraq. There is no alternative except through contracts." Consider the irony of that last statement-that the U.S. experiment in building democracy in Iraq is dependent upon the same garrisons of foreign mercenaries that drove the founders of our own country to launch the American Revolution. As George Washington warned in his farewell address, once the American government enters into these "foreign entanglements," we lose the Republic, because public accountability is sacrificed to the necessities of war for empire. Despite the fact that Blackwater USA gets almost all of its revenue from the U.S. government-much of it in no-bid contracts aided, no doubt, by the lavish contributions to the Republican Party made by company founder Erik Prince and his billionaire parents-its operations remain largely beyond public scrutiny. Blackwater and others in this international security racket operate as independent states of their own, subject neither to the rules of Iraq nor the ones that the U.S. government applies to its own uniformed forces. "We are not simply a 'private security company,' " Blackwater boasts on its corporate website. "We are a professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability operations firm. ... We have become the most responsive, cost-effective means of affecting the strategic balance in support of security and peace, and freedom and democracy everywhere." Yeah, so who elected you guys to run the world? *** ----- Original Message ----- From: Peter Dudar & Sally Marr To: Ed Pearl Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 9:20 AM Subject: HAIR AND ARLINGTON WEST FILM EVENT ed, the show is so wonderful! we saw HAiR friday nite and it was FANTASTIC! great talent, pertinent and provocative!! this is going to be a super event!!!! teachers have called and told us several inner-city high school students want to attend but don't have the funds. so, if you are unable to attend, please consider a donation for a discounted ticket for a student...remember, ALL funds from this event will go for free DVDs to high-risk students considering the military. hugs, sally and peter FRI SEPT 28th 8 pm A FUNDRAISER for the ARLINGTON WEST FILM & SPEAKERS PROGRAM!! Help educate inner-city children most vulnerable to military recruiters! See the 2-minute HAiR video at www.arlingtonwestfilm.com Wine & dessert reception with CAST, and special guests! CINDY SHEEHAN AGUSTIN AGUAYO BREE WALKER MARICELA GUZMAN JANE BRIGHT ...aftershow CABARET!! $100 per ticket YOUR CONTRIBUTION FOR 50 DVDs WILL SAVE LIVES!!!! Tickets: w.w.w.arlingtonwestfilm.com for checks: (323) 650-8166 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you are unable to attend, please consider a donation for a Student's or Vet's ticket MICHAEL BUTLER PRESENTS HAiR 1967 - 2007 40th Anniversary THE AMERICAN TRIBAL LOVE-ROCK MUSICAL 28 Performers! Live Rock Band! "Age of Aquarius" "Let the Sunshine In" ...many more!! Book & Lyrics: Gerome Ragni & James Rado Music: Galt MacDermot Director & Choreography: Bo Crowell Music Director: Christian Nesmith FRI SEPT 28th 8 pm At the legendary 100 seat MET THEATER 1089 No. Oxford Ave, Hollywood 90029 EVERY SUNDAY, THE VETERANS FOR PEACE ERECT CROSSES FOR THE FALLEN. THE ARLINGTON WEST FILM, IRAQ VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES HAVE SPOKEN TO TENS OF THOUSANDS OF INNER CITY YOUTH MOST TARGETED BY MILITARY RECRUITERS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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