http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/articles/20071003_1
October 3, 2007 -- Blackwater testimony reveals open and hidden agendas --- PART II publication date: Oct 3, 2007 Download Print Previous | Next October 3, 2007 -- Blackwater testimony reveals open and hidden agendas --- PART II In yesterday's hearing on Blackwater before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, New York Democrat Carolyn Maloney chastised Blackwater Chairman and CEO Erik Prince for has company's handling of a drunk Blackwater employee who shot and killed the security guard for Adel Abdel Mehdi, the Vice President of Iraq, on Christmas Eve in 2006. Prince indicated that the firing of the employee was ample punishment. Maloney asked Prince if charges had been brought against the employee by the Iraqi government. His response was "No." Prince said the employee was arrested and an investigation was carried out by a bureaucratic entanglement of agencies: the U.S. Department of Justice Baghdad office and the International Zone (IZ) police, which is operated under the aegis of the U.S. Air Force. Another email discovered by the committee indicated that the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service and the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigative Division were also involved in the investigation. The employee was flown out of Iraq at his own expense within 36 hours of the shooting incident, according to Prince. Maryland's Elijah Cummings pointed out that an Al Arabiya news report erroneously identified the shooter of the Vice President's guard as a U.S. soldier. Cummings said that private contractors misdeeds are often blamed on the U.S. military. Several Democrats quoted senior officers and enlisted personnel who were critical of the military being blamed for the misdeeds of Blackwater and other contractors. Cummings cited an internal Blackwater email from January 7, 2006, that cites the mistaken Al Arabiya report misidentifying the shooter of the Iraqi guard as a "U.S. soldier." In the memo, a Blackwater manager writes, "at least the ID of the shooter will take the heat off us." A December 26, 2006, email from the Army CID and State's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) shows that there was collusion between them, as well as the U.S. Embassy's Regional Security Office, and Blackwater to spirit the Blackwater employee out of Iraq. The government agents discuss compensation for the family of the dead Iraqi security guard. The U.S. charge wanted $250,000 to be paid in compensation, a figure the CID/DSS agents felt was a "crazy sum." The charge later agreed to $100,00 in compensation. The email's author then suggests that paying such a sum would "set a terrible precedent" because incidents would result with "people trying to get killed by our guys to financially guarantee their family's future." The author suggests that $15,000 to $20,000 would be "more appropriate." The cheapening of human life by some U.S. military members and contractors in Iraq is evident in the disclosed emails. It has deepened the average Iraqi's hatred for the United States. And the U.S. military is often lumped in with the unaccountable actions of the contractors. In fact, several Iraqis not only believe contractors are military members but some call Blackwater and others "Mossad." On the issue of Blackwater's high cost to the government, Prince arrogantly suggested the committee conduct a cost benefit study. Ohio's Dennis Kucinich scoffed at Prince's argument saying, "Private military contractors have a vested interest in keeping wars going. The longer the war, the more money they make." Kucinich drew attention to Blackwater's government contracts skyrocketing from $200,000 to over $1 billion after the Iraq war. Prince argued that Blackwater's services are on the General Services Administration (GSA) schedule and denied preferential treatment from the Bush administration. Blackwater's first contract in Iraq was awarded in 2003 by the non-U.S. government Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq under the control of Ambassador Paul "Jerry" Bremer. The contract was awarded without a bidding process as a result of the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad and was titled "Security Services Iraq." Kucinich asked Prince if anyone at Blackwater had spoken to the White House, whether anyone in the DeVos family had spoken to the White House (Prince's sister Betsy is married to Dick DeVos, an heir to the Amway fortune and GOP candidate for governor of Michigan in 2006), and if the government came to Blackwater for its services. Prince insisted that contracts awarded to his firm, including a $340 million contract from the State Department awarded in 2004, were competed because his firm has a GSA schedule. However, several Democrats pointed out that a number of contracts were sole-sourced to Blackwater without a competitive bidding process. Prince told Illinois Democrat Danny Davis that innocent civilians in Iraq have been killed by ricocheting bullets. Davis cited a June 25, 2005, State Department report that stated Blackwater guards shot and killed an innocent Iraqi man in the street. Blackwater personnel covered up the incident. Prince said the man was hit by a bullet that ricocheted after Blackwater guards shot into the radiator of a vehicle on the street. Prince said the Blackwater shooter was fired for covering up the incident and not following reporting procedures. Prince said his company paid the family of the Iraqi man, including his six children, $5000 in compensation. Davis asked, "How is a man's life worth $5000?" Prince responded that the $5000 figure was an Iraqi-wide policy established by the State Department. An internal Blackwater email supports the contention that the State Department has valued an innocent human life in Iraq at $5000. Prince added that he did not know how many such payments have been made to Iraqi next- of-kin but promised to provide the committee with details of such payments. Prince said Blackwater is not accountable to the Defense Department but reports to the State Department in Iraq. Prince indicated that the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) govern the actions of his employees in "contingency operations" like Iraq and Afghanistan. Davis countered that there are "no court martials with Blackwater." In fact, under CPA Order, contractors in Iraq have immunity from Iraqi law. Prince supported the order because "a foreigner would not get a fair trial in Iraq." Prince said there are 170 security companies currently operating in Iraq but that Blackwater "gets blamed" for incidents involving other companies. Prince also seemed to blame the Pentagon by claiming that most of the 170 security companies in Iraq operate under the aegis of the Pentagon. Although Prince could count on lavish praise from most of the Republican on the committee, Representative John Duncan, Republican of Tennessee, was not so inclined to support Blackwater. Duncan said, "this war has produced the most lavish and extraordinary contracts in the history of the world." Duncan also cited Blackwater and said its government work showed "ridiculously excessive increases in contracts." Duncan asked Prince what percentage of his business came from federal contracts. Prince replied that the companies, which he described as a "long list of companies" that make up his Prince Group LLC and include Presidential Airways and Blackwater USA, receive 90 percent of their contracts from the federal government. Prince said the remaining 10 percent of his work is in the private automotive and appliance manufacturing business, a business he inherited from his father, right-wing industrialist Edgar Prince. Prince said Blackwater has more than 50 contracts with the federal government with more than 50 employees in the United States, 1000 to 1100 in Iraq, and between 3 and 4 thousand in Afghanistan. Democrat William Lacy Clay brought up Defense Secretary Robert Gates' recent complaint about companies like Blackwater poaching the active ranks for employees. Gates suggested that troops may have to sign a "non compete clause" to deter such poaching. Prince said such a move would be "upsetting to soldiers to prevent them from working in the private sector." Republican defenders of Blackwater received an unexpected boost from an editorial in yesterday's Washington Post that said it would be foolish to eliminate private security firms in Iraq and Afghanistan. Issa complained that Prince was being singled out for his ties to the Republican Party. He asked Prince: Issa: "Is Betsy Devos your sister?" Prince: "Yes." Issa: Was your sister the Michigan Republican Chairman?" Prince: "Yes." Issa: "Were you a contributor to President Bush?" Prince: "Yes." Issa: "Was your sister a delegate at the Republican National Conventions in 2000 and 2004 and was she a Bush Pioneer?" Prince: inaudible. Blackwater is not a partisan company. I gave political contributions as is my right." Issa: Blackwater has been identified as a partisan Republican Party but it is doing its job in a non-partisan way." Prince later said that being a Republican is not germane and that it "isn't often my and my sister's bios are printed together." Vermont Democrat Peter Welch said Prince gave $225,000 to the GOP, including $160,000 to the Republican National Committee. Issa then objected to the Democrats bringing Prince's family into the discussion. Waxman replied, "the only one doing that is you." Democrats also pointed out ties between Blackwater and Dick Cheney's old firm Halliburton. During the incident in Fallujah where four Blackwater employees were killed and incinerated by an angry mob, Blackwater was a sub-contractor to Kellogg, Brown and Root, a Halliburton subsidiary. Republican Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia said the Democrats do not like profits and devise lawsuits for "their crony lawyer friends." He also said Democrats want the "redistribution of wealth" and that nine of the 22 members of the Waxman committee agreed with MoveOn.org about General David Petraeus. Prince reiterated that Blackwater was not a partisan company. He also rejected the use of the term "mercenary" to describe Blackwater. Prince cited the dictionary definition of mercenary as a professional soldier working for a foreign government. However, he had to later admit that Blackwater has hired a "handful" of foreign employees, including Latin Americans who guard some camps and sites in Iraq. In later questioning, Prince revealed that Blackwater had 576 U.S. employees in Iraq, 129 Third Country Nationals, and 16 locals. With more than one-third of Blackwater's employees being TCNs, Prince's definition of a "handful" is open to wide interpretation. Prince also defended the profit Blackwater makes on its security guards in Iraq. Although Blackwater pays its personnel security detail employees in Iraq $600 a day, Blackwater charges the government over $1200 a day for the personnel. Prince testified that Blackwater makes between 10 and 10.5 percent profit on its security contracts, but the windfall made on guards in Iraq suggests the profits are much higher. Prince said Blackwater was founded in 1997 and received its first contracts in January 1998 to train individual Navy SEAL platoons and Marine Reconnaissance units. He said Blackwater received its first major contract for Navy Force Protection after the USS Cole was "blown up by two guys in a Zodiac" in Aden harbor in October 2000. It is interesting to note that the FBI's investigation of the Cole bombing was never completed because the U.S. ambassador to Yemen, Barbara Bodine, expelled FBI senior agent John O'Neill and his team from Yemen. Bodine later became an official in Bremer's CPA in Baghdad at the time Blackwater was awarded its sole source contract. Bodine was in charge of central Baghdad, including Baghdad. She was later fired by the CPA and returned to Washington. Prince was asked what would prevent his company being acquired and performing services for other militaries. He responded that he is raising five sons and said perhaps one of them would eventually take over for him. He also added that Blackwater's contracts, including foreign intelligence defense (FID) missions, with NATO and countries like Azerbaijan are licensed by the State Department. Prince also said, Blackwater employees, when in the military, "took an oath to protect the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Prince seems to have forgotten the oath is the the U.S. Constitution, not the United States. Welch asked Prince his annual salary. Prince reluctantly said it was over $1 million a year. He was informed that General Petraeus' annual salary was $180,000 a year. Although Prince said Blackwater's profit margin on government contracts was 10 percent, he refused to disclose the firm's profits and "full financials" to Congress. Prince said, Blackwater is "a private company" and emphasized the word, private. Illinois Democrat Jan Schakowsky, who is introducing legislation to phase out private military contractors for sensitive missions. She asked Prince about Blackwater's use of foreign security personnel. Prince then was forced to expand his definition of foreign employees as Latin American camp and gate guards in Iraq after constant questioning from Schakowsky. She asked Prince if Blackwater had hired former commandos under the Chilean dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, some how were involved in torture. Prince admitted that Blackwater had hired some Chileans but they had undergone a High Public Trust clearance for third country nationals (TCNs) required by under the State Department's Worldwide Personal Protective Service (WPPS), an umbrella contract under which Blackwater, Dyncorp, and Triple Canopy provide security services in Jerusalem, Kabul, Bosnia, Baghdad, Basrah, Al Hillah, and Kirkuk. Prince indicated that Chilean TCNs were cleared by a National Agency Check (NAC) conducted by the U.S. Embassy in Santiago. Schakowsky asked Prince if the Chileans received a Secret clearance. Prince responded that he did not know. Schakowsky also asked Prince if Chilean-U.S. dual national Jose Maria Pizarro was a Blackwater recruiter for Chileans. Pizarro said he provided Blackwater with 750 Chilean military veterans. Prince responded to the question by claiming that Pizarro was a "vendor." Schakowsky also asked Prince if his company hired Serbs and Bosnians who served under Slobodan Milosevic at a job fair in Bucharest, Romania. Some of the Serbs and Bosnian Serbs were accused of war crimes. Prince denied that Serbs or Bosnians were hired but admitted to hiring Romanians, who, he said, have all been replaced by Latin Americans. Note: Prince's testimony was colored by its arrogance and sanctimony. After the hearings, this editor was standing in the hallway outside the hearing room and began to hear some commotion behind me. All of a sudden, I was shoved from my right side. Turning around, I noticed it was Prince who did the shoving. The incident said everything about why his employees feel so cavalier in indiscriminately murdering so many innocent people, including children, in Iraq and elsewhere. The Democrats did not go far enough in their questioning. There was no mention of Blackwater in New Orleans following Katrina. The Nazi Party had its SS as its enforcers. It is clear the Republicans have Blackwater as their enforcers. Related Articles: * Sept. 27, 2007 -- Waxman releases report on private security contractors in Iraq * October 3, 2007 -- Blackwater testimony reveals open and hidden agendas - PART I * October 2, 2007 -- Biggest decision for a fired Blackwater employee in Iraq * October 1, 2007 -- House Committee discovers new details about Blackwater * JUNE 13, 2005 --UNFRIENDLY FIRE: HOSTILE INCIDENTS INCREASING BETWEEN US MILITARY AND PRIVATE MILITARY CONTRACTORS IN IRAQ * October 4, 2007 -- State Department official involved in Blackwater scandal also named in AIPAC espionage probe * October 4, 2007 -- Blackwater Aviation and its X-Wing Star Wars pilots * Sept. 28-30, 2007 -- State Dept. IG Howard Krongard threatened State investigators if they cooperated with Congress Comments Kait (Michigan) Blackwater UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM Read the full report. http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070927104643.pdf Marycatherine Barton (Indianapolis) I hope that f###$$$$ Prince did not hurt Wayne. But yeah, you and all revealed the truth. Blackwater is the enforcer for the War Parties. invariant (vacuum of space) whoa, you got shoved by one of the shadier ppl on the planet! it clearly had its intended effect, seeing as how you have sung the praises of the man in your articles ;). Susan Modikoane (Houston/TX) Here is a link to an article about how Mitt Romney is connectd to the incarceration and extreme abuse of children: http://www.reason.com/news/show/121088.html When Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he’d support doubling the size of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, he was trying to show voters that he’d be tough on terror. Two of his top fundraisers, however, have long supported using tactics that have been likened to torture for troubled teenagers. As The Hill noted last week, 133 plaintiffs filed a civil suit against Romney’s Utah finance co-chair, Robert Lichfield, and his various business entities involved in residential treatment programs for adolescents. The umbrella group for his organization is the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS, sometimes known as WWASP) and Lichfield is its founder and is on its board of directors. Etc. Did anyone see the article about the woman who is the Public Advocate for the city of New York? She is working to get independent child advocates in the city. A couple days ago her daughter "strangled herself on her handcuffs" at the airport, after they refused to let her board her flight: PHOENIX (AP) — A woman late to her plane became irate, was put in handcuffs and was later found dead in a holding cell, police said. Authorities were investigating Saturday if the woman choked herself while trying to get free from the handcuffs. Carol Ann Gotbaum, 45, of New York, was arrested Friday at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after a conflict with gate crews who refused to allow her to board a plane, said Sgt. Andy Hill, a Phoenix police spokesman. The airline said the plane was already preparing to depart. She was rebooked on the next flight, but "she became extremely irate, apparently running up and down the gate area," US Airways spokesman Derek Hanna said Saturday. Officers handcuffed her and took her to the holding room, where she kept screaming, authorities said. Hill said officers checked on her when she stopped screaming and found her unresponsive. Hill said it appears Gotbaum may have tried to get out of her handcuffs, became tangled in the process and the cuffs ended up around her neck. A cause of death will be determined by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner. "She was very agitated and irate and angry," Hill said. "These are the things that led to the disorderly conduct arrest." Authorities said neither a Taser nor pepper spray was used on the woman. Gotbaum was the daughter-in-law of New York City's public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum. "We are extraordinarily upset," said Betsy Gotbaum, according to Sunday editions of the Daily News. She added that her daughter-in-law had three young children. "It's a very delicate matter." Susan Modikoane (Houston/TX) Well, at least if he shoved you, it shows they were getting to him! Consider it a job well done. Especially after Issa's comments. When I heard them on Pacifica, I assumed he got that information from you!! liberty antigone (?) On tuesday I sent Waxman's home office the series of Jeremy Scahill videos I have placed here on the blog before, along with a few very critical articles about New Orleans, etc. Congressman Waxman is very well informed by his staff, and he will see them. liberty antigone (?) WWASP, Susan M. writes about above...Isn't that what that young woman asked you about, Wayne? Kait (Michigan) Erik Prince is such a shining example of humanity. This supposed Christian was fooling around with one of his employees, while his first wife lay dying of cancer. He got the woman pregnant and eventually brought her to his wife's funeral. The day after his wife died, she moved in with him and his children. Susan Modikoane (Houston/TX) Kait - HOooooly moly. That is so Republican! liberty antigone (?) Sorry, Susan M., I heard a young woman ask Wayne to look into something,but not being about to remember it well, I asked him if he had looked into a program named, whisper, or whistle, in an earlier post. When you wrote about WWasp, I remembered, that is what she was saying. I was asking Wayne if he looked into it. Thanks for jogging my memory. liberty antigone (?) George W. Bush's Thug Nation By Robert Parry September 21, 2007 http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/092007.html http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/47/17936/ printer http://www.blackwaterusa.com/airship/ ".. Airships Blackwater Airships LLC was established in January 2006 as the newest Blackwater venture -- with a mission to build a remotely piloted airship vehicle (RPAV). Although seemingly different from the traditional Blackwater mission, this new venture to provide a persistent surveillance capability is fully consistent with the Blackwater goal of offering solutions which help to protect our forces wherever they are deployed and support our homeland security. The Blackwater Airships team completed design work at the end of 2006 and is now building the Polar 400 airship. This highly capable RPAV will provide a platform ready to accomodate a wide variety of state-of-the-art surveillance, communications and detection equipment that can record and store events and downlink them in real-time to ground operators. The make-up of the mission payload of up to 400 lbs will be determined by customer requirements -- whether for combat areas, port or border security, or coastal patrol. The prototype Polar 400 is completing.." ============= http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i-kQiMggfcE5Ox6Uxv90ptWVuyyA= Photo 1 of 6 Members of a private security company pose on the rooftop of a house in Baghdad. Hated by Iraqis who refer to them as "Mossad," Blackwater contractors are also mistrusted by fellow private security guards operating in Iraq who say they are arrogant, rude and dangerous. Iraqis round on Blackwater 'dogs' after shooting Sep 18, 2007 BAGHDAD (AFP) — Hated by Iraqis who refer to them as "Mossad," Blackwater contractors are also mistrusted by fellow private security guards operating in Iraq who say they are arrogant, rude and dangerous. "They kill innocent people in the street," Hameed Hussein, a pensioner in west Baghdad's Al-Maamoun neighbourhood said on Tuesday, two days after guards from the US security firm opened fire on civilians, killing 10 people and wounding 13..." ----------- Blackwater has executive privledge for perpetuity? Among them: "all documents and records (including photographs) generated during the performance of work under this contract shall be for the sole use of and become the exclusive property of the U.S. government." These obligations, according to the contract, exist in perpetuity -- not just until the contract expires. As a result, Moneypenny told Roitz to make "no disclosure of documents or information generated under [the contract] unless such disclosure has been authorized in writing by the Contract Officer." In a letter today to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Waxman pointed out that State has no authority to compel Blackwater to obstruct a congressional investigation -- unless President Bush is prepared to say that the terms of Blackwater's contracts or its operational doctrine is covered under executive privilege. A State Department congressional liaison will "attempt to reverse" the department's position, but Waxman seems unconvinced. http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004291.php liberty antigone (?) Heroic Jeremy Scahill on black water mercs. Who says there aren't any heroes anymore? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqM4tKPDlR8&mode=related&search= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAibI5ahMGs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOrh3bvbXEI&mode=related&search= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d5t6u4KKhY&mode=related&search= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfgt3kmv-Hg&mode=related&search= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cJlJudDtVE&mode=related&search= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQiZvtuLl-k&mode=related&search= liberty antigone (?) Part four of the above links on youtube to the speech by Jeremy Scahill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgM5Q3c6XWk&mode=related&search= Kait (Michigan) Thanks great links! Mary Mueller (Greenbelt, MD) Cheating on a dying wife seems to be the "Christian" GOP rite of passage to power and money. Wayne Madsen http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_ query=Blackwater&search_sort=video_date_ uploaded&search_category=0&search=Search&v=&uploaded= Liberty. What are you asking? Anyhow, above is a link to one of the 20 entries of the Blackwater hearings on You Tube. liberty antigone (?) A young woman with her aunt asked you about WWASP, in my presence. I just wondered if she ever contacted you and if you did research for her. I was concerned for her, and felt you could help expose it. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cia-drugs/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cia-drugs/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/