Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Waxman panel seen as clueless on basic facts

Writing on Wired's "Danger Room," P. W. Singer (or Noah Schachtman; the actual writer is unclear) tells of what he saw at the October 2 congressional hearing on Blackwater. He raised a number of provocative points, including the following which we found most interesting:
"The hearing revealed a fascinating, but also disturbing, lack of awareness in Congress about the private military industry. Members on both sides repeatedly struggled with the most basic facts and issues that surround the over 160,000-person contractor force in Iraq: Everything from the number and roles of contractors to their status and accountability, or lack thereof. It was quite clear that this was the first time that many had been forced to think much about the issue(even though the industry is over a decade old and the supplemental funds have been paying for the use of contractors in Iraq, year after year).

"What I found especially telling, given the consistently weak grasp of the issues, was that multiple representatives opened their remarks by talking about how Blackwater contractors protected them while on visits to Iraq. They often meant this as a compliment to the firm, and also a way of establishing their credentials on the issue. But it usually backfired, revealing a lack of simple curiosity. It showed that they've known about the massive use of contractors for years - they just didn't bother to ask any questions, even when the issue was in their faces."

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually Not Blackwater, this makes you guys look even worse -- Congress was writing you (I mean Blackwater) blank checks until your crimes became so egregious and public they had no choice but hold hearings.

How does this absolve your responsibility in any way?

Anonymous said...

nice cherry picking of this Wired blog. like Issa today with his "republican company" comments, you just drew attention to something that makes you and your war-profiteering ilk look bad, that is UN-american

Anonymous said...

The panel didn't come across as "clueless", actually it was Mr. Prince who came across as "How dare you bring me here to answer questions"

I tell you what brought you before the panel, OUR money that Bush is paying you to commit what looks to be out and out crimes with no accountability.....so YOU think.

Gregory Wall said...

I find it interesting that Blackwater's detractors (on this blog) lack the courage to attach their identity to their comments.

Keep up the good work, and thank you for creating this blog. You definitely don't see this information coming out via standard media outlets. Kudos to Mr. Prince for standing strong.

GW

TexasFred said...

Gregory, Amen Bro, Amen, gutless hacks, that's ALL they are, denigrate and do it anonymously... And think themselves to be brave Americans too...