Destroying Our Nation's Strategic Assets

We received this commentary from a well-informed observer. It speaks for itself. Too bad people had to die before the accused were exonerated:

In 1692, the benevolent Magistrate of Salem, sentenced 19 men and women to death for practicing witchcraft. The falsely accused were summarily hanged on Gallows Hill, a barren hillside just outside of town. One of the accused who refused to participate in the proceedings was pressed to death for failing to submit to the court's jurisdiction. More than 300 years later, the story is well known.

The townspeople of Salem are regarded in the eyes of history as rubes and unsophisticated farmers who punished innocent people guilty of nothing. Following the hysteria, the descedants of the executed "witches" actually received sizable settlements from Salem.

One would think that bureaucrats today, some 300 years later, would have changed. Regrettably, the bureaucratic instinct to accuse and destroy political victims is far more pernicious today than ever. However, rather than conducting witch trials with the traditional dunking and spectral imaging tests, today's bureaucrats utilize loyal press correspondents, unending audits, overly zealous regulatory investigators and congressional oversight hearings to exact their vengeance on their hapless victims.

Forcing a strategic asset to move offshore

During the pendency of the Iraq War, the Texas firm of Kellogg Brown and Root became one such hapless victim for Congressional Democrats. The press pundits loyal to the DNC screeched that Vice President Dick Cheney had, at one point, been the Chairman of the Board of Halliburton, the parent company of KBR. This led to the salacious allegation that KBR was the recipient of special political favors directly from the Vice President. In making such claims, the "journalists" consistently overlooked the fact that KBR had won the overwhelming majority of its business through the open and competitive bidding process. The press also overlooked the fact that KBR and Halliburton were providing an indispensible logistical service to the United States military, a service which no other company possessed the infrastructure to provide.

The owners of KBR finally grew weary of the back biting from the Congress and the press. In an enormous show of defiance, Halliburton sold its incredibly talented subsidiary to a company from the United Arab Emirates. In doing so, one of the country's strategic assets was instantly and forever lost. At least one Congressional Democrat expressed his displeasure at Halliburton, claiming that their reluctance to carry on with the witch trial was"un-American." It seemed that the congressman was trying to figure who he could press to death for failing to submit to the jurisdiction of his kangaroo court.

Partisan shots obscure amazing accomplishments

KBR is not the only accused witch today. There is another company located in a small town in North Carolina which is equally maligned. It is comprised entirely of US military veterans who spent the majority of their adult lives serving the United States Government (which is more than most of their accusers can say).

The company performs some of the most dangerous work in the world at the behest of the United States Government.

The company assembled itself almost overnight in the wake of the 9-11 attacks. Since then, it has trained more than 150,000 US troops better to protect themselves in dangerous foreign lands.

When the government has asked them to, they have fought and died side by side with their active duty military counterparts in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

They have protected US diplomats in countries where enormous rewards were offered for their deaths - and never has a diplomat been harmed while in their care.

Following Hurricane Katrina, the company was asked to assist in the disaster relief. The company was able to assemble thousands of workers en masse to help the City of New Orleans recover from the storm damage.

In Iraq, the company rescued the Presidential Envoy to Iraq multiple times, rescued the Polish Ambassador to Iraq, and even rescued several Iraqi Cabinetmembers when they were attacked by their own countrymen.

Those same ungrateful Iraqi cabinet members are now the ones criticizing Blackwater for having to defend itself and US diplomats from terrorists, whom the Iraqi police forces are utterly incapable of controlling or capturing.

In Afghanistan, the company recently made one of the largest drug busts in history, confiscating $1.15 billion dollars in hashish from Afghani druglords. This drug money fuels the Taliban's operations and far exceeds the funds which were expended to attack the World Trade Center.

The company trains and operates with the Afghani Border Patrol, which works to keep the Taliban out of Afghanistan and out of power.

By now, most people have figured out that the company I am speaking about is Blackwater Worldwide - the only company in the world capable of accomplishing such feats.

Partisan witch trials

What most people do not understand and realize is that Blackwater is now facing its own witch trials on Capitol Hill. Democrats, who are intent on recapturing the White House, have sparked a wave of investigations by making baseless and false accusations against the company . To date, the company hasbeen investigated, audited and reviewed by the IRS, EEOC, SBA, EPA, ATF, Department of Agriculture, Department of State, Department of Commerce, Special Inspector General for the Reconstruction of Iraq, Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), and the Navy Audit Agency.

On top of those, two Grand Juries have been convened to findsomething - anything - on Blackwater.

But Blackwater is proving a much harder nut to crack than anticipated. By and large the company runs a very clean and ethical business. Despite the dedication of every available resource of the US Government to the search, the smoking gun which the Democrats so desperately desire just isn't there.

- Patriot Joe