Lieberman Highlights Blackwater Need

In his prepared statement to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which he chairs, Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn) explained the important role played by the private sector in our nation's security.

Throughout our history, the American military has relied on the private sector in what has been called a “great arsenal of democracy” to provide weapons and supplies for our fighting forces.

Underscoring the inability of the government to meet its own needs, Lieberman told the committee:

Our present military is just not large enough to fulfill the need for the protection of American personnel, convoys, key facilities, and reconstruction projects. So, the use of private security contractors has become necessary in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His praise of many of the nation's private security contractors (PSCs) was glowing:

PSC employees have in fact performed effectively, honorably, and in many instances, heroically. Many of the private security employees are ex-service members. They are patriots deeply dedicated to the U.S. mission and ready every day to risk their lives – and sometimes lose them – protecting American personnel and America’s cause.

Obama Gives Thumbs-Up for Blackwater

Presidential candidate Barack Obama gave a qualified show of support to private security contractor Blackwater Worldwide, The Nation reports.

Jeremy Scahill, one of the most vitriolic opponents of the company, has written that:

A senior foreign policy adviser to leading Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has told The Nation that if elected Obama will not "rule out" using private security companies like Blackwater Worldwide in Iraq.

The same unnamed advisor explains that,

Obama does not plan to sign on to legislation that seeks to ban the use of these forces in US war zones by January 2009, when a new President will be sworn in.

No doubt Scahill is upset about the matter - he goes on to criticize the position in the rest of the article. But the fact remains that even someone of Obama's political persuasion can see that Blackwater does important, even critical, work for the US government, and they do it well. Obama has been a strong critic of the company, which has a facility in the senator's home state of Illinois.

Even Scahill concedes:

If Obama maintains [the US] embassy [in Iraq] and its army of diplomats and US personnel going in and out of the Green Zone, which his advisers say he will, a significant armed force will be required for protection. The force that now plays that role is composed almost exclusively of contractors from Blackwater, DynCorp and Triple Canopy.

Why? Because the US government is not able to provide this security. So the private sector has boldly stepped into the gap. Props to Senator Obama and his staff for recognizing that.

Can Rep. Jan Schakowsky think for herself?

We've followed Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky's attacks on Blackwater for quite a while, but we still can't find an original thought. Indeed, it looks like she's been cribbing from Blackwater stalker Jeremy Scahill, because her comments track about 100 percent with his.

And when Scahill's been silent, so has Schakowsky. Indeed, both have been pretty quiet for a while now. In fact, Schakowsky has been rather reserved since last fall, when we raised the issue of her husband being a convicted felon.

But when Scahill recently resumed making public comments against Blackwater, Schakowsky did as well, starting this week.

Doesn't she have a mind of her own?

The Truth About Contractor Profits

The Federal Times has brought some interesting statistics to light. Conventional wisdom has it that private contractors in Iraq are bleeding the American taxpayer dry and making money hand over fist in the process. But in fact, the numbers tell a different story:

Sixty-nine percent of government contractors generated profit rates of less than 10 percent from their government business and 7 percent generated no profits at all.

Indeed, government contracts are hardly considered a guaranteed cash stream:

Most contractors said they view government contracting as a greater business risk than most commercial ventures.

Just further evidence that maybe these guys risk their lives because they're patriots, not money-grubbers.

FBI Finally Gets Around to Investigating Blackwater Incident

The AP reports that eight FBI agents and federal prosecutors investigating the September 17 shoot-out at Nisoor Square are returning to the scene as part of their ongoing investigation. The AP writes,

Since opening a grand jury investigation in November, prosecutors have questioned about 30 US witnesses, including Blackwater security guards and managers, during closed-door grand jury sessions in a Washington courthouse. To accommodate the crush of witnesses, prosecutors took the unusual step of requesting a third day of grand jury time each week.

However, read a little further and you find out that some key people were not interviewed, namely the Iraqis at the scene:

Authorities plan to interview about two dozen Iraqis during this trip, many for the first time, according to one person familiar with the investigation. Some Iraqi witnesses spoke to reporters and local police following the shooting.... FBI agents reviewed reports of those interviews but did not question the Iraqi witnesses themselves during the agency's first trip to Baghdad two weeks after the shooting.

So now, five months after the fact, we're hoping that the witnesses are still reliable, if ever they were. Surely the FBI has done enough investigations to know that people begin to confuse details, "remember" things they never saw, and generally become unreliable. It's not the witnesses' fault; it's just the way the human mind works.

Let's hope the good folks at the Bureau are sharp enough to realize their mistake and the limits of this latest fact-finding mission, rather than jumping to conclusions.

Abbas Considers Blackwater Protection

The World Tribune reports that Mahmoud Abbas (pictured), chairman of the Palestinian Authority, wants Blackwater to train his bodyguards. It is unclear if the deal - which appears to be just talk at this point - will go through; Blackwater does nothing abroad without explicit U.S. government approval.

However, some interesting points have come out of this story. One Western security source explained:

Abbas likes the U.S. approach to VIP security,
which is unobtrusive, quiet and highly professional.

A source within the Palestinian Authority echoed these sentiments:

Abu Mazen [Abbas] was very impressed by the security around President [George] Bush during his visit to Ramallah [in January 2008].... Abbas has already discussed this with senior U.S. officials.

As it turns out, the United States already funds the training of the PA security detail. The World Tribune writes,

The United States, as part of an $86 million program, has been financing the training and equipping of PA forces. In January, a battalion of PA National Security Force officers was sent for training to a U.S.-financed police center outside Amman. The center trained more than 30,000 Iraqi police officers from 2004 through 2007.

Abbas is opposed by several members of his own Fatah movement and does not trust Force 17, one of the units responsible for his protection. One source said,

Force 17 has no loyalty to Abbas.... They are all Arafat's people and this makes Abbas uncomfortable. He does not feel they will protect him.

Only time will tell if Blackwater gets a contract to train the PA guards. However, the US officials responsible for enhancing PA security are said to support Blackwater as a means of significantly bolstering PA capabilities.

Heritage Foundation Dispels Blackwater Myths

Dr. James Jay Carafano, of the Heritage Foundation:

Blackwater Trains Taiwanese

Security agencies around the world have taken notice of Blackwater's professionalism and expertise. Defense News reports that the Special Protection Service of Taiwan's National Security Bureau (NSB) has begun training with the North Carolina-based security contractor.

"An NSB source stated that training began in 2007 and was conducted at Blackwater facilities in the United States. The source stated the NSB was satisfied with the training, and further training programs are being considered."

Defense News cites a former US official as saying that “the key thing would be to have special operations training for Army, Marines and Reserve units in Taiwan.”

In addition to special protective service, the National Security Bureau is also responsible for national intelligence work and unified cryptography in Taiwan.

Stanford Students Support Blackwater

The Stanford Review, a student newspaper at the prestigious California university, gave an endorsement of private security contractors in an article title "Should America Employ Mercenaries? You Bet!"

Chris Seck, the World News Editor, says "it is unfortunate that in our modern lexicon, 'mercenary' is generally seen as a pejorative term." In defending the use of private security contractors, Seck explains that "Blackwater guards have done a remarkable job of protecting US diplomats and the US embassy in Baghdad. When was the last time you heard about a top U.S. official being killed while on tour in Iraq?"

Seck leaves little doubt about the professionalism of Blackwater and it's fellow contractors: "America’s mercenaries are highly-trained, highly-motivated, and highly-paid. According to the New York Times, Blackwater’s training facility in North Carolina is so well-equipped that even US Navy Seals sometimes use it for specialized military training."

Waxman Destroys Independent Oversight

Howard Krongard recently worked his last day as the State Department Inspector General, an event accompanied by some scathing remarks by the Wall Street Journal for Congressman Henry Waxman. From the article:

Howard Krongard... learned a hard lesson in the ways of modern Congressional "oversight." To wit, if you don't follow Henry Waxman's orders, he'll try to ruin you....

In July, Mr. Krongard testified before Mr. Waxman's House oversight committee [that]... he had inspected and found no evidence of human trafficking or human-rights violations [at the new US Embassy in Baghdad]. That's not what Mr. Waxman wanted to hear. In his opening statement, the California partisan insisted that State's approach to the inquiry was evidence of a "full bunker mentality."

As if on cue, "whistleblowers" emerged to accuse [Mr. Krongard]of being too cozy with top State officials, failing to pick up counterfeit computers in Afghanistan, and even of being a high-handed boss. The principal complainers were not under oath, nor did they offer much evidence. One accuser admitted that, "I have no proof, I want to make that clear it is just my opinion."

Democrats howled that Mr. Krongard had intervened in the audit of State Department books to help the department get a "clean" result. What really happened? He argued that the auditors should get extra time to complete their work -- a position supported both by the Office of Management and Budget and the Government Accountability Office.

Mr. Krongard was also said to have "impeded" a Justice Department probe into allegations of weapons smuggling by Blackwater Inc., the civilian contractor in Iraq. In fact, he was coordinating as far back as July on a civil audit of Blackwater contracts with the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. Later that month, he learned that employees in his office were cooperating with a criminal investigation by the US Attorney in North Carolina....

To avoid the conflict of parallel proceedings within the office, Mr. Krongard instructed the employee to "stop immediately" any further work until Mr. Krongard could speak to the US Attorney's office, which he offered to do right away. In short, he was doing his job, which is to make sure investigations aren't tainted by conflicts of interest. Mr. Waxman also made much of the fact that Mr. Krongard has a brother who served on a Blackwater advisory board. But Mr. Krongard immediately recused himself on learning of his brother's Blackwater tie.

Every specific charge against Mr. Krongard was examined and refuted in a report by the committee minority. And as Mr. Krongard noted, he was not a big political donor, had never met President Bush, and had never been to the White House except as a tourist. Yet none of these facts interfered with Mr. Waxman's public smears that Mr. Krongard's "partisan political ties" had led him to "halt investigations, censor reports, and refuse to cooperate with law-enforcement agencies."

Mr. Waxman doesn't much care if any of this is true, because his larger goal is to send a message to every Inspector General in government: They answer to him. Mr. Waxman expects them to tee up political scandals in the executive branch and serve as witnesses for his prosecution whether or not the facts support it. Mr. Krongard's mistake was telling the truth.

Poland decorates Blackwater men for saving ambassador's life

Poland's ambassador to Iraq has decorated Blackwater security professionals for their role in rescuing him and his aides after an October 3 assassination attempt in Baghdad.

Ambassador Edward Pietrzyk was badly burned in the ambush, and one of his guards was killed. He is pictured, bandaged, being rescued by troops. A Blackwater guard is shown at center-left in the blue-gray tee shirt, to place the ambassador on one of the company's "Little Bird" helicopters.

Speaking with reporters on February 4, US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker revealed that the Ambassador Pietrzyk bestowed medals on the Blackwater men: "Last week, the Polish Ambassador decorated about a dozen of them for saving his life back in October."

A Vast Conspiracy Indeed...

If you do a news search for "Blackwater" these days, you'll get a number of hits, though few are about private security contracting. One particular vein of stories is worth examining.

Burson-Marsteller, one of the world's largest public relations firms, has been hired by Blackwater. You don't have to be a right-wing militant to recognize that the company has had a lot of mud slung at it lately; anyone in their position would be well-advised to get some PR folks. But returning to the news...

Burson-Marsteller's Mark Penn (pictured), a pollster and political guru, has been working for Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, a story that the Telegraph, among others, has picked up. That's turning up a lot of the red herring Blackwater stories. In fact, Burson-Marsteller is all over the news: they're working for the Labour Party of Britain, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and a variety of other entities.

Why bring this all up? It's not simply to demonstrate the wiles of internet searches. In fact, it shows just one more way that Blackwater is a fairly normal member of the international business community (if in a somewhat more dangerous line of work). According to the Virginian-Pilot, Blackwater trains Virginia Beach police and sheriff’s deputies, a variety of other "cops, federal agents, servicemen, merchant marines, game wardens, forest rangers and security guards. They came from across the country and the globe, including Switzerland, Italy, Chile and Canada."

If Blackwater is part of the vast right-wing fascist-Zionist-Bushite conspiracy, it is a vast conspiracy indeed, wide enough to include the Canadians, the Arabs, the left wing of both the British and American political scenes, the game wardens and even the ever-neutral Swiss. Now if you really think all those folks are in cahoots, well, feel free to join the Foil Hat Conspiracy.

This would all be amusing, except that some people take such talk seriously, while others like Congressman Waxman pick it up and try to foist their nonsense on Congress. Ladies and gentlemen, let's try to stick to the facts.

Video: Red Cross says Blackwater saved 600 people

The American Red Cross has credited Blackwater with saving 600 lives, thanks to the company's employee-led blood drive. WAVY-TV, the NBC affiliate in Norfolk/Portsmouth, Virginia, has the story. (For more, see our February 2 post below.)

Blackwater Goes Green

The Virginian-Pilot reports that the most powerful wind-turbine in the state of North Carolina - a 120 ft, three bladed 50-kilowatt unit - belongs to Blackwater, the private security contractor.

The turbine, erected last month at a cost of $180,000, powers the company's 70,000-square-foot Grizzly plant and is expected to produce 110,000 kilowatt hours in the next year.

The project has caught the eye of folks outside the world of security contracting. Brent Summerville, outreach and training programs manager for the North Carolina Small Wind Initiative at Appalachian State University says, "Everything that is installed is going to get scrutiny; projects like this will help."

The Virginian-Pilot explains that "winds off Cape Hatteras average 17 mph at 120 feet off the ground and are rated as some of the most potentially productive in the state, according to a wind map online at the U.S. Department of Energy," making the region a fertile area for developing wind power.

Red Cross says Blackwater saved 600 lives

News station WAVY reports that the American Red Cross is honoring Blackwater with a special plaque (pictured left). Georgia Donaldson of the Mid Atlantic region Red Cross explained:

The people here at Blackwater go above and beyond in trying to sponsor blood drives during times of the year when we need them the most.

As WAVY-TV reports in its video broadcast, the American Red Cross credited Blackwater with saving 600 lives from its blood drives.

Erik Prince, founder and CEO of Blackwater, pointed out that this sort of work is typical of the company's ethos:

I'm proud of the folks we have here. We have a great team, they constantly go above and beyond the call of duty, they give back and they're giving to their local community here.... We try to create a venue for smart innovative folks to do good work here and this was an idea that came from our medical department. They saw a need for the community to receive more blood, so we made it available and our folks answered the call.

Blackwater Gets New Rules - Sort Of

A few hours ago the Associated Press fired off a story with the headline, "Iraq Security Guards Getting New Rules." Though lacking the vitriol of some others, the AP story is typical of ambiguous and misleading media reporting on Blackwater and other private security contractors.

The opening sentence of the story says that "Bush administration officials outlined stricter rules for these armed guards during a three-hour meeting Wednesday at the Pentagon." But read a little further: "Chris Isleib, a Pentagon spokesman, said the closed-door meeting was an opportunity for both sides to exchange opinions and ideas." That hardly sounds the government crackdown on out of control contractors, as some would construe it to be.

Read a little further and you find this gem: "Security contractors are covered by the same code of justice that applies to American military personnel." You'd never have guessed, given the way the media loves to talk about Blackwater 'lacking accountability.'

Finally, the AP points out that "the military does not want to assume responsibility for guarding large numbers of US officials, and the State Department's own security force is too small and already stretched too thin."

So let's review: a story that initially looks like Blackwater getting reprimanded by the government ends up telling us that the private security contractor is filling a gap no one else is willing or able to fill, that they're doing so within the framework of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and in open and ongoing dialog with government officials. Why couldn't they have said that from the start?

Nurse Praises Blackwater Protection

As the story of 2-year-old Amina Al'a Thabit continues to unfold in the press, new details continue to praise Blackwater's role.

The Bowling Green Daily News cites registered nurse Lisa Van Wye (pictured), who works at the Vanderbilt Medical Center. She was part of the medical team that first brought little Amina to the United States.

From the Daily News:

“My job was basically to help take care of Amina and her mother during the trip,” [Van Wye] said....

Van Wye and the several others who accompanied Amina were also wary as they made their way through the war-torn country to an airfield in neighboring Jordan.

“We were in a convoy of vehicles protected by Blackwater security. There was a little bit of anxiety, but I felt very safe.”

Another rescue: Blackwater and Marines save sick little Iraqi girl

A little Iraqi girl with a fatal heart defect has better prospects of survival after a cooperative effort between the US Marines and Blackwater to evacuate her from al Anbar province to a hospital in Nashville.

The Marines discovered three year-old Amina Al'a Thabit during a "routine meet and greet" patrol in Haditha, and recognized from bluish features on her face that she suffered a serious heart disorder.

Amina has a number of heart-related birth defects, including an inability to oxygenate her own blood. No facility in Iraq could help her.

“The first day we saw her we thought she was the cutest girl,” said Sgt. Bryan C. Velasquez, 23, a Company L squad leader from Houston. “We just fell in love with her.”

The Marines raised $30,000 in private funds, mainly from Blackwater Worldwide, which also covered the costs of transporting her to Nashville. Neither the Marines story nor the Los Angeles Times blog that covered the story mentioned the company, though a report in the Orange County Register of California did.

"The Marines, in conjunction with numerous government agencies, initiated an effort dubbed 'Operation Amina,' to transport the girl and her mother stateside. The travel and related costs were financed by private donors, the release said," according to the Orange County Register, whose report was picked up by MSNBC. "The battalion raised $30,000 to fly them to the US via Jordan with the assistance of a US medical team and extensive cooperation from Blackwater Worldwide, the hospital said."

'Blackwater's coming to rescue us' - Video from Kenya

A Michingan TV station aired exclusive video of the three Christian missionaries being evacuated from mob violence in Kenya. Here's the clip from the January 2008 operation. A Blackwater operative based in Kabul, Afghanistan, flew to the African country to lead the evacuation. Click here for more coverage.

Waxman is making up stories again

Congressman Henry Waxman (D-Cal.), who is using his chairmanship of a House oversight panel to help a trial lawyer sue Blackwater, is recycling his old allegations into new headlines again.

This time he's generating news by repeating old statements alleging that Blackwater's contractors aren't really contractors, and that the security provider should be paying tens of millions of dollars in back Social Security, Medicare and other federal taxes. He's now accusing the company of committing a crime.

As part of the Democrat Party's jihad against defeating al Qaeda and Iranian-backed terrorists in Iraq, Waxman is trying to bring financial ruin on the company that serves a linchpin to ensure secure US diplomatic operations in Baghdad. He's also helping a big California trial lawyer sue Blackwater for at least $20 million. The trial lawyers are the largest business group that funds Waxman's party. Lawyers in general give overwhelmingly to Democrats.

Former private contractor in Iraq takes on media distortions

A former private security contractor (PSC) who served in Iraq challenges media distortions about Blackwater and other companies who protect American facilities, convoys, diplomats, and visiting VIPs.

PSC veteran Mark R. Taylor writes that accusers of Blackwater in Congress and the media are more interested in politicizing the war effort and pushing their own agendas than they are in finding the truth.

"Where are the stories of the majority of circumstances, the many successes of Blackwater and how many lives were saved because of them?" Taylor asks. "The stories are in the same place as the successes of KBR, buried by the media and told only by handful with a mission to tell the truth about our role in the Middle East. The attacks on the military by government officials and the media created a backlash that sent the same scurrying for a new scapegoat, the American contractor. With no regard for our families, our children and our lives, they continue to denigrate our mission in the hopes of creating a true quagmire for George W. Bush, or of engineering a Democrat victory in ‘08.

"There is a mutual respect among the military and contractors that is not recognized by the dignitaries who rely on Blackwater to keep them alive. I recall that, while in Iraq, a delegation of American dignitaries arrived at Camp Victory, visiting Black Jack DEFAC. It was only Senator Barbara Boxer, D-CA, who even bothered to take the time to visit with us, at least to show some concern and support. Why didn’t the others visit us? Were they repulsed at our arrival - dirty and sweaty from a two day mission, driving across Iraq to deliver mail to our troops - or were they made uncomfortable merely by our presence? Or were they disinterested?

"While they returned to their clean, uparmored air conditioned bus, heading for the next photo op, we returned to our dusty unarmored trucks to continue our missions and face the enemy.

"We worked, we fought, we cried, we bled. And in some cases, we died beside our military counterparts who are our friends. A majority of us eventually returned home to our jobs and our families, our contributions rarely noted, but even today, it pains us to see our brothers and sisters attacked in the media while they fight a ruthless, bloodthirsty enemy overseas."

Time magazine: Evidence backs Blackwater's version of Nisoor Square shootout

Evidence is backing up Blackwater's version of the September 16 Nisoor Square incident in Baghdad, where 17 Iraqi civilians reportedly died.

The Iraqi Ministry of Interior (MOI) led a propaganda campaign to accuse Blackwater guards firing unprovoked into a crowd of innocent people - a theme echoed on Capitol Hill by Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) - but Time magazine reports that physical evidence is backing up Blackwater's original insistence that the diplomatic convoy under its protection had been fired upon.

"One observer close to the investigation told TIME that U.S. authorities have examined a log from a command post, or Tactical Operations Center (TOC), showing that Blackwater guards radioed repeatedly that they were under attack from persons wearing police uniforms. Photographic evidence of Kalashnikov shells scattered around the site of the shooting could also suggest that the Blackwater convoy did come under hostile fire," Time reports on January 23.

Time writers and editors chose to bury the information deep in the story, showing their bias by emphasizing that, regardless of the outcome of investigations, the controversy could cost the security company its contract protecting American diplomats in Iraq.

Judge maintains protesters' jail time; says he's 'grieved' by their disrespect for law

A judge kept the sentences of anti-Blackwater protesters to jail time served, after saying he was "grieved" that they would not respect the law.

North Carolina Judge Russell Duke added no extra sentence to the convicts, a group of left-wing activists who vandalized Blackwater property in an October 20 protest. After a discussion of politics and the law, the judge told the defendants, "You’ve told me you’re not going to abide by the law. You’re not going to respect my judgment. That grieves me."

AP and USA Today challenged for sloppy reporting

The Associated Press and USA Today received a correction for sloppy reporting about the armored vehicles that Blackwater security guards used at the September 16 Nisoor Square incident in Iraq.

USA Today ran an AP story on January 12 headlined "Blackwater fixes hinder shooting probe."

The report purported to show that the company destroyed evidence prior to a federal investigation of the incident, in which a reported 17 Iraqi civilians were killed.

The lead of the story stated: "Blackwater Worldwide repaired and repainted its trucks immediately after a deadly September shooting in Baghdad, making it difficult to determine whether enemy gunfire provoked the attack, according to people familiar with the government's investigation of the incident."

Three paragraphs down, AP reported, "The repairs essentially destroyed evidence that Justice Department investigators hoped to examine in a criminal case that has drawn worldwide attention."

The reader is led to believe that the company "destroyed evidence" in the high-profile case. The facts are different:

• The State Department - not Blackwater - owns the vehicles in question.


• The State Department requires Blackwater contractually to keep the vehicles properly repaired and maintained at all times.


• The State Department instructed Blackwater to repaint all the vehicles in the Baghdad fleet, including the ones struck by bullets at Nisoor Square, because the vehicles were of an "easily identifiable color and were painted as a precautionary measure in case they were being specifically targeted," according to Tyrrell.

Click here for the full text of Tyrrell's letter, as published in USA Today on January 23.

(Cartoon by James Mojonnier. See his artwork at www.jamesmojonnier.com.)

Losers: Anti-Blackwater protesters lose appeal in court

A jury denied the appeal of a group of beatnik protesters who trespassed on Blackwater land and vandalized property in order to make a political statement. The group was convicted in October; a judge closed the trial to the public because the radicals wanted to turn his courtroom into a propaganda show. WRAL-TV of Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, has the story.

Guard reports that diplomatic convoy was fired at

One of the Blackwater security guards involved in the September 16 shootout at Nisoor Square, Baghdad, said in a sworn statement that the diplomatic convoy he was guarding was fired upon and that he feared that an oncoming vehicle, which ignored signals to stop, was a suicide bomber.

ABC News publishes the sworn statement that the guard, identified only as "Paul," made to the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service about 48 hours after the incident. About 17 people were reportedly killed in the incident. Parts of the document, including specific names, are redacted.

He says in the statement, "As our motorcade pulled into the intersection I noticed a white four door sedan driving directly at our motorcade from the west bound lane. I and others were yelling, and using hand signals for the car to stop and the driver look directly at me and kept moving toward our motorcade. Fearing for my life and the life of my teammates, I engaged the driver and stopped the threat."

He continues, "At the same moment, I started receiving small armes fire from the [guard] shack approcimately fifty meters behind the car. I then engaged the individuals were the muzzle flashes came from. A uniformed individual then started pushing the vehicle toward the motorcade and again I shouted and engaged the vehicle until it came to a stop. I was told on our radio that the command vehicle [of the motorcade] was down, and that we were still taking fire."

The guard described shooting a man who was aiming an AK (Kalashnikov) assault rifle at a Blackwater guard in the rear vehicle of the motorcade: "Fearing for the gunner's life, I engaged the individual and stopped the threat." Paul described small arms fire coming from a red bus in the intersection, and that he returned fire at the bus, and then on an oncoming car that he feared was a VBIED (vehicle-borne improvised explosive device) suicide bomber.

The case is still under investigation. A Blackwater spokeswoman tells the New York Times that the company cannot comment pending the probe.

'It's open season on security contractors'

IraqSlogger.com has a great review of the Human Rights First report on private security contractors.

Written by Robert Y. Pelton, the commentary says, "the report doesn' t really cover new ground but it makes the same points made by many others that a) there are more contractors now than at any other time in recent military conflict, b) they are being protected by official and unofficial methods to avoid prosecution or liability, and c) security contractors have joined the ranks of baby seal bashers, Salvation Army bucket thieves, celebrity paparazzi and Nigerian 401 spammers as the profession most hated by the media."

All in all a fine and funny critique, with comments on the larger issues at hand. "While the media and the Left focus on pointing out the obvious, that security contractors were designed to be a 'use once and throw away when done' solution to GWOT, they have become a critical part of both military and humanitarian operations," Pelton writes.

Blackwater credited with saving 180 American lives

Readers of this blog know about how Blackwater Worldwide recently rescued three young American women from deadly mob violence in Kenya. The three are only a fraction of Americans whose lives Blackwater is credited with saving.

Over the past six years, Blackwater personnel have saved the lives of more than 180 Americans around the world.

In Iraq from 2004-2007, Blackwater rescued or medically treated and evacuated more than 40 U.S. soldiers, Marines and U.S. Government officials. Virtually all instances were humanitarian responses to calls for volunteers. The incidents involved fires, post-missile and mortar attack response, suicide bombing involving mass casualties, and day and night rescues of stranded or trapped Americans.

On the U.S. Gulf Coast in the immediate aftermath of hurricane Katrina, Blackwater volunteers rescued over 50 Americans trapped on rooftops. Blackwater also conducted emergency medical evacuations for 175 Americans in the first week of the 2005 disaster.

In Africa in 2006, Blackwater medical personnel saved an American in Chad by administering emergency life saving surgery and medical evacuation Burkina Faso. They also conducted a rescue of three American missionaries and seven aid workers in Kenya in January 2008.

In Afghanistan 2007 Blackwater personnel rescued three Americans from a bombed and burning hotel. In January 2008 Blackwater again rescued one American from a hotel bombed by the Taliban.

In over 90 percent of these cases, Blackwater was not paid a dime to act. The company and its people did so out of a professional drive to help Americans in danger whenever possible.

Federal contracts required Blackwater to repair shot-up vehicles

After its armored vehicles were shot up by enemy gunfire during the September 16 incident at Nisoor Square in Baghdad, Blackwater made repairs as required under its State Department contract.

But the company is coming under criticism for destroying evidence in the process, even though no federal investigation was underway when the repairs were made.

It's another case of the security provider getting stuck between two departments of the federal government: the State Department, for which it protects US diplomats in Iraq, and the Justice Department, which opened an investigation of the Nisoor incident - well after Blackwater fixed the damaged vehicles.

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell tells AP that any repairs "would have been done at the government's direction." According to AP, "Blackwater's contract with the State Department requires that the company maintain its vehicles and keep them on the road." That means the company acted properly in repairing the damaged vehicles. Blackwater also repainted its Baghdad fleet shortly after the incident, on State Department instructions, as a security measure to make the familiar white vehicles less conspicuous.

People who allege an obstruction of justice don't know what they're talking about. Especially because the repairs and paint jobs took place well before the FBI and federal grand jury investigations. The ruined evidence, as AP notes, would have ratified Blackwater CEO Erik Prince's word tht his men were fired upon at Nisoor Square and acted properly. AP reports that the repairs make it "harder for Blackwater to prove its innocence."

True to form, the State Department won't talk about it. According to AP, "The State Department would not comment on whether it ordered the repairs to the vehicles involved in the shooting."

Human rights group says contractors are essential and that most obey the law

Private security contractors are essential to the U.S. missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the overwhelming majority are fine professionals who risk their lives, a human rights group reports.

In a sharp critique of the Justice Department, Human Rights First, a New York-based group, claims that contractors operate with "impunity." But Scott Horton, a Columbia University law professor who served as a senior consultant to a Human Rights First report, has high praise for the contractors.

"The great majority of the contractors involved, including the security contractors, are conscientious, dedicated professionals who are out there at great personal risk, performing magnificently," Horton tells the Voice of America. "So we should not view this [report] as tarring the entire group of contractors or even the entire group of security contractors, but it is a question of accountability."

Blackwater Worldwide certainly would agree with that assessment. It's been pushing for clearer rules of the road and better accountability all along. But Congress, as the post below reports, hasn't seen fit to update the law to make it happen.

Congressional failure: 'Gaps in law' may not allow prosecutions

"Gaps in the law" are among the problems the Justice Department is finding in the prosecution of Blackwater guards involved in the September 16 shootout in Baghdad, where 17 civilians were killed.

The antics of a few showboating congressmen, including Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Cal., pictured), have followed the script of a California trial lawyer who stands to make millions suing Blackwater, and have diverted lawmakers from the real problem: Gaps in the laws that they themselves are responsible for writing.

The New York Times reports that those "gaps,"as well as State Department immunity for the Americans who risk their lives daily protecting diplomats and VIPs in Iraq, are complicating and might not even permit a prosecution of those allegedly involved.

We reported last November that, because of Congress's failure to update the law, the Justice Department might have to "twist" the facts of the case and even the law itself in order to prosecute the diplomatic security guards.

Video of rescued girls arriving home

They're teenage girls, all right, judging by their happy squeals as they run toward family and friends at a Michigan airport. Blackwater Worldwide rescued the three - sisters Brittanie and Aubrey Vander Mey and friend Jamie Cook - from mob violence in Kenya, where the girls were doing Christian missionary work.

For more news about the rescue - which Blackwater staged from Afghanistan - see the posts below.

Blondes for Blackwater

Blackwater heroes saved Brittanie and Aubrey Vander Mey and Jamie Cook (above) from mob terror in Kenya last week as the US government stood by fecklessly.

CEO Erik Prince ordered the rescue operation at the request of Brittanie and Aubrey's dad. The girls were doing Christian missionary work with AIDS orphans.

A Blackwater operative flew from Afghanistan to Kenya to run the operation.

Another of many unheralded Blackwater rescues. A couple, such as the evacuation of the Polish ambassador to Iraq after an assassination attempt, have received some coverage, but most have not.

The blog commentary is pretty funny, ranging from very informative to tasteless. Click here for reader remarks on Sharon Weinberger's Wired.com blog.

Blackwater praised for Africa rescue

Congressional weenies might want to beat up on Blackwater, but the company is winning praise from Real America for its daring operation to rescue three young Michigan women from near-certain horrors in strife-torn Kenya.

"Unable to locate a helicopter or airplane to pick them up," the father of two of the girls, Dean VanderMey, "called his mother, who reached Blackwater founder Erik Prince [pictured] through a mutual friend, U.S. Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids," Bill Sizemore reports in the Virginian-Pilot.

"Soon, VanderMey said, he got a phone call from Prince, who told him, 'We're going to do everything we can do to get your girls out.'

"A Blackwater employee flew from Afghanistan to Kenya to run the operation, VanderMey said. The company located a 10-passenger single-engine plane, which picked up the women at an airstrip near the orphanage in the village of Kimilili and flew them 185 miles to Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, where they got a commercial flight home.

"paid the charter fee for the plane, but Blackwater charged him nothing for its services.
'Erik wouldn't hear of it,' VanderMey said. 'He said, "This has nothing to do with money. This is about getting Americans out of harm's way."'

"'They got it done. I was pretty impressed.'"

Blackwater rescues Michigan orphanage workers from Kenya terror

How did three American charity workers escape spiraling violence in Africa when their government couldn't help them?

Blackwater Worldwide.

Michigan orphanage volunteers Brittanie and Aubrey Vander Mey and their friend Jamie Cook were in Kenya readying to care for HIV and AIDS orphans in Kimilili, a town 180 miles from Nairobi.

But post-election violence was spreading, with militants 45 miles away torching a church filled with women and children.

Yesterday the women were scheduled to return to their Michigan hometown where their local paper, the Grand Rapids Press, has the story.

"Dean Vander Mey, of Byron Township, Brittanie and Aubrey's father, said he credits their return to God's intervention and the private security firm," the paper reports.

"'My daughter (Brittanie) told me today, "Every town around us has been ripped apart,"' he said. 'Their little town was the only safe town. ... I have to attribute (their safety) to the Lord.'"

When his frightened daughters alerted him by phone of the spreading violence, he realized the women could not escape by car and renting a helicopter was impossible. He asked U.S. officials, congressmen and others for help.

"Vander Mey said he recalled relatives were friends with the family of Blackwater founder and Holland [Michigan] native Erik Prince and decided to give the company a call.

"'They had internal contacts and everything,' Vander Mey said. 'They had people who could help.'"

And help they did. Blackwater, according to Vander Mey, sent in a plane and rescued the three women and other international workers, bringing them safely to Nairobi.

"It's been a nightmare and a miracle," Vander Mey said.

Terrorist lawyer group sues Blackwater

A legal group that has represented cop-killers and terrorists is suing Blackwater. The group is called the Center for Constitutional Rights.

It's old news from October, recycled in a December 19 Associated Press feed. It's as if an AP editor just wanted to keep nasty stuff about Blackwater in the headlines, as it is known to do.

Significantly, AP calls the Center for Constitutional Rights a "human rights group" and says nothing about its terrorist and cop-killing connections. See our November 17 post for details.

Feds narrow Blackwater probe to 3 guards

In a big victory for Blackwater, federal prosecutors have narrowed their wrongdoing probe to only 3 guards involved in the September 16 shootout at Baghdad's Nisoor Square.

The Associated Press reports, "two weeks into a federal grand jury investigation, people close to the case told AP that authorities have focused the number who could face charges to about three of the dozen or more guards on the security detail."

This is a sure sign that federal prosecutors do not believe that the company itself acted improperly, and that wrongdoing, if any, on September 16 was a very rare exception to the rule. Blackwater has provided more than 17,000 diplomatic security missions successfully in Iraq since 2004. US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker - one of the nation's most respected career ambassadors - has strongly stood by Blackwater and its practices that are credited with saving the lives of American diplomats and others.

Being the subject of a criminal investigation does not, under US law and custom, mean that the individuals are guilty.

But the small number of guards expected to be prosecuted also indicates that the federal grand jury does not believe the line from the Iraqi Ministry of Interior (MOI) that the security providers as a whole shot indiscriminately or without provocation that day. The MOI controls the country's national police. Evidence backs up Blackwater's original reports that the diplomatic convoy under the company's protection was indeed fired upon at Nisoor Square on that day.

Iraq war vet: Congress is undermining the 'selfless soldier and contractor'

By playing politics with urgently needed war funding, Congress is undermining the "selfless soldier and contractor" serving the nation in Iraq, a prominent war veteran says.

LTC Steve Russell USA (Ret.) is a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan, and commanded a unit that was central to the capture of Saddam Hussein. He says in a Fox News column that congressional critics of Blackwater, led by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, are the real out-of-control "cowboys."

Russell (pictured) is founder and chairman of Veterans for Victory. Here's an excerpt from his column, titled on the Vets4Victory.com site as "Cowboys from Blackwater? Try Cowboys from Congress":

"Since September's now-famous Baghdad shootout that led to the deaths of 17 Iraqis, numerous critics have assailed contractors with Blackwater USA, as well as security contractors in general, by labeling them as reckless cowboys.

"But leading the chorus denouncing contractors has been a different posse of 'cowboys,' this one composed of reckless members of Congress. Their careless rhetoric and soldier funding ambushes amount to the very same thing they accuse Blackwater of doing - shooting first, and asking questions later.

"Recently, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and 13 other members of Congress have introduced legislation to turn the Blackwater incident into an excuse to bar all security contractors from performing their essential role in securing Iraq. Now, Congress sits before the end-of-year recess determined to ambush not just contractors, but also our soldiers serving abroad by attacking their needed funds.

"If these politicians succeed, they will only make the U.S. military's job harder. And American soldiers - as well as ordinary Iraqis - will face a less stable, more dangerous situation.
With victory in Iraq a distinct possibility, who is being the irresponsible cowboy now?"

Russell wrote an important piece about the Blackwater controversy in Stars & Stripes last October titled, "What's Behind Attacks on Blackwater."

Among Russell's many points: "The truth, which few members of Congress are willing to admit, is that Blackwater employees are doing some of the most difficult work in Iraq. And, they are doing a great job keeping Americans safe."

ACLU intervenes as anti-Blackwater protesters are convicted

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has spoken out on behalf of radical activists who were convicted and sentenced for trespassing and vandalizing Blackwater property.

In order to avoid having the activists turn his courtroom into a media circus, the judge closed the proceedings to the public after convicting and sentencing the first militant. The others were convicted behind closed doors, according to the Virginian-Pilot.

"It’s a clear violation of constitutional rights, not only of the defendants but the press and public,” an ACLU official complained. “They have a right to a public trial, so any trial that goes on behind closed doors is a farce.”

Blackwater backs Pentagon memo on PSCs in Iraq

Consistent with its support for drawing the lines more sharply about private security operations, Blackwater issued a statement December 5 supporting a memorandum between the Pentagon and the State Department governing its diplomatic security services in Iraq. The text of the statement follows:

"Blackwater fully supports the memorandum of agreement signed today by the Department of State and the Department of Defense regarding private security companies operating in IRaq on behalf of the US Government. Blackwater has always supported the identification of contractor standards and clear rules of accountability. Increased coordination and constant review of procedures will provide even better value to the Government. Blackwater looks forward to complying with new rules as we continue to serve the United States Government."