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/
