political satirist Barry Crimmins
The Stateless Police of the Police State Thursday, September 20, 2007
Click on this picture to see more swell Blackwater action shots!
Yesterday I wrote about the American police state. Today let's consider America's stateless police: Blackwater USA. After numerous cases of assaulting and massacring Iraqis the Iraqi Government wants the mercenary militia out of its nation. Just one problem, this government that George W. Bush consecrated and celebrated as 'sovereign' back when elections were held in 2004, has no jurisdiction over turf beneath the jackboots of Blackwater Henchmen.
Blackwater doesn't even have to hold to the minimal standards in place for the dozens of other private security firms/ goon squads operating in Iraq. According to a piece in today's Washington Post, Blackwater is above and beyond all law because it is the official security firm of the US State Department. Apparently those Marine guards at embassies are just so much window dressing. I wonder how the Marines feel about that. In fact, how does the Pentagon feel? Here's an agency that gets nearly half a trillion dollars per annum to put muscle into America's might. And then if war breaks out, it isn't even expected to dip into those funds for the conflict. A supplementary budget is provided instead. But even with all that, the Pentagon is not deemed worthy of protecting our own State Department personnel in Iraq. So a collection of trigger-happy goobers and international miscreants is brought in to protect our quivering diplomats. USA!USA!USA!
Blackwater was founded by Eric Prince, scion to an auto parts fortune and former Navy SEAL and Poppy Bush intern. With the vast wealth he has accumulated by being born and then providing "talent" for both private and governmental reactionary endeavors, Prince has become a major player in Republican, and Christian circles. Blessed are the corpse-makers! The secretive big-time player has built his own empire by putting a spigot on the American treasury and welding it in the 'open' position.
In Iraq the Blackwater thing has turned into Altamount. Hells Angels are backstage drinking all the beer and wandering through the crowd maiming and killing the very people Mick and Keith are supposedly blessing with a free concert. No one can get near the boys to register a complaint because Blackwater controls all access to the backstage/Green Zone area. For all we know our diplomats are being held hostage by their very own security crew. But I doubt it since the private security scam was put in place not just to siphon massive funds from the "war effort," but to break the military chain of command so that it is impossible to trace heinous crimes back to those who ordered them.
In a rogues gallery of privatized martial slime, Blackwater is the slipperiest. Its 'contractors' don't make up the rules as they go along so much as they tear them up. The company's motto might as well be "What are you going to do about it?
After a weekend when Blackwater was responsible for the slaying of 11 Iraqi civilians, the Iraqi government has said, "Enough, get out!"
Blackwater responds to such requests by laughing heartily and buzzing offices with helicopters -- even though the Iraqi government offices are supposedly in no-fly zones. The obscene wages these rats of war collect are just part of their pay-- they look upon the Iraqi people as a perk -- a perk to shoot up like STOP signs on North Carolina dirt roads. There's little doubt that they scream 'Yeeeeeeeee-Haw!' while doing it.
Iraqis have neither the time nor inclination to draw a distinction between Blackwater's thugs and Americans in general. Nor should they. The profiteering Prince didn't call it "Blackwater USA" by mistake. Blackwater is there representing all of us, with our tacit approval because it is our government that has paid this human excrement 678 million of our tax dollars to demonstrate to the Iraqi people that what we truly believe in is the rule of the lawless.
In fairness it must be said that maybe Blackwater really is making this country safer by being in Iraq. After all, if it didn't have so many of its bandoliered jamokes wandering around over there, they'd be wandering around over here.
Blackwater doesn't even have to hold to the minimal standards in place for the dozens of other private security firms/ goon squads operating in Iraq. According to a piece in today's Washington Post, Blackwater is above and beyond all law because it is the official security firm of the US State Department. Apparently those Marine guards at embassies are just so much window dressing. I wonder how the Marines feel about that. In fact, how does the Pentagon feel? Here's an agency that gets nearly half a trillion dollars per annum to put muscle into America's might. And then if war breaks out, it isn't even expected to dip into those funds for the conflict. A supplementary budget is provided instead. But even with all that, the Pentagon is not deemed worthy of protecting our own State Department personnel in Iraq. So a collection of trigger-happy goobers and international miscreants is brought in to protect our quivering diplomats. USA!USA!USA!
Blackwater was founded by Eric Prince, scion to an auto parts fortune and former Navy SEAL and Poppy Bush intern. With the vast wealth he has accumulated by being born and then providing "talent" for both private and governmental reactionary endeavors, Prince has become a major player in Republican, and Christian circles. Blessed are the corpse-makers! The secretive big-time player has built his own empire by putting a spigot on the American treasury and welding it in the 'open' position.
In Iraq the Blackwater thing has turned into Altamount. Hells Angels are backstage drinking all the beer and wandering through the crowd maiming and killing the very people Mick and Keith are supposedly blessing with a free concert. No one can get near the boys to register a complaint because Blackwater controls all access to the backstage/Green Zone area. For all we know our diplomats are being held hostage by their very own security crew. But I doubt it since the private security scam was put in place not just to siphon massive funds from the "war effort," but to break the military chain of command so that it is impossible to trace heinous crimes back to those who ordered them.
In a rogues gallery of privatized martial slime, Blackwater is the slipperiest. Its 'contractors' don't make up the rules as they go along so much as they tear them up. The company's motto might as well be "What are you going to do about it?
After a weekend when Blackwater was responsible for the slaying of 11 Iraqi civilians, the Iraqi government has said, "Enough, get out!"
Blackwater responds to such requests by laughing heartily and buzzing offices with helicopters -- even though the Iraqi government offices are supposedly in no-fly zones. The obscene wages these rats of war collect are just part of their pay-- they look upon the Iraqi people as a perk -- a perk to shoot up like STOP signs on North Carolina dirt roads. There's little doubt that they scream 'Yeeeeeeeee-Haw!' while doing it.
Iraqis have neither the time nor inclination to draw a distinction between Blackwater's thugs and Americans in general. Nor should they. The profiteering Prince didn't call it "Blackwater USA" by mistake. Blackwater is there representing all of us, with our tacit approval because it is our government that has paid this human excrement 678 million of our tax dollars to demonstrate to the Iraqi people that what we truly believe in is the rule of the lawless.
In fairness it must be said that maybe Blackwater really is making this country safer by being in Iraq. After all, if it didn't have so many of its bandoliered jamokes wandering around over there, they'd be wandering around over here.
