What was Blackwater renamed and is Obama still using them?

[MsDoodahs]

Anyone know?

[acptulsa]

Xe Services, LLC, and yes he is.

Please don't ask me to pronounce it.

[Danke]

Xe, which is pronounced like the letter "z."

[MsDoodahs]

Thanks, tulsa.

I haven't heard any outrage over this.

So, I take it that the reality is....

It was a horrible thing when Bush was using them but now that it's BO using them, all is well?

WTF?

:confused:

Sorta like with the war - it was bad when it was Bush's war but now that it's BO's war, we get silence?

And if that is the case, then that gives the appearance that the left has the same lack of core principles as the GOP.

[acptulsa]

I guess it's the name change. Hope nobody tells Beezelbub--he'll change his name to George and everyone will forgive him everything...

[Antonius Stone]

Either way, they've been banned from Iraq...

maybe BHO is sicking them on the Afghan's now?

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

maybe BHO is sicking them on the Afghan's now?

I could be mistaken, but I thought he was using them in Pakistan.

[BenIsForRon]

Sorta like with the war - it was bad when it was Bush's war but now that it's BO's war, we get silence?


Dude, what are you talking about? No one was talking about contractors under Bush either. After those 4 KBR guys got shot, yeah, but not much besides that.

Anyway, there has been one program covering this, but it's hard for this guy to get any street cred on this forum, because he's a...GASP!... liberal!

Bill Moyers talking to Jeremy Scahill, it should have a lot of the info you're looking for.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06052009/watch.html

[Todd]

Xe, which is pronounced like the letter "z."

Yeah...Like "Z" Eastern Front......"Z" Werhrmacht...."Z" Brown Shirts....and....
Where is "Z" Fuhrer?

Pretty fitting.

[specsaregood]

To be honest, I'm more worried about whether they are still being used here in the US.

http://safeaccessnow.org/img/original/Blackwater%20DEA.jpg

[Deborah K]

Uh...not to play devil's advocate or anything but....wouldn't having a private military be a good thing? And if the Prez can have one, can't we?

[acptulsa]

Uh...not to play devil's advocate or anything but....wouldn't having a private military be a good thing?

The anarchists think so. They think without the government Blackwater would be controlled completely by market forces alone...

...not that they're restrained one bit now.

[BenIsForRon]

I think its best to try to remove the profit motive in organized mass murder. SOCIALIZE THE MILITARY!!!

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

The anarchists think so. They think without the government Blackwater would be controlled completely by market forces alone...

...not that they're restrained one bit now.

The difference would be that those harrassed by Blackwater would be free to retaliate in whatever form necessary. As it is now, they're just another group of jackbooted thugs who can operate above the law with impunity.

[BenIsForRon]

The difference would be that those harrassed by Blackwater would be free to retaliate in whatever form necessary. As it is now, they're just another group of jackbooted thugs who can operate above the law with impunity.

Stop pretending like government has magical powers, we're still free to retaliate. We're actually in a better strategic position to retaliate now, because we can do it politically instead of violently. We can remove their revenue source (tax money/chinese debt).

[pcosmar]

Uh...not to play devil's advocate or anything but....wouldn't having a private military be a good thing? And if the Prez can have one, can't we?

Uh, NO

And I believe it is also illegal.
The founders warned of a standing Army, and we were never supposed to have one.
That is why the Citizen Militia is so important. And so feared by TPTB.

[South Park Fan]

Uh...not to play devil's advocate or anything but....wouldn't having a private military be a good thing? And if the Prez can have one, can't we?

It's actually the worst of both worlds: Blackwater has a profit motive but no legal competition. It's more like fascism than a free market.

[brandon]

The anarchists think so. They think without the government Blackwater would be controlled completely by market forces alone...

...not that they're restrained one bit now.

"At least 90 percent of the company's revenue comes from government contracts, of which two-thirds are no-bid contracts"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_Worldwide


Companies like blackwater wouldn't exist if there wasn't a government.

[BenIsForRon]

"At least 90 percent of the company's revenue comes from government contracts, of which two-thirds are no-bid contracts"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_Worldwide


Companies like blackwater wouldn't exist if there wasn't a government.

Yeah, in your perfect little world all the major oil and industry giants would just hire the private militias. It's totally different!

[CCTelander]

"At least 90 percent of the company's revenue comes from government contracts, of which two-thirds are no-bid contracts"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_Worldwide


Companies like blackwater wouldn't exist if there wasn't a government.

Exactly. Things look a bit different when you actually bother to consider the facts.

[acptulsa]

Exactly. Things look a bit different when you actually bother to consider the facts.

Like the fact that corporations don't need the kind of services they would contract with Blackwater for with such a compliant oligarchy around covering the corporate asses on our dime?

[CCTelander]

Like the fact that corporations don't need the kind of services they would contract with Blackwater for with such a compliant oligarchy around covering the corporate asses on our dime?

What's your point?

[jmdrake]

Uh...not to play devil's advocate or anything but....wouldn't having a private military be a good thing? And if the Prez can have one, can't we?

As others have pointed out, Blackwater getting no bid contracts is NOT free market. That said you can hire your own private security firm if you like. Those that you hire are subject to the same laws as any other private citizen. The problem with Blackwater is that they were neither subject to U.S. civilian law nor U.S. military law nor Iraqi law. Now if that's going to be the playing field, make it official for everybody and allow us all to get our own assault rifles and grenade launchers.

[acptulsa]

What's your point?

I wasn't making a point. I was ensuring that all the relevant facts got presented. I hate spin.

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

Stop pretending like government has magical powers, we're still free to retaliate.

I don't know where you have buried your head, but look around. We aren't free to retaliate. There is no proof that this case will do anything to Xe/Blackwater at all. For all we know, they're sitting on blanket immunity/get-out-of-jail-free and haven't brought it to bear.

[BenIsForRon]

Even if they have immunity, we can always kick them out of the military budget.

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

Even if they have immunity, we can always kick them out of the military budget.

Actually, I think they're employed by State, not Defense.