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204 Comments
- algaeturd, on 11/13/2008, -9/+240They're laughing about this somewhere. The precedent has been set: These people don't answer to anyone. The government, the american people, taxpayers, Iraq, nobody. They do what they want, when they want and they get paid billions to do so as they are lifted far above the law.
Blackwater was the biggest racket in the whole ***** scheme. These people reportedly received almost TWENTY FOUR percent of the expenses of the war. For doing what? What our American military men and women do for a little above 30 or 40 grand a year?
I wouldn't be surprised if they find out Blackwater was formed specifically for this war by friends of Bush and Cheney as a direct way to siphon billions from the tax payers. But again, they'll never answer to it and they'll never be held accountable for the crimes committed and the crimes against humanity they committed. There's not much left in this world that you can still believe in...it's the truth. - DonJuanAussi, on 11/13/2008, -3/+84I would love to know what the legal status of their mercenaries would be once the protection from the top is gone. Not an official army, charges of illegal attacks on foreign soil, spying, or even terrorism charges could be laid on individuals if they ever try to travel internationally.
They conducted their operations outside of the American military command and never wore an official American military uniform. The rules of war are very clear. Even if some rednecks in America are too lazy to admit they exist, or refuse to read them, or claim they don't matter because nothing applies to America.
If war crimes charges are not pursued, it can only lead to worse in the coming decades. - inactive, on 11/13/2008, -1/+48Why do a smell a Presidential pardon with the last name of "Prince" on it at this point???
- knopf, on 11/13/2008, -0/+44Even in ancient Rome, they already know how dangerous mercenaries are. Machiavelli summed it up pretty well: http://harpers.org/archive/2007/10/hbc-90001326
Just wait until the Iraq war is over (in a couple of decades or whenever), and you'll have people sitting in the US whose only profession is to perfectly kill and rob other people. There will be a lot to do for local police forces. In the old proverb cited by Machiavelli: "War makes thieves, and peace hangs them." - Ljay90, on 11/13/2008, -2/+44They'll probably say that them getting fined is justice. The gall of these people, didn't they slaughter 17 CIVILIANS, among their other war crimes, to just get off with a fine? A billion dollar industry being fined millions. Yeah, that's justice.
- Sean42, on 11/13/2008, -0/+31Privatizing our armed forces is one of the dumbest things we have ever done. Period. And from this administration, that is really saying something.
Why can't we pay our brave men and women in uniform the same elevated salaries that Eric Prince's goons make.
We now have a private company who stands to make more money when there is more armed conflict in the world. Please explain to me their incentive to see small, regional conflicts settled and not escalated so that their 'services' are needed.
The armed forces of this country should be leading the charge against these thugs. - Togusa09, on 11/13/2008, -1/+32Wait... Are you implying that US soldiers are untrained and paying Blackwater is a good idea because they're 'good' at their job, or that US soldiers are underpaid?
- jawshoeuh, on 11/13/2008, -1/+30$20k a month per soldier? where do you come up with that figure? that is A LOT of transporting, training, feeding, clothing, and medical. do you think the soldiers take that figure into account when they're looking at their annual salary?
"well, true I only grossed $40k last year, but I cost the army $240k, so that's like I'm really making $280k! ...wait a second that puts me in a different tax bracket, I'm definitely not voting for Obama now!"
not to mention that let's face it 30k or 40k a year isn't great pay for just about any real career, much less one where you are risking your life for your country. I make that sitting on my ass playing video games at one job and then I make that at another job sitting on my ass teaching drum lessons 4 nights a week. yea, I work 2 jobs and put in a lot of hours, but I'm probably making substantially more than most of our soldiers do and (so far) I haven't ever been shot at. - L0NER, on 11/13/2008, -1/+29millions are nothing to these people... its just the cost of business.
- AndrewMoyer, on 11/13/2008, -0/+26It's worth noting that "Blackwater" is the technical term for waste water containing human urine and feces.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_%28waste%2 ...
How appropriate... - inactive, on 11/13/2008, -0/+26In future news: Blackwater ignores fines
- iancgi, on 11/13/2008, -0/+25Corrupt corporations, fighting corrupt wars, for corrupt leaders. What are we letting our beautiful planet be turned into? Dare we let them sacrifice our humanity for a little capital gain and power over us?
- anaclagon, on 11/13/2008, -5/+28Your a piece of *****!
"I would rather pay an expert 90-120k a year to do a much better job."
What a ***** joke! - Zippo, on 11/13/2008, -0/+20While I'm unsure if Bush and Cheney had anything to do with Blackwater's formation, it's founder does have close ties.
Erik Prince was an intern in the White House under President George H. W. Bush and is a member of the Republican Party, although he was noted as being critical of the first Bush... quote, "I saw a lot of things I didn't agree with—homosexual groups being invited in, the budget agreement, the Clean Air Act, those kinds of bills."
Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has characterized Prince as one of George W. Bush's "political cronies."
Yeah, this guy's pretty retarded. - keithloughnane, on 11/13/2008, -0/+20why is a corporation allowed to have an army
- Togusa09, on 11/13/2008, -1/+21For doing what? Driving around trucks, shooting iraqi's, threatening general civilians, randomly shooting other things....
- HiddenCanuck, on 11/13/2008, -1/+20The head of Blackwater needs to be taken captive in an afghani cave... and then build a robot suit to escape... and then turn that company around!
- moulin1, on 11/13/2008, -1/+19Blackwater's best line of business is protecting US government personnel from attack by insurgents. It only stands to reason that poorly armed insurgents would be less of a threat. That would be bad for business.
- jsmith39, on 11/13/2008, -1/+19LOL, you're an idiot and you proved it yourself. You'd rather pay a 'professional' read: Merc 90-120k a year instead of a soldier 30-40k because he (the Merc) has military experience... from his time as a soldier. We switch over to a Merc army and how long does it take before there aren't any well trained soldiers to bolster the ranks.
Leave the military to professionals, get rid of the mercenaries. Our citizen soldiers have been doing a pretty damn good job the last couple hundred years. - Togusa09, on 11/13/2008, -0/+17"The problem with mercenaries, is that they need to be paid to start fighting. And, unless you are very lucky, you end up paying them even more to stop."
- tumbler360, on 11/13/2008, -0/+15"I wouldn't be surprised if they find out Blackwater was formed specifically for this war by friends of Bush and Cheney as a direct way to siphon billions from the tax payers."
IF? Blackwater is exactly that. If you look at the amount of privatization going on with the DOD (Dept of Defense) it's obvious that bush and his buddies are trying to get paid to provide as many services to our govt as possible. It's far more than just blackwater. We used to have cooks, and a lot support personnel in the armed forces. Now it's all handled by outside contractors, that cost more. A LOT MORE.
The "convervatives" are creating big government. (just like dems) Why pay a guy 20,000 a year to drive around water filtration systems for the troops, when you can pay a civilian 80,000 a year with a % of that going to some fat ***** in texas!?
The main difference between the Left and the Right I see is that one side wants big government to benefit the richest people ONLY, and the other side wants it to benefit poor people in some way, and then mostly rich people. - spepin, on 11/13/2008, -0/+15Fines are one thing, how come nobody has been charged in all those civilian deaths?
- Sean42, on 11/13/2008, -0/+15Nice incoherent argument. What are you trying to say?
We are paying mercenaries more than our own soldiers, so how is this saving money? - theberlindoctor, on 11/13/2008, -1/+15Unaccountable, murderous merc *****.
- oldhick, on 11/13/2008, -0/+14Blackwater is blight on the history of this nation. I hope with all my heart that Obama's administration or some administration will end them. Mercenaries that are accountable to no one can not continue to be used by our government. It is disgusting and it is unacceptable.
- Zippo, on 11/13/2008, -0/+14I'd love to see Bush and Prince brought to justice, but I doubt it will ever happen.
- inactive, on 11/13/2008, -0/+13Likely? No, not likely. They're above 'International Law' and have done a fantastic job of redefining its parameters.
They have an open lisence to kill, torture and kidnap whomever they please, while using traditional militaries as cannon-fodder and sheepskin. - Togusa09, on 11/13/2008, -0/+13And don't answer to to anyone. With FedEx you can at least get your package insured.
- cowboy86, on 11/13/2008, -1/+13You're an idiot. Considering that the U.S. armed forces trained most of those in Blackwater. So our tax dollars went to their job training from the U.S. Armed Froces (where their more likely to be held accountable) to some completely shady company that has even shot U.S. soldiers. There's a huge difference between Blackwater Mercenaries and U.S. Soldiers. The word may not be in your vocabulary, it's called honor.
- GianDoe, on 11/13/2008, -1/+13much better job? i didn't major in history...but from what i remember if you're looking for a reliable effective army - mercenaries, historically speaking, definitely aren't the best option man (even if they're ex soldiers). it's gotta be hard to prevent history from repeating itself if you don't know history.
- Narcowski, on 11/13/2008, -0/+11They should be put in Gitmo Soli for life.
- jezsik, on 11/13/2008, -0/+11What's the punishment for war profiteering? Oh yeah, justice SERVED.
- inactive, on 11/13/2008, -0/+11@RumpleForeskin3
They go to war and kill for money, they are mercenaries.
And an arms embargo shouldn't matter at all. The companies buys the guns here in the US and ships them to their personnel in Iraq, plain and simple. All they had to do was get a permit from the government, which despite the billions their getting paid, they couldn't be bothered doing.
Obviously you never even looked at the article, because the first paragraph says
"The State Department is preparing to slap a multi-million dollar fine on private military contractor Blackwater USA for shipping hundreds of automatic weapons to Iraq without the necessary permits." - pintomp3, on 11/13/2008, -1/+12some things should not be privatized.
- qwertyxuiop, on 11/13/2008, -0/+10I'm really glad the election is over so that some attention will be paid to this issue again.
I truly hope that Obama sees why using PMCs is a terrible idea - crashbang, on 11/13/2008, -1/+11There will be some blow back from this, but all in all Blackwater is here to stay as are the dozens of other PMCs that now exist. Look up Greystone Ltd. This is the branch of Blackwater Worldwide that one could call "mercenary." This will be the solution that many smaller states will reach for. The international community has lost its will to take care of international problems. So to fill the void in organizations like this are stepping in. Americans,Russians, the French, the English, Israelis, and South Africans are all getting into the action. Its has to make you wonder where state sovereignty ends and commerce begins....
- kingmanic, on 11/13/2008, -1/+11RumpleForeskin3: They'll actually take any warm body but prefer ex military. They may be special forces but the odds are they are NOT. They are one of the biggest employers of former military personnel. In a way the US tax payers pay to train their staff as most are former military. They are the scum of the earth, management wise anyways. They are basically a stateless mercenary military force.
- HappyScrappy, on 11/13/2008, -0/+9They'll just charge it back to the US on a "cost plus" basis.
- jodimcmullen, on 11/13/2008, -0/+9So the casualty numbers and accountability can be hidden.
- inactive, on 11/13/2008, -0/+9Disgusting unaccountable blight upon the planet. The reason I own a firearm is to protect myself against Blackwater and their ilk.
- jsmith39, on 11/13/2008, -0/+8mer⋅ce⋅nar⋅y
/ˈmɜrsəˌnɛri/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [mur-suh-ner-ee] Show IPA Pronunciation
adjective, noun, plural -nar⋅ies.
–adjective
1. working or acting merely for money or other reward; venal.
2. hired to serve in a foreign army, guerrilla organization, etc.
–noun
3. a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army.
4. any hireling.
You can call a duck a fish if you want but it's still a duck, and these private contractors are mercenaries, they know it, we know it, you might as well get on board and recognize it. - Kyzzyxx, on 11/13/2008, -1/+9You would rather go with the people that will give their services to the highest bidder?
- dafragsta, on 11/13/2008, -0/+8These guys are pros. They probably have an exit strategy. It's name is Dubai.
- cheeseron, on 11/13/2008, -0/+7I live about twenty minutes from the Blackwater HQ here in North Carolina and you'd be surprised about home much redneck support Blackwater has.
- Mujokan, on 11/13/2008, -0/+7Privatization of the military is yet another black mark against Bush-Cheney. Oh, but now he's leaving office, we realize how cute and funny he was! ::gag::
- CrazedLeper, on 11/13/2008, -1/+8There will be no war crimes charges. Also, good luck enforcing the collection of the fines.
- Galgori, on 11/13/2008, -0/+7Why doesn't the government just send these people to the front lines instead of actual servicemen and woman? Our fighting men and woman don't seem to be getting paid even half of what these guys are, plus their bound by regulations and rules that Blackwater is obviously above, get sent into the worst and most dangerous places in the world for ridiculous reason. If Blackwater is so willing to risk their lives to make money then i say we let them do it properly.
- drakethegreat, on 11/13/2008, -1/+7That's how mercenaries work. You pay them more then your real military so they can do things you can't and so that you can deny being responsible. Its been done since the dawn of civilization (yes I hate this cliche but it fits here). We should be angry because we allowed our government to get away with an old world trick and outside of digg especially in government and politics, this issue is completely ignored.
- inactive, on 11/13/2008, -0/+6"I know for a fact shotguns are illegal to be used"
Wrong. Completely and utterly, 100% wrong. Shotguns are not "illegal" in the military by any means. They are used all the time for breaching in urban operations ("MOUT").
In point of fact, as recently as 2003 a new shotgun extension was phased into U.S. Army issue.
New Army Shotgun to be Fielded to Afghanistan
http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/armyweapons/a/newar ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M26_Modular_Accessory ...
http://www.olive-drab.com/od_other_firearms_shotgu ... - exgiexpcv, on 11/13/2008, -0/+6No, because when all you have is a hammer, every problems starts to look like a nail. When you're trained for and used to combat, turning the switch back to "playing nice with others" when you rotate out of service becomes very, very hard.
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