Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Rescuing Blackwater from justice - and the Amway connection

From Pentagon letter undercuts DOJ in Blackwater case

The Pentagon wrote in 2007 that Blackwater Worldwide contractors in Iraq are not subject to U.S. civilian criminal laws. That position undercuts the Justice Department's effort to prosecute five Blackwater security guards for manslaughter.

The letter highlights the uncertainty prosecutors face in bringing charges against contractors involved in a September 2007 shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead in a Baghdad intersection. Iraqis are closely watching how the U.S. responds to the shooting, which inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad.

Defense contractors can be prosecuted in U.S. courts for crimes committed overseas, but because of a legal loophole, contractors for other agencies can only face charges if their work assignments supported the Defense Department.

Blackwater works for the State Department. The largest security contractor in Iraq, the company guards U.S. diplomats. Five of its guards face manslaughter and weapons charges for a shooting that prosecutors say was an unprovoked attack on civilians.

Federal prosecutors in Washington are trying to persuade a judge to hear the case. They say the Defense Department mission and the State Department mission are essentially the same: creating a stable, self-governing Iraq.

When Blackwater guards protected State Department diplomats, prosecutors told a federal judge last week, they were supporting the Defense Department's mission. By protecting diplomats, prosecutors said, Blackwater freed up Pentagon resources.

But in December 2007, the Defense Department disagreed. In a letter to Rep. David Price, D-N.C., Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England explained how the military handles allegations against contractors.

"I am informed that the Blackwater USA private security contractors working under a Department of State contract were not engaged in employment in support of the DOD mission," England wrote in the letter, a copy of which was provided by Price's office.

Thus, England wrote, federal prosecutors don't have jurisdiction to charge the Blackwater guards. He was writing in response to a letter from Price, who has long maintained that the loophole in the law should be closed.

Defense Department spokesman Chris Isleib said Monday that the views in the letter remain the view of the Defense Department.

Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd disagreed.

"The position taken by the Justice Department in the Blackwater prosecution is the position of the U.S. government," Boyd said.

Whether Blackwater is covered by what's known as the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act remains a matter of some debate. Blackwater founder and chief executive Erik Prince said in an interview with The Associated Press that he believed his security guards were covered and could be prosecuted in criminal courts.

Prince is a former Navy SEAL and founder of Blackwater USA, is a Holland, Mich., native whose family fortune was made in the auto parts industry. His sister, Betsy DeVos, a former chairwoman of the Michigan GOP, is married to Dick DeVos, a Republican and Amway Corp. heir who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2006.


From Official: Blackwater's Iraq deal not to be renewed

The State Department will not renew Blackwater Worldwide's contract to protect American diplomats in Iraq when it expires in May, a senior U.S. official said Friday.

The official told The Associated Press that the contract will lapse because of the Iraqi government's decision to deny Blackwater a license to operate. The Iraqis informed the State Department last week of the denial, which was made amid lingering outrage over a September 2007 shooting in Baghdad's Nisoor Square that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

The official said that renewing Blackwater's contract was "basically a moot point because they were not going to be allowed to operate in Iraq anyway." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has yet to be announced.

The State Department says it is still considering how to protect U.S. diplomats in the wake of the Iraqi denial of Blackwater's operating license.


From Blackwater USA's Erik Prince & Dick Devos: Brother-in-laws in Arms

The first stop I want to make is to address all those stories in the media about the connection between Dick Devos & Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater USA (one of the world's largest private army).

What? Only ONE result? And it's just a letter to the editor. Wow, I guess if the major news media doesn't see a connection, then there's no worries!

Still, our mud-wrestling lady Governor might not be content with sticking a big Amway tag on my chest and drag this issue into the election too. Take a memo, Jenny: when we Republicans say “Character matters”, we're talking about other people's character!

Erik Prince is the brother of my wife, Betsy Prince Devos. He is a former Navy Seal who worked in the first Bush White House. At the age of 29, he founded a private military company called Blackwater USA. Blackwater and Eric Prince are featured in the Movie Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (watch a clip about Erik below!) and also in this post from some liberal guy on the Huffington lady's blog. Speaking of outrageously liberal, here's an article from The Nation called Blood is Thicker than Blackwater.

Weak-kneed Willie over at Michigan Liberal noted that the Virginia Pilot had an in-depth series on Blackwater USA:

Blackwater has rocketed from obscurity to the big time in less than a decade. Peter Singer, author of “Corporate Warriors” and a scholar at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, says that although Blackwater might not be the biggest player in the private military industry, “they've certainly gained the biggest profile.”

They've done it with deep-pocket backing, high-powered political connections and an uncanny knack for capitalizing on the violent milestones of a turbulent time

This comprehensive Blackwater USA feature (with lots of pictures and video) talks about how Blackwater soldiers are trained, has fun facts on what makes Blackwater different, how darn profitable the company is in these dangerous times, the company's plans for the future and exciting stuff about how Blackwater operates right here on US soil! I bet that's a side benefit you never thought of from Dick Devos as President of the USA Michigan's Governor.



From Blackwater Down: Fresh From Iraq, Private Security Forces Roam the Streets of an American City With Impunity

The head of Blackwater, the founder, is a man named Eric Prince. He is a mega-billionaire from Michigan. His father was a close friend of Gary Bauer. His father helped to found the Family Research Council. His sister, Betsy, is married to Dick DeVos, who is going to be the gubernatorial candidate of the Republican Party in the state of Michigan. He, Dick DeVos, is the son of Richard DeVos, the founder of Amway, the greatest benefactor in the history of the Republican Party, the man who largely funded the Republican revolution in 1994, this Christian fundamentalist corporation, Amway. So he comes from a powerful Michigan family. He has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Republican Party. He started this firm Blackwater Security. He himself is a former navy S.E.A.L. He staffs it with people he describes as patriots, although, it's interesting, they have been doing recruiting in Chile, hiring men who were trained under Augusto Pinochet's regime. So these forces are now—there are about two hundred of them—in New Orleans right now. One hundred and sixty-four of them are on a no-bid federal contract with FEMA to provide protection for these sites. This is part of a bigger push by these paramilitary firms to gain contracts here in the United States. For instance, Blackwater seized on the fact that four of their employees were killed in Fallujah in March of 2004. Eric Prince viewed this as a profit moment. So, what he did is hired—

AMY GOODMAN: This is that horrible moment—

JEREMY SCAHILL: Where we saw the charred bodies. They were hanged, and it resulted in the massive U.S. onslaught against Fallujah that resulted in tens of thousands of people having to flee the city, scores of people being killed, innocent civilians. Of course, now Fallujah has become an international symbol of resistance against the U.S. occupation in Iraq. Well after these four Blackwater mercenaries were killed in Fallujah and then their bodies mutilated and hung from a bridge, Eric Prince hired the Alexander Group which is a powerful Republican lobby firm tied to House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay, and then hired a former C.I.A. Department of—C.I.A., State department official, named Coffer Black, to help promote their cause in Washington.

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