BLACKWATER, USA.
The Things You Should Know:
-Value in 2002: $3.4 million
-Value in 2003: $25 million
-Value in 2004: $48 million
-Value in 2005: $352 million
-Value in 2006: $593 million
Nice raise, huh?
-Percentage of Blackwater holding company Prince Group's revenue derived from federal contracts: 90
I guess you could call them Government Funded.
-Erik Prince's income in 2006: "More than a million dollars."
-Amount Erik Prince has contributed to the GOP and Republican candidates: $225,000
I guess we could say he's Republican. For sure.
-Compensation paid to family of an Iraqi vice presidential guard killed by a drunken Blackwater operator in the Green Zone last Christmas Eve: $20,000
-Penalty exacted on Blackwater operator: Termination of employment, cost of plane ticket back to U.S. ($1,630), and forfeiture of outstanding pay ($7,067), of Fourth of July bonus ($3,000), and of Christmas bonus ($3,000)
-Total financial penalty for killing Iraqi vice presidential guard: $14,697
-Compensation originally suggested by a State Department official in response to Blackwater's accidental killing of an Iraqi bystander in December 2006: $250,000
-Compensation actually paid: $15,000
-Blackwater's reasoning: "A sum this high will set a terrible precedent. This could cause incidents with people trying to get killed by our guys to financially guarantee their family's future."
Unfair? I'd say.
-Slogan chanted by Code Pink protesters as Erik Prince departed hearing: "War criminal".
Do I agree?
Well, actually I do. Since when did the taxpayers of the United States of America start paying taxes to fund a warlord's private army?
I mean think about it people. The US Army comes out everyday with a new list of "Warlords" that it is trying to apprehend. So, I guess Bush's reasoning is,"Well, hell, we gotta fight fire with fire." Give me a fucking break.
I've already mentioned my first problem with this "Shadow Army" and that is the issue with taxes. Why isn't tax revenue going into the FEDERAL military budget? They wanna take money out of schools to fund the war do they? Why not just take a little money from Blackwater?
But, I'm sure my view is a very simplistic one.
So, on to another complaint. The fact that this man is answerable to no one enrages me. His "troops" are getting away with murder. They kill Iraqis, that, by the way, are declared in reports as innocent bystanders. And what happens to the killer, that hero serving his country from the payrolls of a Warlord? He loses their job, forfeits a little money, no big deal. What's so different in a human being in Iraq compared to one in America again? Is an Iraqi life not worth as much? Why isn't this drunken Blackwater "operative" serving time for murder?
And the list goes on...
WE SHALL OVERCOME.
All statistics are from Bruce Falconer's blog on Motherjones.com's Mojo blog.
PEACE

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