Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army [Revised and Updated]

Privatization of government is the trend. The myth that private business is more efficient than government is being exploited to the maximum. To be sure, the present course this adminstration has taken to run this country is very inefficent and costly. But government itself does not have to be that way. Therein lies the myth.One of the most disturbing aspects of this privatization 'push' concerns the military. Again the myths are everywhere: The military is inefficient, private companies can do a better job, ad finitum. It is one thing to contract out the mess hall and laundry services (although even these services aren't any better or less costly than when the military itself did them) but when private companies are hired to provide security, and in a warzone at that, it should raise a lot of concern.Our democracy is founded on very basic principles. One of those principles is civilian authority over the military. The hiring of Blackwater and other 'private security forces' undermines this civilian authority. Despite rhetoric to the contrary, private companies like Blackwater do not fall under the juristiction of our military, or under civilian control. Blackwater personnel are in essence accountable only to Erik Prince, the founder and owner of the company.Blackwater has recently built a new facility in Jo Daviess county in Northwest Illinois, called Blackwater North. They assured citizens there would be no automatic weapons training, while the website offers same-said training. Blackwater spokespersons have consistantly said one thing and done another at the site. No plans to enlarge the site, while bulldozers are doing exactly that. Only leasing the property, but they have an option to buy that a person at the site said will be a reality. The county zoning board has zoned the Blackwater land as agricultural, while the surrounding properties that consist of woods and land that is not currently being used agriculturally as residential at a higher tax rate.Many of the local people in the area of Blackwater North are very troubled by its presence. There is a group of concerned citizens in Illinois that is working together to try and ensure that the presence of Blackwater in Illinois is held to a mimimum, if not done away with altogether. Blackwater is also attempting to start a new site in California. People there are also banding together to try and keep them out.People have told me that Blackwater is a legitimite business, that I or no one else has the right to deny them as a business as long as they stay within the law. There are a great number of questions about the legality of what Blackwater has done in Illinois. As far as legitimacy, if Blackwater consisted of only training facilities it would be one thing. But Blackwater is involved in much more than that. For further information about this, I recommend you read Scahill's book. He knows far more about it than I, and has written the definitive fact book about Blackwater and the dangers to our democracy they represent.It is a book that is very well written. It is also a book that should disturb all Americans, regardless of political belief. The vast majority of Blackwater contracts are with the U.S.Government. Blackwater employees make from 5-10 times what our military personnel make. In essence, taxpayers are paying more for the same services than what our own troops get paid. All the while, funding for our veteran's is being cut, and increases in pay for our troops is denied. That to me is criminal.Get the book. Read it. Get involved with stopping Blackwater, the world's most powerful mercenary army, funded by the United States of America.

"Blackwater" by Jeremy Scahill is a chilling story about America's fractured democracy. Mr. Scahill has written skillfully about an underreported issue that should be a cause of alarm and concern for everyone. Supporting his narrative with painstaking research and analysis, the author shows how modern mercenary forces are empowered by a potent mix of neoliberal, national and religious ideologies. That Blackwater and other unaccountable private armies have the firepower to disrupt most governments and have been deployed on U.S. soil makes it clear that America is currently subverting its democratic ideals in its pursuit of imperial power at home and abroad.Mr. Scahill profiles the founder of Blackwater and his privileged family's long history of activism in extreme right-wing political and religious causes. We learn that Blackwater first found a niche for its services in the 1990s when it gained advantage from the relatively modest outsourcing tendencies afforded to it by the Clinton administration. Of course, the latter Bush administration's agenda of channeling as much government largess as possible to its corporate patrons in the energy, defense and other strategic industries opened the floodgates for Blackwater and other security firms, especially in the wake of public anxiety and fear stemming from the 9/11 attacks. However, the author draws our attention to the fact the fog of war has allowed billions of dollars to be irresponsibly spent on security projects with little to no oversight and with questionable benefit to taxpayers.The tragic act of mob violence that claimed the lives of four Blackwater employees is detailed by Mr. Scahill. The soldier's families share their anger about Blackwater's negligence in the incident. In discussing the families' pursuit of justice, the author reveals how Blackwater has managed to successfully evade legal accountability for its actions. We understand that the Bush administration's legal maneuvers in support of Blackwater suggests how much the government values the strategic role that mercenary forces might be playing with respect to prisoner renditions, torture and other shadowy activities that are supposedly justified by the war on terror.Mr. Scahill goes on to discuss many other related issues, including the role of mercenary forces in protecting government officials and supply routes in the Iraq War; the overthrow of governments and pipeline protection in the Caspian Sea region; the deployment of Blackwater forces to New Orleans; and the incorporation of a Blackwater subsidiary in Barbados that positions its services outside U.S. jurisdiction and control. The evidence collected by Mr. Scahill demonstrates that violence can and will be purchased by governments who wish to impose policies without the constraining influence of popular consent; worse, these forces are becoming readily available to corporations and individuals who might be seeking to consolidate or gain power. Obviously, these developments call into serious question the future viability of democracy in America.I highly recommend this important book to everyone.