The role of private military contractor Blackwater is a sordid tale of greed and murder. Here’s the latest from Jeremy Scahill in the Nation: Despite the Iraqi government’s announcement earlier this year that it had canceled Blackwater’s operating license, the US State Department continues to allow Blackwater operatives in Iraq to remain armed. A State…
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A perfect way to launch a war against Islam
I’ve written many times about the military contractor Blackwater (now known as Xe Services). Their connection to the Bush administration was deep and utterly lacking in transparency. American journalist Jeremy Scahill has led the charge. Scahill’s latest article in the Nation is devastating: A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as…
How to protect us from “terror”
American journalist Jeremy Scahill asks a question on Democracy Now!: I think that the Obama administration should be required to explain to US taxpayers, particularly with the atrocious human rights abuses that we’ve been seeing in Israel, why he’s using a US mercenary company [Triple Canopy] to protect US officials when they potentially come in…
Please find us more wars
American author Jeremy Scahill discusses the future role of Blackwater, the mercenary contractors:
America’s journey to a rogue state
My following book review appeared in the Melbourne Age on January 10: The gloves came off after September 11 and left leaders petrified, writes Antony Loewenstein. The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals By Jane Mayer Scribe, $35 Near the beginning of this…
The friends who help
Jeremy Scahill, The Guardian, July 23: It seems that executives from Blackwater Worldwide, the Bush administration’s favourite hired guns in Iraq and Afghanistan, are threatening to pack up their M4 assault rifles, CS gas and Little Bird helicopters and go back to the great dismal swamp of North Carolina whence they came. Or at least…
An insignificant Iraq withdrawal
My following article appears in today’s ABC Unleashed: Retired Lieutenant General Ricardo S. Sanchez, the onetime commander of US troops in Iraq, has recently released a book about his time in the country. In Wiser in Battle: A Soldier’s Story, he recalls a teleconference with US President George W. Bush soon after four contractors were…
Killing in the name of (money)
Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, The American Conservative, November 19: The armed security contractor in Iraq makes an appearance on the collective American radar only when events get so ugly they won’t go away: the charred bodies of four Blackwater guards swinging from a Fallujah bridge in 2004, the 17 civilians reportedly killed by Blackwater men in…
News bytes
– Former UN chief Boutros Boutros Ghali blames Israel for the lack of peace in the Middle East. – Blackwater expert Jeremy Scahill challenges the US Congress to get serious about military contractors in war zones. – The latest on impeachment proceedings against Dick Cheney. – While Israel remains a nuclear power, they aren’t too…
Declaring victory
One of Australia’s major Murdoch commentators offers his insights into Iraq: There is a reason Iraq has almost disappeared as an election issue. Here it is: The battle is actually over. Iraq has been won. I know this will seem to many of you an insane claim. Ridiculous! After all, haven’t you read countless stories…