This morning I opened my email and found a tirade by a friend currently serving in Iraq about Blackwater killing all of those civilians and the U.S. Army having to go in and stop them. First of all, I was relieved to see that he was alive, as I am any time I get an email from him. Then I was incensed by what he wrote. I asked if he would be willing to share what he has seen of Blackwater on the ground in Baghdad. Here is his statement, as a Army Captain, West Point graduate and a Combat Patrol Leader in Baghdad.
My impression of Blackwater after having served 10 months of my tour in Baghdad is that they are trigger happy, unrestrained by our army's rules of engagement, a danger to Iraqi civilians and coalition forces alike, behave as if they are above the law, are viewed as indescriminate killers by the population, and have no business operating in a combat theater. The consensus among my peers is they are a liability, not an asset. Our government's money would be better spent on increasing the size of our regular army than on hiring thrill-seeking cowboys loyal only to a paycheck.
He is right. We have the best military in the world. Our proud men and women are more than capable at protecting our embassy staff and fulfilling other security roles. There is no reason for Blackwater to be in Iraq in the first place.
Many of us feel like there is little we can do about Blackwater. it appears that Blackwater is under no jurisdiction: not Iraqi law, not U.S. law, not international law. The Iraqi government may not even be able to prosecute Blackwater's mercenaries, since a law issued by the U.S. occupation before the Iraqis were given their sovereignty in 2004 gives all American contractors immunity from Iraqi prosecution.
Blackwater has a 7,000 acre training facility in North Carolina. It also has a large facility outside of Chicago. But that is not enough: Blackwater is now trying to open an 824-acre facility in east San Diego County that will have as many as 700 people present at any given time. The obvious goal? Blackwater wants to guard the California border with Mexico.
Imagine the headlines when they gun down unarmed civilians on the border. Or when they "show up" for an emergency like an earthquake in Los Angeles or San Francisco armed to the teeth -- as they did in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina -- and offer their services? Will they go away quietly? Will we have to call in our own National Guard to get them to leave, just as happened in Iraq?
Join thousands of activists and Courage Campaign in helping stop, as Rick Jacobs says in the KNBC clip, "the creation of a mafia-like organization". This nation can no longer afford to support mercenaries on our soil or off. We certainly cannot allow Blackwater to open a base in California.
Now that the Iraqi government is attempting to ban Blackwater USA, will Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Barbara Boxer move to ban Blackwater West from California?
Courage Campaign just sent out an email to all members urging that they sign the petition. Will you join them? We already have 4,000 names on it. Add yours.
Special thanks to Brave New Films for grabbing that video and putting it up.
