WH: Private, Overseas Military Contractors Should Not Fall Under US Law

[LiddyRules]

On the heels of the good people at Blackwater USA

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/10/03/iraq.contractors/index.html

[spoon]

But the White House, in a formal statement of policy, said the measure would overburden the military, overstretch the FBI, intrude on prosecutorial decisions and extend federal jurisdiction overseas in ways that would be "impossible or unwise."


So basically they're saying they don't want the responsibility of these people but are willing to hire them at high costs to do the military's job which is overburdened with Iraq. So which is it, are we not stretched too far or are we? Do we take any resposibility in what our contracted gunmen do over there or do we just look the other way? This continues a really scary trend with this admin. I simply can't believe it's not bigger news.

[clockworkjoey]

Fuck these guys every time they kill somebodys father, mother, sister, or brother. who do you think they take it out on? they take it out on the troops. The state department allready has an agency that protects there diplomats. Its called the DSS there is no reason we need to farm out contracts to war profiteers.

[spoon]

Another incident raised at Tuesday's session of the House Oversight and Governmental Affairs Committee involved a drunken Blackwater employee allegedly shooting and killing a bodyguard to Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi. Prince said the man was fined, fired and flown home from Iraq, and the company later paid $20,000 in compensation to the victim's family.

Yah, 20k sounds about right for killing someone's family memeber. I'm sure that's about the amout we'll get here in the states soon too when one of our kids eats lead paint on a toy from Japan, or dies from mesothelioma due to exposure to asbestos on a Cheney owned property. Talk about slippery slopes or corporate responsibility. But hey, let's make sure we pass that bankruptcy bill with all these US citizens claiming bankruptcy due to predatory lending and lack of health insurance (or even having it but their therapy not being covered bc it's "experimental", code word for expensive).

[spoon]

Fuck these guys every time they kill somebodys father, mother, sister, or brother. who do you think they take it out on? they take it out on the troops. The state department allready has an agency that protects there diplomats. Its called the DSS there is no reason we need to farm out contracts to war profiteers.

See they need to bc if they tax the military any more it may crack or here comes the draft. Oh and it's a highly effective way to profit from war. And what are the odds even they can get the US to back a draft for a war 25% of the people believe in. And most of these people are fucking retarded or severly mislead.

[Yerdaddy]

Here's a surprise: (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/opinion/03wed2.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print)

Now an investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has underscored the lavish extent of Blackwater’s payments and its relationship to the Bush administration. The committee, which held hearings on the use of security contractors in Iraq yesterday, should investigate these links further.

Former Bush administration officials are peppered throughout Blackwater’s highest executive positions. Erik Prince, the former Navy Seal who founded the company, was a White House intern under President George H. W. Bush and has been a Republican financier since, with more than $225,000 in political contributions.

Mr. Prince’s sister, Betsy DeVos, is a former chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party and a “pioneer” who raised $100,000 for the Bush-Cheney ticket in 2004. Her husband, the former Amway chief executive Richard DeVos Jr., was the Republican nominee for governor of Michigan in 2006.

Mr. Prince denied yesterday that his connections had anything to do with it, but he certainly has done well under the Bush administration. Federal contracts account for about 90 percent of the revenue of Prince Group holdings, of which Blackwater is a subsidiary. Since 2001, when it made less than $1 million in federal contracts, Blackwater has received more than $1 billion in such contracts — including at least one with the State Department for hundreds of millions of dollars that was awarded without open, competitive bidding.

The Congressional investigation found that Blackwater charges the government $1,222 per day for each private military operative — more than six times the wage of an equivalent soldier. And still it uncovered instances of overcharging. It reported that an audit in 2005 by the State Department’s inspector general found Blackwater was charging separately for “drivers” and “security specialists” who were, in fact, the same people.

[A.J.]

:clap::thumbup::clap::thumbup:

Now can I get reimbursed for that speeding ticket I got in Doha?

[Yerdaddy]

:clap::thumbup::clap::thumbup:

Now can I get reimbursed for that speeding ticket I got in Doha?

I'll be expecting an invite to the opening of your Canned Ham Muhammad Art Sculpture exhibit.

[A.J.]

I'll be expecting an invite to the opening of your Canned Ham Muhammad Art Sculpture exhibit.

The Jewish promoter will let you in and the uncovered women will show you to your seat.

[TooLowBrow]

Mr. Prince’s sister, Betsy DeVos, is a former chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party and a “pioneer” who raised $100,000 for the Bush-Cheney ticket in 2004. Her husband, the former Amway chief executive Richard DeVos Jr., was the Republican nominee for governor of Michigan in 2006.
http://www.comedycentral.com/images/comedians/v/vos_r/vosr_m4.jpg

[cupcakelove]

:clap::thumbup::clap::thumbup:

Now can I get reimbursed for that speeding ticket I got in Doha?

Only if you were drunk and driving a golf cart.

[LiddyRules]

Interestingly, Mitt Romney hired the former Vice Chairman of Blackwater to be his National Security Advisor. So right now my stock in Mitt Romney to go pretty far has gone up.

[DarkHippie]

Being a mercenary must be the coolest job in the world. good pay, see the world, get drunk and kill governmental officials, no oversite, do what you want with big guns. sign me up!

[Zorro]

Richard DeVos Jr...son af AMWAY founder...you can make millions by getting mercernaries to get other mercernaries to get other mercernaries to kill people