Inspire Political Discourse

BLACKWATER aka XE Contracted With Foreign Operatives to Staff Secret CIA Program

Blackwater, who recently changed it's name to XE. the world's most powerful private army, owned by Erik Prince, a right-wing Christian, hired foreign operatives to implement a secret CIA operation. The question here is WHY would the CIA hire Blackwater for an operation well within it's own bailiwick.

WASHINGTON — When the CIA revived a plan to kill or capture terrorists in 2004, the agency turned to the well-connected security company then known as Blackwater USA.

With Blackwater's lucrative government security work and contacts arrayed in hot spots around the world, company officials offered the services of foreigners supposedly skilled at tracking terrorists in lawless regions and countries where the CIA had no working relationships with the government.

Blackwater told the CIA that it "could put people on the ground to provide the surveillance and support – all of the things you need to conduct an operation," a former senior CIA official .....

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Erik Prince, Founder of Blackwater, Implicated in Murder

The scourge of the earth, the man who views himself as a Christian crusader, Erik Prince, founder and former CEO of Xe (formerly known as Blackwater, the world's largest for hire/mercenary army), has been implicated in murder according to an article in The Nation.

“A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia. The two men claim that the company's owner, Erik Prince, may have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company. The former employee also alleges that Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe," and that Prince's companies "encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life."

In their testimony, both men also allege that Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq. One of the men alleges that Prince turned a profit by transporting "illegal" or "unlawful" weapons into the country on Prince's private planes. They also charge that Prince and other Blackwater executives destroyed incriminating videos, emails and other documents and have intentionally deceived the US State Department and other federal agencies. The identities of the two individuals were sealed out of concerns for their safety.

These allegations, and a series of other charges, are contained in sworn affidavits, given under penalty of perjury, filed late at night on August 3 in the Eastern District of Virginia as part of a seventy-page motion.....”

Possibly irrelevant, but Prince was responsible, as one of the largest contributors to the cause (donations in his mother's name), for Proposition 8.

IPD Political News Summary: Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Political News Summary: Monday, April 6 – Tuesday, April 7, 2009

| President Obama spent two days in Turkey, before ending his trip with an unannounced visit to the troops in Iraq, bringing the war back to the forefront of the news again.
In Turkey, Obama reached out to Muslims, telling them;

. “One of the great strengths of the United States is ... we have a;very large Christian population -- we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.”

You can view the video here. Obama also held a town hall with Turkish students, and spoke to Turkish lawmakers where he told them that America is not at war with Islam.

“The United States is not, and will never be, at war with Islam,” Obama declared, adding that America's relationship with the Muslim world “cannot, and will not, just be based upon opposition to terrorism. We seek broader engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect.”

In Iraq, the president invoked warmer feelings from the Iraqis than former President Bush had. He also spoke to U.S. troops in Bagdad, telling them

“Under enormous strain and under enormous sacrifice, through controversy and difficulty and politics, you have kept your eyes focused on just doing your job and because of that, every mission that has been assigned from getting rid of Saddam to reducing violence, to stabilising the country, to facilitating elections, you have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a democratic country.”

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Blackwater CEO, Erik Prince, Resigns

Mercenary King Erik Prince Resigns as Blackwater CEO

Jeremy Scahill

Independent journalist, author, “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army”

Originally posted at Huffington Post

“The company formerly known as Blackwater continues its mission to bury its tarnished reputation and soldier on. Early this morning, Blackwater founder Erik Prince released a brief statement announcing he is stepping down as CEO of the infamous mercenary firm he started in 1997. A press release from the company — which last month renamed itself “Xe” — said Prince “will now focus his efforts on a private equity venture unrelated to the company.”

In a personal message sent to his employees and clients, Prince sought to cast his departure as a natural part of the firm’s ongoing evolution. “As many of you know, because we focus on continually improving our business that Xe is in the process of a comprehensive restructuring,” he wrote. “It is with pride in our many accomplishments and confidence in Xe’s future that I announce my resignation as the company’s Chief Executive Officer.”

Prince’s resignation could be seen as a public formality in what has been a dramatic attempt to scrub all public vestiges of Blackwater, given that he remains chairman and sole owner of the network of companies now operating under the Xe umbrella. But it’s clear the firm has been thrown into turmoil in recent months. As the Xe statement says, “These appointments follow the addition and departures of several other key personnel. Recent departures from the company include its former Vice Chairman, Chief Operating Officer, President, and Executive Vice President.” Joseph Yorio, an ex-Army Special Forces officer and former Vice President of the international shipping company DHL was announced as the new Xe president — a somewhat humorous development, given Prince’s fondness for describing Blackwater as the “FedEx of the U.S. national security apparatus.” Meanwhile, Danielle Esposito, a longtime Blackwater employee, was named Xe’s new Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President.

The rebranding of Blackwater and its attempts to hide its former self have been downright crude. The company’s domestic training centers, which some refer to as private military bases, are now simply labeled “U.S. Training Center.” Gone is the sexy black-and-red logo featuring a bear paw in a sniper-scope; it has been replaced by a nondescript, rather amateurish sketch of an American Eagle. The company website has been revamped and scaled down.  MORE HERE.

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Ludicrous: Hamas to control relief efforts in to Gaza

An organization internationally recognized as a terrorist organization, an organization which took over the Gaza strip in a very violent coup in 2007, an organization which provoked the recent Israeli attack on Gaza by firing thousands of rockets at Israeli civilian areas, then proceeded to deliberately put Palestinians in harm's way during the recent conflagration, now wishes to control the flow of relief efforts in to Gaza.
Excuse me, but isn't that a little like putting the lions in charge of the zoo? From an AFP report:

GAZA CITY (AFP) — The Hamas-run government in Gaza said on Saturday it would create a committee of senior officials to oversee all relief efforts in the territory after Israel's massive assault earlier this month.
The National High Committee for Relief will be headed by Ahmed al-Kurd, the Hamas-appointed minister of social affairs, and will distribute some 35 million euros (45 million dollars) to those who lost family members or their homes.
"It will be the only body to oversee and supervise the rescue. We will be in contact with all other bodies, whether local, national or international, to organise[sic] the relief," Kurd said at a Gaza City news conference.

AFP photo.

Background of the Current Israeli-Hamas Conflict

For the sixty years of it's existence, Israel has actively pursued peace with neighboring countries. In point of fact, it is currently negotiating a two-state solution with the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas. An elected president of Gaza, removed from power in a violent coup by Hamas¹ in 2007, Abbas currently governs from the West Bank.

Then there is Hamas¹. Funded by Iran, existing to spread a form of extremist Islam, and internationally regarded as a terrorist organization. It is fundamentally the same as Hezbollah or al Qaeda, and it is violently opposed to Israel's existence. It is also violently opposed to any peace settlement which would acknowledge Israel's existence.

The Moral Clarity in the Israel-Hamas Conflict is a No-Brainer

While I feel terribly sad at the deaths of civilians (17% of the casualties in Gaza), it makes me even more sick that civilians were intentionally put in harms way by Hamas. But then, this is nothing new for this violent terrorist organization, who was duly elected by the citizens of the Gaza Strip. 

And, I feel just as much sympathy for civilians in Israel who have been under attack by Hamas since 1994, and over the past three years, have endured 6,000+ rocket attacks. I don't know about you, but I gotta say that I personally would have not had the patience to endure 6,000+ rocket attacks before getting down to some serious attempts to bring the perpetrators down.

For those of you who have noted, and remarked on the disparity in casualties and military might, reading some history might just give you some real perspective on this matter.

JAN 4 EDIT:This quote is from a German blog, Die Verwirrung im Walde, and it strikes to the heart of the matter on "proportionality".

5.1. Proportionality is not measured by the outcome but rather by the intention. Every single rocket Hamas fires on Israel is meant to cause civilian casualties. However, Israeli air and ground attacks against Hamas are meant to cause as less damage as possible to civilians, and as much damage as possible to the terrorists. The optimal result for Israel would be 100% Palestinian militant casualties, while Hamas’ optimal result is 100% Israeli civilian casualties.

END EDIT .......................................

The US Must Stand for Israel, and the Media Sucks

It's a sunny, cold Saturday morning, and you are outside getting ready to take your kids to their weekend activities. Your son has a one day camping trip with the boy scouts, and his ride shows up to get him.

A near by, huge, thundering, explosion causes you to jump and shake with fear. You look up and see smoke and fire rising from the street behind you. You tell your son and daughter to get back in the house, and rush in behind them. You hear the sirens and turn on the tv. The news has broken in to programming and is telling you that it's Canada, with whom we have had a peace accord for a year or so, launching rockets at us. They note that a woman died when this rocket struck a house.

Over the next months, you keep your children close. You are even afraid to send them to school, but you do because you must. More rockets fall, all from Canada. Two more casualties. It is a good thing that Canada is not nearly as well-armed as we are.

You wonder why the US does not respond with our own rockets, aircraft, whatever else they need to prevent more Canadian rockets from landing on US soil.

You wonder why Canada elected a terrorist group to run their government. A group called "al Qaeda" which has very vociferously announced it's intention to annihilate the United States. You think about what they have already done to us using airplanes, suicide bombers, and more. You cry, and you pray that the US will stop the rockets from Canada soon. The economic blockade that the US implemented when al Qaeda took over the Canadian government (elected by the citizens of Canada, knowing full well who and what al Qaeda is) has done nothing to solve the problems.

Terror in Mumbai - IPD Daily Political News Round-Up - Friday, November 28, 2008

 ►The State Dept. has ordered FBI agents to Mumbai today to investigate the terror attacks that killed four American citizens. Er, did I miss something, or isn't the FBI's mission to operate in the US, while the CIA operates out of the country??

“Intelligence officials looked urgently for clues about the identify of the attackers, a crucial unknown as Indian officials charged, without giving details, that "elements in Pakistan" were involved. A tentative rapprochement between the two nuclear-armed rivals could hang in the balance, and a U.S. counterintelligence official cautioned against rushing to judgment on the origins of the militants.”  AP report

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► According to ABC News, George W. Bush hopes to be remembered for "liberating" the Iraqi people, according to an interview conducted by his sister for the oral-history organization StoryCorps for the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
Excuse me, but WHAT the frack?? Does he really believe that that is what he did? Oh hell, never mind. This requires an entire separate post over the weekend. But I have to say in response to his statement --- freakin' ludicrous.

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►Senate democrats are preparing health, economic and spending legislation that they hope will land on Obama's desk when he takes office on January 20. Go dems!

“Given the severity of the problems facing the nation, officials on Capitol Hill and in the Obama team say Democrats have put their schedule on fast-forward rather than allowing the usual lull between the start of the new Congress, this time on Jan. 6, and President-elect Barack Obama’s swearing-in two weeks later.
Lawmakers and staff members are already laying the groundwork for a running start, and Congress is scheduled to remain in session once its expanded Democratic majorities are sworn in.”  NYT

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