Thankful for Social Security

Thankful for the Social Security safety net that helps keep people from becoming too desperate. (And we all know that desperate people do desperate things).

THEN... there's Obama's so-called "Bipartisan" Deficit Commission, led by two people with a track record of wanting to cut Social Security, for which I'm not thankful.

Cartoonist Tom Tomorrow pokes a hole in the "we're living longer" justification for raising the retirement age. Just who are "we," people with low-paid hard-labor jobs and little or no healthcare, or people with high-paid desk jobs and good healthcare? Click Cartoon to Enlarge.


Sources:

Thankful for GLH Blog for the tip-off.

Thankful for Salon.Com for hosting Tom Tomorrow.

Iraq Gains Independence, Speaks Mind on Blackwater

The planets have aligned and now Iraq won't allow Blackwater to operate in country.

The planets: The Bush goon squad pressure tactics are gone, the consciousness is high due in great part to Jeremy Scahill's book [1], Blackwater's hubris reached a peak in the unprovoked Nassor Square killing 17 people, Iraqi is finding it's sovereign voice.

All good news. But the reality is that the inertia of Bush's post-911 unleashing of the security industrial complex is force that will take generations to reverse. People trained to fire fully automatic weapons from speeding vehicles don't forget their skills, and yearn to use them. Hoards of wealth are still controlled in many private hands willing to pay for private armies. Mutual fears among rivals with private security forces feeds private army and arms races (Look at Mexico for example).

We need to build on this little victory to slowly roll back the growth of the private security state of the world.

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

1. Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army.

LIes: Now We See Them

Remember all of the lies about our fundamentally healthy economy? Some of us saw past them.

Now, they continue to tell lies. In this case, regarding our wars:

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the attack [on the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan] showed the need for Pakistanis, Afghans and the U.S. to redouble efforts against extremists in the region.

"This was a heinous act that was committed by terrorists who have no interest in anything other than maiming and killing innocent civilians. And we're going to step up our efforts and work with the Pakistanis to do what we can," he said.

Not True. The "terrorists" have many stated interests other than "maiming and killing innocent civilians." Unless we can get past these kind of establishment lies repeated by the establishment media our "nation" risks traditional-security collapse on the same level as the on-going economic collapse (not just a "financial" collapse).

Wake-Up America.

Sources:

Photo Credit: Bloody Media Lies

Associated Press, Did Pakistan soldiers shoot at US helicopters? CHRIS BRUMMITT, September 22, 2008.

Spoonamore 2005: How Does Your Vote Get Counted?

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore explains the steps from voting machines, county tabulators, and aggregators, all "totally hackable." There is no chain-of-custody documentation. (5 min video)


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: How Does Your Vote Get Counted?, Clip 1 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

Spoonamore 2005: Vote Tabulator is Unknown Black Box

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore gives the analogy to describe how electronic vote tabulators work today: Our votes go into a room, the door is locked, the "wizard of Oz" counts the votes, the Oz comes out and announces the results without anyone being able to verify the count. (5 min video)


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: The Great Oz Vote Counter, Clip 2 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

Spoonamore 2005: Diebold Machines Could be Hacked by Foreigners

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore explains all systems can be hacked. The US government sent out an alert saying that Diebold machines pose a national security risk due to being vulnerable to foreign hacking. He also points out lies Diebold has perpetrated. (2 min video)


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: All Systems are Hackable, Clip 3 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

Spoonamore 2005: What's Inside the Vote Tabulators

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore explains that every function of electronic banking are open to inspection, but the vote tabulator functions are not. Why? (5 min video)


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: Why Hide How Our Vote Tabulators Work?, Clip 4 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

Spoonamore 2005: Transmission of Votes to Tabulator

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore explains that votes can be sent in many ways from precincts to the county tabulator that adds them up. There is no chain-of-custody guaranteed, and no way to audit what happens in the tabulator, which are huge vulnerabilities. (3 min video)


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: Vote Transfers to Tabulators, Clip 5 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

Spoonamore 2005: Easy Ways to Change the Voting Results

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore explains the "forced balance" hack; given 6 of 7 county results, change one so that the grand total (the balance) comes out with your candidate the winner. He gives a classic example used to steal money in the banking industry. What's the 51.6% magic number about? (3 min video).


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: Easy Hacks, Clip 6 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

Spoonamore 2005: Electronic Voting is Not Complex

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore points out that Diebold makes very complex auditable ATM banking software. Voting is much simpler, therefore the computer code for a citizen auditing capability would be easy. He suggests why the electronic voting machine industry wants us to believe it is complex. (5 min video)


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: Electronic Vote Counting is Simple, Clip 7 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

Spoonamore 2005: A Simple Solution

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore asks why the electronic voting systems don't have the same well established audit functions as the electronic banking systems. He tells us why he believes they do not. (4 min video)


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: A Simple Solution, Clip 8 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

Text Message Privacy

We know the technology exists for the government and corporations to systematically collect information on us, and they are using it more and more.

But short of raising a rukkus to stop that, here's an article from the mainstream media on this topic as it applies to text messaging. It includes some common sense "tips," including the use of anonymous services like AnonTxt.com. And, of course, the security of your messages depends on the people who receive your messages.

Sources:

Flagship Contractor Sinking in Blackwater

Guest Writer: L. Vincent Sebastian

Dateline: September 19, 2007

For the third day in a row, the controversy surrounding Blackwater security guards in Iraq is headline news. Last Sunday, the Blackwater guards of a State Department motorcade allegedly killed as many as 20 Iraqi civilians in a firefight with armed insurgents in Baghdad [1]. In response, the Iraqi government suspended Blackwater's license to work in Iraq and has ordered a full investigation of the incident.

This might seem like just another violent episode in the chaos that is Baghdad, but it is much more significant. Secretary of State Condolleezza Rice has been pressuring Prime Minister Maliki to return Blackwater's license, and President Bush himself plans to weigh in on the issue when he meets with Maliki next Tuesday. The revocation of Blackwater's license is fundamentally unacceptable to the Bush administration because it represents a setback in the achievement of their goal of a huge ramp-up in the U.S. private military force, as openly stated by Dick Cheney and other neocons formerly in the administration. The removal of a private security
contractor is not a precedent Bush & company would like to see set. Blackwater, as one of the largest and the most prominent of 28 contractors working in the region, is something of a flagship. The public's perception of Blackwater will be a strong indicator of the public's support for a privatized military.

Editor's Notes:

1. By some accounts there weren't "armed insurgents" shooting at the motorcade.

2. According to DemocracyNow!, Sept. 21, 2007, there is no "license" to be revoked.

A more grave issue being exposed by this controversy is that the US has become dependent on the military contractors. Peace movement activists might consider focusing energy on removing contractors from Iraq to undermine the viability of the occupation.

Is the Chaos in Iraq on Purpose?

Management by Chaos is a recognized management technique, along with Management by Delegation and Management by Exception. I've seen it in practice. The manager who creates the chaos, or allows it, has the advantage of knowing the chaos is intentional. He also has a strategy to exploit the chaos.

I've raised the question of whether or not the Chaos in Iraq is on purpose. I'm not alone in asking this question.

Iraqi blogger Riverbend asked the question. I hear she was recently forced to flee.

Now, an article in the Baltimore City Paper poses the question again [1]. It seems that people cannot believe the Bush gang is so incompetent. An Iraqi, Haider Thamir, living in the US recalls how the United States used German bureaucrats to run Germany during the occupation after World War II and wonders why the US didn't do that in Iraq.

Thamir says the United States ignored history... But was, is, the United States merely incompetent? Or are American forces deliberately fostering conflict and violence? Mohammad Al-Khakani, alludes to stories he has heard from friends in Iraq about American troops blocking police action by Iraqi forces, essentially shielding terrorist activity. Prime Minister al-Maliki, he says, has "complained to Bush that he can't move without US permission."

Al-Khakani was a translator in Iraq, on the promise he'd be assisted in leaving Iraq.

Thamir says he has heard similarly chilling reports, "that when there's a raid on terrorists, that Americans would release them." Thamir continues, "The rationale is that chaos would reign supreme and there'd be an excuse for the occupation to be sustained."

Then there are the experiences of Jodie Evans, a peace activist who was in Iraq before and after the 2003 US invasion [2].

"Immediately after we arrived," said Evans, "we hear that it is not only worse than before the war. It is worse than during the war. People are upset, people are angry. There were lots of stories about how the Americans are doing this on purpose. A month after the '91 war, which was much worse than this one, everything was back and working. Now, the people live in this chaos they can't even imagine. People can't go outside. Women haven't left their homes. Lots of people haven't come back from Syria or Kuwait or wherever they fled to get away from the bombing, because life in Iraq is unlivable. There is 65% unemployment, and even the doctors and nurses and teachers who are going to work don't get paid, so there's no money."

Evans met a number of Americans in Iraq who are part of the 'rebuilding process.' The overall organization is called the Iraqi Assistance Center, or IAC. The man Evans met was a professor of religion and political theory at a religious college in America. He explained that his job was to collect intelligence for Bremer.

"That professor I spoke to, the one doing intelligence for Bremer, I told him that I had spoken to countless Iraqis and all of them felt this chaos was happening on purpose," said Evans. "He basically said this was true, that chaos was good, and out of chaos comes order. So what the Iraqis were saying - that this madness was all on purpose - this intelligence guy didn't discredit it. He said, 'If you keep them hungry, they'll do anything for us.'"

Regardless of whether Bush's people helped create the chaos in Iraq on purpose, it is playing to their advantage. We hear them say, "We need to stay and provide security because there's so much chaos." "We have an obligation to stay and help quell the chaos." "We can't leave because there would be even more chaos."

The Chaos also provides cover for activities that couldn't happen in as stable society.

"..the first thing America did was to fire 80,000 police officers. These guys weren't associated with the Hussein regime. That's like connecting a cop in LA to the Bush administration. All the people I've talked to over there, the ambassadors and others, said they warned Bremer not to do that. The cops knew who the criminals were, and 80,000 cops are gone. So now there are these little mafias that run neighborhoods. With no other work and no way to survive, people are going to become criminals. The borders are wide open - we didn't even get stopped when we came in - so everything is just flowing into Iraq."

On accident or on purpose?

Another example of being able to take advantage of the chaos is the Iraqi Oil Law. The passing of this law, one of the US Congress's benchmarks for "success" in Iraq. It is being portrayed as a revenue sharing agreement among Kurdish, Sunni and Shia regions; however, it's a Trojan horse. Inside the horse are foreign oil corporations who will have a majority vote on the Iraqi oil board and have 30-year leases to exploit Iraqi oil. And Bremer passed an edict that allows foreign corporations to take 100% their profits from Iraq, probably tax free.

The chaos started with the death squads, the Salvador Option. Now, the Iraq conflict has evolved. Al-Khakani says it well, alluding to the situation of the US:

"You see, on September 11, when the building is on fire, the person inside has a choice. He can jump from the top. If he stays, he's going to burn."

Then he nails it:

Al-Khakani says he fears that if the United States pulls out, it will arm the Sunnis and Wahhabis (al-Qaeda), the radical Sunni sect that dominates Saudi Arabia, to fight Shiites and Iran.

There is already evidence of this. First, in Iraq, the US is clearly working with the Sunnis. It's all over the establishment news. Second, in Lebanon, Seymour Hersh reports that the US is involved in Saudi funding of fundamentalist Sunnis (like al-Qaeda) to counter Shia Hezbollah. This backfired quickly when Fatah al-Islam took over, and hid, in a Palestinian refugee when the Lebanon Army decided they had robbed one too many banks or something.

Hersh continues saying the US is

"... in the business of supporting the Sunnis anywhere we can against the Shia. "... in the business of creating ... sectarian violence."

Why? The US doesn't really like Sunni's (Unless they're Saudi Royalty that don't fund al-Qaeda), and they don't like Shia... Iran is primarily Shia. So, what better strategy than to manage by chaos? Get the Shia and Sunni to fight with each other.

Sources:

1. Baltimore City Paper, Tom Chalkley, Aug. 15-22, 2007

2. t r u t h o u t, "The Crime and the Cover-Up", William Rivers Pitt, 21 July 2003

Domestic Infrastructure and National Security

What happens when you mix a paranoid, corporate toady with a Vice President? A failure to recognize that maintenance of domestic infrastructure, like bridges, is a national security issue.

The recent collapse of the highway bridge into the Mississippi River is a reminder of this. It is also a foreshadowing of what is to come if we don't re-direct our national priorities away from funding wars of empire, which enrich a minority of the corporate elite. This infrastructure tragedy is an example of the expense we pay for enriching Bush's campaign donors via largesse to the military/security industrial complex and the oil industry.

Get ready to hear that we need to privatize our infrastructure, because the tax-payer can't afford the billions needed to maintain our highways and bridges. This is another scam; how can it be less expensive to maintain our highways, bridges, drinking water supplies, schools and other basic infrastructure while generating a profit for the private sector? Answer, it can't. That's why it's a scam. Don't fall for it.

It's time to demand that Congress cut back military spending and prioritize our limited for securing our national infrastructure. The links below might help. Tell Congress you want taxes spent on the majority of the people, not the narrow interests of the military industrial complex and oil barrons.

Contact the US House of Representatives

Contact the US Senate

Abandon the Armored Vehicles!

In an article entitled, "Iraq ambush caps bloodiest months for US" Associated Press writer ROBERT H. REID reports:

A huge bomb explosion followed by a hail of gunfire and grenades killed five U.S. soldiers, the military said Friday. The attack climaxed the deadliest three-month period for the Americans since the war began.

He quantifies this, saying,

The toll for the past three months — 329 — made it the deadliest quarter for U.S. troops in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion. That surpasses the 316 soldiers killed during November 2004 to January 2005.

The November 2004 to January 2005 date range includes the second battle of Fallujah.

Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., who heads U.S. forces in the Iraqi capital, reported that the ambush involved a very large, deeply buried bomb that is difficult or impossible to detect. As a result, AP writer Ried reports,

Such "deep buried bombs" have been especially effective against U.S. vehicles, including Humvees, Bradley fighting vehicles and Strykers, prompting commanders in some areas to shift to foot patrols to avoid losing so many soldiers in a single blast.

Imagine that, the rag tag Iraqi insurgents have succeeded in forcing US troops to abandon the "security" of their armored vehicles and take to foot.

Think of it. US tax payers invest huge sums into these vehicles and their use is rendered a security risk by some irregular rebels. "Don't drive those vehicles around, you might get a bunch of guys killed." Sheeeit. That's pathetic. Reminds me of the American Revolution, except this time the Americans are the Red Coats.

Costs per Vehicle:

Humvee: The cost of an armored Humvee, built from scratch, is $150,000.[1]

Stryker: The Average acquisition cost per Stryker vehicle:
November 2000 (original estimate): $3.34 million
December 2003: $4.13 million. [2]

Bradley Fighting Vehicle: Average cost each about $3.2 million [3]

When the military has to abandon it vehicles, it seems like another sign of US impotence. I'm reminded of a profound observation by James K. Galbraith in Mother Jones Magazine. He says,

Bush and Cheney have done more than bungle a war and damage the Army. They have destroyed the foundation of the post-Cold War world security system, which was the accepted authority of American military power. That reputation is now gone. [4]

Sources:

1. "Frantically, the Army tries to armor Humvees", MSNBC, Michael Moran, April 15, 2004. Surely the cost is higher now, and ... it's better not to use them, lest you get nailed by a "deeply buried bomb."

2. US General Accounting Office, August, 2004.
GAO report number GAO-04-925 entitled 'Military Transformation: Fielding of Army's Stryker Vehicles Is Well Under Way, but Expectations for Their Transportability by C-130 Aircraft Need to Be Clarified' which was released on August 12, 2004.

3. Federation of American Scientists, Bradley Fighing Vehicle.

4. Mother Jones Magazine, "Quitting Iraq won't undo the the war’s damage to U.S. security.", James K. Galbraith. March/April 2006.

Blackwater Trying to Gain Popular Appeal

The Spy Who Billed Me blog shares with us that Blackwater is now a NASCAR sponsor.

Blackwater is owned and operated by a christian fundamentalist ideologue (Erik D. Prince). Their stock in trade is the use of force, or they might say managing the risk of violence. Actually, it's both.

Blackwater has major contracts with the State Department and other federal agencies to provide security. What happens when there's a contract dispute? Are the contractors going to be more loyal to the agency they work for or to the contract? Who is their ultimate boss, the President of the United States or the CEO of Blackwater?

Well-paid federal employees, or members of the US military, they are far more likely to be loyal to the mission. The commercialization of our security forces is an unacceptable security risk.

Blackwater, and firms like it, are accumulating wealth and power. We need to stop them before they have the influence to force the hand of Congress. The sponsorship of NASCAR by Blackwater is an indication that they are trying to gain popular appeal in mainstream culture. We need to act before they gain un-stoppable momentum.

Blackwater Follows Bush-Cheney Playbook in Three Lawsuits

Guest Conributor: L. Vincent Sebastian

In recent years Blackwater USA, a private military and security contractor, has made the news on a number of fronts due to its involvement in the Iraq War, the global War on Terror, and other foreign policy/ military initiatives of the Bush Administration (see prior postings on Blackwater on this website). Tragic episodes in Iraq and Afghanistan resulted in the deaths of employees of Blackwater and its affiliates, and this in turn led to two high-profile lawsuits against Blackwater. A third lawsuit alleging corporate espionage was brought about by Blackwater against one of its former employees. In each of these suits, Blackwater has followed the three-pronged strategy used by the Bush administration of maintaining secrecy, bullying the opposition, and denying accountability to the bitter end. First, a brief review of the suits:

Lawsuit #1. In March, 2004, four Blackwater security guards were attacked and killed by a frenzied mob as they escorted a supply convoy through Fallujah, Iraq. The families of these employees then sued Blackwater, accusing the company of breaking its contractual obligations to the four men by sending them into hostile territory unprepared and failing to provide them with appropriate equipment such as armored vehicles or even a map. This lawsuit, which had made its way to the Supreme Court in a series of unsuccessful appeals by Blackwater, was recently sent to arbitration. Last month (May, 2007), a federal judge ordered the lawsuit to be decided behind closed doors, allowing Blackwater to avoid public examination of its practices in Iraq. Apparently, the employment contracts signed by these security guards contained an arbitration clause. Arbitration is a non-judicial process that has a number of advantages for Blackwater. There is no right to a trial by jury. The verdict is final and binding. There is no appeal. There is no right to discovery, which means the plaintiffs do not have the same access to internal documents, Blackwater documents. The proceedings are confidential and the outcome is confidential.

Lawsuit #2. Blackwater’s aviation division is being sued by the families of three U.S. soldiers who were killed in a plane crash in Afghanistan in November of 2004. This was a plane operated by Blackwater's aviation affiliate, Presidential Airways of Florida. All six people aboard died, the three Presidential civilian crewmen and the three soldiers. The plane was ferrying the men from an airfield in Bagram, Afghanistan, to Farah, Afghanistan, and was not flying a combat mission. According to the suit, Blackwater sent the men to their deaths in an under-equipped and poorly manned aircraft. The plane lacked even the most basic safety equipment. It had no global positioning system or radar. Its crew did not wear oxygen masks. And its two pilots, who had been in Afghanistan only two weeks and had never flown the route before, failed to take the basic step of filing a flight plan, which led to a delay in finding the wreckage. In late 2006, the National Transportation Safety Board found that unprofessional behavior by the Presidential Airways flight crew was a key cause of the crash. The Board concluded that the crew deliberately avoided the standard route and took a joy ride in another direction, eventually becoming trapped in a canyon and slamming into a mountainside. The unorthodox route contributed to a delay in locating the wreckage. Had rescuers reached the site sooner, one of the servicemen (Harley Miller) might have been saved, the investigators found. Last month (May, 2007), Blackwater was in federal appeals court in Miami today trying to get that case thrown out.

Lawsuit #3. On Feb. 21, 2006 Blackwater filed a lawsuit against former employee Curtis Smith, claiming that Smith gave trade secrets (an accounting system) to Covenant Special Projects, a rival security company in Northern Virginia where Smith now works. Blackwater actually has an affidavit from Smith in which he admits giving away trade secrets. Smith claims, however, that the statement was induced under duress and intimidation in a Blackwater conference room where he was confined against his will. After Blackwater filed suit, Smith countersued Blackwater and its executive vice president, William Mathews, alleging that his affidavit was extracted under duress. The day after Blackwater’s lawsuit was filed, Virginia Beach police raided Smith's home, authorized by a search warrant issued on suspicion of computer fraud and computer trespass, which are criminal offenses. According to the police report, the raid yielded a computer, related equipment and papers. But to date, Smith has not been charged with any crime. This criminal investigation is continuing as the civil case unfolds. Smith says that trade secret in question is a generic technique that uses simple accounting principles and that he gave up no confidential information. Moreover, he says, Blackwater has made it difficult for him to defend himself by failing to specify the trade secrets he is alleged to have stolen, saying that the information is classified. It so happens that the leader of the police raid, Maj. Jon Worthington of the Camden County, VA Sheriff's Office, moonlights as an instructor on Blackwater's Moyock, NC compound, and that the Virginia Beach Police Department leases a training facility there.

The move of the Fallujah lawsuit to arbitration will keep Blackwater away from the light of a courtroom, where many had expected to learn details about this firm and the private army it fields in Iraq and elsewhere. What is interesting is that Blackwater did not make much of disputing the specific allegations of the Fallujah lawsuit. Instead, Blackwater attorneys (which have included former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr and current White House Counsel Fred Fielding) argued that the company should not face scrutiny in civilian courts because the contracting industry is an extension of the military. That is, they took the legal approach that says, “We can’t be sued.” Blackwater argued in both the Fallujah and Afghanistan suits that it is part of the U.S. “total force” and therefore should be entitled to the same immunity from civilian litigation for wrongful death, for casualties in a war zone, enjoyed by the US military. (In February 2006, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld classified Blackwater and other contractors as legitimate parts of the total force making up the U.S. war machine.)

Blackwater has also tried to block the testimony of witnesses who worked for Blackwater and who are thought to have information that would show that questionable activities took place in the days leading up to the four men being killed in Fallujah. In particular, Blackwater was able to block the deposition of a former Blackwater manager, claiming that this former employee potentially was in possession of information that, if it was revealed publicly, could damage the national security of the United States.

At the same time, however, Blackwater’s lobbyists and PR specialists at the Alexander Strategy Group (the Republican lobbying firm operated by senior staffers of former Rep.Tom DeLay) were in the media proclaiming how it would be inappropriate to apply the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the court-martial system, to Blackwater operatives, because they are civilians. So, Blackwater wants it both ways: the secrecy and immunity enjoyed by the military, but not the military’s system of accountability.

Blackwater uses a secrecy-at-all-costs approach to doing business not only with the courts, but also with the U.S. Congress. “(The Fallujah) incident was a bit of a wake up call to many people to not only the extent of the private security contracting but the questions surrounding it,” said North Carolina Rep. David Price, who helped add increased contracting oversight measures to the defense authorization bill approved recently by the House. Blackwater is notoriously reticent to discuss the details of its business, and Congress has struggled at times to get answers about Blackwater and others in the private military contracting industry. Blackwater has repeatedly refused to turn over documents related to deadly incidents in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has stone-walled to the point of telling Rep. Henry Waxman, chair of the House Government Oversight Committee, that they cannot provide him with documents because they are classified.

Of the three lawsuits discussed above, Blackwater wants only one of them to go to court: the one that it initiated (against its former employee). Here, the corporation has sought to intimidate an individual through a coerced affidavit and a “police” raid carried out by one of its part-time employees. But even here, Blackwater continues its national security-based argument for secrecy.

Other recent commentary: The Bush administration has engaged in private contracting on a scale previously unimagined, and we need to have a handle on it (Rep. David Price). “We're spending an awful lot of money on these companies, and people still can't define their role” (John Pike, a military analyst with think tank GlobalSecurity.org). “The losers in this development are ultimately the American people,” (Jeremy Scahill, author of “Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army”).

End Notes: How connected is Blackwater to the Bush administration and to the Republican Party? In addition to the connections mentioned above, consider the following.

* Since February 2005, J. Cofer Black has been Vice Chairman of Blackwater USA. From December 2002 to November 2004 he was the U.S. Department of State Coordinator for Counterterrorism with the rank of Ambassador at Large. He was a key figure in the rendition program, the government-sanctioned “kidnap-and-torture” program, where suspected terrorist prisoners are sent to third-country locations to be interrogated. Black is also chairman of a new privatized intelligence company called Total Intelligence Solutions that is being bankrolled by Erik Prince, the head of Blackwater. Recently, presidential candidate Mitt Romney tapped Black to be his senior advisor on counter-terrorism.

* Mitt Romney grew up in Michigan and is the son of former Michigan governor George Wilcken Romney (1907 -1995). The elder Romney was the chairman of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962 and was the Republican Governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969. He was also a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 but lost to Richard Nixon.

* Erik Prince, the head and founder of Blackwater, also grew up in Michigan where his father, Edgar Prince (died 1995) founded a company in 1965 called Prince Manufacturing (Prince Automotive) in Holland, Michigan, which serviced the auto industry. Revenue from this company was used to fuel the rise of the religious right in America. The elder Prince gave seed money to Gary Bauer to found the Family Research Council, where Erik Prince was once an intern. The Prince’s were also significant bankrollers of James Dobson and his group Focus on the Family. Erik Prince was a Navy SEAL (one of the wealthiest people ever to join the SEALS) prior to founding Blackwater. His reason for founding Blackwater was to anticipate government outsourcing of training and firearm-related activity. This closely followed a Halliburton study commissioned by Dick Cheney (as George H.W. Bush’s Secretary of Defense) on how to further privatize the military bureaucracy.

Sources:

“Afghanistan: Families Sue Private Contractor Over Soldiers' Deaths”
Kristin Collins, The News & Observer, June 14, 2005

“Crew's behavior is blamed for '04 plane crash in Afghanistan”
Bill Sizemore, The Virginian-Pilot, December 7, 2006

“The Rise of Blackwater”
Sandip Roy, New America Media, April 24, 2007

“US: Blackwater lawsuit accuses ex-employee of stealing secrets”
Bill Sizemore, The Virginian-Pilot, May 10, 2007

“Pivotal Family Lawsuit Against Blackwater USA Blocked from Court -- and Moved to Panel with Company Ties”, Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! May 23, 2007

“Blackwater lawsuit over U.S. security contractors killed in Iraq headed for private arbitration” Mike Baker, May 26, 2007

Dubai Ports Deal not "worst" Example of a Security Issue being Used for Political Gain

Guest Contributor: L. Vincent Sebastian

The following short article appeared a few days ago. I started reading it and then said to myself, "you've gotta be kidding". Everything Tom Ridge is quoted saying about the failed Dubai Ports deal applies even more so to, you guessed it, the IRAQ WAR and the run up to it. In spite of a setback last November, the right wing, corporate propaganda machine hasn't stopped, and the bullhorn of doublespeak hasn't been silenced....

May 31, 2007 (Reuters)

"Former U.S. security boss blasts furore over Dubai Ports"

A former top U.S. security official attacked American politicians over their handling of the disputed Dubai Ports World deal last year, saying it was "the worst example" of a security issue being used for political gain.

Dubai Ports, owned by the United Arab Emirates, became the centre of a bitter debate in Congress after buying assets at six U.S. ports within its $6.8 billion purchase of Britain's Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co.

The Bush administration approved the purchase of facilities, but lawmakers had security concerns about an Arab state-owned company running U.S. port terminals, and Dubai Ports responded by saying it would sell those U.S. assets.

The uproar "sent the wrong signal to the rest of the world," former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told a group of Hong Kong businessmen and reporters at an event organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong on Thursday.

"It was a classic triumph of politics over reason, politics over facts," he said. "It was not about security. It was about politics. Like a bunch of lemmings, everyone went off that cliff."

Ridge was the first secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, which was created by Congress in 2002 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

He is now a business consultant and adviser to Republican Senator John McCain's presidential campaign.

Putting the Lie to Tony Blair

The following report by Reuters puts the lie to British Prime Minister Tony Bair's pronouncments about progress in Iraq:

Britain is moving most civilian staff from its consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Basra to the airport because of safety concerns due to the threat of mortar attacks, the foreign office said on Monday.

This is actually old news (2006).

Sources:

Reuters Security developments in Iraq, Oct 30, 2006LINK