Am I the only one who thinks Blackwater is creepy?
Mark Frauenfelder at Boing Boing nicked this pic from the LA Times of a man wearing a Blackwater t-shirt assisting in a DEA raid on a medical marijuana dispensary.
The image has since been removed.
So, is this a DEA agent who just happens to be wearing a Blackwater t-shirt, or is this a Blackwater employee who is participating in a DEA raid?
“Blackwater is one of five companies picked by the Department of Defense Counter-Narcotics Technology Program Office in a five-year contract for equipment, material and services in support of counter-narcotics activities. The contract is worth up to $15 billion. The other companies picked are Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Arinc Inc..”
The Nation story about Blackwater in New Orleans after Katrina.
“When asked what authority they were operating under, one guy said, ‘We’re on contract with the Department of Homeland Security.’”
Here’s a documentary about Blackwater posted at Screening Tampa back in May.
Am I the only one who thinks having a private military force working as agents of the government is just a little bit wrong?
UPDATE (8/04) -
Rebecca Saltzman has more here.
Kris Hermes follows up and contacts the journalist who reported the story for the LA Times. Some questions are answered and some new questions are raised.
Here are the questions it raised for Hermes:
“why would an undercover agent, concerned about maintaining anonymity, conduct a circus-like, paramilitary-style raid in broad daylight with media swarming around? Doesn’t the DEA realize that by censoring a controversial photo, it is ensuring greater exposure of it, thereby creating a greater identity risk for the agent? Is it not careless, to say the least, when police are supposed to be explicitly identified during such enforcement actions, to have one of the agents conducting the raid be identified as Blackwater?”
Kudos to Saltzman and Hermes for noting this story, and for following up.
The DEA is claiming that the agent was a DEA agent and not employed by Blackwater.
Thanks for the update Rebecca.
The problem isn’t Blackwater itself but the military and law enforcement agencies that under pay their best personnel. The best have figured out that their is more money in training, consulting and in personal security.
Blackwater took off because of its weapons experts, their vast firing ranges and the training they provided to nearly every government agency. When Blackwater entered the private security detail (PSD) business they were very new and not as experienced South African and British security firms. Blackwater PSD specialists comprising of former military special forces troops at its core did not have developed rules of engagement and followed the same rules of surrounding military units. Keep in mind though that in the early years of the Iraq war there wasn’t clear guidance for anyone to include the military.
Personally I have had different levels of experience with Blackwater. Their former special forces guys are excellent and very professional. Because of the performance of these key personal Blackwater was able to expand but they had to fill in the additional ranks with ex-military that could be characterized as less capable than the former special forces guys. That is probably what led to incidents leading to death of civilains in the 2005-2006 period. Plus the rules of engagement were tightening up on the military side as the Iraq government was taking more control of certain aspects of governance. The standard to fire warning shots or engage vehicles that were potential car bombs was tightening up. Incidents in which civilians were killed became significantly more costly to the Iraq-U.S. relationship. Some security firms did not evolve as quickly as the military in changing the rules of engagement, thinking that they could continue with business as usual.
Blackwater certainly has a very unique culture. It is a company that is favorable to Christian conservatives, which you could argue bodes well with the current administration. I believe the true reason it continues to expand its influence in the consulting field is because of its recruiting practices. It recruits through the military and law-enforcement good-old-boy system. Most of their employees were personally referred because they are known experts in their fields. It difficult for these guys to turn away $80-150,000 (sometimes more) salaries compared to the $35,000-$45,000 they are making from the government.
The government doesn’t pay individuals for their skills. When I was in the military I got paid the same amount as the guy handing out towels at the gym because we had the same rank. He also had more awards and medals than me despite never deploying. I served in 7 combat tours around the globe (4 in Iraq) and was one of only a dozen people in the Air Force that did what I did. So naturally I left the military to take a job with a consulting firm.
Given the amount of training Blackwater provides to the government it is of little surprise that Blackwater shirts are everywhere. I was once given a shirt by a Blackwater recruiter but gave it to a buddy who really wanted it. Shirts from Blackwater, Armor Group or other industry professionals say “I went to a Blackwater school or I was once employed by Blackwater”, which infers that you are skilled at your job.
Blackwater grew too fast and they learned that their rapid growth has consequences. Their biggest advantage is that they can get things done and provide support to the government without all of the bureaucratic red tape. On the other hand Blackwater is learning which parts of that red tape process does Blackwater need to incorporate into their business practices. Iraq created the Blackwater we know today, however it has struggled to keep contracts because of the bad press. The more experienced British firms have taken over some of the security contracts from Blackwater.
Blackwater will continue to succeed until the government starts paying people for their skills instead of rank. But that would require a drastic restructuring in the military rank system which really hasn’t changed since the Spanish American War.
I think Blackwater gets in over their heads. Most people within Blackwater are well intended but they are growing greedy and want to monopolize their industry. As the war on terror and post-Iraq over hiring boom fades (which it is) so will their contracts and they will probably have to scale back (just like the Starbucks over expansion). Their contracts very dependent on Republican fear-mongering and keeping terrorism as a key issue. When the next terrorist attack kills American citizens somewhere in the world demand for Blackwater type services will go up again. I can understand why Blackwater sees creepy, its the nature of their business. But the nature of that business requires people keep a close eye on the ambitions of Blackwater.
[...] Note: Below is a response to an earlier post I wrote about Blackwater. I wanted to bring it to the front page because it’s a thoughtful, [...]
[...] Blackwater post sparks another Blackwater debate. (See previous discussions here, and here.) BWGuy left the following comment my brief post about Iraq banning Blackwater [...]
Wether it is Blackwater, Triple Canopy, DynCorp or any other Defense contracting agency, These guy ALL come from the "Best trained teams, units, agencies and companies". They are the military, Law enforcement and government agents. #2, If I wear a Dallas Cowboys T-shirt, it doesn't mean i work for the freakin Dallas Cowboys, LOL. You ignorant morons should really get a life. #3, These such contracting agencies do have dress code standards similar to the Military and do not allow their contractors or employees to wear and government, religious, racial or self promoting company Logo's on any attire at any time. So if you see someone working with a Blakwater T-shirt on, He's probably just a fan or supporter. and #4, I have heard this over and over, "These contractors shouldn't be taking law enforcement authority positions because they are not properly trained and are not sworn in" LMAO, ACTUALLY, They ARE professionals, and some of the most experienced at that and YES, Every contractor is properly vetted and sworn in by the agency to which they operate for and are held under their supervision and procedures. Why don't all you morons do a little homework before you start making statements about what is and what isn't before you actually know what the hell you're talking about. Why don't you stop protesting those who defend you and get your asses to work so you can pay for the enemies and illegals that you DO support.
Thanks for commenting A. J.
I'm not sure I understand your point. I take your point that just because a person wears a t-shirt doesn't mean that he or she belongs to that organization. Fair enough. But that raises the question – if this is a well-trained team with a dress code, then why the Blackwater t-shirt.
I've done my homework, and I'm happy to be educated if you have something new to add. Frankly, name-calling is an indication you don't have a very strong argument.
If we don't have access to Blackwater's records (as we shouldn't, they're a private company) how do you know they are protecting us? Since they withhold evidence of what they do, where do you get your evidence for what they do?