Jeremy Scahill: (Blackwater) Business as usual

[marmar]

from the Guardian UK:



Business as usual
Plagued by scandal, mercenary company Blackwater isn't folding. It's moving ahead full steam with new projects and a major rebranding campaign
Jeremy Scahill

December 12, 2007 10:30 PM | Printable version


Gunning down 17 Iraqi civilians in an incident the military has labelled "criminal". Multiple congressional investigations. A federal grand jury. Allegations of illegal arms smuggling. Wrongful death lawsuits brought by families of dead employees and US soldiers. A federal lawsuit alleging war crimes. Charges of steroid use by trigger-happy mercenaries. Allegations of "significant tax evasion". The US-installed government in Iraq labelling its forces "murderers". With a new scandal breaking practically every day, one would think Blackwater security would be on the ropes, facing a corporate meltdown or even a total wipeout. But it seems that business for the company has never been better, as it continues to pull in major federal contracts. And its public demeanour grows bolder and cockier by the day.

Rather than hiding out and hoping for the scandals to fade, the Bush administration's preferred mercenary company has launched a major rebranding campaign, changing its name to Blackwater Worldwide and softening its logo. Once a bear paw in the site of a sniper scope, it's now a bear claw wrapped in two half ovals - sort of like the outline of a globe with a United Nations feel. Its website boasts of a corporate vision "guided by integrity, innovation and a desire for a safer world". Blackwater mercenaries are now referred to as "global stabilisation professionals". Blackwater's 38-year-old owner, Erik Prince, was number 11 in Details magazine's Power 50, the men "who control your viewing patterns, your buying habits, your anxieties, your lust .... the people who have taken over the space in your head".

In one of the company's most bizarre recent actions, on December 1 Blackwater paratroopers staged a dramatic aerial landing, complete with Blackwater flags and parachutes - not in Baghdad or Kabul but in San Diego at Qualcomm Stadium during the halftime show at the San Diego State/BYU football game. The location was interesting, given that Blackwater is fighting fierce local opposition to its attempt to open a new camp - Blackwater West - on 824 acres in the small rural community of Potrero, just outside San Diego. Blackwater's parachute squad plans to land at the Armed Forces Bowl in Texas this month and the Virginia Gold Cup in May. The company recently sponsored a Nascar racer, and it has teamed up with gun manufacturer Sig Sauer to create a Blackwater Special Edition full-sized 9-millimeter pistol with the company logo on the grip. It comes with a limited lifetime warranty. For $18, parents can purchase infant onesies with the company logo.

In recent weeks, Blackwater has indicated it might quit Iraq. "We see the security market diminishing," Prince told the Wall Street Journal in October. Yet on December 3 Blackwater posted job listings for "security specialists" and snipers as a result of its state department diplomatic security "contract expansion". While its name may be mud in the human rights world, Blackwater has not only made big money in Iraq (about $1bn in state department contracts); it has secured a reputation as a company that keeps US officials alive by any means necessary. The dirty open secret in Washington is that Blackwater has done its job in Iraq, even if it has done so by valuing the lives of Iraqis much lower than those of US VIPs. That badass image will serve it well as it expands globally. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jeremy_scahill/2007/12/business_as_usual.html

[LakeSamish706]

1. Why the hell would they fold when they are making Billions from we stupid tax payers? n/t

[balantz]

2. Selling themselves to America as good ol' Amerikan, Red, White

and Blue Nazi boys. "Got a disaster? We're your bastards. All hail the corporate, neo-con masters."

On top of the big money contract, did they possibly also get a little cash bonus there in Iraq?

[Briar]

3. Check out this

comment on the article by someone calling him/herself usamarine:

"Private military contractors such as the one I work for are the future of warfare. We have the best equipment and men available and can operate effectively in any hostile environment. The unfortunate altercation on Sept 16 was an isolated incident and definitely does not represent an industry where safety is our number one priority.

"In the future I think you will almost certainly see more and more large military contracts being issued and private military contractors expanding their manpower and military capability even to a level that exceeds most government forces."

Such goose-stepping chutzpah is, I fear, the face of the future.