Blackwater Faces Small But Formidable Foe
By Nicole Belle Friday Nov 30, 2007 1:46pm
Just weeks after wildfires ravaged the tiny California border town of Potrero, they face yet another threat of annihilation, this time by Blackwater USA, who wants to open up a huge 824 acre training facility. The residents are so outraged by the local planning board initially approving Blackwater's plans that they organized a recall election for those board members that voted for Blackwater.
But it is a dispute that goes beyond the rights and wrongs of a large company intent on developing farmland. Opponents fear that it will be the first step towards Blackwater moving in on the potentially lucrative and politically sensitive job of patrolling the US-Mexico border. While Congress has authorised increased recruitment for the Border Patrol, the federal agency that polices the border, many have asked how it is going to be paid for and who is going to do the training. Enter Blackwater West.
"We're here by happenstance," said Brian Bonfiglio, Blackwater West's vice-president. Bonfiglio, who was previously in charge of security for Paul Bremer, the former head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, was dispatched a year ago from the company's base in North Carolina to oversee the expansion west. "We're a training company. This site was not chosen because of its proximity to the border. The Border Patrol has not approached us and we're not chasing Border Patrol contracts. If the government said here's a contract we want you to bid on, I can't say what the company would do."
Bonfiglio may not be able to say, but the company's president did. In his book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, journalist Jeremy Scahill recounts company president Gary Jackson's May 2005 appearance before the House homeland security committee. "Just as the private sector has responded in moving mail and packages around the world more efficiently," Jackson told the committee, "so too can Blackwater respond to the customs' and Border Patrol's emerging and compelling training needs."
The first salvo against Blackwater's plans comes on December 11, when a recall election - called as a result of a petition by residents - will be held to replace the majority of the Potrero planning group. The group has been criticised for unanimously approving Blackwater's application to build a training facility on a dilapidated chicken farm. Set in 824 acres, the valley that would be Blackwater West is surrounded by low brush and hills. The land includes part of the Cleveland national forest, although Blackwater says it will not use any of the forest land on its property.
Approval was given last December before all but a handful of residents were aware of the plans. Once details emerged, some locals decided to act. "A lot of my neighbours were of the opinion that you couldn't do anything about it," said Parks. "But as time went by I found out that we had some supporters. Now there are more people who aren't afraid to come out and speak."
Rather than being upset about the controversy surrounding Blackwater, most opponents are more concerned about the potential loss of their rural way of life. "When we first moved here in 1977 we didn't have any neighbours," said Cathey Ramsey. Sitting in the town's only shop, the 94 Cafe and general store, she listed her objections: "My concerns are water, wildlife, traffic, noise, all the firing ranges."
Her son, William Crawley, who is standing for election to the planning group, said: "I want to make a change. The group has been neglectful of its duties."
Login or Register to post comments.
I sure hope the Portrerians throw Blackwater out on it's butt, but the odds seem formidable.
If you'd like some Arizonans to smuggle IED's across the border, let us know. We could nuke 'em, if we just had some missiles. Maybe we can get some of our local illegal alien muslims to volunteer to be nuclear suicide bombers, if we show them some pictures of the Miss Universe contestants, and convince them they're virgins, and going to join them in 'heaven'.
Now, that's a long shot, but it's worth a try, anything but Blackwater in California.
Blackwater, brown shirts.
Importing Repug votes into Calif.
Hooray for the locals.
Can't ever trust your local commissions and boards. They only respond to money. Just like all other levels of government, you have no one representing your interests but you.
Just a small but important point, Blackwater is no longer "Blackwater USA," but I believe is now called "Blackwater International." Something to keep in mind as we assess the standing of corporations like it and Halliburton, the Halliburton that got No Bid military support contracts and is now headquartered in Dubi, UAE. These days we must always remember that corporations need have no particular national identification or commitment. They aren't on our side. They are on the side of money.
Blackwater is scum. How does the US tolerate a 20,000 member private army within their own borders? I don't get it.
Hopefully what's happening in Potrero will become the norm everywhere, but I don't count on it. These goons should be stopped form expanding anywhere in this country but we all know that won't happen. It's also fairly obvious that the Democrats in Wash. are not going to oppose this group either for what ever reason, so we are doomed to life under Blackwater in the future. Welcome to BushWorld.
“We’re here by happenstance,” said Brian Bonfiglio, Blackwater West’s vice-president....“We’re a training company. This site was not chosen because of its proximity to the border.
Then could explain Blackwater's airships?
Why does Alan Ram, head of production and business development for Blackwater Airships say "The Coast Guard and federal Drug Enforcement Administration, for example, could use the airships to catch drug smugglers and monitor shipping channels. The Department of Homeland Security could fly them to thwart illegal border crossings"?
Ok...lets say there is 20,000 people working there(I hope not).You know they will screen everyone before they hire them....and somehow I doubt that they'd hire anyone with Progressive/Liberal views.So they way I see it....one of the perks for the repug party is an expanding voter base.Not to mention having a private militia running around...no...I don't think they'll get away with this one.But theres nothing that the repug party won't do to stay in power.
NO FUCKING WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IMPEACH THE LOT OF THEM.
I love watching little d democracy in action. It'll only slow down the GOP militia, not stop them but it warms my heart.
Calif has 55 electoral votes....with the way the Calif Counts people have acting,pulling that BS in Santa Barbara...(Cures for Kids w/cancer..fraudulent petitions)...I wouldn't put it past them to try to get those 55 electoral votes another way...Why am I getting the feeling that Calif might be a key state to win in the next election......
Blackwater replacing our Border Patrol, now thats scary.
Where is Eisenhower when ya need him?
mudshark @ 9:
I don't think there are many Progressives that would do the work they do. And I didnt think, after Jr.High civics class, that I would live to see the day when the Federal government would even ALLOW a company like Blackwater to exist let alone operate within the United States.
800+ Acre mercenary compound on the border.... at least we'll know where all the drugs are coming from.
Andy K @ 2:
Well sure sort of Andy. But Blackwater International has a profit motive and as Eric Price told Congress, "Sir we are a private company, that information is not subject to your preview." .... or words to that effect. Neat way round any pesky Congressional oversight.
Blackwater, hired killers looking for work .... right here in America.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
Just another sad sign that our democracy is lost. Oh for a Congress that would recognize this threat to our liberties, and shut down this private militia immediately. Sadly, it's not going to happen. I can see Blackwater being used on the citizenry to keep us in line. We've now become East Germany. Neo cons have co-opted the media, the judiciary, and are now raising a private army. The noose is tightening.
kulshan @ 14:
I don't think people in general have really gotten the full picture of what these guys really are.
And when they wake up...They'll be the ones asking What Happened? Once these guys get a stong footing...they'll be very difficult to get rid of.I'm sure the repugs are saying.."It's defending the nation"....."Gotta secure our Border"...on this I agree....just not with a private army....
the securing the border part.....
Who the hell would name his company after raw sewage? But, we are going to have that river of shit here in Southern CA and in North Carolina. These valiant citizens don't have a chance in hell against the fascist power of Corporatists.
I'm all for aggressive security on the southern border, but not by Blackwater. Blackwater is a mercenary company, mercenaries usually have their own rules. I'm sure blood-shed would ensue.
Two of our border patrol agents are in prison for shooting at, but not hitting, a Mexican drug dealer. But, you can bet Blackwater will be able to MURDER any brown person crossing the border and get away with it. It won't be long before they will be patrolling your neighborhood and mine. I don't live anywhere near the Mexican or Canadian border. But, when the fascist takeover is complete, Blackwater, Triple Canopy and the rest will be the new dictatorship's private Army, much like the SS in WWII. May the gods have mercy on us all.
Andy K @ 2:
With BIG fucking guns - and alleged to be all hyped up on steroids.
*
mudshark @ 12:
Too bad. They can't have it.
*
Blackwater scum are as evil if not more so then gop scum.
‘“We’re here by happenstance,” said Brian Bonfiglio, Blackwater West’s vice-president.”
“The land includes part of the Cleveland national forest, although Blackwater says it will not use any of the forest land on its property.”
May I dedicate this song to Blackwater?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x3TMBeX-ws
mudshark @ 18:
our country managed with a "non-secure "(what ever that is) for 200+ years.
but i agree,private militia=civil war=class war
Roket @ 26:
only if its "War Pigs"......lol
j/k
fitting song.
Roket @ 26:
espescially if its "War Pigs"
lol.
fitting song
Did you notice this throw-way gem? "If the government said here’s a contract we want you to bid on ...". I used to (foolishly) think that the government posted RFQs and, independently, companies monitored the posts and bid when they saw an opportunity. The Gov is not supposed to tell companies there's a bid and they want YOU to get it. But this spokesperson obviously thinks it's the norm to be asked to bid.
I did a little Constitutional digging. The 2nd Amendment starts: "A well regulated militia ...". Blackwaters' position obviously places them outside the regulatory purview of Congress, so they would not have 2nd protection for their activities. I found a Law Review publication on this issue, at http://www.saf.org/LawReviews/Dougherty1.html. Interesting reading. Also, being outside, is how come they had no legal restrictions in Iraq - if they were indeed "well regulated" they would have been subject to legal controls. I gather that is supposedly under way to being rectified, but I fear the current silence is indication it is being allowed to fade away....
Trittydi @ 23:
I emailed the white house about this stating "no Blackwater in California". I don’t know if I'm under surveillance now, I did say “keep your ilk out of my state”. I called my Senators (one of which is a useless old hairjob) and wrote Mr. Honda and Ms. Pelosi. I am glad the people of Potrero are doing what they are doing! Can you imagine these goons acting as the newly privatized border patrol? How about as privately owned National Guard substitutes after a major earthquake? They can shoot anybody they want in Iraq, what about here too? Hey, why not?!
Both Lucky Luciano and Freeway Ricky come to mind....rather than General Pershing...
bilhelm-X @ 32:
yeah...think about that for a second....What happens after a Major Natural Disaster......these guys will be patroling the streets in SoCal.....but of course they'll have enough access to food and the like for their own on the Base.....that base will a country inside a country.and when they come out to go to work.....I for one wouldn't want to cross their path.No...No Frickin Way should this be allowed.
From the Blackwater "training" manual;
-confront menacingly and with overwealming force(see RCMP Vancouver airport)
-pull out taser and fire
-torture the fucker till he/she can't move
Hope you like your new border patrol...
The people don't want Blackwater values crap anywhere near them. Some people just don't get it. I mean who would want any of these unAmerican SOBs ner them.
The fact that our government is paying, and our tax dollars, are already being wasted to pay the big bucks to 180,000 Blackwater mercenaries to secure the occupation of a soverign country in our name is disgusting!
So, don't bet the ranch that Blackwater won't have it's way in California and anywhere else it wants to park itself. These guys are part of the "in crowd" - and what they're selling, the rest of the corporatist elitists want to buy. When the time comes, we'll all be herded into the nicely apoointed FEMA camps by lovely Blackwater goons.
All change starts at home. Don't let the laws that Bush and his Croonies pass affect your neighborhood.
blackwater in under contract. the coup has been paid for with your tax dollars.
Eric Prince has committed MASSIVE tax & employment fraud. All of his employees have been falsely called "independent contractors," which means Prince has not paid social security or medical insurance, overtime, or withholding taxes.
The IRS refuses to investigate; the DoJ refuses to prosecute. But it WILL catch up with him, and his company is TOAST.
(the other private men in arms companies hire their employees).
Amitola @ 37 "So, don't bet the ranch that Blackwater won't have it's way in California and anywhere else it wants to park itself."
Incorrect. It is not 2003.
The people, and especially the representatives, of California are not going to stand for it.
“We’re here by happenstance,” said Brian Bonfiglio, Blackwater West’s vice-president.
... more Shock Doctrine Opportunists
Comment all you want, people. But also prepare.
kudos to the town for trying to throw the puppets out. The Blackwaterian death squads need to be stopped
Black Water contracts always include a license to kill. I guess someone has decided that the solution to illegal immigration is for Black Water mercs to light up unarmed people along the Mexican border like they do in Iraq, because higher levels of violence generates a need for more mercs and bigger contracts.
Blackwater is not the disease it is a symptom and whoever is our next president dem or repub Blackwater will be given contracts by them.
Whether he knew it or not Clinton's actions of downsizing the army paved the path for companies like Blackwater. You can't downsize the army until you have downsized what they are used for. It was no different then tax cuts without spending cuts.
organmeat @ 45:
That's a lie.
Blackwater is going to be disbanded within a year or two, tops. They have committed major warcrimes, felony tax fraud, and are engaged (or soon to be) in several major lawsuits which will bankrupt the company.
Mark my word..those blackwater guys, you know the sof's recruited from San Salvador, Serbia, Cambodia, etc., are just itching to be used to silence any persons opposed to the destruction of US sovereignty by our corrupt, corporate world controllers.
So did Blackwater employees commit arson to clear the land? I wouldn't put it past them.
This sounds like they want to create a west-coast version of the CIA's "School of the Americas".
Ted @ 47:
You have a consider overappreciation for the domestic power of this conspiracy gov't. For the most part, this is a rape, not a final domination exercise. They would love final domination, but they aren't going to get that, which is why all those Rapepublicans ticks in Congress are dropping off. The good eating is pretty much over, and they're fat enough.
Bush is into the bottle. His reign is just about dead. Bring on the special prosecutors and grand juries and let's have us some justice.
Chopvac @ 48:
California has the other problem of the vote-fraud installed Austrian musclehead. He's the one who "offered" the site to BW, and he has offered them major emergency management contracts as well.
The first big fires four years ago were within months of his taking power in 2003. He has taken about $150,000 in special interest money, and the largest group is real estate developers.
During his first campaign, he and his fascist freak biker gang meth freaks, some of whom threatened to knife protesters, pushed women into the streets, were seen in action. In the first months of his administration, there were Hummer and Humvee caravans blocking traffic all over the state, suposedly for fundraisers, but probably to look at the various areas and talk about their disaster capitalism plans (like New Orleans).
And then from that standpoint, you have to remember that this same Austrian beefcake met with Ken Lay and Michael Milken in Beverly Hills during the ENRON/Reliant energy ripoff in the summer of 2001.
We've had a lot of fires, it's a drought, we're prone to them. And so what -- we'll survive. AND REBUILD.
Easy money. And then there is that same Austrian musclebum on Carson after the Northridge quake, telling jokes about breaking chimneys of quake victims to drive up the charges.
Disaster capitalist, illegal alien, thug, oh, and "environmentalist.
And then his entourage, probably BW guys even back then, during the early war protest, pointing their assault weapons out the window at protesters in Los Angeles. And that TANK, that somehow rolled in front of protesters in Westwood, and swiveled its machine gun turrets at the peaceful protesters.
It's a long story. Naomi Klein nails it.
Bush doesn't want to leave Iraq because he knows these are the killers that will follow us home. He's created this evil called Blackwater and they will some day come back here and they are monsters. Thanks Bush, you f^&king moron.
Blackwater warmed-up, loosened their 'chops', knocking off children and women in Iraq.
Now they think they're ready to take on American farmers.
We all better hope they're wrong.
Thugs belong in cages.
Those people need to wipe all of those bastards out of their country in one swift blast.
The problem with any mercenary outfit is that they are more loyal to money than any nation..
Login or Register to post comments.