Amy Goodman from DemocracyNOW asks investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill how Blackwater profited off Hurricane Katrina.

Security and intelligence expert Dr. R.J. Hillhouse reports at her "Spy Who Billed Me" blog that Blackwater has issued a shout-out for armed security officers for possible deployment under their DHS contract in the wake of Hurricane Gustav. Officers must have a firearms license - and those with revolver- only status need not apply. She reproduces this call for personell from Blackwater themselves, issued late Friday:

Blackwater is compiling a list of qualified security personnel for possible deployment into areas affected by Hurricane Gustav. Applicants must meet all items listed under the respective Officer posting and be US citizens. Contract length is TBD.

Law Enforcement Officers (all criteria must apply)

1. Current sworn [may be full time, part time or reserve]

2. With arrest powers

3. Armed status (must indicate Armed and/or Semi Auto. Revolver only not accepted) expiration must be greater than 60 days out

4. Departmental credentials (not just a badge)

Armed Security Officers (all criteria must apply)Only from the following states: OR, WA, CA, NV, NM, AZ, TX, FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, MD, IL, OK.

1. Current/active/licensed/registered armed security officer

2. All training verification [unarmed and armed certificates of completion]

3. Current state issued face card indicting armed status [expiration must be greater than 60 days out]

Last time out, during Katrina, Blackwater mercenaries were patrolling New Orleans in full battle dress and with assault weapons in what some called an end-run around Posse Comitatus. It looks like they're ready to do it again.  If so, let's hope there's none of the kind of "accidents" they've had in Iraq

David Isenberg, UPI [h/t MF]

Say whatever you want about Blackwater Worldwide -- and hardly a day goes by when something isn't being said about it -- it does not put all its eggs in one basket. Long before the company's recent announcement that it would seek to de-emphasize its personal security work in the future, it had created a diversified corporate structure. To use military terminology, it is a combined arms operation.

While most attention is focused on Blackwater Security Consulting, the unit that provides contractors for work in Iraq and elsewhere, there is far more to it than that. Blackwater has long sought to be a one-stop shopping center, a sort of Wal-Mart for all the U.S. government's military outsourcing needs, and a review of its business units shows it has gone a long way toward meeting that goal.

Read the rest....

full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign

We may have a situation in San Diego where two Republicans running for mayor are fighting to win the "I hate Blackwater more" competition. Seriously. It is bizarre, but great to see.

Blackwater managed to use two shell companies to get permits for a "vocational training facility" three blocks from the Mexican border (border security contracts, anyone?). The Courage Campaign teamed up with the San Diego County Democratic Party and Francine Busby to pressure San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders to start an investigation into the duplicitous means they used to obtain the permits. 2,660 people, including nearly 1,800 San Diego area residents, signed our letter to the Mayor in just a few days, after we targeted an email to San Diego County.

It worked. Monday afternoon he announced that he ordered the city's COO to launch an investigation.

Today, we just asked all of our members to sign this letter to the mayor, to ensure that no matter the outcome of the investigation, the Mayor needs to show real leadership in opposing Blackwater. Please join the Courage Campaign in signing the letter and keep the pressure on the mayor.

Surprisingly, we were joined in our opposition to Blackwater today by Mayor Sander's main rival for his office -- wealthy conservative businessman Steve Francis -- who went right after Sanders on Blackwater. This is from his press release (via email):

Right now, the Blackwater permit issue raises more questions than it answers. In light of the Blackwater West controversy last year, the fact that permits were sought using the names of Blackwater affiliates and not the Blackwater name itself raises serious questions. Was this a deliberate deception? How was a permit for a "vocational training school" given to a paramilitary training facility? Why was this matter not handled in an open and transparent way with public hearings and public comment period?

Those are some damn good questions. Sanders can answer a lot of them by taking a firm stand against Blackwater, blocking them from building a base of operations just three blocks from the Mexican border. Simply initiating an investigation is not enough. He needs to make it his mission to keep them out of San Diego.

full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign

We thought we blocked Blackwater from building a base in California, after they pulled their plans for a massive training facility in tiny Potrero, CA.

Instead they were busy using shell companies to gain permits for a "vocational training faclity" THREE blocks from the Mexican border in the city of San Diego. Meanwhile, Blackwater is looking to open up a new facility in Idaho.

Here in California, the Courage Campaign is moving out against Blackwater on two fronts:

Pressure Speaker Pelosi to support the "Stop Outsourcing Security Act", which John mentioned last week. Join 10,000 people by signing the petition to Speaker Pelosi. We need to cut off their their profits to keep them from trying to outsource our border security and other national security contracts.

Pressure San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders to investigate how Blackwater obtained its permit. Blackwater used a shell company called "Southwest Law Enforcement" to gain city permits for a "vocational trade school" a stone's throw from the Tijuana International Airport. While Blackwater denies that this deception is a trojan horse to land border security contracts from the federal government before George W. Bush leaves office, the ominous writing is on California's wall.

If you live in San Diego County, please join over 2,000 residents in signing this letter to Mayor Sanders urging him to start a full investigation into the false pretenses Blackwater used to obtain a "vocational trade school" permit for their facility near the border.

The letter was written by SD Dem Party Chair Jess Durfee. Francine Busby, a former congressional candidate in CA-50, promoted the letter to her list and Congressman Bob Filner has just sent a separate letter to Mayor Sanders, requesting an investigation as well.

Stay tuned as we continue to work with the San Diego County Democratic Party, Francine Busby and Congressman Filner to keep Blackwater out of San Diego and out of California.

This is something I can and will get behind.

"To phase out the use of private military contractors."

We should get behind this bill immediately. 

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60 Minutes on Sunday explored the rampant corruption going on throughout the Iraqi government, and how much of the up to $18 billion missing or unaccounted for has been finding its way into the hands of militias that have been responsible for attacks on coalition forces. What's more, they detail how Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was able to immunize all current and former Iraqi officials, including himself and his family, from any further investigation or prosecution, the State Dept's refusal to cooperate with any investigation, the ostracism and apparent abandonment of the one Iraqi official who braved death threats, and the murder of dozens of his staff, to successfully prosecute corrupt officials before PM Malaki effectively shut him down, and how one such former official, Aiham Alsammarae, who had already been convicted and was set to face even more charges for billions of missing funds while he was the Minister of Electricity, brazenly escaped a Green Zone jail with the help of U.S. contractors (twice) and is currently living large in a Chicago suburb.

Full 13 minute report and transcript here. A look at some of the events, documents and key players after the jump.

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Photo and more from TPM:

Every Monday, Blackwater emails a newsletter to its supporters and potential clients called the Blackwater Tactical Weekly. Often it's a compendium of conservative-media pieces about how everything's awesome in Iraq, accompanied by a few quick company notes. But today's Christmas Eve. And during this season of reflection, the company would be remiss if Blackwater didn't place itself in its proper spiritual context.

Some excerpts:

GIVING... is something with which all Peace Keepers are very familiar... Giving time in ways that most do not understand... Giving up pleasures and presence of family to patrol streets, conflicts and battlefields... Giving up comforts that most take for granted... Giving companionship to a fellow Peace Keeper because you are together in the same endeavor at home and on foreign fields... Giving support to those in need of assistance... Giving life and limb, risking injury or death, so that the people they love and care for may continue to live in peace and safety in their world.

Of course, T.X. Hammes and other actual defense experts don't believe Blackwater and the U.S. military "are together in the same endeavor." Rather, Blackwater's wilding out makes things worse for the U.S. military in Iraq. But in Moyock, NC, nothing says Christmas like cynical exploitation of the troops! Read on...

Download | play Download | play (h/t Heather)

The latest installment of Bushed! on Countdown takes us back to a happier time when there were only one or two scandals per week. First, the White House pressured the EPA to reduce the number of times companies had to report that they had released toxic chemicals into the environment, which, according to the GAO, will lead to 22,000 fewer reports per year and a lot less oversight. Next, it was onto today's vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee to issue contempt citations for Karl Rove and Josh Bolten for their refusal to testify on the US Attorney purge scandal and finally more Blackwater. Secretary of State Condi Rice stood up and accepted responsibility for Blackwater's slaughter of 17 unarmed Iraqi citizens -- she may have taken responsibility, but she has yet to take the fall:

Olbermann: "So you'll be resigning, then?"

(full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign)

A tiny town called Potrero just north of the border in California, an area ravaged by the recent wildfires, just stood up and resoundingly said no to another impending disaster: Blackwater moving to town. It was the nation's first ever electoral vote on Blackwater and it was a massive people-powered grassroots victory over the mercenaries. Every "stop Blackwater" candidate won by at least 63% (results here). It was an an enormous statement to Blackwater: stay out, you are not the kind of neighbors we want in our community. It is also a blistering statement by a very conservative town to reject the Bush world view. Our nation is not better served by having a privatized Army and there is nothing pro-troop about supporting Blackwater. (See Nicole's post from a few weeks ago on the recall)

The video is a short documentary on Carl Meyer, a quiet farmer who has lived in Potrero his whole life. helped lead the "Save Potrero" slate. He won last night with 71.4% of the vote, replacing the most ardent Blackwater supporter and chair of the Planning Group, Gordon Hammers. The Courage Campaign produced the film and it gives you a great sense of why he is my hero today and a true grassroots leader.

Blackwater has been working this little town of 509 registered voters (which went for Bush over Kerry by 25.8%) hard. They deployed Brian Bonfiglio, a Vice-President at Blackwater out to San Diego County to regularly show up to town meetings in Potrero. They sent out propaganda mailers and generally tried to ingratiate themselves with residents of the community. In short, Blackwater has invested a great deal of resources into P.R. within Potrero and cares very much what the residents feel about the company. Naturally, Bonfiglio and Blackwater are trying to downplay this huge loss, even trying to claim that they couldn't give a crap about the town.

Riiiight. Blackwater just got popped in the nose by a tiny town they thought they could steamroll. Not this time, fellas.

The results of this election should send a loud and clear statement to Blackwater and the San Diego County Board of Supervisors (which has final jurisdiction over this proposal): Potrero does not want Blackwater to move into their town. They don't want to ruin their quality of life. They don't want to risk their sole source aquifer. They don't want an increased fire risk in a very fire prone area. They don't want a massive increase in traffic. They don't want guns firing from 15 ranges for hours on end. And they don't want a company who employs a band of mercenaries, who kill innocent civilians to be their neighbors.

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  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. 

Guardian UK:

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."

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Earlier today Nicole posted video from a House hearing dealing with allegations that State Department Inspector General Howard "Cookie" Krongard impeded investigations into corruption in Iraq. During the hearing, Krongard repeatedly denied rumors that his brother, Buzzy Krongard was on Blackwater's advisory board -- but on tonight's Countdown we learned that lo and behold, after returning from a break in testimony, Krongard informed the Committee that he had just spoken with his brother and that he did, in fact, sit on Blackwater's board and that he was recusing himself from any further matters dealing with the mercenary contractor. He may want to consider lawyering up.

Cookie said under oath that he had spoken to his brother six weeks prior to the hearing and claims his brother failed to tell him he was going to join Blackwater's advisory board, but according to an interview given to TPM, Buzzy claims he DID tell Cookie he was going to join Blackwater's board two or three weeks before the hearing, which would put his brother's claims in question. Who should be believe, Cookie or Buzzy?

The Gavel: 

The Oversight Committee is currently holding a hearing, "Assessing the State Department Inspector General." Inspector General Howard J. Krongard will testify. On September 28th, Chairman Henry Waxman wrote to Krongard on allegations that he was using intimidation of employees to block the Committee's investigation of issues in Iraq, and on October 12th Chairman Waxman was joined by several other Chairmen in a letter to Secretary Rice about endemic corruption in Iraq and the refusal of State Department officials to answer basic questions about the impact of corruption within the Maliki government on the chances of success in Iraq.  

In this clip,  Rep. Eilijah Cummings questions Krongard on evidence that his brother is on the board of Blackwater, which Krongard disputes but agrees would call for his recusal on Blackwater if true.

Transcript below the fold

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Dan Froomkin noted today, "In the wake of last month's shooting of 17 civilians by Blackwater gunmen in Baghdad, the Bush administration is finally acknowledging -- more than four years late -- that private security contractors in Iraq should operate under the law."

But as it turns out, it might be more scandalous than just a giant loophole in the law.

The State Department promised Blackwater USA bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its investigation of last month's deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians, The Associated Press has learned.

As a result, it will likely be months before the United States can _ if ever _ bring criminal charges in the case that has infuriated the Iraqi government.

"Once you give immunity, you can't take it away," said a senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation.

A State Department spokesman did not have an immediate comment Monday.

Stay tuned.

Wired Magazine: (h/t MS)

Blackwater is remaking its image -- starting with its logo. So we figured we'd give 'em a hand. DANGER ROOM readers Rocky, Jacob, and Chris put together some pretty sweet new logos for the besieged private military company. Vote for which one you like best, and we'll be sure to pass it on to the Watery ones. Or, if you've got an idea for a new Blackwater brand, send it in, and we'll put it in the running submit it below.

There's some classics, but this one might be my favorite:

I mean, c'mon, how can you not trust a company with puppies and rainbows?

Click image to order book

Of all the insane Bush privatization efforts, none is more frightening than the corporatizing of military combat forces. Jeremy Scahill admirably exposes a devastating example of this sinister scheme.

Michael Moore

On March 31st, 2004, four Americans were set upon by an angry mob of Iraqis in the Sunni stronghold of Fallujah. They were riddled with bullets, burned beyond recognition and two were strung up like charred cattle from a bridge over the Euphrates River. This day marked the unofficial beginning of the Iraqi insurgence and the end of “Mission Accomplished.” These four Americans were not soldiers in the U.S. Army nor were they civilians, but rather highly trained mercenaries from a reclusive private army based in the wilderness of North Carolina.

An army now known to the American people as Blackwater USA.

Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Army tells the story of the creation of one of the most powerful and secretive forces yet to crawl out of the swamp known as the U.S. military-industrial complex. (Ironically, Blackwater started out as a private military training camp located near the black waters of the Great Dismal Swamp of North Carolina). Sounding like it came out of the mind of an over-caffeinated screenwriter, this B-grade Hollywood action film is all too real and its author, Jeremy Scahill shows us a movie that will chill you to the bone.

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