Triple Canopy Obama’s Blackwater? Interview with Jeremy Scahill

[1776Forever]

Obama's Blackwater? Chicago Mercenary Firm Gets Millions for Private "Security" in Israel and Iraq

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/134594/obama%27s_blackwater_chicago_mercenary_firm_gets_millions_for_private_%22security%22_in

Federal records obtained by AlterNet reveal a multi-million dollar contract for a private U.S. paramilitary force operating out of Jerusalem.

By Jeremy Scahill, AlterNet. Posted April 2, 2009.

(Jeremy Scahill, an independent journalist who reports frequently for the national radio and TV program Democracy Now!, has spent extensive time reporting from Iraq and Yugoslavia. He is currently a Puffin Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute. Scahill is the author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army.)

On the campaign trail, Barack Obama's advisers said he "can't rule out won't rule out" using mercenary forces, like Blackwater. Now, it appears that the Obama administration has decided on its hired guns of choice: Triple Canopy, a Chicago company now based in Virginia. It may not have Blackwater's thuggish reputation, but Triple Canopy has its own bloody history in Iraq and a record of hiring mercenaries from countries with atrocious human rights records. What's more, Obama is not just using the company in Iraq, but also as a U.S.-government funded private security force in Israel/Palestine, operating out of Jerusalem.

Beginning May 7th, Triple Canopy will officially take over Xe/Blackwater's mega-contract with the U.S. State Department for guarding occupation officials in Iraq. It's sure to be a lucrative deal: Obama's Iraq plan will inevitably rely on an increased use of private contractors, including an army of mercenaries to protect his surge of diplomats operating out of the monstrous U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

..........

And this from Democracy Now:

http://i1.democracynow.org/2009/4/2/obamas_blackwater_jeremy_scahill_on_triple

Obama’s Blackwater? Jeremy Scahill on Triple Canopy, the New Lead US Mercenary Force in Iraq and Israel

The Obama administration has confirmed the hiring of mercenary firm Triple Canopy to take over Blackwater’s contract to protect US diplomats in Iraq. Part of the firm’s job will be to protect the “monstrous” US embassy in Baghdad. We speak to independent journalist Jeremy Scahill, who has also just revealed that the administration is using Triple Canopy to protect US diplomats in Israel.....

AMY GOODMAN: The alternative?

JEREMY SCAHILL: Well, I mean, the alternative, as Representative Jan Schakowsky has said, is to not use these companies, to ban their use in the war zone and to scale down the scope of what you classify as civilians or diplomats in Iraq. I have long said that I think the Obama administration should destroy that monstrous US embassy that was built in part on slave labor in Iraq. I think that they should pitch a tent in the backyard of the Polish embassy and call it a day and pay reparations to the Iraqi people. Now, call me naive or call me silly, but the fact of the matter is, this is a—it remains an illegal occupation of Iraq, that’s destroyed the lives of millions of Iraqis, and the Obama administration should not have a policy that necessitates using mercenaries.

..........

This information may not be popular but it is necessary for us to know about it. I cannot condone this kind of use of these PMC's no matter who is signing the contracts.



:hide:

[billyoc]

1. As the death toll rises in Afghanistan, I can see the temptation to hire mercenaries.

They're anonymous and expendable. No flag draped coffin pictures, in fact, no casualty reports at all.

[1776Forever]

3. I have heard some family members of these men talk about this issue.

They say that the members are given huge payments but in the end their service is a forgotten sacrifice. They don't have the opportunity to "retire" as a member of our military and if they do get wounded in battle they are responsible for all debts. Their families also receive some kind of payment if they are killed but as you say no one knows about it and their families must go on without any further compensation. If they don't have any family I guess it is all on them, but these PMC's go on without any kind of law and that is where all the KBR mess comes in with people like Dawn Leamon reporting about it.

Link here:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080505/houppert

KBR's Rape Problem
By Karen Houppert

This article appeared in the May 5, 2008 edition of The Nation.
April 17, 2008

.....................

This PMC issue has always been very disturbing to me. I feel they are an undercurrent to what we want to accomplish in Afghanistan.

[stillcool]

2. For a little perspective...

Here's a list of PMC's from Sourcewatch:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Private_Military_Corporations/list_of_PMCs

[redqueen]

4. Destroy the embassy?

Yeah, that'll happen.

I hope this trend toward using private security firms stops, but I don't see it happening anytime soon. The DOD and Pentagon will take years to even begin to reform, not weeks or months.

[Divine Discontent]

5. an interesting story nontheless, ty

I don't like anything 'private', the military needs to have full oversight and you know they don't. plus, these companies, have in the past, charged ridiculous prices for tasks.

[1776Forever]

6. Very good observation - "anything private" is indeed in need of oversight that they just don't have!

:thumbsup: :hi:

[Divine Discontent]

7. Kick for more eyes eom

[Time for change]

8. These PMCs are bad stuff

Did you read Scahill's book on Blackwater? I don't believe these things have a place in a democracy.

[Faryn Balyncd]

9. Seconded... & K&R

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5407.htm

[1776Forever]

10. Your link says it all! One cannot doubt this statement: Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the Nation

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5407.htm

Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the Nation
January 17, 1961

"This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. "

[empyreanisles]

11. We don't have the troops available because people are not enlisting.

So what is the alternative? He got rid of Blackwater at least.