Cliff Schecter points to a meeting between Erik Prince, head of Blackwater, and GOP Congressional leaders including Rep. [Patrick] McHenry [R-N.C.] .
Apparently the record of the meeting was scrubbed soon after it was posted.
Although Blackwater has the itchiest trigger fingers in Iraq, it’s important to remember the number of mercenaries in Iraq outnumbers the American troops. Nor can it be considered the top billing contractor in Iraq.
Cheneyburton’s KBR tops that list.
But virtually every one of the companies providing guns and intelligence for hire has ties to the American government. In fact, they’re all competitors for Uncle Sugar’s largesse. Every one of them has a financial stake in Empire.
They’re the ones that run American intelligence. So if, for example, the CIA appears to be pulling the rug out from under their Dear Leader, it’s not simply a turf war in D.C.
It’s the Praetorian Guard having a dialog with L’il Boots, having decided there’s no way to turn profit from Iran.
And they’re coming home to keep an eye on you, because there’s lots more money in that.
Front page
well said
“It’s the Praetorian Guard having a dialog with L’il Boots, having decided there’s no way to turn profit from Iran.”
Daayyy-um. That’s some tough medicine for the American sheeple to swallow but I don’t I’ve ever seen it better stated.
Americans have zero invested in these Middle East wars. It’s the corporatocracy that’s invested, pulling out all the stops, keeping it together. The citizenry? Not so much. We aren’t invested in this war, because it’s not for us, it’s not even about us.
Dismantling the machine
I went with Leah to the Robert Greenwald/Naomi Klein “chat” held in Beverly Hills this past Thursday night. One of Klein’s many points: The “incompetence” accusation looks increasingly off the point, at least in terms of this administration: they have successfully taken billions of dollars of taxpayer money (into the future!) and put it in the hands of private corporations, gutting our government in the bargain. Their little war has been a smashing success. Emphasis on smashing.
++++
History may never repeat itself
…but it sure does rhyme a lot.
Our Li’l Boots has only a few parallels with Caligula.
Our Li’l Boots seems much better at keeping his base satisfied, but Caligula would have impressed Pootie as a much better cowboy and was much better at keeping the popular culture amused. Just ask the shade of Senator Incitatus.
On the other hand, the original Li’l Boots made the great mistake of taxing lawsuits, marriage and prostitution, and forcing the Centurions to turn over the spoils of the Empire to the state. This turned into a mistake as serious as making the CIA take the fall at the Bay of Pigs.
No Hell below us
Above us, only sky
Can't Win with 'Em, Can't Go To War without 'Em:
Can’t Win with ’Em, Can’t Go To War without ’Em: Private Military Contractors and Counterinsurgency is a detailed examination of the impact of private contracting of military and intelligence functions by Peter W. Singer, Director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at The Brookings Institution. Singer, no pacifist, reviews and condemns the practice from a traditional conservative perspective:
Singer has been after this topic for some time, having published the book Corporate Warriors in 2003. A shorter version of his Brookings treatise can be found in this Salon article. Another interesting Singer article on the extraordinary level of subterfuge surrounding military private contracting in Iraq is this one in June 2004 from the NY Times.