It seems like we've heard this story before.
Four U.S. contractors affiliated with the company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide fired on an approaching civilian vehicle in Kabul earlier this month, wounding at least two Afghan civilians, according to the company and the U.S. military.
The off-duty contractors were involved in a car accident around 9 p.m. on May 5 and fired on the approaching vehicle they believed to be a threat, according to the U.S. military. At least some of the men, who were former military personnel, had been drinking alcohol that evening, according to a person familiar with the incident. Off-duty contractors aren't supposed to carry weapons or drink alcohol.
The incident occurred as the U.S. is facing rising outrage from Afghan leaders over civilian casualties from U.S. air strikes. For Xe, which is the name Blackwater chose earlier this year to distance itself from its controversial security work in Iraq, the shooting comes as the Obama administration and Defense Secretary Robert Gates reconsider the role of military contractors, a practice that boomed during the Bush administration.
Anne Tyrrell, a spokeswoman for Xe, the parent company of Paravant, said the company was aware of the incident in Afghanistan involving the four contractors, but was unable to provide specific details for legal reasons.
She said Xe is also conducting its own investigation.
Tyrrell said Xe has terminated the contracts with the four involved for failure to follow standards and regulations set by Xe and all four have been instructed by Xe not to leave the country without the permission of the Department of Defense, Tyrrell said.
-- Stephen C. Webster
Change you can believe in ... a name change for the company that is.
Xe or Blackwater, the name has changed, but the behavior is the same.
This thug army should be disbanded.
Let the Afghanis put them on trial and imprison them if found guilty. I imagine that would cut this activity down considerably.
Blackwater, Xe, whatever the name, nothing but a bunch of pussies.
Note Blackwater/Xe is STILL in the same game with the same actors.
Neocon "Operators"?
You decide
blood 'n' profit
profit 'n' blood
"Let the Afghanis put them on trial and imprison them if found guilty. I imagine that would cut this activity down considerably."
I think that's what the US would demand if our situations were reversed, wouldn't it?
Send them to trial in Afghanistan; let them set an example for any other occupational forces who might consider getting loaded and pulling a Cheney.
What diud they expect this sort of thing was bound to hapen with a non military work for profit organisation...black waterthe sonbs of devils should be disbanded..
The use Xe, the same symbol for the Nobel gas Xenon.
Mr. Drifter, you make an interesting point - reversing the positions. The United States actually invades other countries to extract suspected homicidal gunmen and tries them in other foreign countries in secret. Their names and the charges against them are classified. If Afghan authorities took similar measures within the US - well, they would risk a real war. Do you think?
Also I thought that alcohol was prohibited in Afghanistan. What's the deal?
Grinder,
I think it's the Sunnies (sp) that drink & smoke tobacco. The Taliban or Al Quada (sp) tried to crack down on their behavior and THAT is what caused the one and only 'uprising' against Al Quada (sp). It was no grand GOP/Conservative Victory as
advertised by the powers that be.
YUP. just some frat house hi jinx by a 'few' bad apples! This 'SHINNING CITY ON A HILL' that Uncle Ronnie Reagan has us living in ...Will inspire the world forever.
Hey Peggy Noonan ...You wrote his lies, Is it still 'Morning in America'?
I'm willing to bet that this isn't the last we'll hear about shit like this. And, I'm also willing to bet that a very LARGE number of these mercenaries were doing the interrogations using torture, which as we've found out, have resulted in the deaths of about 100 people.
Nothing but a bunch of fucking mercenaries.
GESTAPO, BLACK WATER, XE.
Is there a nickels worth of difference?
Put them in Gitmo
And just think, billions of our taxpayer dollars have been and continue to be paid to these private military corporations (mercenaries) such as Blackwater/Xe. Why exactly do they exist? When were they conceived of and by whom, and for what purpose? And whose interests were they really designed to protect?
They are not our nation's regular military, nor are they necessarily Americans. Yet they are paid with taxpayer dollars at a much greater cost than our regular military. Why does our govt hire these corporate guns-for-hire? I mean, these are mercenaries--paid thugs--that will do anything their corporate masters tell them to do, which may not necessarily be in the best interests of the American people or our national security.
We Americans are confident that our regular military would not march the streets of America and attack their own. But what about these corporate goons that dress in military garb?
How many of these goons are/were in Cheney's assassination ring?
Blackwater, the voodoo soldiers .
Bush II brought us voodoo economics on steroids.
And voodoo interrogations thrown in for nothing.
[...] Source: Raw Story [...]
Wow, no obama defenders on this thread. Rawstory readers are so smart. I am proud.
I'm so glad that McCain/Palin isn't in the White House, but if they were there just might be riots in the streets right now that would cause disruption to the War Business as Usual. Don't be Afraid to Boycott War.
A peoples History of the United Staes, by Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky's lastest book, and Chamlers Johnson's trilogy pretty much covers the topic, among many others.
Ckeck them out, but we are now called, alternative historians, rather than historians.
Truth telling is rapidly becoming a lost art, which is a real shame, since you don't know where you are unless you understand how you got to where youi are.
blackwater does what the real men (soldiers) won`t do...
One of the problems of being a highly paid mercenary is that you have alot of money but nothing to spend it on. There is no alcohol allowed in Muslim countries. There is alot of down time. They smuggle in alcohol and drugs and get wasted all the time. They are on edge and carry weapons all the time. When the Afghans attack, its at the most opportune time, when XE is most wasted. The Mujahdeen would wait until the Soviets were plastered and then they would blow up a truck bomb right next to their barracks. The tactics that were learned then are still valid today. I'm sure the Soviets would strike out at the populace in frustration, only to get blown up again on Saturday night. RPG's are a great weapon for the Mujahdeen also, a kid steps out behind a shack with a rockets propelled grenade on his shoulder, fires and disappears. He could take out a Hummer, APC, or a helicopter, kind of frustrating. Kind of drives you to drink.
[...] Yes, another Blackwater story [...]
Great pic. Nice low-angle shot, so we really can't tell that only 10 kids with A stick an AN axe are upset about anything specific.
Does the WSJ pay people to do act like this? If I lived in dirt, dust, mud, and sewage, I would probably act all pissed off in front of a camera too.....for $5.
WSJ: mouthpiece of the banking barons and the Madoff-with-your-monies of the world.
Miguel Grande: you would be surprised at how much supposedly banned alcohol makes its way into muslim countries.
And it isn't all ex-pats. There is no way they could drink that much booze.
Muslim in most of the middle east means 'Faith of Convenience' to keep the poor following us. Doesn't any of this remind you of the Roman Church from oh, say 900 CE to about 1800 CE?
A lot of Bishops grew very rich under a similar system.