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EXCLUSIVE

The Man Behind Blackwater

Dutiful and intense, son of a self-made billionaire, Erik Prince is an adventure seeker and conservative true believer. An exclusive.

By Evan Thomas and Mark Hosenball | NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Oct 22, 2007

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  • Posted By: joethepole @ 11/15/2007 7:13:07 PM

    Comment: I have personally worked beside Blackwater employees. These operators conducted them selves in the utmost professional manner and are very squared away individuals. As for Mr Prince I have not had the pleasure of meeting him, but from what I have heard he is a very down to earth person and a pleasure to work for. The media dosen't like him because he is a conservative christian, if he was a liberal the media would bury this whole thing or just wouldn't cover it. I am a Police Officer and Tactical firearms instructor and wish there were more facilities like Blackwater to train the Police and Military. GOD bless our men and women over seas.

  • Posted By: joethepole @ 11/15/2007 7:01:09 PM

    Comment: test

  • Posted By: joethepole @ 11/15/2007 7:00:38 PM

    Comment: comment: I have personally worked along side of Blackwater employees. These operators conduct themselves in an utmost professional manner and are very squared away individuals. As for Mr Prince I have not had the privilige of meeting him but from what I hear he is a very down to earth, average person of good moral character. The media dosen't care for him because he is a conserative christian, if he was a lib the media would bury the story or outright refuse to cover it.

  • Posted By: sgtdjusmc @ 11/10/2007 6:06:13 PM

    Comment: Having worked along side Blackwater employees in Iraq I can say they are indeed very egotistical. So what?? All security contractors are that way. They have to be in inspire confidence to their clients. We like to make fun of Blackwater because they walk around displaying their bear print on their clothes but they are extremely professional and talented. I have also been to their compound in Mayock, which is first class. I don't have a problem with mercenaries: executive outcomes took care of the angola problem with quickness as well as sierre leon. If the wore torn african countries would hire some Blackwater operators and forego the weak UN, the rebels would be gone within six months.

  • Posted By: johnwillson @ 10/21/2007 10:05:29 PM

    Comment: As usual, I was misquoted by an incompetent reporter. I told her that Erik Prince had transferred to Hillsdale College from the Naval Academy because the Academy was insufficiently rigorous and insufficiently conservative, and that this was not, and I repeated to her not, several times. a quotation from Erik but my interpretation of his talks with me. She chose in the article to pick out the one thing in a long conversation that could be twisted to seem that there may be a difference of opinion between me and my former student. I believe that Erik is a good man, a good Catholic, and a good American. Despite the reporter's fishing for slimy things about him in our interview, I told her repeatedly that whatever difficulty Blackwater may encounter, it could not by definition be corrupt because its founder and CEO is not corrupt. Newsweek, unfortunately, is no better than all the other agenda-driven media. The comment that Hillsdale College is in any way associated with the philosophy of Ayn Rand is also ridiculous. Shame, shame upon Newsweek.

  • Posted By: Marine Gunny @ 10/18/2007 6:52:36 PM

    Comment: So much hate in these forums.....Mr. Prince may have his own demons growing up under shadow of his father, nevertheless, the point here is that the U.S. Govt needs these contract companies to do what the military has neither the resources or time to do. I've been to IZ twice and AF once and seen how these guys operate. Mercs...no, overpaid former military operators absolutely. Ihowever, IZ is an extremely violent place.

  • Posted By: Marine Gunny @ 10/18/2007 6:45:57 PM

    Comment: The man may have his own personal demons having grown up under the shadow of his father, but then again, who of us does not. Additionally, I served in Iraq and Afghanistan and worked alongside some of these so-called mercenaries and they are not that. Overpaid former military guys perhaps but not mercs. Furthermore, their aggressiveness while delivering 'packages' is well-founded. Iraq is a very bad place.

  • Posted By: kingpin @ 10/18/2007 12:33:22 PM

    Comment: Mary ,sounds like your problem is with your life and your family.You are no woman. Have another pill and take a nap.
    Hey pb1492. How long is an al-qaida tour? You are a phony ain't ya? Painting Blackwater with a pretty broad brush. You don't know that 92% of them are ex-military. You weren't drafted so, if you really are in, you joined.
    It's gun toting and blemish.Wasn't Zarqawi a gun toter?Aren't the muj's all, cigarette- fueled adventure
    seekers? Aren't they all.?

  • Posted By: pb1491 @ 10/18/2007 6:51:22 AM

    Comment: I'm on my third tour in Iraq...I've seen the U.S. military grow and change, as the mission has required. The Blackwater contractors, on the otherhand, still remain the same steroid-fueled, gun-totting adventure-seekers from four years ago. These are people who care more about their paychecks than their country. If they were true patriots, why aren't they in the military? Blackwater and the rest of the war-profiteers are yet another bleamish to America's reputation and our Constitutional ideals.

  • Posted By: Heil Mary @ 10/17/2007 9:29:53 PM

    Comment: purvis the woman basher, my trek to sainthood is exposing the crimes of Nazi Catholics like my abusive family, Erik Prince and you! What's your "contribution" besides abuse?

  • Posted By: jdswitz1 @ 10/17/2007 1:35:07 AM

    Comment: RE: "Mist74":
    Perhaps you should have been working for Alberto Gonzales and George Bush, subverting our Constitution, at the JUSTICE department with your "Just-us" degree. You would have fit right in.
    BTW: The reason Bush gives $Billions in no-bid contracts to Mercenaries fighting an immoral / idiotic war while refusing to fund child health care and rebuild New Orleans seems clear. Poor children and the poor citizens of New Orleans don't give kick-backs to the Republican Party and the War Profiteers do.
    The Republican kick-backs to the ultra-wealthy, in the form of tax breaks and this idiotic $Trillion war nearly assure we will not be ABLE to afford funding for poor children's health care in the future, while pushing the COST for this debacle unto the shoulders of our children and grand-children. The REASON they MUST use Mercenaries for this war is that 74% of the people want it stopped and the only NEW soldiers available must be BRIBED from the pool of poor young Americans who can't find any other work!

  • Posted By: kingpin @ 10/16/2007 5:44:27 PM

    Comment: I have to say that it has been a fun couple of days with you left wing America haters but I have to move on(no pun intended). Except for kwh13 and a couple others,(misty, you have to work on the grammar) you are a bunch of dope smoking bolsheviks, no doubt half of this crap is coming from San Fran Freako. Goodbye
    possum NAMVET chump, get a job pay your taxes, Let Blackwater continue to train and keep our warriors working. Don't forget ,their Blackwater is al-qaida . God Bless America, Michael Savage, and blue and green eyed people all over the world. Also people of color so to speak ,who are not racist or religious killers.

  • Posted By: Heil Mary @ 10/16/2007 4:45:47 PM

    Comment: Prince should be in jail for KNOWINGLY MURDERING his first wife via cancer-causing pregnancies and for cheating on her while she was dying. It's bad enough that Joan was bullied by a mother-killing pedophile cult into putting a female fetus ahead of her own right to life. That she had two more kids was coerced "suicide" that conveniently avoided an embarrassing and EXPENSIVE annullment for a "pious" PLAYBOY. Now the "pro-life" Prince is killing innocent already born "heretics" FOR THEIR OIL!

    • Posted By: purvis @ 10/16/2007 6:10:49 PM

      Comment: heil mary or heil hitler???

      take your feminist ass and go back to your *** man hating colony...too bad your mother didn't before your dad knocked her up....and gave birth to you...
      what have you done lately on your trek to sainthood???

    • Posted By: purvis @ 10/16/2007 6:08:49 PM

      Comment: u r a idiot

  • Posted By: Heil Mary @ 10/16/2007 4:43:40 PM

    Comment: Prince should be in jail for KNOWINGLY MURDERING his first wife via cancer-causing pregnancies and for cheating on her while she was dying. It's bad enough that Joan was bullied by a mother-killing pedophile cult into putting a female fetus ahead of her own right to life. That she had two more kids was coerced "suicide" that conveniently avoided an embarrassing and EXPENSIVE annullment for a "pious" PLAYBOY. Now the "pro-life" Prince is killing innocent already born "heretics" FOR THEIR OIL!

  • Posted By: midnight05 @ 10/16/2007 1:35:13 PM

    Comment: We have money for merceniaries but we do not have money to re-build the 9th ward in New Orleans or fund SCHIP to the hilt. Shows our priorities, doesn't it?

    • Posted By: kingpin @ 10/16/2007 4:07:40 PM

      Comment: What's schip ,and how does pouring money into a mud bowl make America safer? One has nothing to do with the other Mayor. ( it's mercenaries)

  • Posted By: Mist74 @ 10/16/2007 1:05:17 PM

    Comment: This has become a media war, you are only going to see and hear what they want you to hear. Mr. Prince is an extremely intelligent self made individual that saw a void our government could not fill and put plans into action. No where do I see how he sent us over to aid in the Katrina incident far before any Military arrived. Where was that in the paper. Here on our own land he foot the bill to help our fellow Americans. So I leave you with this, yes we are over in Iraq as contractors. But who do you think is footing the bill?? If you feel contractors need to be out of the situation go see a recruiter and join one of our fine military forces. Serve your country rather than typing hype of what many of you are just reading what another wants you to believe in, I have been married for 12 years, 4 kids, a degree in criminal Justus and received and Honorable Discharge from the Military a while ago, but as for Blackwater, they have been the best company that I have worked for in my life.

    • Posted By: jdswitz1 @ 10/17/2007 1:20:55 AM

      Comment: Perhaps you should have been working for Alberto Gonzales and George Bush, subverting our Constitution, at the JUSTICE department with your "Just-us" degree. You would have fit right in.
      BTW: The reason Bush gives $Billions in no-bid contracts to Mercenaries fighting an immoral / idiotic war while refusing to fund child health care and rebuild New Orleans seems clear. Poor children and the poor citizens of New Orleans don't give kick-backs to the Republican Party and the War Profiteers do.
      The Republican kick-backs to the ultra-wealthy, in the form of tax breaks and this idiotic $Trillion war nearly assure we will not be ABLE to afford funding for poor children's health care in the future, while pushing the COST for this debacle unto the shoulders of our children and grand-children. The REASON they MUST use Mercenaries for this war is that 74% of the people want it stopped and the only NEW soldiers available must be BRIBED from the pool of poor young Americans who can't find any other work!

  • Posted By: Mist74 @ 10/16/2007 1:02:36 PM

    Comment: I contracted with this company last year and part of this year, it is not only men from the military but women as well. I being a mother and wife took on this position primarily for financial reasons, however when engaged in the project came to believe in what we were doing and I can guarantee you we were held by ROE the same as any military force. I served my time in the military and the politics that came along with that did not suit my personality. Blackwater did. As in any situation that has gone awire, there is always going to be an escape goat and at this time Blackwater seems to be the Oliver North of the moment. Erik Prince may not be his father, as I read in one of the comments below. I am sure his father was a brilliant man, however give Mr. Prince the credit he deserves.. He is providing a service to your country where we are sorely lacking. Unless you would like to get off of the couch or off this computer and join the forces with the Military so there is not such a shortage then someone needs to back up our troops and keep the diplomats safe. And that is exactly what we have been doing.

  • Posted By: Mist74 @ 10/16/2007 12:22:04 PM

    Comment: As a female that had contracted with this company for most of last year I can gurentee you that we had to follow ROE just as the Military and if not followed were heald responsible for our actions. Not a person alive can attest as to what you feel when you are bombarded by people with smiles on their faces as they try to hand you an IED, you tend to become causous with every encounter, but not careless. It is not jusat men overtheir working for Blackwater, there are women, mothers, wives that have Military history and the honor that was instilled in us stands without wearing the uniform. The press is a controlled press and often there is a fall guy in these situations. I have worked for this company and stand behind Princes beliefs. We are all hard working, well trained far beond the military realm to handle ANY situation that is to arise. The news however is controlled over there and you only hear what they want you to believe. It is vastly becoming a war of Media and everyone is loosing site of what we are about and who sent us over their in the first place because many situations could not be handled. If you feel blackwater is not right for the job, then step up to the plate and join the Military so that they are not lacking so many soldiers to where the government has to hire us to protect and serve. Blackwater did not go to Iraq uninvited, so guess who invited us? No one looks back on the company or Prince that sent several of us to aid in the Katrina incident before any forces had arrived, but was that ever made public? Accidents happen, but you are all just reading a story that they want you to believe, without this and other companys like Blackwater and Dynacorp the US would not be as powerful of a force as it is today.

  • Posted By: cardtel @ 10/16/2007 11:59:51 AM

    Comment: With luck, this great country survived John Wayne with just a county airport in his name and that giant stature of him on a horse at Wilshire Blvd. But this modern day cowboy is a alot more dangerous; with a lot of fire power consisting of money, religious zeal and Dick Cheney's desire to privatize the military to create a giant pool of cash from which to steal. Call out the police to lock him up.

  • Posted By: cardtel @ 10/16/2007 11:51:29 AM

    Comment: Enter Your Comment

  • Posted By: jf5110a @ 10/16/2007 10:51:18 AM

    Comment: All we need is some government oversight, they need to be held responsible.

    • Posted By: kingpin @ 10/16/2007 12:25:37 PM

      Comment: Yeah, that's it ,more government oversight. Except for kwh13 this is pretty much a leftwing loony web-chat.
      I realize that about half of America is infected with America-haters, and the toxic strain: Bush-haters.
      If you distill the politics out of your hate you should, but you won't ,see that the war is against the enemy who has been killing and subjugating non- muslims for 1400 years. They never stopped. (Think Spain,think Ottoman Turks, Armenian Christians. Get it? You diversity fans are giving away your culture, your heritage, your language. Your grandchildren will hate you for it, because they'll be America and Christian haters too. They wil be...................Radical Muslims Out
      Ottoman Turks,Armenian Christians. Get it?

  • Posted By: flydream @ 10/16/2007 7:30:27 AM

    Comment: gggg

  • Posted By: baronmind1 @ 10/15/2007 11:07:55 PM

    Comment: W. Sweeney. Are you bright enough to discuss the subject or are you limited to personal attacks? I am funny and I know what I'm talking about at the same time. You should try it. Do you have an opinion about Blackwater or just about me?

  • Posted By: William Sweeney @ 10/15/2007 10:02:15 PM

    Comment: Dear baronminds1, You're funny. It's obvious you're speaking about something you know nothing about.

    • Posted By: Mist74 @ 10/16/2007 12:56:29 PM

      Comment: I must say that having been a contractor with Blackwater last year and part of this year we were heald by the ROE the same as any force over in Iraq. We did not just go out and kill innocent civillians and babys. I am a mother, wife and unless you would like to join the military to ensure "Baby Killers" arent in the way then that is the only recourse. There is a shortage of soldiers. We fill that void, we follow the ROE and are heald responsible for every action we take. Many of these "Babys walk up with a smile on their faces and will hand you and IED without thinking twice. the kids in Iraq are equivilant to our teenagers here in America, and when something goes bad there always has to be an excape goat, BW is that goat for the moment. We have all been previous military, and had additional training from Blackwater. You are only reading and hearing what you want to hear, and what a corrupt media is telling you.

  • Posted By: wingshooter @ 10/15/2007 9:21:13 PM

    Comment: For every innocent Iraqi shot by Blackwater, a thousand new insurgents are created. And if any of you had a chance to catch Prince's testimony before Congress, you'll realize that his admission that he's not as smart as his father, is, if anything, a massive understatement. No wonder the war's a mess. Obviously, we need to get rid of these Blackwater cowboys. Maybe we could send them all to Bush's ranch in Texas.

  • Posted By: garoner @ 10/15/2007 8:51:34 PM

    Comment: Enter Your Comment

  • Posted By: baronmind1 @ 10/15/2007 8:17:14 PM

    Comment: Blackwater is the new SS, a private military that answer to noone except the Dictator in charge, Bush. They are baby killers. They shoot unarmed women and children. Blackwater is Un-American, immoral, and illegal. These baby killers will be the new sociopaths, the serial killers in our society. they feel no remorse, compassion or empathy. They believe they are untouchable. They are a dictators perfect tool against democracy.

    • Posted By: kingpin @ 10/16/2007 12:10:22 PM

      Comment: Cindy Sheehan.How are you? You should get together with namvet there below.(the possum and have a marshmallow roast at the ranch

  • Posted By: scassi8 @ 10/15/2007 8:17:14 PM

    Comment: These people are just as they seem. The military has thoroughly trained a human machine to respond to
    any given situation. They know very little else when it comes to the national job market. They live for the
    rush of engaging in violent confrontations as often as possible. In a state of solitude with nothing to fill
    that hollowness, they desire more adrenaline rush. They have been briefed over and over about how above
    the rest of us they are and they believe in establishing this over powering image at every available
    opportunity. There is no doubt that (whatever name) their presence in any area could be an asset and
    could contribute to the control of almost any situation, but they also require some sort of control to avoid
    running amuck intimmidating those who try to live an every day life style.

  • Posted By: kwh13 @ 10/15/2007 7:17:29 PM

    Comment: Enter Your Comment

  • Posted By: ninnafaye @ 10/15/2007 3:58:36 PM

    Comment: blackwater is undoing any good the u.s. military may have done. they are a bunch of gun-toting mercenaries much like the faux cowboy who hired them. they are bullies who have no accountability to anyone. they,like their v.p. shoot first and never ask questions. everyone get out now before more innocent people are slaughtered,americans and iraqis.

    • Posted By: kwh13 @ 10/15/2007 6:02:54 PM

      Comment: Theyre not mercenaries - theyre security gaurds!!!!! Theyre not undoing what the US military has done they are exposing what the corrupt and ineffectual Iraqi government cannot curtail. We wouldnt even NEED security contractors over there if those pocket padding nincumpoops in the Iraqi government could do their job. The contractors are not bullies. If you think for a heartbeat that the guys that are DAILY trying to assasinate the US Ambassador to Iraq are showing up with rubber bands and spitwads then youve been reading a totally different account than I have and I would love to be privy to that story where the jihadists are playing nice like. Thats the ONLY reason they have to "tote" guns around. I also dont think that the president had anything to do with the assignment of security contracts. As a Platoon Sergeant in the Marines I dont tell my squad leaders who to send out on security, I just tell them to get out security, come back later and let me know that its done, and give me the list of who is on security so that I will have something intelligible when my boss asks me about security. Thats the way it works. Find something that cites that President Bush was personally responsible for assigning the contract to Blackwater and I'll eat my hat - no salt.

      • Posted By: sj62 @ 10/16/2007 10:29:39 AM

        Comment: Is that the new party line? That these overpaid cowboys are "security guards"? Look again, won't you? How many Joe-Blow security guards do you know pack as much heat that these guys do? Yes, the situation is dangerous, but who made it dangerous? Blackwater was hired long before the current Iraqi government came into being. Do you remember the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA)? If you do, do you remember who ran it? Was it Iraqis? No! It was wet-behind-the-ears Americans! And, doesn't it concern you that after fours years of all this that Baghdad is still not secure enough to cross the street without an armed escort? Blackwater and their ilk are not "security guards". They are guns-for-hire, aka mercenaries. As for Bush "personally" hiring these folks, don't be facetious. Of course, Bush doesn't personally hire anybody, but, as the person in charge, all responsibility falls on his shoulders. If he didn't do it, someone under him did, but the responsibility falls on him.. As a platoon sergeant, you ought to understand that.

  • Posted By: c3227 @ 10/15/2007 3:52:39 PM

    Comment: Enter Your Comment

  • Posted By: c3227 @ 10/15/2007 3:39:53 PM

    Comment: This is one of the most anti-Semitic rags I have ever read. Is his religion the crime or the alleged killings in Baghdad? This rant is nothing more than trying to get people who hate religion to hate him even more.
    Further, what does Von Steuben have to do with mercenaries? Does the writer want to call Steuben, Lafayette, Rochambeau and Kosciuszko mercenaries? You can't make a parallel with colonial America where a large number of people were moving here to improve their lives, often to escape religious persecution. There are a lot of American soldiers fighting and dying at this very moment that are not Americans! Are they mercenaries? It sure as hell can???t be the pay. How about believing in defending our country and those who can???t defend themselves? You don???t believe that because you think these people are stupid and easily manipulated.

    Really! Who is the one being manipulated? Anyone who can???t see the hatred of Christianity in this bar napkin of a hit piece is the one being manipulated. You are only interested in yourselves and do not have the capability of thinking for yourselves and are easily persuaded to follow the conformity of your globalist, socialist ideology.

    What is wrong with this guy having religion anyway? It is his faith that guides him. I would rather have someone following their moral authority than any politician seeking votes or news rag trying to create the next hoodwinked controversy.

    • Posted By: kwh13 @ 10/15/2007 5:36:36 PM

      Comment: C3227: I agree with you wholeheartedly - I have said for years that the Constitution reads "Freedom OF Religion" not "Freedom FROM Religion" . I cannot stand nihilism. I sent my kid to a church based daycare when she was three. My ultra left friend asked me how I could be indoctrinating her into religion from such an impressionable age? I said - Sweetie - if my child growing up with good morals and an ethical mindset is the worst thing that ever happens to my child I will consider myself the most fortunate parent that has ever lived.

    • Posted By: bfranklin @ 10/15/2007 4:14:28 PM

      Comment: If you keep your religion out of the political discourse then your (or his) religion will never be a crime, but once you (or America) cross that line then yes freedom is replaced by dogma. Its was this failed Bush administration that opened the door to this Theocratic nightmare by courting the Religious Right and funding religious causes at the behest of the Religious Right. They don't speak for me and if have any love for freedom you will kick the Bible, the Tora and the Koran out of the White House, State House and City Hall forever or the Islamic Sectarian Hell you see in Iraq will be played out right here in America only it'll be among Fundamentalist Christians.

      • Posted By: kwh13 @ 10/15/2007 5:40:44 PM

        Comment: Once again - its "Freedom OF religion", not "Freedom FROM Religion"

        • Posted By: c3227 @ 10/15/2007 9:42:34 PM

          Comment: What in the world are you talking about? Have you been hiding under a rock since the religion of peace attacked unarmed Marines in Beret? Further, what does it have to do with Blackwater and the alleged killing of civilians? The only people that bring up religion are anti-Semites like you.

    • Posted By: lumberjack @ 10/15/2007 3:48:45 PM

      Comment: Well said.

  • Posted By: c3227 @ 10/15/2007 3:38:39 PM

    Comment: This is one of the most anti-Semitic rags I have ever read. Is his religion the crime or the alleged killings in Baghdad? This rant is nothing more than trying to get people who hate religion to hate him even more.
    Further, what does Von Steuben have to do with mercenaries? Does the writer want to call Steuben, Lafayette, Rochambeau and Kosciuszko mercenaries? You can't make a parallel with colonial America where a large number of people were moving here to improve their lives, often to escape religious persecution. There are a lot of American soldiers fighting and dying at this very moment that are not Americans! Are they mercenaries? It sure as hell can???t be the pay. How about believing in defending our country and those who can???t defend themselves? You don???t believe that because you think these people are stupid and easily manipulated.

    Really! Who is the one being manipulated? Anyone who can???t see the hatred of Christianity in this bar napkin of a hit piece is the one being manipulated. You are only interested in yourselves and do not have the capability of thinking for yourselves and are easily persuaded to follow the conformity of your globalist, socialist ideology.

    What is wrong with this guy having religion anyway? It is his faith that guides him. I would rather have someone following their moral authority than any politician seeking votes or news rag trying to create the next hoodwinked controversy.

  • Posted By: Wincener @ 10/15/2007 3:17:12 PM

    Comment: I am a pacific islander and war zone is a war zone. During the Secon World war most of the fight between the USA and Japan were fought on our small islands. A lot of civilians were innocent victims of the war. However, it was inevitable that the war was fought so that peace could be achieved. I congratulate the Black water for all they have done in carrying out their assigned duties, protecting diplomats in the war zone is one. The civilians that were hurt of killed could easily be counted as casualties of war.

  • Posted By: Bzajr3 @ 10/15/2007 3:17:06 PM

    Comment: Regardless of who, what and where and how Blackwater ended up in Iraq, they are there and at WAR. Why does everyone forget the fact that both Blackwater and the Military are AMERICANS. They have to defend themselves against a force that are not in a uniform and can not be identified as a civilian or combatant. It doesn't matter at this point whether or not Prince is a christian wacko or not. AMERICAN fathers, sons, mothers, daugters are in Iraq and regardless who put them there, we need to show our support. The military hired Blackwater and if they have to defend themselfs from "invisible bullets fired from invisible guns, that no one ever witnesses" so be it. It's always the same old story from all you bleeding heart morons. Like it or not, we are at WAR, people die, civilians die so AMERICANS can live. Get over it. Last time I cheked history, we killed a whole lot of German and Japanesse civilians. You didn't hear AMERICAN'S crying back then....did you? Oh, I forgot, your all going to say we aren't a war with Iraq, they didn't do anything, we shouldn't be there.....9/11, Hussain thats enough reason.

  • Posted By: Bzajr3 @ 10/15/2007 3:15:24 PM

    Comment: Regardless of who, what and where and how Blackwater ended up in Iraq, they are there and at WAR. Why does everyone forget the fact that both Blackwater and the Military are AMERICANS. They have to defend themselves against a force that are not in a uniform and can not be identified as a civilian or combatant. It doesn't matter at this point whether or not Prince is a christian wacko or not. AMERICAN fathers, sons, mothers, daugters are in Iraq and regardless who put them there, we need to show our support. The military hired Blackwater and if they have to defend themselfs from "invisible bullets fired from invisible guns, that no one ever witnesses" so be it. It's always the same old story from all you bleeding heart morons. Like it or not, we are at WAR, people die, civilians die so AMERICANS can live. Get over it. Last time I cheked history, we killed a whole lot of German and Japanesse civilians. You didn't hear AMERICAN'S crying back then....did you? Oh, I forgot, your all going to say we aren't a war with Iraq, they didn't do anything, we shouldn't be there.....9/11, Hussain thats enough reason.

  • Posted By: kwh13 @ 10/15/2007 2:43:31 PM

    Comment: I dont know what everyone is getting so wrapped around the "private army" thing for. We are surrounded by them constantly - there is an armed security guard in the bank when you go there, sometimes at your grocery store, the mall, the amusement park.......Nobody is calling them a mercenary force yet if they were placed in the same scenario as Blackwater SECURITY they would most likely react the same as Blackwater. Nobody is calling the president of Wells Fargo armored cars a religious lunatic - but his company does EXACTLY the same mission. The only difference in the two is the geography. Nobody is calling for the disbanding of the armed security guard at the bank or the mall and calling their companies "private armies" or crying about how much their bag of alfalfa sprouts cost because they have to pay the security gaurd at the grocery store when the local police force could and should provide this service/s. My point is that Blackwater is the same as any other security gaurd company - nothing more nothing less. The religion of the owner is of no matter in the operational aspect of the firm other than it might be run with a little more ethical consideration than your publicly traded firms. We already have these private armies in our midst on a daily basis - yet nobody seems to bat an eye at Jimmy the security gaurd at the subdivision gate. But the essence of the mission of all security companies is the same. The variable is the permissive on non permissive environment in which they are bound to conduct their mission.

    just on a historical point the coal mine riots in West Virginia were carried out by Private Security hired by the coal mine against the union strikes. Yeah - that was an offensive type private army. The other I can think of is the Pinkerton sceanrios in the old west. The difference is that both of those scenarios is that they American soil and offensive in nature - Blackwater is on foreign soil and defensive in nature - yeah the bullet holes and the disabled Suburban didnt get there via fairy dust. It mut have come from those unarmed civilians who werent firing any weapons.

  • Posted By: ayadbaban @ 10/15/2007 2:25:15 PM

    Comment: Blak water and their bunch are a bunch of murderers with a liscence to kill women and chilren, so says the good American Democratic system according to BUSH

    • Posted By: kwh13 @ 10/15/2007 3:14:52 PM

      Comment: Because your buddies in the jihad would never kill women and children would they ? - they have conducted a holy war for the past 50 years without one single woman or child being killed right? Oh yeah they only kill women and children when they have a liscence - I just forget who issued the liscence? Fill me in on the liscncing department for jihad - Ive got some complaints about oversight issues on who liscenced women and children killers. Some of the jihadists are killing men too. Their liscence is only for women and children and I want some accountability and I want it now!

      • Posted By: Bzajr3 @ 10/15/2007 3:19:23 PM

        Comment: YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!!!!!!!

  • Posted By: jmolina13131 @ 10/15/2007 2:15:56 PM

    Comment: We can thank Blackwater for the bullet that isn't in their skull? Why are we in Iraq? A lot of people who are loyal to the Republican party have profited from this war. Let's not forget that! I'd love to compare who many lives would not been lost if President Bush had not pushed us into this war with Iraq.

  • Posted By: jmolina13131 @ 10/15/2007 2:15:38 PM

    Comment: We can thank Blackwater for the bullet that isn't in their skull? Why are we in Iraq? A lot of people who are loyal to the Republican party have profited from this war. Let's not forget that! I'd love to compare who many lives would not been lost if President Bush had not pushed us into this war with Iraq.

  • Posted By: jmolina13131 @ 10/15/2007 2:12:45 PM

    Comment: We can thank Blackwater for the bullet that isn't in their skull? Why are we in Iraq? A lot of people who are loyal to the Republican party have profited from this war. Let's not forget that! I'd love to compare who many lives would not been lost if President Bush had not pushed us into this war with Iraq.

  • Posted By: american citizen @ 10/15/2007 2:09:11 PM

    Comment: Blackwater and the outsourcing of military functions is one of most frightening threats to democracy in America today. The question is accountability both legal and financial. What is missing from this discussion is Blackwaters involvement in post Katrina New Orleans: they were there on the ground: who authorized their deployment, who did they report to and what incentive did they have to due process for the American citizens they encountered. If we don't speak up now we will these blackshirted killers on our
    streets in the next national emergency, real or contrived. Are they a front for the corporate US shadow government? A CIA company?

    • Posted By: lumberjack @ 10/15/2007 3:16:43 PM

      Comment: I agree. And what about Area 51?! Aren't they involved in security there? What about the shuttle disaster? Weren't some dudes in black coveralls on the launch pad?! And they just keep on tote-ing my paw's cows away with those unmarked helicopters!!!

  • Posted By: Lilliegeorge @ 10/15/2007 1:46:50 PM

    Comment: Enter Your Comment

  • Posted By: Lilliegeorge @ 10/15/2007 1:46:12 PM

    Comment: This whole situation is just very SAD!!!

  • Posted By: Lilliegeorge @ 10/15/2007 1:45:32 PM

    Comment: Enter Your Comment

  • Posted By: Lilliegeorge @ 10/15/2007 1:45:19 PM

    Comment: Enter Your Comment

  • Posted By: namvet6869 @ 10/15/2007 1:36:50 PM

    Comment: KINGPIN U R A PIG WITH ALOT TO LEARN MAYBE YOU SHOULD CHECK YOURSELF ON IQ I THINK U R A WORK OF ART GOD BLESS EVERYONE AND HELP KINGPIN

    • Posted By: kwh13 @ 10/15/2007 3:02:08 PM

      Comment: NamVet - what did you do in Nam? I can tell you werent a grunt - because a grunt likes any help he can get in any form it comes in. You probably spent your tour sitting in Danang shooing heroin and blackmarketing US government gear that was supposed to go to the grunts.
      Just because you were in Vietnam doesnt mean youre the definitive authority on all things military - when did you get out - 38-39 years ago? Yeah - youre hardly up to date. So give the other guys a rest and quit calling everyone a pig or I'll expose your pogue rear end for the wanna be that you are.

      Yeah - I'm a grunt, yeah Ive been there. and Ill whip out the DD214s to prove it- I doubt you will

  • Posted By: namvet6869 @ 10/15/2007 1:33:39 PM

    Comment: Erik we cannot push our beliefs on everyone; you need to either enlist or get a real job what you and your men are doing is way wrong you need help man. a proud NAM VET

  • Posted By: namvet6869 @ 10/15/2007 1:31:55 PM

    Comment: Enter Your Comment

  • Posted By: 800mZero @ 10/15/2007 1:29:00 PM

    Comment: Erik Prince and his operators do a job that they deserve to get well paid for. Yes could it be possibly done by our own military ---yep it could. But that would depllete our special forces from doing thier jobs. Blackwater offers a service---you can buy someone who will take a bullet for you in the middle of a warzone. To me given the current unsettled state of Iraq i would pay Mr. Prince for one of his Men. I could care less about his religion--it his is his constitutional right to practice whatever religion he wants, it is also his constitutional right to post whatever he wants on the net---rights that he has defened with his own life. Did his men screw up?? That is yet to be determined. Do I think his men are doing a good job---yes I do. Do I think they are needed--yes I do. Before you all bash the man and his companies services --put your self in the situtation of being a foriegn unarmed doplomat in Iraq's hot spots--who would you want on your side? Would you want the greenhorn NG soldier, or a highly traind ex special forces operator?

  • Posted By: kingpin @ 10/15/2007 1:27:50 PM

    Comment: I really like the "Enter Your Comment" posts by some of the geniuses out there. Most of you anti american posters seem to be operating with two digit IQ's, or English is not my first language. Take a bath,read a book, listen to Michael Savage ,not Fat Albert Gore, and God Bless Blackwater

    • Posted By: namvet6869 @ 10/15/2007 1:48:06 PM

      Comment: HEY PIG MAYBE YOU SHOULD READ A BOOK TAKE A BATH AND LISTEN TO THE TRUTHS INSTEAD OF GW CRONNIES BS U EVER SERVE CHICKEN LITTLE. NAM VET

      • Posted By: kingpin @ 10/15/2007 3:16:19 PM

        Comment: Wow, a name caller!!
        Let me guess. English is not your 1st language either. Think of something original trailer boy, and "git"
        back to me. You were a supply clerk, right? Ever carry an M79? How many teeth left?

  • Posted By: Thomas-in-Newport @ 10/15/2007 1:21:58 PM

    Comment: I support Blackwater???s actions. I believe in free enterprise. This company was hired to carry out certain missions with certain guidelines. They have done so. The attacks on Blackwater are coming from the same people that are attacking the US forces hoping we will be defeated by the islamo- fascist. The people that are attacking Blackwater are the same people that attack Israel and Christians. These people are the socialist that want to destroy the present Constitution of the United States of America and rewrite it with more government control and only their political views allowed. Blackwater is a security company operating in a very hostile environment under government contracts. They do their job well.

  • Posted By: WillHe25 @ 10/15/2007 1:20:13 PM

    Comment: I do not appreciate the comment about green and young National Guardsmen! In the area we were in Iraq, which was a very hostile area, we did a better job than the active army.. In my platoon alone each soldier had and average of 8 years active duty. Most were ex ranger or sappers. I noticed that there were so many young people in active service, it was crazy to seee the amount of guys under 20 over there in active service.

  • Posted By: kennymo306 @ 10/15/2007 1:16:27 PM

    Comment: i would work for him. i'm too old and busted up to be an operative, but intell, logistics, training and support are fine. the job in iraq and afganistan are not in the scope of training to the masses of soldiers, therefore more troops would be hurt. As for the action under investigation. Do you believe that the bad guys wouldn't fire on the convoy to elict the action hoping for civillian injuries. Without this type of security force protecting the leaders and diplomats, we would run out of policy makers pretty quick. Remember the best defense is a strong offense. In this case a strong, well armed and well trained offense.

  • Posted By: OldSoldier @ 10/15/2007 12:44:01 PM

    Comment: Why are we using contract forces? Look at the size of of our military. We have more contract people than we have actual people in uniform. Why? Money!!! First let's have the rich folks in this country lobby to get rid of the draft. Then they can start up companies that will provide support services to the military to replace all those jobs that were done by soldiers. People asked why the military isn't guarding these diplomats and the answer is that they don't want some young inexperienced national guardsman doing the job. In the 70's and 80's, I was still training soldiers to do exactly that job. The people we trained were well equiped and very job at their job. When not needed for escort duty they were back at their regular military job as a medic, a cook, a mechanic, an infantryman, or whatever. Hell, instead of paying some civilian group, overwhich you have little control, and if you won't turn it back over to the military, expand the Secret Service to have them do the job. I'm sure Mr. Prince would have no problems getting the contract to train a special group from the Secret Service. The difference would be that the group would once again belong directly to the government and therefore be subject to law.

    • Posted By: kwh13 @ 10/15/2007 2:03:25 PM

      Comment: Old soldier:

      Blackwater is doing a State Department job, not a military job - just to clear that confusion up. Secondly BHlackwater is it for less than what the Stae Dept. can do the job. Thirdly, Blackwater can be released from their contract when the job is over (the war, the conflict, whatever, pick your tagline) whereas a Stae Dept employee has to be found new work to do, a retirement plan etc. I for one, dont want to pay for 2 thousand State Dept employees to walk around Washington DC picking up cigarette butts for $75k per year - how about you?

  • Posted By: bfranklin @ 10/15/2007 12:18:24 PM

    Comment: "Christians" like Prince are the PROOF that Christianity is a doomed failure. Christianity in America is no different than the Islamic fundamentalists that they despise in the middle east.

    • Posted By: namvet6869 @ 10/15/2007 1:40:44 PM

      Comment: ALOT OF PEOPLE SAY THEY DO SOMETHING FOR SOME GOOD WE NEED TO CLEAN UP OUR OWN HOUSE HERE IN THE USA BEFORE TRYING TO PUSH OUR BELIEFS DOWN OTHERS THROATS. NAM VET

    • Posted By: lumberjack @ 10/15/2007 12:35:24 PM

      Comment: You're right. Didn't I see Mother Teresa on CNN sawing someone's head off?

      • Posted By: bfranklin @ 10/15/2007 12:47:56 PM

        Comment: How many Blackwaters does it take to cancel out one Mother Teresa? How many Iraqi children have to die before you get over your fear of Middle East indepence from America and its economic agenda? Your fear is killing America, do you find salvation in the death of others? Is that your Christian salvation? Not only that but as an American I derive my definition of freedom from the Constitution, not the Bible. Eik Prince's delsional belief in good and evil have nothing to do with me.

        Neither YOU nor Erik Prince speaks for the American people.

        • Posted By: lumberjack @ 10/15/2007 1:34:12 PM

          Comment: Blackwater contracts with the federal government to provide protection for diplomats. It has nothing to do with religion. If, and i don't know how big an if that is, Blackwater employees killed unarmed, unmalicious Iraqi civilians, then I believe they should be punished as any other common criminal.
          As for Middle East independence, I'm all for it. I say let's put another $1.00 per-gallon tax on un-commerce-related gas, restart our nuclear power prgrams, give huge grants for wind and solar power and start turning Saudi Arabia back into the goat-herding nation it was 50 years ago. Provided we all agree Israel has a right to exist peacefully. But pretend for a minute we didn't invade Iraq. Weren't Iraqi children being killed by other Iraqis? Pretend for a minute we had an immediate total withdrawal....won't Iraqi children still be dying at the hands of other Iraqis? Of course. All in the name of one form of Islam versus another. On September 11, 2001, there were radical Muslims that wanted to kill you in your little cubicle on whatever floor of the WTCs. As a Christian, I might disagree with you, but I don't want to kill you.
          God bless you, me and America.

          • Posted By: ap313 @ 10/15/2007 1:49:54 PM

            Comment: Before reading this article, I never would have associated Blackwater with Christianity. Their job is to protect US civilians working in Iraq and other hostile environments. I've worked with the Department of Defense for three years and I'm quite familiar with the work they've done, and I've never heard so much as a peep about the founder's religious beliefs. So don't go and accuse Blackwater of being some fundamentalist Christian army going out there and killing Musliums. This is just another case of the media spinning something that's completely unrelated to the "problem." I'd love for Congress to compare the number of lives lost had Blackwater NOT been responsible to safeguarding US civilians and diplomats abroad. Who the heck do you think protected all the Senators and members of Congress who've visited Iraq and Afghanistan on their little boondoggles? They can thank Blackwater for the bullet that isn't in their skull.

    • Posted By: lumberjack @ 10/15/2007 12:32:54 PM

      Comment: You're right. Didn't I see Mother Teresa sawing off a hostage's head?

  • Posted By: bfranklin @ 10/15/2007 12:13:31 PM

    Comment: A a son of a Military father who I am disgusted by this embrace of mercenary armies like Blackwater, Christianity did not found America, and Americas constitution is far more holy than anything in the Bible.

    It is time for millions of Americans who beleive in the rule of LAW as spelled out in our constitution to take back our government from these lunatic Theocons.

    BY LAW: Only Congress can raise and fund armies, the hiring of Blackwater by the state department is therefore unconstitutional treason.

    • Posted By: kwh13 @ 10/15/2007 2:26:45 PM

      Comment: Bfranklin:

      Whoa hoss. I dont know what kind of New York or California version of the constitution youve been reading but youre using big $100 words like theocons so I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume youre either well educated or well read. so I'm not going to mince my logic -
      Your reading teachers have done you a great disservice or your Social studies teachers have. If your reading teachers didnt teach you the difference between OF and FROM then shame on them. If your Social Studies teachers taught you the US Constitution reads "Freedom FROM religion" and not "Freedom OF religion" Then they have really done you a great disservice and you need to go down to your local JUCO and take you a class in Logic or Critical Thinking so that you can get back on track.
      2d - Do you consider the armed guard that drives your deposits from the bank to the depository "mercinaries" because thats all that Blackwater is - they are armed escorts for humans instead of bags of cash. Listen to what they say their job is - security. Nothing more thatn the renta cop at the local mall
      3d - The State Dept. is funded by Congress and has to account for all of its expenses line for line. Congress knew about and knows about Blackwater for the entire time they have been under contract. Dont let the members of congress who have a political advantage by poo pooing Blackwater fool you into believing they didnt know what was going on. The briefings that detail these things are not given to one party but not the other - Dont let members of congress try to pull the old "I didnt know what the speed limit was officer " routine with you. a. Ignorance is not a defense for a member of congress. b. IF they didnt know but everyone else did, do you really want that bozo representing you? (If he cant read his/her briefs of make their commitee meetings then they are not doing their job.)

      You got a lot to learn my firend - didnt your military father impart some of the knowlege of basic logic and common sense upon you?

      What do I know - I'm just an enlisted grunt.

      • Posted By: bfranklin @ 10/15/2007 4:04:50 PM

        Comment: Listen Amigo, I don't think its OK for political afiliation or religious afiliation to enter into WHO gets a government contract but that is EXACTLY what is going on here. This creates a feedback loop to create a permanent power structure. Friend, these folks have an AGENDA and this agenda was spelled out in unminced words by MANY in the administration including Karl Rove: A PERMANENT REPULICAN MAJORITY: Amigo that is not democracy that is demagogery. Money is their road to power and raiding the treasury is the best way to get it. WAKE UP.

        • Posted By: kwh13 @ 10/15/2007 5:10:35 PM

          Comment: I dont know where everyone keeps getting the conspiracy theory thing from Thees not a panel of all powerful men sitting in a dark room twisting their "snidley whiplash" mustaches, drinking scotch and laughing maniacly (Ok maybe they are drinking scotch) but it doesnt exist. Karl roves Permanant Republican Majority thing - sure - ask a Democrat if they wouldnt love to have and if they have a plan for implemneting a Permanat Democrat Majority - I promise you they have one! Agenda - sure there is!!! I wouldnt trust a politician who didnt have an agenda. thats what politics is about - and if you think that the Democrat politians dont have an agenda then youre sadly mistaken again. Believe me when I tell you that the State Department DID NOT start the security contract selection process by saying - Whos the most religious and politically connected security firm we can find to award this big contract to? It didnt happen. I'll promise you that. They said - who can support the requirements of this mission? They had three answers Blackwater, DynCorp, and Triple Canopy. Amazingly enough all three got similar contracts. Wheres the conspiracy to stay in power? I dont see it. If you want to make a lot of money right now, go find some old soldiers who still have a will to feel the adrenaline of a gunfight, put them in some body armor and some hardened Suburbans and tell the State Dept that you would like the opportunity to bid on a security contract. Maybe youll get it. Who knows? But if you dont have an agenda and you think you could do the job better than Blackwater with a more ethical and moral twist to it and NOT have an agenda I highly urge you to take up the challenge. Who knows you may be the next big thing with Donny Deutcshe!!

    • Posted By: onesawb @ 10/15/2007 12:59:51 PM

      Comment: You are doing waaaay to much crack, Make your Dad proud enlist today and do something about the situation you say you object to. It's time for all Americans to realise that this country requires more than talk from it's citizens, talk's cheap actions speak far louder.

  • Posted By: onesawb @ 10/15/2007 12:13:04 PM

    Comment: Our all volunteer military is made up of burger flippers and unemployables whose only objective is to waste time and get a paycheck.Most of them did not join the military to serve, but to avoid low paying temporary jobs, a large number objected or refused to deploy to Iraq after serving years in the peacetime army.It saddens me to think that after 24 years of service, That I've left a better equipped Army that is much weaker than the one I joined 24 years ago. I have to agree that contractors are doing jobs that our military is unable and unwilling to do. I cannot speak for the other branches of the military, but the US Army is full of burger flippers and crybabies, who whine about any task given. Don't get me wrong we have many fine soldiers in Iraq at the same time there is much dead wood. If it weren't for the contractors there could be no success in
    Iraq, period. God Bless Blackwater and the others with the balls to actually do the job.

    • Posted By: kwh13 @ 10/15/2007 1:57:30 PM

      Comment: Dude:

      You really have no connection with reality whatsoever if that is who you think serves in the military. I think most of my unit had at least two years of college on the average, some even had degrees. The enlisted men, I'm not talking about the officers who are required to have a degree. Yes, some guys joined right out of high school, but most had been out there already. As to the "large number" who refused to deploy? Again dont know what youre talking about - you mean the dozen or so that have refused out of the entire US military? You mean that .00001% of the forces. By the way - thats a better % than the WWII era could boast. Blackwater is attractive to a lot of operators b/c you are pretty much doing the same job you do in the military (Inextremis Hostage Recovery) but you get a HUGE raise. Some of my buddies in my reserve unit (which has coincidently had a platoon in Iraq or Afghanistan constantly since January of 2003 and is therefore probably the most depolyed unit in the Marine Corps ) deploy with the Marine Corps for 6 months to Iraq, turn around and go back to work for Blackwater for another 6 month rotation because of the fact that the deployment rotation (a two word combination that I thought I would never hear used in the same sentence with reserve unit) keeps them from being able to obtain suitable employment due to the fact that their boss knows they are going to get deployed again in a few months - yeah, its illegal but its the reality. If you ask me, these guys at Blackwater are giving a heck of a training program to our units whose members work for them in their off time. BTW I wouldnt be talking trash about those burger flippers who were trigger pullers less than a month ago.

    • Posted By: namvet6869 @ 10/15/2007 1:45:10 PM

      Comment: TELL ME ONESAWB WHAT IS THE JOB AND BELEVE ME ITS NOT ABOUT BALLS BUD ITS ABOUT CONTROL AND MONEY WAKE UP BEFORE YOU FALL AND HURT YOURSELF AND BLACKWATER WILL BURN IN HELL. NAM VET

    • Posted By: hideousdwarf @ 10/15/2007 12:24:17 PM

      Comment: Really? SO then My Dads BA in Nursing, Grandfathers Masters of Psychology and my path to my BA dont count?

      • Posted By: no0ne_007 @ 10/15/2007 12:56:57 PM

        Comment: "God Bless Blackwater " - For doing what God said he would never do again, killing a bunch of people. (To bad blackwater can't make it rain, huh?). What ever happened to "Thow shalt not kill". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypocrisy)

  • Posted By: bfranklin @ 10/15/2007 12:08:20 PM

    Comment: If America continues on this Theocratic road, it will spell the end of freedom for ALL.
    America is the last best hope for a truly free and open society.
    Christians in America, not science, provide the PROOF that Christianity is a doomed failure, Christians in America crave for war and despise their enemies, they selectively choose which parts of the Bible to embrace, the Bible is nothing more than paradox ridden joke meant to paralyze its believers. In it, universal truths that belong to all men are trampled in the name of blind faith to the opportunistic scum.

  • Posted By: bfranklin @ 10/15/2007 12:02:59 PM

    Comment: Enter Your Comment

  • Posted By: no0ne_007 @ 10/15/2007 11:56:31 AM

    Comment: "It is true that the Blackwater Web site has a "Chaplain Corner" with a distinctly evangelical message."

    This is what I find ironic by the religious right... Blackwater personal are trained in killing people, but as long as it is in the name of God, it is ok? (More people were killed during the Christian crusades, then in both world wars put together)

    I like your Christ, I dislike your Christians,
    for your Christians are unlike your Christ

    • Posted By: lumberjack @ 10/15/2007 12:42:52 PM

      Comment: I watched more than an hour of Blackwater hearings. I never heard Prince say anything about being on a crusade. Don't leap to conclusions. He'd be the first to admit that his mission, though profitable, is slightly less than divine.

  • Posted By: wiermank @ 10/15/2007 11:56:26 AM

    Comment: It amazes me that christians, jews, islamists,etc. all believe that god is somehow on their side. I find it impossible to believe that a supreme being would support one group of zelots and politicians over another group of the same. Anyone claiming to have a direct line to a supreme being is ignorant, dilusional, or both.

    • Posted By: bfranklin @ 10/15/2007 12:52:36 PM

      Comment: Atheism or Non-Theistic belief is the only way to save Americas Civil liberties. We need to get Jesus and Judeo/Christian belief influences out of our Government and quickly.

  • Posted By: no0ne_007 @ 10/15/2007 11:53:41 AM

    Comment: "It is true that the Blackwater Web site has a "Chaplain Corner" with a distinctly evangelical message."

    This is what I find ironic by the religious right... Blackwater personal are trained in killing people, but as long as it is in the name of God, it is ok? (More people were killed during the Christian crusades, then in both world wars put together)

    I like your Christ, I dislike your Christians,
    for your Christians are unlike your Christ.

    • Posted By: lumberjack @ 10/15/2007 12:46:10 PM

      Comment: Oh, and while we're on recent events such as the Crusades, didn't the Crusades involve a little bit of reclaiming land in Europe from invading Muslims? I guess nobody was harmed during their excursions, huh?

      • Posted By: no0ne_007 @ 10/15/2007 1:24:41 PM

        Comment: lol, now it's the other way around, Christians invading Muslim countries. I guess nobody has been hurt in Iraq? (So where are the aluminum tubes, yellow cake from Niger, the mobile labs that Colin Powell reference in his UN speech?)

  • Posted By: onesawb @ 10/15/2007 11:51:46 AM

    Comment: Enter Your Comment

  • Posted By: fanofman @ 10/15/2007 11:45:43 AM

    Comment: Enter Your Comment

  • Posted By: fanofman @ 10/15/2007 11:45:18 AM

    Comment: I would just like to toss in my perspective: Just like our wonderful military, know one here is blaming the individual employees of Blackwater, but instead are really blaming the administration for using a private army in a role the troops should be managing. It emphasizes two things in my mind: 1) the area is not safe to any non-Iraqi regardless of their mission, therefore we need a better solution( Iraqis, step up?), 2) The military (ours and Iraq's) are

  • Posted By: Chisolm @ 10/15/2007 11:43:29 AM

    Comment: If our agencies and troops weren't so restricted as to what they could do to get the job done, we wouldn't have to contract with private contractors. Thank heaven for Blackwater and those like them. If it wasn't for these type of companies the US would have a lot more casulties because extremists Iraq's respect and are frightened of Blackwater. If we cripple Blackwater and other private contractors now, the U.S. is in REAL trouble.

  • Posted By: Chisolm @ 10/15/2007 11:35:33 AM

    Comment: If our government agencies and troops weren't so restricted as to what they could do, we wouldn't have to contract with private contractors to get the job done. Thank heaven for Blackwater and companies like them. If it weren't for them, we'd have a lot more casulties.

  • Posted By: no0ne_007 @ 10/15/2007 11:34:21 AM

    Comment: