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POPSBlackwater:Ain't Misbehaving, Saving My Contracts for You
Of course the US government was blind to this - they didn't want to know, they turned a blind eye to what Blackwater was doing because it would have been too hard to arrange for another contractor to do all the security missions that it had ongoing. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, there are as many private contractors as there are uniformed military personnel. Most of them are not security guards as Blackwater's most visible function was. The lack of oversight is abhorrent but not surprising; the State Dept's failure to can this company is inexcusable. My only observation on this article is to suggest how the US government got into this predicament, and it's pretty easy to see. The Bush administration wanted to hold onto the fiction of a few conservative principles, one of those being the concept of a small federal government. Since it already blew that "principle" with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, I'm betting there was White House guidance that directed "no mo
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POPSWe Owe Veterans and Active Duty Warriors Better Than This Cheney's old firm let their sub-contractors expose US soldiers and Iraqi's to a burning toxic waste pit that will cause years worth of injuries and illness. Cotracting out is good for profiteers like the former- Vice President and his buddies but an evil brew for our troops.
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POPSUSA Prepares to Attack Russia in 3 or 4 Years? “I would also like to pay your attention to the fact that the US Military Academy at West Point has recently launched extensive courses to study the Russian culture and language. They started teaching the Iraqi culture and the Arab language three years before invading Iraq.
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POPSKim Jong-il and Saddam Husseins' Doubles Will the real ______ please stand up? it's logical that for security reasons, Kim has one or more stand-ins, as did former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein before the US invasion in 2003 Analysis of Saddam vs. double here .
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POPS Then There’s The Iran Bit Reidel led the Obama Administration’s strategy review of Afghanistan and Pakistan earlier this year. But he’s also worried about Iran. “It’s clear that U.S.-Iranian relations now are going to go into an increasingly difficult period,” Reidel said. “If I was sitting in Teheran, I’d be looking for the place where you could hurt the Americans the most and that’s Obama’s war right next door in Afghanistan.” Remember that Chicagoland speech in The Untouchables? “He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue.” Not exactly the community-organizing Chicago way, I know … Anyway, another nuance overlooked in the complex AfPakInd picture painted by the AP’s Reid today. It isn’t just a war about al-Qaeda, or the Taliban, or Pakistan or India. It’s a war about Iran, too. A lot like Iraq that way. jules crittenden
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POPSFighting Fraud
To put it into perspective, ACORN received about $53 million of federal funding over the past 15 years. Meanwhile, Blackwater, the private military contractor to which the U.S. government has farmed out security duties, may owe the government as much as $55 million for allegedly failing to fulfill the terms of one of its federal contracts. Yet Blackwater (now known as Xe), a company that has five of its employees facing murder charges in a massacre of Iraqi civilians in 2007, got a $217 million contract from the Obama administration to provide security in Iraq. The former Haliburton subsidiary, KBR, got $80 million in contract bonuses to provide electrical wiring in Iraq -- wiring that has fatally electrocuted 16 soldiers and two contractors. They haven’t been defunded by Congress. According to the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight, the biggest three defense contractors -- Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman -- have been cited 109 times for misconduct since 199
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POPSU.S. Iraq Withdrawal 'accelerating' What a waste of lives and money Iraq and Afghanistan are! "President Barack Obama meets senior military officers and administration officials to discuss US strategy in Afghanistan." It's pathetic!
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POPSNeocon Judge's History of Cover-ups In the 1980s, Silberman played behind-the-scenes roles in helping Ronald Reagan gain the White House; he helped formulate hard-line intelligence policies; he encouraged right-wing media attacks on liberals; and he protected the flanks of Reagan’s operatives who were caught breaking the law.
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POPSSkewed Priorities Raise Their Ugly Heads. Blackwater/Xe is one of the dirtiest companies around. They murder, lie, steal and cheat. They have defrauded U.S. taxpayers of MILLIONS of dollars and have refused to be accountable, not only for the money but also for well documented murder and rape among other crimes. And we just let it ride and keep on paying them more. Meanwhile, li'l ole Acorn hires a couple of idiots who appear to hand out questionable advice to a couple of ringers, and man, are we all over it! Instantaneous cut-off of funding and front page rants and raves. In the immortal words of Yakov Smirnoff, "What a country"!
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POPSGuaranteed Health Care in Iraq – But Not for U.S. According to the American political right-wing, government-guaranteed health care is good for Iraqis, but not good for us. They decry even a limited public option for us, but gleefully imposed upon the Iraqis what they label here as "socialism," with much Democratic Party member support. We have (thus far) sacrificed more blood to wrest Iraq from tyranny than we lost on 9/11. And, the total money spent in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is more than the funding required to guarantee minimally decent health care for U.S. citizens. The most senior members of the Republican establishment - and some Democrats like Max Baucus (D-MT) - have gladly spent more taxpayer funds to ensure health care as a Constitutional right in Iraq than they are willing to spend to give us any level of guaranteed coverage. Can someone please explain why our government favors the health care of Iraqis over its own citizens?
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POPSIraqi Commandos Arrest Baathist & Terror Commander in Tikrit, Iraq Commandos with the Golden Brigade entered the Al Ujayli's residence, arrested him and searched the residence without incident. "Tonight's operation was conducted in a professional manner and continues to build upon the great abilities of the Soldiers of the 8th RCB ," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Mitchell Franks. "The detention of Al Ujayli will deal a significant blow to terrorist activities in not only the Salah al-Din province, but throughout the northern part of Iraq as well," Franks added.
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POPSU.S. Mercenary's Lewd & Wild Corrupt Behavior
Stealing tons of military stuff, wild nude drinking parties where they fondle each other (there's video and photos). Prostitution rings. Drug deals. Hazing (beating up subordinates). Eating potato chips and drinking vodka off of each other's ass, pissing on people, failing to show up for duty, going out on unauthorized missions to "hunt heads," and awarding themselves commendation for doing so. Ah....the glories of war. Hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. contracts. Republicans refuse to investigate -- they first have to make sure Obama gets the blame. (It's his war. His Vietnam). I hope this makes into into the War Movies. Scenes of the wild parties interspersed with oil rigs churning away, poppy fields in flames, false elections, the embassy under attack, politicians talking about freedom and democracy, car bombs and bodies, hookers and drugs...brawls over a bag of ice. Hillary fleeing in a helicopter. Cheney at home The impact of our armed insanity is mighty dread i
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POPSAl Qaeda Takes Credit for Last Week's Baghdad Bombings Since the attack, Maliki has ordered the concrete blast walls to be put back up around sensitive sites, and the military has arrested 11 officers for negligence or aiding in the attack. The Iraqi government has accused both al Qaeda in Iraq and former Ba'athists operating from Syria of conducting the attack. On Aug. 23, state-run television aired the confession of a senior member of the Ba'ath party who is accused of masterminding the attacks. The suspect claimed he was a former policeman in Miqdadiyah in eastern Diyala province, a region that has served as a bastion for al Qaeda in Iraq. He said the attackers paid $10,000 in bribes to ensure that their trucks would pass through checkpoints into Baghdad. The attack was ordered by a senior Ba'ath official based in Syria. Today, the Iraqi government asked Syria to turn over senior Ba'athists Sattam Farhan and Mohammad Younis al Ahmed for their involvement in last week's bombings.
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POPSShoddy/Profiteering - Former Bush Cronies Cash In Shoddy was a term that entered the language to describe uniforms sold to Union troops during the civil war. The uniforms literally disolved when they got wet. Profiteering is a better understood term that came out of the same era. Now it is part of the revolving door syndrome in Washington DC. Retire or resign from your politically appointed job or high military post and go to work for a government contractor to be sure you get contracts for work you may or may not do or do well but get because of old "relationships" Stinks doesn't it - no matter what party does it. It has been reason so many companies now have offices and divisions near Washington. Make me mad as hell.
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POPSU.N. Asks for Investigation of U.S. Mercenaries The use of so-called "private security contractors," -- i.e. mercenaries by the USA for extraordinary rendition (and torture) is now a U.N. issue. Such private armies, btw, are a real and very dnagerous sign of growing fascism. The founder of Blackwater, one of the largest, has just been implicated in court of murder, murder of some folks who were going to expose some of Blackwater's war crimes. Blackwater, btw, was forbidden to be in Iraq anymore...so they changed their name and now do their thing in Afghanistan. It's all sick and ugly. If you count the mercenaries the USA actually has about TWICE as many forces in Iraq, 300,000 or more. Plus, since they are not "official army," it's easier for them to get away with murder...being beyond direct military or Iraqi control.
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POPSBlackwater Founder Implicated in Murder Blackwater is one of the so-called "private security contractors," -- i.e. mercenary armies used by the USA military in Iraq. Private armies are a classic and very dangerous sign of growing fascism. Why? -- Because they start murdering people who threaten their business or don't agree with their ideology....which is what this case filed in federal court is about. The growing thugishness of the Republicans, neo-cons, racist and special interest corporations is another worrisome sign of growing fascism....there are now many report of Town Hall meetings being disrupted and people intimidate at these public meetings. Images of people being "hung in effigy," and things like that also growing...the images and rhetoric of violence moving into high gear. These same thug tactics were used to shut down the Florida vote counting in the 2000 elections and all the leaders were on the Republican payroll. So, buckle up my friends and strengthen yourself...they may push this into rea
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POPSNavy Destroyer Named After Marine Medal Of Honor Winner Jason L. Dunham
In a solemn ceremony punctuated by talk of courage, service and sacrifice, the mother of a Marine corporal on Saturday christened a warship honoring her son, who died after covering an exploding grenade to protect his comrades in Iraq. After composing herself and taking a deep breath, Deb Dunham smashed a bottle of champagne over the bow of the 510-foot warship Jason Dunham, then held the bottle aloft before a cheering crowd of more than 1,500 people. She was joined by the Marines who served with her son, by her husband, Dan Dunham, and their daughter Katelyn Dunham. Two other Dunham boys also were in the audience. Retired Gen. Michael Hagee, a former Marine commandant who was with the Dunhams when their son died at Bethesda Naval Hospital days after the explosion, said Jason gave the “gift of valor.” Hagee said the warship will serve as a reminder that freedom “is paid for by the men and women who wear the cloth of this nation.”
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POPSUK relaxes regulation of mercenaries What is this - US and UK populations won`t tolerate a rising military death toll in Afghanistan, so they are privatising the war. By what right do we send private armies to wreak havoc in Afghanistan ?
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POPSUS "dark night" Policy to Ensure Iraq Remains a Client State In beginning the history of the near future, it will be particularly importamnt to look at how this alleged new policy deals with the growing unrest between indigenous Iraqi factions, notably Shi;ite-Sunni, and Kurds-Baghdad government. A shortish and interesting article which offers a non-western analysis which may connect brain cells.
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POPSU.S. frees 5 Iranian diplomats held since 2007 Two and a half years in prison without any charges being filed, without any evidence being presented, without any rights to a lawyer, no chance to defend yourself from accusations, all contact with family, friends, your own government or agencies like the Red Cross cut off No clearing of their name. This is classic injustice, another example of USA hypocrisy and cruelty, phony face and double-standards. Why all the concern on the media about Iranian election results and almost zero coverage about USA violations of its own principles? The answer, of course, is strong forces of neocon conservatives, warmongering Republicans and Zionist extremist are once against pushing for war against Iran.
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