More Change You Can Believe In...

Speaking of issues progressives have caved on, how about the use of "mercenaries" overseas?

Remember when folks like Markos Moulitsas thought that was a bad thing?

A bad thing worth raising Hell about?

Any bets on how much progessive outrage there will be with the Obama Administration about this:

From a secret division at its North Carolina headquarters, the company formerly known as Blackwater has assumed a role in Washington’s most important counterterrorism program: the use of remotely piloted drones to kill Al Qaeda’s leaders, according to government officials and current and former employees.

The division’s operations are carried out at hidden bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the company’s contractors assemble and load Hellfire missiles and 500-pound laser-guided bombs on remotely piloted Predator aircraft, work previously performed by employees of the Central Intelligence Agency. They also provide security at the covert bases, the officials said.

Remember: When Republicans do it, it's the violence inherent in the system. When Democrats do it, it isn't worthy of notice.

Change you can believe in, baby! On all counts...

Comments

[JeffS]

Blackwater, eh? The Dhimmicrats where using them as a live target in their pre-Obama anti-war campaign. My oh my, the hypocrisy is simply stunning.

[David]

"it's the violence inherent in the system"

How many times have you watched that film? I'm guessing 5+.

[Tim]

"How many times have you watched that film? I'm guessing 5+."

Sorry, but Five is right out.

[David]

Excellent catch, sir.

[Brass Balls Dolan, Delta-Seal-Lurp-Paracommando (ret.) (now in private practice)]

Yeah, but you know, restocking drones just ain't the same as hanging out the window of a Hummer with an M4 in one hand and a bottle of Jack in the other...

[Brass Balls Dolan (All that shit I said above)]

Sorry, that shoulda read, Delta-Seal-Lurp-RECON-paracommando. Sometimes I just ferget how much fun I had on the State Department's dime...

[markg8]

This is typical of the media's poor reporting and is a good example of why many of us on the left labeled the NY Times "The New Pravda" years ago. After a mish mash of CIA's relationship with Blackwater with no context we get to this:

The company’s first major arrangement with the C.I.A. was signed in 2002, with a contract to provide security for the agency’s new station in Kabul, Afghanistan.

And then they segue in the same paragraph right into something totally unrelated:

Blackwater employees assigned to the Predator bases receive training at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada to learn how to load Hellfire missiles and laser-guided smart bombs on the drones, according to current and former employees, who asked not to be identified for fear of upsetting the company.

They don't want to be identified because Erik (not Eric mind you he's Grand Rapids Republican Dutch, I was wrong earlier ) Prince (not Price you moron who tried to correct me, at least I got his last name right) will have them murdered.

The C.I.A. has for several years operated Predator drones out of a remote base in Shamsi, Pakistan, but has secretly added a second site at an air base in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, several current and former government and company officials said. The existence of the Predator base in Jalalabad has not previously been reported.

Officials said the C.I.A. now conducted most of its Predator missile and bomb strikes on targets in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region from the Jalalabad base, with drones landing or taking off almost hourly. The base in Pakistan is still in use. But officials said that the United States decided to open the Afghanistan operation in part because of the possibility that the Pakistani government, facing growing anti-American sentiment at home, might force the C.I.A. to close the one in Pakistan.

Blackwater is not involved in selecting targets or actual strikes. The targets are selected by the C.I.A., and employees at the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Va., pull the trigger remotely. Only a handful of the agency’s employees actually work at the Predator bases in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the current and former employees said.

They said that Blackwater’s direct role in these operations had sometimes led to disputes with the C.I.A. Sometimes when a Predator misses a target, agency employees accuse Blackwater of poor bomb assembly, they said. In one instance last year recounted by the employees, a 500-pound bomb dropped off a Predator before it hit the target, leading to a frantic search for the unexploded bomb in the remote Afghan-Pakistani border region. It was eventually found about 100 yards from the original target.

What does that even mean? It dropped off the predator 100 yards before it hit the target? We're crashing predators into targets now?

Here's what happened guys. Prince headhunted special forces and CIA operatives with the approval of Rummy and the Tenet, Goss etc, under Bush, privatizing and outsourcing some of our most critical defense jobs like fucking American hospital chains lure foreign doctors. It's going to take awhile to excise that cancer, and get real American patriots back in those jobs working directly for and taking orders from the US government like they ought to. Until then keep an eye on this kind of stuff. It's another huge reason why we should never ever trust the likes of most of you with running the USA. You actually think Erik Prince is a fine American.

[richard mcenroe]

Blackwater was providing goons for the State Department in the Balkans under Clinton, reptile.

[markg8]

So was Bin Laden Richard, with the blessing of the Saudi government. Not that they had much effect. When the USAF and our Navy planes started offsetting Milosevic's advantage in artillery he was forced to make peace.

[richard mcenroe]

Which has nothing to do with your disingenuous attempt to paint Blackwater as a Republican scandal, reptile. You need to learn some new tricks or stick to talking to people who don't remember the 90's.

[JeffS]

When the USAF and our Navy planes started offsetting Milosevic's advantage in artillery he was forced to make peace.

Correct, and an excellent example of the motto, "Peace Through Superior Firepower".

Your transformation into a conservative is coming along nicely, Mark!

[PeterUK]

"When the USAF and our Navy planes started offsetting Milosevic's advantage in artillery he was forced to make peace."

Saving the Kosovan Muslims who were supported by al Qaeda members. How did that work out?

BTW. For Kos fans,aren't Blackwater mercenaries?

[markg8]

Richard Blackwater was started in 1997. A little late for the Bosnian conflict eh?

Jeff you apparently know nothing about my views on the use of military so why don't quit before you shove your foot all the way down your own throat?

Peter we're talking about a different conflict. Try to keep up. Regardless is there still a war going on in the former Yugoslavia. No. Case closed.

[PeterUK]

So the fact that American won no brownie points for saving the Muslims in Kosovo is unimportant to to you? Al Qaeda who fought on the same side as American went ahead and murdered 3000 innocent people on 9/11. Democrat realpolitik at its best.
Stick to cutting and pasting.

[markg8]

Stick to pouring and drinking you old sot.

[PeterUK]

I leave that to you Mark,that kind of refuge is for failures.