Blackwater: The Clinton's Real Water Problem (Not Whitewater!)

[Bonobo]

Blackwater got its start and made its first fortune from contracts during the Kosovo mission.

The goal of privatizing the military was embraced by the Clintons.

As we all know now, Hillary was a major part of the White House, gaining all that foreign policy experience.

So why does she say she is against it now and pretend that it was all started under Bush's watch?

According to Jeremy Scahill, it was Clinton that paved the way for the Blackwater way.

So it was Blackwater, not Whitewater they should have been investigating...

[Cha]

1. How ironic they've gone from

White to Blackwater.

[Lint Head]

2. Corporate fascism controlling the people is the goal of the

theocrats that hold the power and all of the real money. Having a private army is the first step. What if We the People actually believed in the Constitution and did the same thing? Would it be accepted by the criminals that are telling us what to do every day? :dem:

[ColbertWatcher]

3. Fair Enough...

...Hillary is linked to Blackwater...but...what is everyone else's stance on the issue?

What is Obama's stance?

(McCain will say whatever the person paying him will tell him to say)

[Dems Will Win]

4. I did not realize this

[maddiejoan]

5. Here's an interesting read

from Scahill.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeremy-scahill/obamas-blackwater-proble_b_89061.html

Obama's Blackwater Problem--Updated

<snip>
UPDATE: What interesting timing! A day after this story went live on TheNation.com, Sen. Hillary Clinton, whose staff refused for a week to answer my questions about her position on private security forces, released a statement announcing that Clinton is now co-sponsoring legislation to "ban the use of Blackwater and other private mercenary firms in Iraq," saying, "The time to show these contractors the door is long past due." Why February 28, in the middle of a tough political campaign? Why not after last September's Nisour Square massacre, when Blackwater operatives killed 17 Iraqi civilians? Or, better, before it? Regardless of the curious timing, this makes Clinton the most significant US political figure to date to issue such a call. We will be monitoring closely how much of a legislative priority this becomes for Sen. Clinton.

A senior foreign policy adviser to leading Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama told me that if elected Obama will not "rule out" using private security companies like Blackwater Worldwide in Iraq. The adviser also said that Obama does not plan to sign on to legislation that seeks to ban the use of these forces in US war zones by January 2009, when a new President will be sworn in. Obama's campaign says that instead he will focus on bringing accountability to these forces while increasing funding for the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, the agency that employs Blackwater and other private security contractors.
<snip>

I don't think Hillary is squeaky clean here --but she is moving in the right direction, where it seems Obama could be moving in the wrong direction.

MInd you --this is from Scahill, who is by no means a supporter of Hillary Clinton --and I don't think Obama has done himself any favors in terms of Blackwater.

[katandmoon]

6. OOPSY! LOL! It's St. Obama who's pro-mercenary!

[Bonobo]

8. Only if you believe everything you read.

The TRUTH is that it was Clinton who gave Halliburton and KBR millions in the very first of the no-bid contracts that catapulted them to riches and massively increased the privatization of the military.

What MJ above posted is called, umm, an opinion (remeber those? Like assholes, everyone has them?).

Unfortunately facts are facts. I cited them.

[maddiejoan]

13. You brought up Scahill as an authority on the subject

is he somehow less believable when calling on Obama's own Blackwater problems?

[Bonobo]

15. Obama has no Blackwater problems. He speculated, that's all. Very weak. Very.

[jillan]

9. Thank you MJ!

[Bonobo]

10. Yes, thank you for the google search and the substance-free faux facts.

[maddiejoan]

12. It's from the same author that you sited.

:shrug:

[Bonobo]

14. But you cited the author's opinion on what he THOUGHT Obama MIGHT not do.

I cited facts which show what the Clintons have already done.

[maddiejoan]

16. You cited no facts

you cited half-truths slanted which blindly support of your candidate. Mischracterizations --all for what purpose?

Aren't you happy that Senator Clinton is addressing this much needed fiasco? Or would you rather blunt it's impact with petty partisan hackery?

You deliberatly say "Clinton" as if Hillary and Bill are one person --AND--you refuse to see that Bush has taken many programs that he didn't start and twisted them to his own nefarious purpose.

NAFTA, NCLB, and yes even Bill Clinton's notion of what constitutes privatization within the military.

I threw Scahill's article back in your face on purpose.

[Bonobo]

17. I cited facts.

The Clintons fed the KBR/Halliburton machine. They created it and now they will dismantle it.

That's precisely the same modus operandi as Halliburton itself.

[maddiejoan]

18. and I linked to an article

by your "expert" authority that contains FACTS about Obama'so wn legislative positions in this matter.

Not speculations --FACTS.

But you could care less that Hillary is boldly addressing the wrongs of her husband's administration.

You just want your candidate in there to continue policies you find fault with.

yeah --that makes sense.

[Bonobo]

19. And you just want to damage a Dem who already has a lock. Makes sense.

And the greatest Dem leader I have witnessed in my life. Makes sense.

[maddiejoan]

20. Greatest Democratic Leader?

we'll have to disagree there.

I have yet to see any evidence of him being more than a good salesman and orator.

[Bonobo]

21. Hopefully we will have a chance to find out his potential.

[maddiejoan]

22. I certainly hope you are right

as he is likely to be our next President.

But don't let your admiration keep you from holding his feet to the fire.

[Bonobo]

23. Hopefully you will stop your attempts at character assasination soon if you believe that.

You are only damaging our side at this point.

[maddiejoan]

24. I don't think he's a good choice.

I think Hillary is.

If anything, I believe Obama's candidacy is a huge danger to the Democratic Party.

I see no reason for me to stop what I'm doing --any more than you should stop what you are doing.
Or is it only character assassination when it is against Obama?

So --I will continue to express my opinion about Obama --and my opinion about Clinton

Should Obama become our nominee, I will continue to feel that he is a danger to our Party --but will confine my 'attacks' to being against the GOP.
(at least here on DU --should I decide to even remain here)

Sorry. You don't get to decide how I choose to support the Democratic Party. That's MY choice.

[Bonobo]

25. Make your own choices. I don't decide for others, merely give my opinion.

I think you have made a bad choice.

[maddiejoan]

26. and I think you have

Notice, however, that I don't ask you to stop voicing your opinion.

[Bonobo]

28. Because Hillary is losing. If Obama was, I would have stopped wounding Hillary, unlike you.

[maddiejoan]

31. I don't see the relevance of that position.

[rinsd]

32. Um you wrote your opinion than cited someone with no link to their quotes/analysis

I know you think that is citing facts but it is not.

[Recursion]

7. But when you call it "Re-Inventing Government" it sounds better

I actually think that was Gore's big initiative.

[KittyWampus]

11. fucking Clinton= Bank Deregulation, Media Consolidation, Govt. Privitization etc

[meow mix]

27. ut oh neck deep in blackwater.

figures

[mod mom]

29. and don't forget CHIEF STRATEGIST MARK PENN'S TIES TO BLACKWATER:

Isn't it Time for Mark Penn to Leave Burson-Marsteller?
Posted November 12, 2007 | 11:18 AM (EST)


My colleague at The Nation, Ari Berman, has done more than any journalist to shine some light on how pollster-strategist Mark Penn, head honcho at PR giant Burson-Marsteller, and perhaps the most important figure in Hillary Clinton's campaign, poses a real dilemma for the candidate. Penn heads a firm that has represented everyone from union busters to big tobacco, and more recently Blackwater. (According to a Marsteller spokesperson, it was a subsidiary, BKSH & Associates, run by GOP operative Charlie Black, which helped Erik Prince prepare for congressional hearings after his employees killed civilians in Iraq).It would seem difficult to find a more controversial client than Blackwater but Penn's firm has just been retained by Spin Master.

Who is Spin Master? It turns out that Spin Master distributes Aqua Dots, a toy that was recalled last week because it contains a glue ingredient that when ingested is broken down by the body to make GHB, the "date rape" drug, which can cause unconsciousness and even death. (The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the number of children sickened by Aqua Dots has risen from two to nine in the past week.)

Penn has repeatedly stated that he has no direct contact with controversial clients like Blackwater or unionbusters. But what about the good old-fashioned American principles of responsibility and accountability -- principles which his candidate likes to invoke on the campaign trail? As Ari Berman has pointed out, the dilemma for Clinton is that Penn's firm represents many of the interests whose influence she has vowed to curtail. But as kids get sick from poisonous toys, how can Clinton keep in her corner, as her chief strategist, a man who has even limited involvement with a firm like Burson-Marsteller? Isn't it time that Clinton ask Penn to choose: my campaign to make this a safer country or a PR firm which has too many clients undermining that agenda?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katrina-vanden-heuvel/isnt-it-time-for-mark-pe_b_72206.html

[Bonobo]

30. This is the most obvious sign of her lack of sincerity on the issue.

The Mark Penn connection is the real issue and I was just keeping my powder dry, Mod Mom. Thanks for doing that.