http://rawstory.com/2009/11/scahill-obama-afraid-blackwater/Why are Blackwater employees guarding any of our government officials anywhere? Weren't these functions done by government employees in the past?
and then there is this --
Scahill was on The Rachel Maddow Show discussing the New York Times' revelation that senior Blackwater executives allegedly arranged for bribes of up to $1 million for Iraqi politicians in a bid to retain its contracts and silence criticism of the company in the wake of the Nissour Square massacre in 2007, in which 17 Iraqi civilians died after Blackwater guards opened fire.
Though the Times report stated that it's unknown if the approved bribes ever reached their targets -- Iraqi politicians -- Scahill drew a connection between the alleged bribes and the fact that, after the Nissour Square massacre, the Iraqi government first decided to bar Blackwater from operating in the country, and then reversed its position.
-- is it possible/probable that "bribes" are being given to American politicians from Blackwater?
Scahill suggested that the security firm's deep and continued involvement in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars means the company could potentially embarrass any administration with the things it can reveal.
"Another way of looking at this is Blackwater knows where a lot of bodies are buried," Scahill told Maddow. "These are guys who worked on the CIA assassination program, the drone bombing campaign, and regarding all of the senior officials, they know a heck of a lot about what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan, and those are not guys that you want on the other side of the fence if you're running Washington."
Scahill dismissed as "nonsense" the idea that Blackwater continues to have contracts because its services can't be carried out by regular military forces.
-- So it has come to this. A corporation with a right-wing political/economic ideology can blackmail a government.
Could this have been avoided? Could Obama have inoculated himself from blackmail by these thugs? Maybe if Obama had prosecuted the Bush war criminals and distanced himself from these foolish wars?
What's the old saying? - When you lay down with dogs with wind up with fleas
on edit: If, as according to Scahill, Blackwater knows about war crimes, they should be subpoenaed and forced to testify to prosecute the Bush Administration.