Blackwater, the CIA, and Regent University Law School.

[drm604]

There's a lot of talk about Jeremy Scahill's book "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army". http://www.blackwaterbook.com/

I've just started reading it and ran across an interesting connection. The book was just released recently and probably went to press before some of the more recent news came out so I'm not sure if Scahill made much of the connection when he wrote it.

On page 42 is the following paragraph, I added the bolding:

But while Blackwater raised its profit margin and profile with its training services in the aftermath of 9/11, its true fame and fortune would not be gained until it formed Blackwater Security Consulting in 2002 and burst into the world of soldiers-for-hire. As with blackwater's founding, Erik Prince would once again provide the medium for another's idea. This time, it was the vision of former CIA operative Jamie Smith. Smith had been recruited by Al Clark to teach weapons classes while he was a law student at Regent University, "America's preeminent Christian university," in Virginia Beach, not far from Blackwater.

What caught my attention is the connection between Regent University law school and both the CIA and Blackwater. (Search DU for "Regent University" if you don't know what this is about.) Regent is not mentioned in the index so I'm assuming Scahill understandably didn't consider it important at the time. But I'm thinking that, given the things we now know, this could be very important.

Jamie Smith is now vice president and director of Operations at Blackwater.

This could all be coincidence of course, but it does seem odd.

[BOSSHOG]

1. Not odd at all

There is no doubt that "christians" want to subvert and destroy the constitution and replace with the bible and they are very patient. I find it particularly abhorrent since they sure do love their liberties. They are evangelizing on the Air Force Academy attempting to recruit future Jet Pilots; and I wonder why. Blackwater, purely an invention of a good christian, a pro-lifer no doubt.

[yardwork]

2. Regent University runs a huge film school

with the stated aim to "weave Christian truths" into the lives of millions around the world. Which is interesting, because somebody made that film of Berg supposedly being beheaded by men who looked a heck of a lot like Blackwater employees.

http://www.regent.edu/acad/schcom/CTV/

[tridim]

4. Ding ding ding.

Maybe.

That's a dot I hadn't considered, until now.

[drm604]

6. It's not really surprising

It's not really surprising that a Christian University would want to produce Christian films. What concerns me is when they try to directly subvert government and form connections with the CIA and private mercenary organizations.

Do you have a cite for your claim about the Berg film? If true that would be VERY disturbing, but I'd need some strong proof for a claim like that.

[yardwork]

9. I make no claims about the Berg film beyond my own opinion

I saw the video the night it was brought here to DU. It looked fake to me. In my opinion, the person being beheaded was dead before the knife touched his neck. In my opinion the yellow wall and plastic chair in the background were identical to the yellow wall and plastic chair in the background of photos from Abu Ghraib. In my opinion the video of the beheading was made in Abu Ghraib, where the U.S. military admits that Berg was held for some time. The U.S. military's claim that they held an American non-combatant in Abu Ghraib for some weeks and then just turned him loose in Baghdad to find his own way home is not credible, in my opinion.

In my opinion the men dressed up in Arab-like clothes were wearing costumes. Their head scarves were tied every which-way. They were wearing white sneakers. They were large, tall, beefy men. They looked like American mercenaries. What's the biggest source of American mercenaries? Blackwater. It happens to be within shouting distance of Regent University, a hard-right "university" with a huge film school dedicated to spreading Christianity throughout the globe - and electing hard-right politicians to do it.

In my opinion the video of Berg being beheaded was faked by American operatives. Which raises the question - who made the film?

[drm604]

15. "They looked like American mercenaries"

How does someone "look like a mercenary"?

I'm not intentionally trying to give you a hard time here, I started this thread so you know I'm very suspicious of these people, but I do believe that evidence is necessary for these claims. I just want to find the truth. The claim about the chair and background is interesting. Unfortunately I'm too squeamish to want to watch a film of a beheading so I'm stuck with second hand accounts on this. Have other people made the same claim about the chair and background?

[KT2000]

21. Try to find those pictures

I have always believed they people in those videos were noteven Mid-Eastern men. They stood with their feet splayed, they were heavy and bulky.
To me they looked like Americans with disquise - just my opinion. Just find the pics and see what you think.

[yardwork]

23. Yes, lots of DUers pointed out the similarities between the photos

There were many threads about this here at DU. They're archived now, but you can probably find them. A google search will probably yield still shots from the video as well. You don't have to watch the entire video (even if you could find it - it disappeared amazingly quickly when people started pointing out all the discrepancies).

There are threads posted by doctors noting that a real beheading would have looked very different. All kinds of threads.

[peacetalksforall]

3. So we have Christian Intelligence Service, Christian Blackwater,

and Christian Law School.

Yes, they WERE very patient working below sight for so long. No more.

And yes, I don't believe the staged beheading was by by Muslime, insurgents, al-Queda, Iranians, Saudi Arabians, or any combination of Jordanians, etc.

Yes, could have been Blackwater or it could have been ......

Anything is possible - pulling tubes out of premature infants, tears of relatives of diplomats, hero and heroine soldiers, not our fault pillaging, pulling Hassein or a look-alike out of a hole in the ground, mission accomplished.

We must not get used to the lies. We must not believe them as they have earned no credibility or reliability.

They are draggin us down. Trillions worth. Lives worth. Limbs worth. Illness worth.

This is a barbarian tribe of lying massacreists.

[Rex]

5. So the next time Pat Robertson calls for someone to be killed on TV

he will be dreaming of the day he can order his Christian Intelligence Agency to blow up whatever it is he fancies that day. Oh yeah and by the way, why is Pat not considered a terrorist by our government? He did threaten the State Department with the hopes it would get bombed. It is recorded PROOF. So...

Oh I know, Homeland Security would just tell me to 'go fuck myself'. Pat is on their side. Fucking lunacy.

[H2O Man]

7. There is

no such thing as coincidence.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Not any more

how are you doing by the way... (that book is in my reading list too)

[drm604]

10. It's a disturbing book,

and I've barely started it.

[H2O Man]

11. It looks like

a good book. I'm going to be making one of my seasonal trips to a decent book store soon, and it will be one of the books I stock up on. (But I have no intention of buying Tenet's book.)

I'm doing much better than I was a month ago. This is one of my favorite times of year, because at night I can sit and listen to the tiny frogs that folks call "peepers" around here.

[drm604]

16. Have you been ill?

I've admired your posts on DU so I wish you well and I hope that you continue to improve.

[mopinko]

22. i almost always agree with you, h2o, especially with these guys,

and in this case, i think your point is correct. but it just gives me a chance to use my favorite quote from arthur c clarke-
the laws of probability not only allow coincidence, they compel it.

[H2O Man]

42. I would say

that it's no coincidence that you would quote Arthur C. Clarke at this time. (grin) I think the laws of the universe compell an order that we may view at times as producinf coincidence out of disorder. But I accept that others have every bit as much right to their opinion on this as I do.

[SoCalDem]

12. Onward Christian Soldiers

Trained in the regular military ON OUR DIME...once trained, they switch to mercenary-mode and rake in the big bucks :puke:

[SpiralHawk]

13. Onward FACIST FREAKS Using the Cover of Christ for Evil

I mean, dude...

[Uncle Roy]

14. Marching as to War...

I'm not a religious person, but I still enjoy some of those old protestant hymns I heard as a child. Sad to say, this particular jolly old tub-thumper from my youth has now become the sound-track to our national nightmare.

There's something in the psychology of the triumphalist christian that finds imagery like "Kingdoms, nations, empires, in destruction rolled" appealing.

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
Forward into battle see His banners go!

Refrain

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.

At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee;
On then, Christian soldiers, on to victory!
Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise;
Brothers lift your voices, loud your anthems raise.

Refrain

Like a mighty army moves the church of God;
Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod.
We are not divided, all one body we,
One in hope and doctrine, one in charity.

Refrain

What the saints established that I hold for true.
What the saints believèd, that I believe too.
Long as earth endureth, men the faith will hold,
Kingdoms, nations, empires, in destruction rolled.

Refrain

Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane,
But the church of Jesus constant will remain.
Gates of hell can never gainst that church prevail;
We have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.

Refrain

Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng,
Blend with ours your voices in the triumph song.
Glory, laud and honor unto Christ the King,
This through countless ages men and angels sing.

Refrain

[EVDebs]

28. We must not generalize here at DU

I'm a Christian who doesn't hold to the 'party line' so to speak and view Historicism as a more likely view, not Futurism/Dispensationalism or Preterism; the Muslims have a similar endtimes view with the Mahdi, for example.

I favor the Founding Fathers viewpoint re religious tolerance, from their Freemasonic world views of the Enlightenment era.

[file83]

17. When you stumble upon a loose thread...

Pull.

[bonito]

19. LOL

To funny :D

[Jcrowley]

18. K&R

[ClayZ]

20. K & R

[MOD]

24. What is the coincidence here?

So what if Smith was at Regent when he was hired by Blackwater? I fail to see any point.

[EVDebs]

27. Post 26. Eschatology of the neocons and rightwingnuts

centers on Jerusalem and a Third Temple that will usher in the anti-christ according to 'futurist' end-times view. This is not the prevalent view of the end-times from the 1500s Reformation, when Historicism was prevalent, to around 1947 or so and the founding of the state of Israel. Since then the Dispensationalist (futurist) view has been the accepted, and taught, view in most PROTESTANT seminaries in the US while the Catholic Church has gone to Preterism (the view of Nero as antichrist).

Historicism was Luther's view that the papacy and like minded actors were the anti-christs (plural).

Cheers !

PS Why is Task Force 121 so tied-into Israel cooperation:

"Julian Borger wrote in the December 9, 2003, Guardian Unlimited (UK) article "Israel trains US assassination squads in Iraq" that:

"'This is basically an assassination programme. That is what is being conceptualised here. This is a hunter-killer team,' said a former senior US intelligence official, who added that he feared the new tactics and enhanced cooperation with Israel would only inflame a volatile situation in the Middle East. ... 'It is bonkers, insane. Here we are - we're already being compared to Ariel Sharon in the Arab world, and we've just confirmed it by bringing in the Israelis and setting up assassination teams.'"

"The new counter-insurgency unit made up of elite troops being put together in the Pentagon is called Task Force 121 ... One of the planners behind the offensive is a highly controversial figure, whose role is likely to inflame Muslim opinion ..." Lieutenant General William G. Boykin ('Jerry'). "

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Task_Force_121

Is it sinking in now ??????????????????????????????????

[kineneb]

32. Yykes! Boykin! Another connection.

The "Christian" nutcase that came up with this gem:

"Well you know what I knew, that my God was bigger than his," said Lt Gen Boykin. "I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3199212.stm

[kineneb]

33. more on Boykin & the "Christian Soldier"

http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/InfiltratingTheUSMilitaryGenBoykinsWarriors.html

if he is mixed up in this, it could get real strange...

scroll down in article...for some reason, my computer's cut and paste won't work on the text...

[drm604]

34. I don't see the connection with Boykin.

This seems to be a stretch. Other than possibly having similar religious beliefs, I don't see the connection with Boykin.

[drm604]

35. I don't really see the connection with the subject of this thread.

:shrug:

[EVDebs]

36. Uh, see post #30

[drm604]

37. I probably over-reacted to your post but I don't see any direct connections.

Yes, it's all religiously driven and connected in that sense. Yes, it may very well be connected to some of the same people. But I'm trying to find and show those connections, not just assume them.

I thought that you were trying to draw a direct connection to Boykin, which is how another poster took it. I just don't see that direct connection.

[EVDebs]

38. Concentrate on End Times view of Third Temple

and Israel's role in that with Christian Zionism. See article

Christian Zionism, Evangelicals and Israel by Gary Burge, Phd has this to say :

"...But the most important critique - and here I think we discover the Achilles' heel - is that Christian Zionism is committed to what I term a "territorial religion." It assumes that God's interests are focused on a land, a locale, a place. From a NT (New Testament) perspective, the land is holy by reference to what transpired there in history. But it no longer has an intrinsic part to play in God's program for the world. This is what Stephen pointed to in his speech in Acts 7. The land and the temple are now secondary. God's wishes to reveal himself to the entire world. And this insight cost Stephen his life. Such an understanding is a far cry from the views of Christian Zionists like Ed McAteer who recently commented, "Every grain of sand, every grain of sand between the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, and the Mediterranean Sea belongs to the Jews." Stephen would be alarmed."

http://www.christianzionism.org/articlesN.asp

Then ask yourself why a Third Temple is even 'necessary'. It is if you believe in this Left Behind endtimes scenario of Dispensationalism/Futurism. And the mercenaries (Blackwater) and military (Boykin, Task Force 121 etc) along with the rest of this thread fall into place.

[drm604]

29. Regent Law School is connected to the US Attorney scandal.

Monica Goodling is a graduate from there, as well as 149 other Justice Department Bush appointees.

http://www.blogowogo.com/blog_article.php?aid=711525&t=11

The Justice department has been turned into a White House political hit squad of underqualified, undereducated, callow, anti-democratic zealots appointed from an barely-known fundie law school, Regent University. Regent University is ranked a “tier four” school by US News & World Report, the lowest score and essentially a tie for 136th place. It was started to make creationist, dominionist lawyers out of fundy homeschoolers by fundamentalist Christian pundit Pat Robertson

[Swamp Rat]

31. The sleeper awakes!

:D

[me b zola]

25. From the madrasa to the terrorist training camp...

[EVDebs]

26. Blackwater's Jos. Schmitz, SMOM is now on board

"...and a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta."

http://www.blackwaterusa.com/press/schmitz.asp

Oddly enough, the Left Behind eschatology (futurism) espoused by those in Bush's Base is actually a bastardized version of the Jesuit's old sleight-of-hand to distract attention away from the papacy re the antichrist,

The Catholic Origins of Futurism and Preterism
http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/antichrist.htm

and described in Forcing God's Hand, and more succinctly in the defense oriented weblink re Greater Israel,

Greater Israel
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/israel/greater-israel.htm

Impact of Millennium on the Holy Land
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week319/cover.html

and George Monbiot's

Their beliefs are bonkers, but they are at the heart of power
US Christian fundamentalists are driving Bush's Middle East policy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1195568,00.html

Monbiot erroneously ascribes the futurist eschatology to Darby et al in the 1800s when in fact it originates earlier in the counter reformation 1500s.

FYI, DUers. "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." Let us pray for these wayward neocons and GOP operatives, shall we now bow our heads...

[HCE SuiGeneris]

30. weapons, religion, and mercenaries... now the infrastructure

of the GOP

[EVDebs]

41. Read THIS about the 'Christian' takeover of the DoD

The Crusaders : "The Christian Taliban Is Running the Department of Defense"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050307F.shtml

What would Jesus do ? A modern-day Prince of Peace trying to walk in the Master's path would be sorely tempted to expose this hypocrisy. Which is about the only thing I can do. Please help me spread the word; BTW, AfterDowningStreet has a link to the play It Can't Happen Here...you've got to read it ! If fascism comes to the USA it will be carrying a cross and wrapped in a flag.

[entanglement]

39. Lots of 1star reviews on Amazon..seems some reichbots signed up just to trash the book & the author

:eyes:

I'm guessing most of them haven't even read the book.

[drm604]

40. I haven't gotten too far into yet

so I can't really rate it, but I notice that it has an average rating of 3 and a half stars so there must also be a lot of high ratings pulling up the average.