Blackwater in New Orleans?

[Adrian II]

I just saw this report on Truthout, a leftist blog that has often been in the forefront of reporting on various issues, though in many cases just from their own angle. Has anybody seen reports like these about public order and gun control being enforced in NO by Blackwater mercenaries?

Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans
By Jeremy Scahill and Daniela Crespo
t r u t h o u t | Report

Saturday 10 September 2005

New Orleans - Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the mercenaries say they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor; indeed some are wearing gold Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and Blackwater photo identification cards on their arms. They say they are on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the authority to use lethal force. Several mercenaries we spoke with said they had served in Iraq on the personal security details of the former head of the US occupation, L. Paul Bremer and the former US ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte.

"This is a totally new thing to have guys like us working CONUS (Continental United States)," a heavily armed Blackwater mercenary told us as we stood on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. "We're much better equipped to deal with the situation in Iraq."

Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers in the world and they are accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences. Their presence on the streets of New Orleans should be a cause for serious concern for the remaining residents of the city and raises alarming questions about why the government would allow men trained to kill with impunity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here. Some of the men now patrolling the streets of New Orleans returned from Iraq as recently as 2 weeks ago.

What is most disturbing is the claim of several Blackwater mercenaries we spoke with that they are here under contract from the federal and Louisiana state governments.

Blackwater is one of the leading private "security" firms servicing the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. It has several US government contracts and has provided security for many senior US diplomats, foreign dignitaries and corporations. The company rose to international prominence after 4 of its men were killed in Fallujah and two of their charred bodies were hung from a bridge in March 2004. Those killings sparked the massive US retaliation against the civilian population of Fallujah that resulted in scores of deaths and tens of thousands of refugees.

As the threat of forced evictions now looms in New Orleans and the city confiscates even legally registered weapons from civilians, the private mercenaries of Blackwater patrol the streets openly wielding M-16s and other assault weapons. This despite Police Commissioner Eddie Compass' claim that "Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons."

Officially, Blackwater says it forces are in New Orleans to "join the Hurricane Relief Effort." A statement on the company's website, dated September 1, advertises airlift services, security services and crowd control. The company, according to news reports, has since begun taking private contracts to guard hotels, businesses and other properties. But what has not been publicly acknowledged is the claim, made to us by 2 Blackwater mercenaries, that they are actually engaged in general law enforcement activities including "securing neighborhoods" and "confronting criminals."

That raises a key question: under what authority are Blackwater's men operating? A spokesperson for the Homeland Security Department, Russ Knocke, told the Washington Post he knows of no federal plans to hire Blackwater or other private security. "We believe we've got the right mix of personnel in law enforcement for the federal government to meet the demands of public safety." he said.

But in an hour-long conversation with several Blackwater mercenaries, we heard a different story. The men we spoke with said they are indeed on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and the Louisiana governor's office and that some of them are sleeping in camps organized by Homeland Security in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. One of them wore a gold Louisiana state law enforcement badge and said he had been "deputized" by the governor. They told us they not only had authority to make arrests but also to use lethal force. We encountered the Blackwater forces as we walked through the streets of the largely deserted French Quarter. We were talking with 2 New York Police officers when an unmarked car without license plates sped up next to us and stopped. Inside were 3 men, dressed in khaki uniforms, flak jackets and wielding automatic weapons. "Y'all know where the Blackwater guys are?" they asked. One of the police officers responded, "There are a bunch of them around here," and pointed down the road.

"Blackwater?" we asked. "The guys who are in Iraq?"

"Yeah," said the officer. "They're all over the place."

A short while later, as we continued down Bourbon Street, we ran into the men from the car. They wore Blackwater ID badges on their arms.

"When they told me New Orleans, I said, 'What country is that in?,'" said one of the Blackwater men. He was wearing his company ID around his neck in a carrying case with the phrase "Operation Iraqi Freedom" printed on it. After bragging about how he drives around Iraq in a "State Department issued level 5, explosion proof BMW," he said he was "just trying to get back to Kirkuk (in the north of Iraq) where the real action is." Later we overheard him on his cell phone complaining that Blackwater was only paying $350 a day plus per diem. That is much less than the men make serving in more dangerous conditions in Iraq. Two men we spoke with said they plan on returning to Iraq in October. But, as one mercenary said, they've been told they could be in New Orleans for up to 6 months. "This is a trend," he told us. "You're going to see a lot more guys like us in these situations."

If Blackwater's reputation and record in Iraq are any indication of the kind of "services" the company offers, the people of New Orleans have much to fear.

Link

[Adrian II]

That article takes a decidedly Anti-Mercenary stance. I can understand the need to employ mercenaries, and certainly don't object to it. If the start shooting up civilians, or partaking in that gun-grabbing fiasco, then there's a problem. But that problem lies with the people who hired them, not the mercenaries themselves.

You don't have a problem with your government employing mercenaries in your own country to carry out government tasks?

[Proletariat]

Not at all. Consider: Our army is stretched thin. What would they do if they couldn't hire mercs? A draft, obviously. I think we should all thank these mercenaries for the fact that we haven't had a draft yet.

They aren't evil bad people, they're just making a living. It's a private army.

Thank the mercenaries because we're not facing a draft...?

The Army is no where near being stretched thin. Take a look at the numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and compare them to the over all numbers of all three components of the US Army.

It's a frigging embarassment if there are mercenaries operating down there. I don't buy it just yet, though.

[scooter_the_shooter]

They should have called up a mailitia!

[Sjakihata]

Or deployed a contigent of soldiers near NO BEFORE the hurricane struck, such a scenario should have been predicted.

[Strike For The South]

They should have called up a mailitia!

Thats right a malita can do his job than a merc any day

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Thank the mercenaries because we're not facing a draft...?

The Army is no where near being stretched thin. Take a look at the numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and compare them to the over all numbers of all three components of the US Army.

It's a frigging embarassment if there are mercenaries operating down there. I don't buy it just yet, though.

I'd very much enjoy a draft (being as I'm virtually undraftable)

[Steppe Merc]

Kaiser, that's just mean.

Steppe... criminals need to be killed! shoot looters on sight and steppe black water is americans...most of their people are retired out of the military.

Well, what I meant by non native was I don't understand hiring say an American to fight for America in Iraq. I understand hiring Iraqis, but not non natives.
And criminals should be dealt via the justice system, as flawed as it is. There is a point of it, and the point is for justice, not kill everyone. And not all looters are evil, some could be out for pure survival. Besides, it's the police's job to deal with criminals. I don't always agree with the police, but I'd far prefer them to mercanaries whose jobs are to fight wars, not capture criminals.

And why do you always refer to the US in the third person....you are a yank too

I mainly refer to America's actions as a nation in third person, since it was not me making the desicions. It was a "them", the government, doing the action. In this case, "they" (the government) hired these guys, not "me" (me), or "us" (all Americans). If it was something that included me in it, like about American's eating habits, I'd say "We eat...".

Besides, this isn't being a very good American :

"When they told me New Orleans, I said, 'What country is that in?,'" said one of the Blackwater men. He was wearing his company ID around his neck in a carrying case with the phrase "Operation Iraqi Freedom" printed on it

[Xiahou]

I don't really buy this... Especially in light of the fact that some are apparently being hired privately. Never count on leftist blogs to keep their facts straight, whenever I read them (which isnt often), it seems like rumours spread like wildfire. Someone hears that mercs are being hired to defend private property and within minutes the headlines becomes "Mercs hired by Bush are slaughtering civillians in NO!!!"

[Productivity]

I'd very much enjoy a draft (being as I'm virtually undraftable)

That's pathetic.

[Divinus Arma]

IIRC, most of the army's regular troops are in Iraq. Something like 130,000, the vast majority of our regular troops. We do have 700,000 National Gaurdsmen, but would you honestly use all of them? That's not what they signed up for.

Thats right. They signed up for free college and training once a moonth and 2 weeks a year.


My country is taking a big dive with whiners like these. (not you GC, the whiners who whine).

[Proletariat]

Whiners or not, it's the army who put that image out there. It'd be beyond dishonorable to renege on that once they've already signed up. Heck, it'd be traitorous.

It would be dishonorable for the Army to call on it's Gaurdsman in an emergency because they mistook the military for a vocational school?

Holy cow.

[Steppe Merc]

Agreed, if you are in the army, you should expect to be in dangerous situations. Now, the government has a responsibility to use them properly, but that's a different issue. If you join the army, you should know you might have to kill, or be killed.

[Adrian II]

It's a private army.

Exactly. And 150 of them have already been hired by private companies and individuals in New Orleans. Don't you think that if the report about Blackwater troops hired by the State are true, there would be a small conflict of interest there? And what about the image that it projects if a mercenary company is seen to protect the 'rich' and help to control and disarm the 'poor' in New Orleans at the same time?

Private Security Contractors Head to Gulf

By Griff Witte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 8, 2005; Page A14

Companies in the Gulf Coast area hit by Hurricane Katrina are turning to an unusual source to protect people and property rendered vulnerable by the storm's damage -- private security contractors that specialize in supporting military operations in war-torn countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

The mission is to guard against looters, not fend off coordinated insurgent attacks. But the presence of the highly trained specialists represents an unusual domestic assignment for a set of companies that has chiefly developed in global hot spots where war, not nature, has undermined the rule of law.

North Carolina-based Blackwater USA, for example, has 150 security personnel in the Gulf Coast region. The company, which provided personal security for the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority and continues to have a large presence in Iraq, began by donating the services of a helicopter crew to help the Coast Guard with rescue efforts. But it since has added commercial clients that either have buildings in the region, such as hotels, or are sending employees there to help with the reconstruction.

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

GC:
there are roughly 130 000 marines.
so, say, hypothetically, that the entire USMC is in Iraq: that would leave the entire U.S. Army. Or, put another way, say there were 130 000 regular soldiers in Iraq: that would still leave most of the army and the entire USMC available.

130 000 soldiers in Iraq from the various branches does not leave the military lacking in manpower for an aid operation.

EDIT: just for general information it seems that about 250 000 U.S. service personnel are currently serving overseas.

There are roughly 1.4 million active duty and 860 000 reserves.

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

nope,

they are the standard numbers given from all the sources I've seen.

I believe that the U.S.A. has the second largest military in the world (after China).

[Zalmoxis]

Maybe all of Katrina was a cleverly planned move to have some famous political figure eliminated, but the likeliness of that is close to 0.

[Steppe Merc]

Why the hell do they allow mercanaries to operate in their own country? Sometimes they can be helpful in foriegn countries, though I don't understand using non native mercanaries when you have just as of your own trained.
But mercanaries are not cops, or the National Guard. Their job is not to protect people, it's to kill. Cops are at least trained to deal with criminals and do so in a non leathal way. It is very disturbing that the government would hire mercanaries to take care of criminals...

[scooter_the_shooter]

Steppe... criminals need to be killed! shoot looters on sight and steppe black water is americans...most of their people are retired out of the military.


And why do you always refer to the US in the third person....you are a yank too