Bill Moyers Journal on PBS presented Jeremy Scahill, author of the book, Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army who exposed the absolute power resting in Blackwater and its CEO, Erik Prince. The facts presented were absolutely chilling.
At one point Moyers asked a hypothetical: "What would happen if a president declared martial law in order to try to deal with this threat. And there was a private army of twenty thousand soldiers that I could call upon to throw a ring around the capital and make sure that the Congress didn't leave town or didn't get back to the capital if-- how far fetched is that?"
Scahill responded by telling Moyers that one day after Katrina struck New Orleans, Prince sent in 180 of his men into the area. Scahill said, "And this car speeds up next to us. No license plates on it, a compact car. And three massive guys get out of it. And they have M-4 assault rifles, bullet proof vests, wearing khakis, wrap around sunglasses, baseball caps on. And they come up and they say to the cops, "Where are the rest of the Blackwater guys?" And my head sort of started, you know, I didn't even hear the answer. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Where are the rest of the Blackwater guys? So, they get back in their vehicle and they speed off. And I said to this cop, Blackwater? You mean the guys in Iraq and Afghanistan? They said, oh, yeah. They're all over the place down here."
That's how powerful this mercenary army is. So, the answer to the question is: very likely. In a discussion on this blog this morning, mad-jack and I were wondering if the National Guard would be called if masses of citizens arrived in DC to attempt a citizen coup. I wondered if the National Guard would be able to shoot their own citizens. Now i know better. Prince's Blackwater goons would do the shooting.
To me this seems like a re-run of history in Latin America: right wing death squads shooting and killing the peasants who might rebel against the dictator. With private armies like Blackwater, our citizens would never be able to wrestle control of their government from the hands of fascist thugs.
Listen to the entire interview. Take notes. Send the link to your friends. Talk about this Blackwater [and other] mercenary army and the potential power it has in the hands of ruthless fascists who would seek power as it shreds the Constitution with assault rifles from this home-grown army.
At one point Moyers asked a hypothetical: "What would happen if a president declared martial law in order to try to deal with this threat. And there was a private army of twenty thousand soldiers that I could call upon to throw a ring around the capital and make sure that the Congress didn't leave town or didn't get back to the capital if-- how far fetched is that?"
Scahill responded by telling Moyers that one day after Katrina struck New Orleans, Prince sent in 180 of his men into the area. Scahill said, "And this car speeds up next to us. No license plates on it, a compact car. And three massive guys get out of it. And they have M-4 assault rifles, bullet proof vests, wearing khakis, wrap around sunglasses, baseball caps on. And they come up and they say to the cops, "Where are the rest of the Blackwater guys?" And my head sort of started, you know, I didn't even hear the answer. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Where are the rest of the Blackwater guys? So, they get back in their vehicle and they speed off. And I said to this cop, Blackwater? You mean the guys in Iraq and Afghanistan? They said, oh, yeah. They're all over the place down here."
That's how powerful this mercenary army is. So, the answer to the question is: very likely. In a discussion on this blog this morning, mad-jack and I were wondering if the National Guard would be called if masses of citizens arrived in DC to attempt a citizen coup. I wondered if the National Guard would be able to shoot their own citizens. Now i know better. Prince's Blackwater goons would do the shooting.
To me this seems like a re-run of history in Latin America: right wing death squads shooting and killing the peasants who might rebel against the dictator. With private armies like Blackwater, our citizens would never be able to wrestle control of their government from the hands of fascist thugs.
Listen to the entire interview. Take notes. Send the link to your friends. Talk about this Blackwater [and other] mercenary army and the potential power it has in the hands of ruthless fascists who would seek power as it shreds the Constitution with assault rifles from this home-grown army.
