Blackwater Mercenaries in the Streets of America

[Guest guest]

With President Bush using the Katrina disaster to try to repeal Posse Comitatus

(the ban on using US troops in domestic law enforcement) and Blackwater and

other security firms clearly initiating a push to install their paramilitaries

on US soil, the war is coming home in yet another ominous way. As one

Blackwater mercenary said, "This is a trend. You're going to see a lot more

guys like us in these situations."

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051010/scahill(October 10, 2005 issue)

Blackwater Down

Jeremy Scahill

 

The men from Blackwater USA arrived in New Orleans right after Katrina hit. The

company known for its private security work guarding senior US diplomats in Iraq

beat the federal government and most aid organizations to the scene in another

devastated Gulf. About 150 heavily armed Blackwater troops dressed in full

battle gear spread out into the chaos of New Orleans. Officially, the company

boasted of its forces "join[ing] the hurricane relief effort." But its men on

the ground told a different story.

Some patrolled the streets in SUVs with tinted windows and the Blackwater logo

splashed on the back; others sped around the French Quarter in an unmarked car

with no license plates. They congregated on the corner of St. James and Bourbon

in front of a bar called 711, where Blackwater was establishing a makeshift

headquarters. From the balcony above the bar, several Blackwater guys cleared

out what had apparently been someone's apartment. They threw mattresses,

clothes, shoes and other household items from the balcony to the street below.

They draped an American flag from the balcony's railing. More than a dozen

troops from the 82nd Airborne Division stood in formation on the street

watching the action.

Armed men shuffled in and out of the building as a handful told stories of their

past experiences in Iraq. "I worked the security detail of both Bremer and

Negroponte," said one of the Blackwater guys, referring to the former head of

the US occupation, L. Paul Bremer, and former US Ambassador to Iraq John

Negroponte. Another complained, while talking on his cell phone, that he was

getting only $350 a day plus his per diem. "When they told me New Orleans, I

said, 'What country is that in?'" he said. He wore his company ID around his

neck in a case with the phrase Operation Iraqi Freedom printed on it.

 

In an hourlong conversation I had with four Blackwater men, they characterized

their work in New Orleans as "securing neighborhoods" and "confronting

criminals." They all carried automatic assault weapons and had guns strapped to

their legs. Their flak jackets were covered with pouches for extra ammunition.

When asked what authority they were operating under, one guy said, "We're on

contract with the Department of Homeland Security." Then, pointing to one of

his comrades, he said, "He was even deputized by the governor of the state of

Louisiana. We can make arrests and use lethal force if we deem it necessary."

The man then held up the gold Louisiana law enforcement badge he wore around

his neck. Blackwater spokesperson Anne Duke also said the company has a letter

from Louisiana officials authorizing its forces to carry loaded weapons.

"This vigilantism demonstrates the utter breakdown of the government," says

Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights. "These

private security forces have behaved brutally, with impunity, in Iraq. To have

them now on the streets of New Orleans is frightening and possibly illegal."

Blackwater is not alone. As business leaders and government officials talk

openly of changing the demographics of what was one of the most culturally

vibrant of America's cities, mercenaries from companies like DynCorp, Intercon,

American Security Group, Blackhawk, Wackenhut and an Israeli company called

Instinctive Shooting International (ISI) are fanning out to guard private

businesses and homes, as well as government projects and institutions. Within

two weeks of the hurricane, the number of private security companies registered

in Louisiana jumped from 185 to 235. Some, like Blackwater, are under federal

contract. Others have been hired by the wealthy elite, like F. Patrick Quinn

III, who brought in private security to guard his $3 million private estate and

his luxury hotels, which are under consideration for a lucrative federal

contract to house FEMA workers.

A possibly deadly incident involving Quinn's hired guns underscores the dangers

of private forces policing American streets. On his second night in New

Orleans, Quinn's security chief, Michael Montgomery, who said he worked for an

Alabama company called Bodyguard and Tactical Security (BATS), was with a

heavily armed security detail en route to pick up one of Quinn's associates and

escort him through the chaotic city. Montgomery told me they came under fire

from "black gangbangers" on an overpass near the poor Ninth Ward neighborhood.

"At the time, I was on the phone with my business partner," he recalls. "I

dropped the phone and returned fire."

Montgomery says he and his men were armed with AR-15s and Glocks and that they

unleashed a barrage of bullets in the general direction of the alleged shooters

on the overpass. "After that, all I heard was moaning and screaming, and the

shooting stopped. That was it. Enough said."

Then, Montgomery says, "the Army showed up, yelling at us and thinking we were

the enemy. We explained to them that we were security. I told them what had

happened and they didn't even care. They just left." Five minutes later,

Montgomery says, Louisiana state troopers arrived on the scene, inquired about

the incident and then asked him for directions on "how they could get out of

the city." Montgomery says that no one ever asked him for any details of the

incident and no report was ever made. "One thing about security," Montgomery

says, "is that we all coordinate with each other--one family." That

co-ordination doesn't include the offices of the Secretaries of State in

Louisiana and Alabama, which have no record of a BATS company.

Blackwater Down

Jeremy Scahill

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Research support was provided by the Investigative Fund of The Nation

Institute.A few miles away from the French Quarter, another wealthy New Orleans

businessman, James Reiss, who serves in Mayor Ray Nagin's administration as

chairman of the city's Regional Transit Authority, brought in some heavy guns

to guard the elite gated community of Audubon Place: Israeli mercenaries

dressed in black and armed with M-16s. Two Israelis patrolling the gates

outside Audubon told me they had served as professional soldiers in the Israeli

military, and one boasted of having participated in the invasion of Lebanon. "We

have been fighting the Palestinians all day, every day, our whole lives," one of

them tells me. "Here in New Orleans, we are not guarding from terrorists." Then,

tapping on his machine gun, he says, "Most Americans, when they see these

things, that's enough to scare them."

The men work for ISI, which describes its employees as "veterans of the Israeli

special task forces from the following Israeli government bodies: Israel

Defense Force (IDF), Israel National Police Counter Terrorism units,

Instructors of Israel National Police Counter Terrorism units, General Security

Service (GSS or 'Shin Beit'), Other restricted intelligence agencies." The

company was formed in 1993. Its website profile says: "Our up-to-date services

meet the challenging needs for Homeland Security preparedness and overseas

combat procedures and readiness. ISI is currently an approved vendor by the US

Government to supply Homeland Security services."

Unlike ISI or BATS, Blackwater is operating under a federal contract to provide

164 armed guards for FEMA reconstruction projects in Louisiana. That contract

was announced just days after Homeland Security Department spokesperson Russ

Knocke told the Washington Post he knew of no federal plans to hire Blackwater

or other private security firms. "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. Before the contract was announced, the Blackwater men

told me, they were already on contract with DHS and that they were sleeping in

camps organized by the federal agency.

 

One might ask, given the enormous presence in New Orleans of National Guard, US

Army, US Border Patrol, local police from around the country and practically

every other government agency with badges, why private security companies are

needed, particularly to guard federal projects. "It strikes me...that that may

not be the best use of money," said Illinois Senator Barack Obama.

Blackwater's success in procuring federal contracts could well be explained by

major-league contributions and family connections to the GOP. According to

election records, Blackwater's CEO and co-founder, billionaire Erik Prince, has

given tens of thousands to Republicans, including more than $80,000 to the

Republican National Committee the month before Bush's victory in 2000. This

past June, he gave $2,100 to Senator Rick Santorum's re-election campaign. He

has also given to House majority leader Tom DeLay and a slew of other

Republican candidates, including Bush/Cheney in 2004. As a young man, Prince

interned with President George H.W. Bush, though he complained at the time that

he "saw a lot of things I didn't agree with--homosexual groups being invited in,

the budget agreement, the Clean Air Act, those kind of bills. I think the

Administration has been indifferent to a lot of conservative concerns."

Prince, a staunch right-wing Christian, comes from a powerful Michigan

Republican family, and his father, Edgar, was a close friend of former

Republican presidential candidate and antichoice leader Gary Bauer. In 1988 the

elder Prince helped Bauer start the Family Research Council. Erik Prince's

sister, Betsy, once chaired the Michigan Republican Party and is married to

Dick DeVos, whose father, billionaire Richard DeVos, is co-founder of the major

Republican benefactor Amway. Dick DeVos is also a big-time contributor to the

Republican Party and will likely be the GOP candidate for Michigan governor in

2006. Another Blackwater founder, president Gary Jackson, is also a major

contributor to Republican campaigns.

After the killing of four Blackwater mercenaries in Falluja in March 2004, Erik

Prince hired the Alexander Strategy Group, a PR firm with close ties to GOPers

like DeLay. By mid-November the company was reporting 600 percent growth. In

February 2005 the company hired Ambassador Cofer Black, former coordinator for

counterterrorism at the State Department and former director of the CIA's

Counterterrorism Center, as vice chairman. Just as the hurricane was hitting,

Blackwater's parent company, the Prince Group, named Joseph Schmitz, who had

just resigned as the Pentagon's Inspector General, as the group's chief

operating officer and general counsel.

While juicing up the firm's political connections, Prince has been advocating

greater use of private security in international operations, arguing at a

symposium at the National Defense Industrial Association earlier this year that

firms like his are more efficient than the military. In May Blackwater's Jackson

testified before Congress in an effort to gain lucrative Homeland Security

contracts to train 2,000 new Border Patrol agents, saying Blackwater

understands "the value to the government of one-stop shopping." With President

Bush using the Katrina disaster to try to repeal Posse Comitatus (the ban on

using US troops in domestic law enforcement) and Blackwater and other security

firms clearly initiating a push to install their paramilitaries on US soil, the

war is coming home in yet another ominous way. As one Blackwater mercenary said,

"This is a trend. You're going to see a lot more guys like us in these

situations."

 

Blackwater Mercenaries Providing Protection to the Red Cross

by Naomi Archer

September 29, 2005

Alternative Press Review

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Eyewitness, politically charged, on-the-ground truth telling from New Orleans

By Yesterday I drove to the Algiers Red Cross distribution point which is

located in the southern section of the Algiers neighborhood near the

middle-class white section of town. As soon as I walked in, I noticed a

frowning young man in a khaki shirt and black hat with a sidearm and corporate

logo prominently displayed.

Blackwater Security is now providing security to the Red Cross! That's right,

you heard correctly. Armed mecenaries are providing security to a (supposedly)

humanitarian relief organization. I spoke with three Red Cross volunteers about

what was going on with their distribution and pointed out that Blackwater is a

group of armed mercenaries - corporate contractors who have a very bad

reputation. I offerred the question - who are they accountable to?"

A well meaning volunteer from Vermont said that the Blackwater guys were very

nice and they offered protection. I asked, "Who do you need protection from?"

The conversation ended.So if you donated money to the Red Cross, you are

supporting extra-legal armed mercenaries who were observed shooting people out

of French Quarter windows following Katrina. Hurricane relief at gunpoint.

Aren't you proud?

TERREBONNE UNKNOWN

Terrebonne Parish is the disaster area no one has heard about. Situated just

outside the ring of catastrophic Katrina damage to the west, and just outside

the Hurricane Rita media frenzy to the east - this area was only just declared

a federal disaster area yesterday afternoon. In reality, the area sustained

significant wind damage from Katrina, and then was flooded by Rita's storm

surge.

WHERE IS EVERYONE?

Common Ground has been providing supplies and relief south of the city of Houma

for four days. We acted as true first responders - making a supply run during

the rising flood waters. For the past four days we've seen virtually no Federal

disaster relief agencies. Red Cross-ed finally showed up yesterday with a

whopping two trucks at the Baptist Church on State Road 57. FEMA began showing

up today and in true form began making the resident's lives even more

miserable.

One woman reported that a FEMA agent came to look at her house, which sustained

roof damage during Katrina and whose trailer sustained structural damage from

Rita's flooding. Fortunately the inside of her trailer was not immersed. The

woman kept trying to show the FEMA agent the damage to her trailer, but all he

could ask to see is damage to furniture and appliances. When she said that her

inside possessions were fine but the trailer itself was damaged, the FEMA agent

told her he needed to see "damaged refrigerators and appliances" or she had no

claim.

Another woman reported that she has been trying to contact FEMA for over a

month. The FEMA website is so complex and overloaded with traffic that even the

Red Cross is advising people not to use the internet. But the phone systems are

constantly busy. I heard from one person that was on hold for over EIGHT HOURS.

So maybe people should just show up to the FEMA office in person right? Wrong.

FEMA will only let you apply for disaster services online or by phone. People

are so pissed FEMA agents have to walk around in disguise as firemen or Red

Cross workers. Incredible but true.

MORE RED CROSS-ED

Our critical work in Terrebonne Parish has yielded the huge need for cleaning

kits and supplies. We have been exploring all possible avenues for getting

cleaning supplies for distro to flood victims. We tried to get some of the

cleaning boxes from the Red Cross but surprise surprise ran into red tape. "You

have to call central distribution," an officious but friendly volunteer

coordinator said.

So I called the head honcho for Red Cross distribution and explained that we

were working with local contacts and distribution networks in Terrebonne Parish

and really could use a couple of pallets of cleaning boxes. After a pause she

said, "I'll give your contact information to the distribution coordinator in

Houma. If they need your help, they will give you a call."

Ahhh... Red Cross has it all covered. No need to panic. Everything's fine. Move

on, nothing to see here. Check's in the mail. WHATEVER!

OUR FRIENDS AT HALIBURTON

While the Terrebonne communities of Ashland, Grand Calliou and Dulac have barely

seen Red Cross and FEMA, another friend in the Disaster Industrial Complex

showed up in force today. Haliburton vehicles were commonplace on State Road 57

this afternoon. It's so nice to know that our corporate profiteers are always

circling like vultures to descend on the next money-making natural disaster.

SHRIMPER'S ROW

Just the otherside of the bayou from the town of Dulac lies Shrimper's Row. This

road, runs through the largest concentration of Native Americans in the coastal

area. Father Kirby of the Dulac Methodist Church and community center said,

"You know how cities have 'the other side of the tracks?' Down here we have the

'other side of the bayou.'

I've seen alot of heart wrenching things the last month but driving down

Shrimper's Row was among the most depressing. Like many Native American

communities, this area is deeply impoverished. Many of the homes had not been

placed up on stilts (which costs $35,000 - $185,000) and were flooded and torn

apart by rushing waters. Shrimp boats and other vessels were thrown across the

road and into people's yards. Tons of dead marsh grass debris littered the

roads and community. Hundreds of poisonous water moccasin snakes are trying to

find their way back to the marsh. Mud covers everything.

COMMUNITY

I've developed an immense respect for the communities of south Terrebonne Parish

- Ashland, Grand Calliou and Dulac. Local residents have been in constant

contact with us helping to coordinate our trucks and informing their friends.

Once we set up our distro, they help out in the trucks and along the lines.

There is such a sense of community. Despite the incredible loss, there is also

alot of smiles and laugher amid the tears. These folks, new friends, act from

the heart.

PARTING SHOTS

I've been in Algiers for over three weeks now. I'm exhausted. Tomorrow, I might

be taking a break for several days. But I'll continue to give Real Reports and

let you know what's happening on the ground in these areas. Keep an eye on New

Orleans when the tired, frustrated residents return to uninhabitable homes,

little support, and lots of wacko Wackenhut Security and other law enforcement.

It's a fire ready to ignite. Naomi Archer is a global justice organizer and

spiritual activist from Asheville, NC working for the Common Ground relief

effort in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans. Visit her blog for regular

updates at http://www.realreports.blogspot.com/.