Naomi Wolf: Blackwater: Are you scared yet?

[babylonsister]

Blackwater: Are you scared yet?
Submitted by davidswanson on Tue, 2007-10-09 13:40. Media

By Naomi Wolf, Firedoglake

The New York Times reported today that Blackwater, the infamous organization that has been accused of killing civilians in Iraq, "has been involved in a far higher rate of shootings while guarding American diplomats in Iraq than other security firms." A mercenary firm in Iraq with an itchy trigger finger is bad enough. But it now appears that Blackwater’s activities may be massively expanded -- and not in Iraq.

In little noticed news, Blackwater, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Arinc were recently awarded a collective $15 billion -- yes, billion -- from the Pentagon to conduct global counter-narcotics operations. This means that Blackwater can be deployed to engage with citizens on a whole new level of intimacy anywhere around the world -- including here at home. What is scarier than scary is that Blackwater’s overall plans are to do more and more of its armed and dangerous ‘security’ operations on U.S. soil.

In my recently released book, The End of America, I describe the 10 steps that would-be tyrants use to close down a democracy and produce a "fascist shift." The third of the ten steps is to ‘Develop a Paramilitary Force.’ Without a paramilitary force that is not answerable to the people’s representatives, democracy cannot be closed down; however, with such a force available to would-be despots, democracy can be drastically and quickly weakened.

Every effective despot -- from Mussolini to Hitler, Stalin, the members of the Chinese Politburo, General Augusto Pinochet and the many Latin American dictators who learned from these models of controlling citizens -- has used this essential means to pressure civilians and intimidate dissent. Mussolini was the innovator in the use of thugs to intimidate what was a democracy, if a fragile one, before he actually marched on Rome; he developed the strategic deployment of blackshirts to beat up communists and opposition leaders, trash newspapers and turn on civilians, forcing ordinary Italians, for instance, to ingest emetics. Hitler studied Mussolini; he deployed thugs -- in the form of brownshirts -- in similar ways before he came formally to power.

In light of these historical warning, we must ask, what is Blackwater? According to reporter Jeremy Scahill, the firm has 2,300 private soldiers deployed in nine countries, and maintains a database of an additional 21,000 to call upon at any time. Blackwater has over "$500 million in government contracts -- and that does not include its secret ‘black’ budget..." One congressman pointed out that in terms of its manpower, Blackwater can overthrow "many of the world’s governments." Recruiters for the company seek out former military from countries that have horrific human rights abuses and use secret police and paramilitary forces to terrify their own populations: Chileans, Peruvians, Nigerians, and Salvadorans.

Blackwater is coming home to Main Street, and one of our key constitutional protections is at stake. The future for growth is directed at increased deployment in the US in cases of natural disaster -- or in the event of a ‘public emergency.’ This is a very dangerous situation, of course, now that laws have been passed that let the President decide on his say-so alone what a ‘public emergency’ might be.

more...

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/27565

[Jim__]

1. If we don't put a stop to this, we deserve what we get - n/t

[FiveGoodMen]

8. Except that WE don't have any power and our elected representatives aren't representative.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Thanks Sista

and thanks Naomi.

Yeah, I'm scared.

And ya know what? Even if the Bushies are eased out of power quietly, leaving this Blackwater monstrosity as a legacy for a Democratic administration. I'm scared. Demagogues can come in shades of blue as well as of red (think Huey Long fa Chrissake. LBJ, for that matter). Hell, even a civil-libertarian liberal would both be tempted to use this force ("for good," of course). Furthermore, it's a private army. How do you safely disband it if it doesn't want to be disbanded? I could imagine corporations hiring Blackwater for "plant security" during labor strikes, either here or abroad.

The Blackwater genie is out of the bottle, and I don't think we're gonna get it back in.

[babylonsister]

7. I'm frightened, too. We need to get rid of the boil that is Blackwater and

any other company that resembles them.

[Jackpine Radical]

9. Maybe easier said than done.

They're not gonna take termination lying down. And they got guns and lotsa money.

[gateley]

13. Whoa. Good points about corporations hiring Blackwater for their security.

Even if we can't get the genie back in the bottle, we may be able to prevent having it employed by our government again...

All the candidates have reacted negatively to the Blackwater stories - don't know how far they'd go to try to crush it.

[tom_paine]

17. We all KNEW the Praetorian Guard, the Blackshirts, would show up soon enough

That's what Naomi is writing about, and it is an agony for all of us who have been watching it unfold since 12-12-2000, the Day Everything Changed.

[bdamomma]

3. and after seeing this, it just makes you wonder if this is coming next

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x60601

[gateley]

14. That is just too odd. I imagine they have their reasons all lined up in case

this receives wide coverage and people demand to know what's up. "We're heating the buildings for the train repair people who will be working in them." Whatever.

I don't understand how we've been so blind about all the underhanded, covert things our government is doing. And who all in the government is even aware of these things? Is it a need-to-know type of situation?

Naomi Wolf, in her new book, talks of how life was going on as normal in pre-war Germany with the population totally unaware of what maneuverings were taking place. I think that's where we are now to a certain extent. Doesn't it just break your heart?

[Dhalgren]

4. K&R, Sis.

This is scary, scary shit. It may already be too late...

[Mika]

5. Modern day Pinkertons.

http://americanhistory.about.com/od/19thcentur1/a/allan_pinkerton.htm

[babylonsister]

6. One big difference; Pinkerton's agency was 'based on

his own incorruptible principles. His values became the cornerstone of a respected agency'

[Jackpine Radical]

10. Bullshit.

The Pinks busted heads, busted caps, and busted unions as long as the pay was right.

[babylonsister]

12. Pardon me, but I was just quoting from the article about the Pinkertons

that was referenced. I do believe I even used quotes.

[Jackpine Radical]

16. I know. I wasn't leaping on you, just on the whitewash of the Pinks, which

I fully understand wasn't your work.

Sorry I wasn't clearer about the focus of my "Bullshit!"

[Mika]

18. You could have used this quote from the link I posted..

Many labor sympathizers accused the Pinkertons of inciting riots as a means of keeping employment or for other nefarious purposes. Their reputation was harmed by their protection of scabs and business property of the major industrialists including Andrew Carnegie.

Like Blackwater, they are the paid goons of the privatization/exploitation owner class.

http://americanhistory.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=americanhistory&cdn=education&tm=229&f=00&tt=2&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.pinkertons.com/



:hi:

[robinlynne]

11. Interesting that in Burma the regular army refused to shoot the monks, and

the government used paid thugs to do it. There is a huge difference between the regular army and a mercenary army!

[rudy23]

15. Hello, this has already happened in New Orleans!

I can't help but notice the mainstream media's continued quest to pretend like Louisiana and Mississippi don't exist as parts of the United States, but as some faraway land that no one knows about...