Blackwater Considers Itself Too Hardcore for International Mercenary Association

Posted by Matt Stoller, Open Left at 3:08 PM on December 31, 2007.

The International Peace Operations Association, which is the trade association for mercenaries inspired by the efforts of mercenary group Executive Outcomes to end the Sierra Leone Civil War, has parted ways with Blackwater. Apparently Blackwater doesn't want to follow the group's conduct code, the "set of ethical and professional guidelines for companies in the peace and stability operations industry." Initially Blackwater, a member in good standing since 2004, agreed to be reviewed by the group after the accusations that the company killed 17 Iraqis in Baghdad last month. Now they don't want to be reviewed.

I've read a bunch of liberal books recently that touch on mercenaries and their politically threatening overtones: The End of America, Blackwater, and the Shock Doctrine.

Really, though, it's not too hard to see how private armies that have been deployed both abroad and on American soil with secret government contracts controlled by right-wing Christian donors to the GOP that immunize these firms from liability are probably dangerous.

I'm just a hippie blogger though and this is probably not bipartisan enough.

UPDATE: Progressive caucus member Jan Schakowsky has led on this and has a bill in the House called the Stop Outsourcing Security Act, HR4102, which would defund Blackwater.

Tagged as: blackwater

Matt Stoller is a political activist/blogger in DC, and was an editor at MyDD from November 2005 until June 2007. He also consults for the Sunlight Foundation, FreePress.net, and Working Assets as well as proactively networking other progressive bloggers/internet activists and progressive professionals.