Nowhere. Blackwater is already acquiring the permits necessary to work in numerous states right here in the US. Personally, I tend to think they will be hired to, among other things, infiltrate anti-war and dissent and protest groups (as we have seen done already by government) as well as work security at events such as the DNC and RNC (where we have already seen a crackdown on free speach and the right to peaceably assemble) as well as meetings of the WTO and the like.

There are a very very large number of people in this nation who are quite upset with and opposed to various things our government has been doing and when the decision becomes either giving up the game and relenting to democratic change or simply cracking down and proceeding with their plans anyway, I truly doubt our corporate owned and run government and media are going to be too interested in the democratic option. After all, they've already taken our democracy away in every aspect but its name.

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Blackwater is one of dozens of mercenary companies in the US. Halliburton has their own mercenaries as in this rape case.

Where do you think our top Generals, Admirals, commanders and such go after they retire? The cream of the crop of our military end up working for these companies. Plus, they still have access to secret, high tech info that the public is barred from seeing.

The US Army out sourced their recruiting to these companies. Mercenaries do not take a loyalty oath, they have no laws to obey and they get paid well. When they recruit, they can wear the US military uniform.

A good book to read is:

Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry
By Peter Warren Singer

These mercenaries would gladly march us off to a detention camp, rape women, torture, steal, kill, whatever. They have no laws.

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He loves camera face time about "get tough on crime stories" - that's his claim to fame here and what got him elected to congress.

I loathe his politics, but I will say this: This young woman is very fortunate that he is her representative. This is the kind of story he cut his teeth on - guaranteed to get him some media face time and bolster his rep with his constituancy. Trust me on this (unlike Huckabee) he is no friend to rapists.

I am going back and forth as to whether his party loyalty (he is somewhere to the right of Ghengis Kahn) will make him back off a bit since Blackwater, Halliburton and KBR are much beloved by Bush - but I am betting that his personal ambition - and experience at milking this sort of thing for all it is worth - will lead him to throw party loyalty under the bus this one time.

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1. That's ridiculous. We're not even going to respond to that.
2. That's classified. We're not going to discuss it.
3. That's under investigation. We can't comment on that.
4. That's under appeal. Let's let the process play out.
5. That's old news. We've already talked about that.
(Note: Not all strategies are applicable in every case.)
I think we're up to (down to?) strategy #3 now.

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Everyone should be aware of what the attitude of the Chimp presidency is doing here.
A whole new class or group of sub-humans who feel that they are above all laws like their little hero the tin-horn 'Tator Chimpy McFlightsuit.

There is a screaming need for accountability here from the top down.
Is it going to happen?

America may collapse first before there is any real change.

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Olbermann and Seder.

Now if Sam could just get Keith to push for Palestinian rights like he does.

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Kinky Bastard Rapists Inc.


Simple as that...

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Bizarre as it may seem she's a lucky young woman - lucky to be alive that is! If she'd been hapless Iraqi she'd have been raped, murdered, and set on fire to hide the deed. And this isn't an isolated case, rather the tip of the iceberg, maybe it's an unfair analogy as icebergs are beautiful, perhaps it should be, the tip of the slag-heap?

There are numerous accounts of sexual attacks on female army personnel, who, after dark only visit the toilets in groups for fear of being attacked. But the Army covers these stories up, and one can understand their reasoning. Is this high-profile case going to encourage others to come forward without fear of the consequences for their careers?

In a way it's understandable, give these mercenaries almost unlimited power over ordinary Iraqi citizens, and one kind of gets used to the power and crossing over the line, and gets to enjoy it. Un-normal becomes normal.

And wars aren't just about fighting, rape and pillage have always been there. In Vietnam there was something close to an industry supplying US soldiers with entertainment and sex, only in Iraq both of these things are in very short supply, so tremendous frustrations build-up, and can explode with terrible results.

An illegal and imoral war eventually spreads like a contagon, turning people into criminals without morality. Which is another reason why the soldiers should be brought home, before too much damage it done to them, and don't get me started on the effects of the war on Iraq and its people!

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Unfortunalely, we're on the straignt and narrow path leading to a three caste society: The Oligarchs at the pinacle, their Thugs who seem not to mind their duties of kissing their bosses slippered feet because they're compensated with the pleasures of terrorizing the Residents. The Residents are the ones who pretty much just want to eat, drink, make merry and vote every four years.

Unfortunately, the slippered caste has the power to criminalize just about any human pleasure they find irksome or simply don't want to share. The Thugs, like clip-eared dobermans at the gate, are ever ready for their duties enforcing the latest sumptuary laws and minute by minute changes in Etiquette.

Of course it is wonderful that most humans don't want to rob, pillage, rape and "kick-butt". But the merrymakers do need to rouse themselves once in a while, lest they be taught the latest dance--the "perp walk"--for such offenses as showing up at a city council meeting with an inconvenient complaint, grumbling about routine rudeness at the Sec. of State's office, coming to the aid of a fellow merrymaker pinned to the ground with a boot on his back, or simply sitting on a the grass enjoying music on a sunny Santa Monica afternoon. Any action that distracts the Residents from paying their bills on time gets them reclassified in the soon to be extinct caste of Trouble-maker/Extremist.

Thuggery is a profession that offers a high degree of job satisfaction. Can't beat that with a maypole. And that's why this investigation will go nowhere.

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