AP: Blackwater Backs Dropping Extortion Case

[Eugene]

July 7, 2006, 1:34PM
Blackwater Backs Dropping Extortion Case

By MIKE BAKER Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — A former Blackwater USA employee said Friday an addiction
to prescription pain killers led her to try to extort $1 million from the security
company by threatening to leak information about the killings of four contractors
in Iraq.

Laura Holdren-Nowacki, 35, of Moyock, made the admission in a statement released
after she pleaded not guilty to one count of extortion.

District Attorney Frank Parrish said outside of court that, at Blackwater's request,
he will ask Monday for the charge to be dropped.

<snip>

Company lawyer Andy Howell said Friday the company intends to help Holdren-Nowacki
get treatment for her addiction.

<snip>

Full article: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4031410.html

Previously: Former Blackwater employee faces extortion charge

Apparently this was just an unfortunate misunderstanding. :eyes:

[seemslikeadream]

1. yea I bet they would

sure wouldn't want Ms. Holdren-Nowacki talking too much

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060508/scahill/4

Blood Is Thicker Than Blackwater
It is one of the most infamous incidents of the war in Iraq: On March 31, 2004, four private American security contractors get lost and end up driving through the center of Falluja, a hotbed of Sunni resistance to the US occupation. Shortly after entering the city, they get stuck in traffic, and their small convoy is ambushed. Several armed men approach the two vehicles and open fire from behind, repeatedly shooting the men at point-blank range. Within moments, their bodies are dragged from the vehicles and a crowd descends on them, tearing them to pieces. Eventually, their corpses are chopped and burned. The remains of two of the men are strung up on a bridge over the Euphrates River and left to dangle. The gruesome image is soon beamed across the globe.

In the Oval Office the killings were taken as "a challenge to America's resolve," according to the Los Angeles Times. President Bush issued a statement through his spokesperson. "We will not be intimidated," he said. "We will finish the job." Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt vowed, "We will be back in Falluja.... We will hunt down the criminals.... It's going to be deliberate. It will be precise, and it will be overwhelming." Within days of the ambush, US forces laid siege to Falluja, beginning what would be one of the most brutal and sustained US operations of the occupation.

For most people, the gruesome killings were the first they had ever heard of Blackwater USA, a small, North Carolina-based private security company. Since the Falluja incident, and also because of it, Blackwater has emerged as one of the most successful and profitable security contractors operating in Iraq. The company and its secretive, mega-millionaire, right-wing Christian founder, Erik Prince, position Blackwater as a patriotic extension of the US military, and its employees are required to take an oath of loyalty to the Constitution. After the killings, Blackwater released a statement saying the "heinous mistreatment of our friends exhibits the extraordinary conditions under which we voluntarily work to bring freedom and democracy to the Iraqi people.... Our tasks are dangerous and while we feel sadness for our fallen colleagues, we also feel pride and satisfaction that we are making a difference for the people of Iraq."

[CottonBear]

2. I wonder exactly what those mercenaries were doing?

It can't have been anything good or legal or moral. I wish the media would not refer to Blackwater people as "contractors."

[omenapoint]

5. Blackwater contractors are not mercenaries by any stretch.

They don't work for the highest bidder. I know two folks who work for them on an as-needed basis. Both are retired Marines, and reserve deputy sheriffs. Both are top-notch defensive trainers and both have spent time in New Orleans and Iraq. Blackwater provides people who know what they are doing on short notice. The contractors who are doing oil field repair work are protected by Blackwater, the power and phone companies in New Orleans were protected from looters by Blackwater. Don't knock them until you know them.

I can't think of much better than swearing an oath to our Constitution.

[w4rma]

6. So you say that Blackwater (the company) only accept contracts from

the U.S. government and noone else. I couldn't go and hire them, myself, if I had the money to pay them, right? Not even to guard a vault of mine?

That is the definition of a mercenary, and just because you think the word has negative connotations doesn't mean that's not what they are.

I'm a little sick and tired of the Orwellspeak/words don't mean what they mean in the dictionary because PR guys said they don't BS that has been going on and mostly originating from the right-wing.

[omenapoint]

7. They don't go to the highest bidder, therefore can't be mercenaries.

They are private security contractors. They don't work for our enemies. They are not like the Hessians.

[w4rma]

8. No, they are mercenaries who won't work for anyone bidding *against* the

US government. They'll still accept contracts from anyone not competing with the US government.

That's just a restiction on them that they can't officially break unless they don't want to be headquartered in the U.S.

[Ms. Clio]

10. Hey, Bush swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, too

I find your arguments singularly unpersuasive.

[struggle4progress]

12. Mercenary fights for the money, just what the private military folk do

[Coventina]

13. fighting for money = mercenary

no way to get around it.

[gratuitous]

14. If they're not mercenaries, they should enlist

After all, Bush's administration has raised the eligible age for just about anyone to join up to 42, and individuals with specialized knowledge would be in very high demand. Sounds like these "top-notch defensive trainers" would readily find a posting in today's overstretched military. Unless, of course, their allegiance to a fat government contract paycheck is greater than their allegience to their country. Which brings us back to that "M" word you say they're not.

[NYC]

3. Maybe they set her up for this.

Now that she's an alleged extortionist, nothing she says can be taken seriously.

Drop the charges: The state brings charges, not the victim. It is for the benefit of the state and society that we prosecute criminals. Why should Blackwater have input? I realize it happens, but legitimately, it shouldn't.

I'm only pondering this because I'm wondering about the validity of the charges in the first place.

[Ms. Clio]

4. I sure would like to know the details of this "misunderstanding"

by a "former fleet vehicle manager" -- now what does that mean? What sort of information might she have?

[oasis]

9. Rent-a-cops with "deadly force" authority, making the world a safer place.

How nice.:eyes:

Something tells me that those particular soldiers of fortune were involved in chasing down some of that unaccounted for cash. :think:

[CottonBear]

11. That's a thought: Follow the money. n/t