Blackwater hired Chilean commandoes trained by Pinochet.

[BornagainDUer]

http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/displa...

BACK IN IRAQ: THE 'WHORES OF WAR'

America’s hired guns in Iraq have been called ‘the coalition of the billing’, but Blackwater mercenaries are accused of more than just taking the money. Investigations Editor Neil Mackay examines the links between the security firm and the US political elite

EVEN FOR Blackwater, it was an atrocity too far. If an Iraqi government report is to be believed, Blackwater, a US mercenary company which is unofficially the world's largest "for hire" private army, indiscriminately and without provocation opened fire earlier this month on civilians in a Baghdad street, killing at least 20 people.

Iraq immediately revoked the firm's licence to operate in the country and moved to expel its staff and prosecute those responsible for the shootings, but Blackwater's activities have since resumed.

This coincides with the release of a US Embassy report on the September 16 shooting, obtained by the Washington Post and described by a State Department official as a "first blush" account. It details the events, as given by Blackwater guards, and has stirred controversy in Iraq and Washington and prompted an inquiry into the role of Blackwater and other private security firms in Iraq. snip

The company, based near the Great Dismal Swamp in North Carolina, was co-founded by Erik Prince, a billionaire right-wing fundamentalist. At its HQ, Blackwater has trained more than 20,000 mercenaries to operate as freelancers in wars around the world. Prince is a big bankroller of the Republican Party - giving a total of around $275,550 - and was a young intern in the White House of George Bush Sr. Under George Bush Jr, Blackwater received lucrative no-bid contracts for work in Iraq, Afghanistan and New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. His firm has pulled down contracts worth at least $320 million in Iraq alone.

Jeremy Scahill, who wrote the book Blackwater: The Rise Of The World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, says when Bush was re-elected in 2004, one company boss sent this email to staff: "Bush Wins, Four More Years!! Hooyah!!"

[Joanne98]

1. The right-wing death squads that filled mass graves!

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. That's all right - just completing the circle

since Pinochet's men were trained by the School of the Americas.

[TomInTib]

3. Wouldn't those guys be pretty old by now?

After all, most of Pinochet's atrocities occurred during the 1970s.

They're hiring South Americans for two reasons - they work cheap and the language barrier is really low.

[BornagainDUer]

4. Pinochet was President until 1990. He lived to be 91.

Kissinger and Nixon supported the rat bastard in his violent overthrow of Allende coup d'etat in 1973. It's important to remember the long and cozy relationship the US "realpolitickers" had with him.