Blackwater Raided

[Me.]

This is not the huge bust-up I woukd love to see but it's a beginning. Wouldn't have happened a year ago. This says the * administration is really done.

Blackwater Raided by ATF in North Carolina

“Moyock, NC -- According to the Research Triangle's News and Observer, Blackwater Worldwide was storing high-power assault rifles for "the good" of a local Sheriff's Department. The federal government's ATF forces raided Blackwater Global's HQ presumably to retrieve the weapons.

In a stunning statement, Blackwater spokesperson Anne Tyrrell said that Blackwater's possession of the local Sheriff department's assault weaponry was, "lawful and proper." Absolutely astonishing.

Keep your eyes and ears pealed for the settling of various and sundrie "scores" in the Research Triangle. When the state trades weapons with private industry, one never knows the difference between a war crime and simple homicide. Not to mention the utter inability to effectively prosecute a case of homicide.

I can completely understand why Blackwater would want access to a local government's SWAT weaponry, but why on Earth would the local Sheriff put themselves in such a vulnerable position??

Why, indeed.”

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=7904

[Echo In Light]

1. Thanks for posting

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. I've recently started reading "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army"

I am astonished that this group has been allowed to obtain the power it has. The book describes it as the largest and best equipped private army in the world; if it were a sovereign nation, its military strength would be ranked... I think it was 11th or 12th. The fact that it is owned and operated by a very far right wing Catholic fundamentalist makes me afraid.

Even scarier, just this last weekend I was working on a synopsis where a private army based on Blackwater prompted the Second Civil War after a warmongering administration was bounced out of power and Congress began to investigate the company's dealings. This raid.... :scared:

[Me.]

4. It Is Astonishing

* sanctioned is how they got to this point. Prince and hus father have been huge contributors. What I'm hoping is that this signals that law enforcement has been waiting for their moment. The Iraqis have also been gunning for them. The fact that the Iraqis insist that contractor be subject to their laws has been a huge sticking point with that agreement * has been trying to force them to accept. Another thing, we'd better not hear that the Obama admin is keeping them on at state.

[Indenturedebtor]

6. I'd be willing to bet that he will keep them on

Our military is gutted at this point in time. And no one is going to be pulling our "military option" off of the table any time soon.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. we are witnessing the start of a police state.

I cannot think of another way of describing it.

And look how many offices Blackwater and its "competitors" are opening in different regions of the US.

[lovuian]

5. this is more evidence of fight in the government

Blackwater is Cheney's army and the feds are worried about this rogue army

[Me.]

8. That's My Take Too

I'd bet the feds have been hamstrung by */Cheney plus a hinkey JD and biding their time

[nashville_brook]

7. more from today: "ATF seizes weapons from Blackwater" -- could be "straw buyers" !

http://www.newsobserver.com/917/story/1122205.html


ATF seizes weapons from Blackwater
Investigation concerns how they were obtained


The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives seized nearly two dozen automatic rifles from Blackwater Worldwide this week, apparently part of an investigation into whether the private security contractor obtained them illegally.

(snip)

Half the guns were Romanian-made AK-47 assault rifles, and the others were Bushmaster XM15 E2S rifles, according to contracts between Blackwater and the Sheriff's Office. None of the deputies, though, was qualified to use AK-47s.

(snip)

Jackson, the Blackwater president, signed two agreements in 2005 with Maj. Jon Worthington of the Sheriff's Office, who also has moonlighted at Blackwater as a firearms instructor, according to Perry. One was for the AK-47s, the other for the Bushmasters.

Blackwater paid for the guns, and the terms said the Sheriff's Office would have unlimited access to the rifles "for training and qualification, and state of emergency use."

The deal could be illegal, a law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said last week in an interview. When one person fills out the federal firearms registration form to get a weapon for someone else's use, that can be an illegal "straw purchase," said Richard Myers, adding that he had prosecuted several such deals while working as a federal prosecutor.

[Me.]

9. Good Clarification