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Private Security Contracts

September 20, 2011

Don’t Let Congress Vote For War Over Jobs

Our friends Robert Greenwald and Derrick Crowe, at Brave New Foundation’s War Costs campaign, have a new post and video demonstrating how military contractors are working to protect their profits from Congress’ Deficit Committee. Greenwald and Crowe noted that after a closed-door meeting with contractors, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta started singing their tune that cuts in military spending would cost jobs. In fact, the Political Economy Research Institute found in a 2009 study that military spending was the worst at creating jobs compared to government spending in the areas of health care, education and clean energy.

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Reported by Ellen at 12:01 AM

September 24, 2009

Hannity's And Beck's Massively Disproportionate Focus On ACORN Vs. Other Scandals

Those America lovers, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck, seem to have some serious blinders when it comes to scandals involving taxpayer money. Media Matters did a bit of research and surprise! Surprise! Despite the fact that the two self-described patriots claim to be concerned about wasting "taxpayer dollars," they have consistently overlooked or offered minimal coverage of extensive fraud at Halliburton and KBR as well as the scandals involving the private security contractor Blackwater (now Xe), lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Rep. Bob Ney. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that ACORN involves minorities and Democrats while the other scandals implicate Republicans.

Reported by Ellen at 3:03 PM

November 2, 2007

From the FOX News Loony Bin: Barnes & Krauthammer Blame Democrats for Blackwater Scandal

On Wednesday, October 31, 2007, Special Report dealt with the Blackwater September 16th shooting incident for the third time. Brit Hume and the All-Star Panel - Mort Kondracke, Fred Barnes and Charles Krauthammer - essentially rehashed information from the prior two days' shows, then praised Blackwater. Suspecting that there might be something more that FOX News was reluctant to report, I headed to Google. Sure enough, the FOX viewers did not hear the whole story. The families of three Iraqis killed in the shooting in addition to a man who was seriously injured have retained an American law firm and are suing Blackwater for punitive damages. Although Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made a show of impartiality, according to Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, the State Department has had a very cozy, ongoing relationship with Blackwater since the beginning of the war. With multiple videos.

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Reported by Marie Therese at 5:13 AM

October 31, 2007

Blackwater Contractors Involved in Suspect Baghdad Shooting Get State Department Immunity.

Erik Prince, CEO of Blackwater, may find himself and his company in a lot more hot water as new details emerge in the aftermath of the allegedly unprovoked killing of at least 17 Iraqi civilians by Blackwater security guards that took place on September 16, 2007. According to Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, the Iraqi men, women and children who were gunned down died as part of a tactic known as "spray and pray." According to Wikipedia, "spray and pray" is "a derisive term for firing an automatic firearm towards an enemy in long bursts, without aiming. This may be done especially when quick reaction is needed to achieve a form of suppressive fire, either when aiming proves too difficult (for example due to a moving shooting platform) or when the location of an opponent is not exactly known." With video.

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Reported by Marie Therese at 8:46 AM

October 2, 2007

Robert Greenwald on Hardball discussing Blackwater

Sometimes we watch MSNBC so you don't have to.

Robert Greenwald, Director of Outfoxed and Iraq for Sale (among others) appeared today on Hardball with Chris Matthews, opposite neo-conservative Frank Gaffney to discuss Blackwater, one of the for-profit contractors making billions in Iraq.

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Reported by Chrish at 10:02 PM
Oliver North Disses Security Consultants, reported by Marie Therese,
Excusing Paul Bremer, reported by Janie,
Top of the Morning, reported by Chrish, 0 comments