Monday, May 12, 2008

Blackwater?

James Risen, New York Times, calls our attention to the return of Blackwater, the primary private security force in Iraq.

Headed by Erik Prince, former Navy Seal and a heir to a family fortune made in the auto parts industry in Western Michigan, this company is indeed "black water."

And speaking of Western Michigan, of which I'm intimately familiar, it's neck-deep in hyper-conservatism of every sort - a strange amalgam of Dutch wealth and far-right religion ("blessed by God because we're right") - the home of Amway and friends - strong Bush country, and the last I heard, Attila the Hun!

The muck and mire of Iraq, the neo-Fascist style of the money and power behind it, the tangled world of government contracts, Blackwater's stonewalling and the helplessness of Congress stink to high heaven.

Check out Risen's article:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051008Y.shtml

For further information, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Prince

and

http://www.nndb.com/people/926/000117575/

Genuinely scary stuff!