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Alegre's Corner
We're not finished folks - not by a long shot!

"Blackwater is getting a bad rap."

by: Sharyn

Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 14:24:20 PM EDT

Who do you think made this remark defending the mercenary group, Blackwater? George W. Bush might be a good guess. Maybe the CEO of Blackwater, Erik Prince? Maybe the Republican nominee for president, John McCain? The answer is no to all of the above. Try the Democratic presumptive nominee, Barack Obama. That's right, according to the U.S. News and World Report, Senator Obama was heard while on his recent overseas campaign trip making this unbelievable statement. Let me repeat the quotation:

Here's the link:

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/wa...

It's in the current issue of the magazine's Washington Whispers section, as well as the online version.

Have any of you noticed the progressive blogosphere picking up on this? Have you seen a big headline on Huffington Post? NOT. How about Daily KOS? NOT. MyDD? Nothing there! Imagine if John McCain had said: "Blackwater is getting a bad rap." Don't you think it just might make a banner headline at Huffington Post?

Well, I googled away and found that it was reported by the UK's Telegraph! Here a clip from that report:

In Pennsylvania in March he (BHO) stated that "we have to crack down on private contractors like Blackwater, because I don't believe they should be able to run amok and put our own troops in danger and get paid three or four times or ten times what our soldiers are getting paid".
So who do you think protected Obama and his fellow senators Jack Reed and Chuck Hagel during their recent and much ballyhooed congressional delegation trip to Afghanistan? Yep, that's right - Blackwater.
In his Washington Whispers column, the well-connected Paul Bedard reports that Obama was overheard saying that "Blackwater is getting a bad rap". A fairly startling alleged observation given his previous utterances about the company - though perhaps unsurprising given he was in a war zone and his life was in the hands of Blackwater guards. .........
My request to Bill Burton, Obama's national spokesman, for comment on the Bedard story - including whether the alleged quote or its sentiment was genuine - went unanswered.

Click here for full post:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/t...
...................
addendum:

A little recent history recap:

As Alegre pointed out back in primary season, Hillary co-sponsored legislation introduced by Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders to ban Blackwater and mercenary groups. BHO, on the other hand, preferred to keep "his options open when it comes to using mercenary groups on the ground in Iraq."

http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2...

BHO wants to get tough on Blackwater and private contractors by making them subject to prosecution in U.S. civiliann courts. But apparently he doesn't have a problem with the existence of such mercenary groups. We'll leave that topic for another diary.

p.s. Why is it exactly that progressives are so enamored with this guy?

Sharyn :: "Blackwater is getting a bad rap."

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"Blackwater is getting a bad rap." | 25 comments

maybe he thinks of blackwater as a faith-based initiative. (0.00 / 0)

the founder of blackwater has this "christian soldiers" thing going.

actually, obama had little choice - thanks to our outsourcing everything imaginable to keep the troops numbers down, the state department uses them, too, because blackwater IS the law in that part of the world. and they act like it, too.

Barack Obama's election proves that any male can grow up to be president, provided he's willing to use misogyny as a campaign strategy.

by: campskunk @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 14:08:16 PM CDT

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faith-based (0.00 / 0)

right. he's going for the fundamentalists' vote. Kaine should help him there. Like the pied piper, BHO's leading his progressive devotees over the proverbial cliff. bliss-city.

by: Sharyn @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 14:41:22 PM CDT

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Excellent Post Sharyn. Rec'd! (0.00 / 0)

Well done!

Rec this up folks - it's a must-read!

Invest in Women - Change the World
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by: Alegre @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 15:17:11 PM CDT

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Gee, (0.00 / 0)

thanks, Alegre! and there's still a lot more to do with this.

by: Sharyn @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 15:59:01 PM CDT

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I Look Forward To Reading Your Updates On This Story Sharyn (0.00 / 0)

Keep up the good work! ;o)

Invest in Women - Change the World
http://twitter.com/alegrescorner

by: Alegre @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 19:49:17 PM CDT

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Anyone Who Can Answer (0.00 / 0)

your question at the end Sharyn is a whole lot smarter them me. I have been trying to figure out why progressives like BHO for over a year now and frankly, I just don't see it.

He's a wimp when it comes to abortion rights.
He agrees with Scalia et al re the death penalty and gun control.
He refused to defend the Constitution by voting for FISA.
He attacked Hillary for her UNIVERSAL health care plan.
He's making the same noises as the goopers re social security - can privitization be far behind?
He backed off his promise to end the Iraq war.
He spoke out of both sides of his mouth re NAFTA.
He's promoting that faith-based garbage of Dubbya's.

Seriously... the man I just described sounds like a Gooper. He sure as hell isn't a Democrat!

Invest in Women - Change the World
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by: Alegre @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 15:15:07 PM CDT

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and (0.00 / 0)

he ditched public campaign financing. Why did Feingold endorse him? And adamant campaign finance reformers come up with the most amazing convolutions to keep defending him. When are they going to get it? And why did they even assume he's progressive to begin with? None of his skimpy plans are at all progressive. Didn't these activists even bother to check out his plans before they voted for him?

by: Sharyn @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 16:06:12 PM CDT

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ummmm (0.00 / 0)

he isn't Hillary? That's really weird, but then guys to tend to stay together, maybe Barrack paid him, and maybe he made a secret promise to obey Feingold, with his fingers crossed. He's like the Producers, if he's elected there are probably a tad too many shares sold.

Hillary - alternative energy

by: anna shane @ Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 01:15:20 AM CDT

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We should pressure Feingold (0.00 / 0)

He was pissed when Obama flip flopped on public financing.

by: catfish @ Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 09:55:21 AM CDT

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Yes, (0.00 / 0)

I noticed that too! It must be crowded under that bus!

by: Sharyn @ Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 11:12:26 AM CDT

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The Chicago School got to him - market-based (0.00 / 0)

solutions for everything!

by: catfish @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 16:09:14 PM CDT

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The CEO got Obama's ear, flattered him (0.00 / 0)

I bet. That man is way too susceptible to flattery.

by: catfish @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 16:09:58 PM CDT

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The Nation was onto this (0.00 / 0)

Obama's Mercenary Problem from February 27, 2008. Hope he follows up on it.

Update from Jeremy Scahill: A day after this story went live on TheNation.com, Senator Hillary Clinton, whose staff refused for a week to answer my questions about her position on private security forces, released a statement announcing that Clinton is now co-sponsoring legislation to "ban the use of Blackwater and other private mercenary firms in Iraq," saying, "The time to show these contractors the door is long past due." Read her full statement here. Her timing was interesting, to say the least. Why February 28, in the middle of a tough political campaign? Why not after last September's Nisour Square massacre, when Blackwater operatives killed seventeen Iraqi civilians? Or, better, before it? Regardless, this makes Clinton the most significant US political figure to date to issue such a call. We will be monitoring closely how much of a legislative priority this becomes for Senator Clinton.

by: catfish @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 16:13:25 PM CDT

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hillary is no friend of blackwater (0.00 / 0)

here's her statement:

http://clinton.senate.gov/news...

this has the additional benefit of shutting down the iraq occupation. bush has put the military in the untenable position of depending on contractors - not all of which are US companies - to make the military effective. the army can't even feed itself anymore, or keep fuel in its vehicles. it's all contracted out.

Senator Clinton Cosponsors Legislation to Ban Use of Private Security Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan
Washington, DC - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton announced today that she has cosponsored legislation to ban the use of Blackwater and other private mercenary firms in Iraq.
"From this war's very beginning, this administration has permitted thousands of heavily-armed military contractors to march through Iraq without any law or court to rein them in or hold them accountable. These private security contractors have been reckless and have compromised our mission in Iraq. The time to show these contractors the door is long past due. We need to stop filling the coffers of contractors in Iraq, and make sure that armed personnel in Iraq are fully accountable to the U.S. government and follow the chain of command," said Senator Clinton.
The legislation requires that all personnel at any U.S. diplomatic or consular mission in Iraq be provided security services only by Federal Government Personnel. It also includes a whistleblower clause to protect contract personnel who uncover contract violations, criminal actions, or human rights abuses.

Barack Obama's election proves that any male can grow up to be president, provided he's willing to use misogyny as a campaign strategy.

by: campskunk @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 19:33:56 PM CDT

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thanks! (0.00 / 0)

The point is when asked what she thought about banning Blackwater, she not only gave an answer, she went into action and signed herself on as a co-sponsor to banning mercenaries. That's what I like about Hillary. She's a doer.

by: Sharyn @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 20:05:03 PM CDT

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She's a doer (0.00 / 0)

God yes! And can we have her back. Obozo is a chump -- delegates need to dump the chump!

Alice left me in Wonderland.

by: grlpatriot @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 21:44:07 PM CDT

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he needs mercenaries to guard (0.00 / 0)

American oil interests Hillary pledged to cancel Bush's no bid contracts and open them up to international investors. We don't need private armies to guard private enterprise while fucking up any chance for a rational foreign policy.

Hillary - alternative energy

by: anna shane @ Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 01:18:10 AM CDT

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chump, yes (0.00 / 0)

Just be careful not to call him a chimp; you'll be called racist. Although, you'll probably be called racist anyway for daring to criticize him at all. GWB is the chimp -- no racism there!

by: Sharyn @ Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 11:17:21 AM CDT

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I like what you (0.00 / 0)

put into bold text! As far as the timing, why not in the middle of the campaign? The point is she went into action, unlike Obama who just preferred to "keep his options open." And now he's actually defending Blackwater. Poor mercenaries, they have got such a bad rap. Speaking of bad rap, that rap from BO's friend Ludacris is as bad as bad rap gets.

by: Sharyn @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 20:12:10 PM CDT

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Yeah Scahill had to insult her before complimenting her (0.00 / 0)

He had to get his points with the Obama blogger boyz I guess. Pathetic.

by: catfish @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 20:53:31 PM CDT

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yeh, (0.00 / 0)

wingnuts are like that!

by: Sharyn @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 21:00:47 PM CDT

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Fauxgressives (0.00 / 0)

I'm sure if they did address it they would have some bass ackwards way of explaining how Obama is really being a strong progressive on the issue of using private contractors in Iraq. Every time I think of the Obama hords, I get this image of thousands of Bevis & Buttheads. Gross.

Great post!

Alice left me in Wonderland.

by: grlpatriot @ Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 21:59:53 PM CDT

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It's good to bring this one up again. (0.00 / 0)

It's my very favorite example of how the 'progressive blogosphere' has drank the koolaid.

Doesn't anyone remember how the big Cheetoh himself, Kos, got in such trouble by dismissing the deaths of US mercenaries in Iraq. For this he later apologized, rightly so, but expressed his utter contempt for paid soldiers of any kind. Until Obama said they are okey-dokey. Now Kos has no comment on Obama's position on this subject and no bid mercenary contracts aren't of concern any more over at the Big Orange. Real progressives can just STFU and adopt the new 'progressive' position - the one where they bend over and get screwed by Obama again.

by: lizpolaris @ Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 09:37:33 AM CDT

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By their old standards, (0.00 / 0)

I would think KOs would be outraged at a presidential candidate saying Blackwater got a bad rap. I wonder if anyone over there has even noticed.

Obama seems to be into the rap thing. His guy Ludacris is under the bus now though.

by: Sharyn @ Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 11:25:52 AM CDT

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well, the cheetos swallowed the FISA flipflop whole... (0.00 / 0)

...and didn't even blink. this one oughta be easy for them.

Barack Obama's election proves that any male can grow up to be president, provided he's willing to use misogyny as a campaign strategy.

by: campskunk @ Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 12:40:18 PM CDT

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"Blackwater is getting a bad rap." | 25 comments

"Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. When you stumble, keep faith. When you?re knocked down, get right back up. And NEVER listen to anyone who says you can't or shouldn't go on."
Hillary Clinton - June 7, 2008

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