September 23, 2005
Blackwater Down
The men from Blackwater USA arrived in New Orleans right after Katrina hit. The company known for its private security work guarding senior US diplomats in Iraq beat the federal government and most aid organizations to the scene in another devastated Gulf. About 150 heavily armed Blackwater troops dressed in full battle gear spread out into the chaos of New Orleans. Officially, the company boasted of its forces "join[ing] the hurricane relief effort." But its men on the ground told a different story.
article | the Nation by JEREMY SCAHILL
~An email friend remarked "...this kind of stuff reminds me of Russia."
[Cieciel] I don't care how many cops or lawyers you know or have in your family, you ain't nobody until some foundation, corporation or the taxpayers are paying for your own private army. Punk-ass bitch.
Blackwater employees practice reacting to a car ambush in February at the company's North Carolina property. Four Blackwater private security employees were killed in Fallujah, Iraq, in early April (2004)
[photo/caption via google\ not with article]
