Fwd: Warning from Ron Paul and Bush's possible use of foreign mercenaries to enforce martial law

[Guest guest]

First is a excerpt from Ron Paul,then a Blackwater USA

promotion from their web sight and then two articles

on this outfit.

I don't think Bush will need the National Guard for

martial law here with the chance of guard members not

going along with it so instead the president will hire

private mercenaries to do it instead,being their

loyalty is to the dollar and Bush will be holding the

purse string so to speak.

There is alot of reading here,I thought I would warn

you.

 

 

 

 

Republican Congressman Ron Paul recently appeared on

nationally syndicated radio and again reiterated his

deep concern that foreign troops are mobilizing

outside and inside America to be used as assets in a

martial law takeover by the Bush administration.

 

" It's a horrible precedent and it's all part of the

NAFTA scheme and globalization and world government, "

Paul told the Alex Jones Show.

 

" Obviously they shouldn't be permitted. What I'd like

to see is that we don't have our troops in foreign

countries and if we needed a national guard that they

were back here at home, that's the bigger problem.

Then if there were foreign troops on our soil maybe

our state officials could deal with that with their

own national guard. "

 

Paul elaborated on his fear that after the next crisis

the government, in line with their own public

statements, will use military assets to police

Americans on a regular basis.

 

" They're putting their back up against the wall and

saying, if need be we're going to have martial law. "

 

" We've heard all these statements by the President, by

the administration, why they need more militarism at

the federal government to keep people in check so

nobody knows how this will turn out but I do know that

the only thing we can do about it is try to alert the

American people to what's going on so they can be

prepared. "

 

 

 

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Blackwater Down

By Jeremy Scahill

The Nation

 

10 October 2005 issue

 

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.

 

Some patrolled the streets in SUVs with tinted

windows and the Blackwater logo splashed on the back;

others sped around the French Quarter in an unmarked

car with no license plates. They congregated on the

corner of St. James and Bourbon in front of a bar

called 711, where Blackwater was establishing a

makeshift headquarters. From the balcony above the

bar, several Blackwater guys cleared out what had

apparently been someone's apartment. They threw

mattresses, clothes, shoes and other household items

from the balcony to the street below. They draped an

American flag from the balcony's railing. More than a

dozen troops from the 82nd Airborne Division stood in

formation on the street watching the action.

 

Armed men shuffled in and out of the building as a

handful told stories of their past experiences in

Iraq. " I worked the security detail of both Bremer and

Negroponte, " said one of the Blackwater guys,

referring to the former head of the US occupation, L.

Paul Bremer, and former US Ambassador to Iraq John

Negroponte. Another complained, while talking on his

cell phone, that he was getting only $350 a day plus

his per diem. " When they told me New Orleans, I said,

'What country is that in?' " he said. He wore his

company ID around his neck in a case with the phrase

Operation Iraqi Freedom printed on it.

 

In an hourlong conversation I had with four

Blackwater men, they characterized their work in New

Orleans as " securing neighborhoods " and " confronting

criminals. " They all carried automatic assault weapons

and had guns strapped to their legs. Their flak

jackets were covered with pouches for extra

ammunition.

 

When asked what authority they were operating

under, one guy said, " We're on contract with the

Department of Homeland Security. " Then, pointing to

one of his comrades, he said, " He was even deputized

by the governor of the state of Louisiana. We can make

arrests and use lethal force if we deem it necessary. "

The man then held up the gold Louisiana law

enforcement badge he wore around his neck. Blackwater

spokesperson Anne Duke also said the company has a

letter from Louisiana officials authorizing its forces

to carry loaded weapons.

 

" This vigilantism demonstrates the utter breakdown

of the government, " says Michael Ratner, president of

the Center for Constitutional Rights. " These private

security forces have behaved brutally, with impunity,

in Iraq. To have them now on the streets of New

Orleans is frightening and possibly illegal. "

 

Blackwater is not alone. As business leaders and

government officials talk openly of changing the

demographics of what was one of the most culturally

vibrant of America's cities, mercenaries from

companies like DynCorp, Intercon, American Security

Group, Blackhawk, Wackenhut and an Israeli company

called Instinctive Shooting International (ISI) are

fanning out to guard private businesses and homes, as

well as government projects and institutions. Within

two weeks of the hurricane, the number of private

security companies registered in Louisiana jumped from

185 to 235. Some, like Blackwater, are under federal

contract. Others have been hired by the wealthy elite,

like F. Patrick Quinn III, who brought in private

security to guard his $3 million private estate and

his luxury hotels, which are under consideration for a

lucrative federal contract to house FEMA workers.

 

A possibly deadly incident involving Quinn's hired

guns underscores the dangers of private forces

policing American streets. On his second night in New

Orleans, Quinn's security chief, Michael Montgomery,

who said he worked for an Alabama company called

Bodyguard and Tactical Security (BATS), was with a

heavily armed security detail en route to pick up one

of Quinn's associates and escort him through the

chaotic city. Montgomery told me they came under fire

from " black gangbangers " on an overpass near the poor

Ninth Ward neighborhood. " At the time, I was on the

phone with my business partner, " he recalls. " I

dropped the phone and returned fire. "

 

Montgomery says he and his men were armed with

AR-15s and Glocks and that they unleashed a barrage of

bullets in the general direction of the alleged

shooters on the overpass. " After that, all I heard was

moaning and screaming, and the shooting stopped. That

was it. Enough said. "

 

Then, Montgomery says, " the Army showed up,

yelling at us and thinking we were the enemy. We

explained to them that we were security. I told them

what had happened and they didn't even care. They just

left. " Five minutes later, Montgomery says, Louisiana

state troopers arrived on the scene, inquired about

the incident and then asked him for directions on " how

they could get out of the city. " Montgomery says that

no one ever asked him for any details of the incident

and no report was ever made. " One thing about

security, " Montgomery says, " is that we all coordinate

with each other-one family. " That co-ordination

doesn't include the offices of the Secretaries of

State in Louisiana and Alabama, which have no record

of a BATS company.

 

A few miles away from the French Quarter, another

wealthy New Orleans businessman, James Reiss, who

serves in Mayor Ray Nagin's administration as chairman

of the city's Regional Transit Authority, brought in

some heavy guns to guard the elite gated community of

Audubon Place: Israeli mercenaries dressed in black

and armed with M-16s. Two Israelis patrolling the

gates outside Audubon told me they had served as

professional soldiers in the Israeli military, and one

boasted of having participated in the invasion of

Lebanon. " We have been fighting the Palestinians all

day, every day, our whole lives, " one of them tells

me. " Here in New Orleans, we are not guarding from

terrorists. " Then, tapping on his machine gun, he

says, " Most Americans, when they see these things,

that's enough to scare them. "

 

The men work for ISI, which describes its

employees as " veterans of the Israeli special task

forces from the following Israeli government bodies:

Israel Defense Force (IDF), Israel National Police

Counter Terrorism units, Instructors of Israel

National Police Counter Terrorism units, General

Security Service (GSS or 'Shin Beit'), Other

restricted intelligence agencies. " The company was

formed in 1993. Its website profile says: " Our

up-to-date services meet the challenging needs for

Homeland Security preparedness and overseas combat

procedures and readiness. ISI is currently an approved

vendor by the US Government to supply Homeland

Security services. "

 

Unlike ISI or BATS, Blackwater is operating under

a federal contract to provide 164 armed guards for

FEMA reconstruction projects in Louisiana. That

contract was announced just days after Homeland

Security Department spokesperson Russ Knocke told the

Washington Post he knew of no federal plans to hire

Blackwater or other private security firms. " We

believe we've got the right mix of personnel in law

enforcement for the federal government to meet the

demands of public safety, " he said. Before the

contract was announced, the Blackwater men told me,

they were already on contract with DHS and that they

were sleeping in camps organized by the federal

agency.

 

One might ask, given the enormous presence in New

Orleans of National Guard, US Army, US Border Patrol,

local police from around the country and practically

every other government agency with badges, why private

security companies are needed, particularly to guard

federal projects. " It strikes me...that that may not

be the best use of money, " said Illinois Senator

Barack Obama.

 

Blackwater's success in procuring federal

contracts could well be explained by major-league

contributions and family connections to the GOP.

According to election records, Blackwater's CEO and

co-founder, billionaire Erik Prince, has given tens of

thousands to Republicans, including more than $80,000

to the Republican National Committee the month before

Bush's victory in 2000. This past June, he gave $2,100

to Senator Rick Santorum's re-election campaign. He

has also given to House majority leader Tom DeLay and

a slew of other Republican candidates, including

Bush/Cheney in 2004. As a young man, Prince interned

with President George H.W. Bush, though he complained

at the time that he " saw a lot of things I didn't

agree with-homosexual groups being invited in, the

budget agreement, the Clean Air Act, those kind of

bills. I think the Administration has been indifferent

to a lot of conservative concerns. "

 

Prince, a staunch right-wing Christian, comes from

a powerful Michigan Republican family, and his father,

Edgar, was a close friend of former Republican

presidential candidate and antichoice leader Gary

Bauer. In 1988 the elder Prince helped Bauer start the

Family Research Council. Erik Prince's sister, Betsy,

once chaired the Michigan Republican Party and is

married to Dick DeVos, whose father, billionaire

Richard DeVos, is co-founder of the major Republican

benefactor Amway. Dick DeVos is also a big-time

contributor to the Republican Party and will likely be

the GOP candidate for Michigan governor in 2006.

Another Blackwater founder, president Gary Jackson, is

also a major contributor to Republican campaigns.

 

After the killing of four Blackwater mercenaries

in Falluja in March 2004, Erik Prince hired the

Alexander Strategy Group, a PR firm with close ties to

GOPers like DeLay. By mid-November the company was

reporting 600 percent growth. In February 2005 the

company hired Ambassador Cofer Black, former

coordinator for counterterrorism at the State

Department and former director of the CIA's

Counterterrorism Center, as vice chairman. Just as the

hurricane was hitting, Blackwater's parent company,

the Prince Group, named Joseph Schmitz, who had just

resigned as the Pentagon's Inspector General, as the

group's chief operating officer and general counsel.

 

While juicing up the firm's political connections,

Prince has been advocating greater use of private

security in international operations, arguing at a

symposium at the National Defense Industrial

Association earlier this year that firms like his are

more efficient than the military. In May Blackwater's

Jackson testified before Congress in an effort to gain

lucrative Homeland Security contracts to train 2,000

new Border Patrol agents, saying Blackwater

understands " the value to the government of one-stop

shopping. " With President Bush using the Katrina

disaster to try to repeal Posse Comitatus (the ban on

using US troops in domestic law enforcement) and

Blackwater and other security firms clearly initiating

a push to install their paramilitaries on US soil, the

war is coming home in yet another ominous way. As one

Blackwater mercenary said, " This is a trend. You're

going to see a lot more guys like us in these

situations. "

 

 

 

 

Mercenaries 'R' Us

 

By Bill Berkowitz, AlterNet. Posted March 24, 2004.

 

 

There are currently thousands of mercenaries serving

in Iraq. Their high salaries and shorter terms of

employment will inevitably make a serious dent on the

military's budget -- and soldiers' morale.

 

With the casualty toll ticking ever upward and troops

stretched thin on the ground, the Bush administration

is looking to mercenaries to help control Iraq. These

soldiers-for-hire are veterans of some of the most

repressive military forces in the world, including

that of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet

and South Africa's apartheid regime.

 

In February, Blackwater USA, a North Carolina-based

Pentagon contractor, began hiring former combat

personnel in Chile, offering them up to $4,000 a month

to guard oil wells in Iraq. The company flew the first

batch of 60 former commandos to a training camp in

North Carolina. These recruits will eventually wind up

in Iraq where they will spend six months to a year.

 

" We scour the ends of the earth to find professionals

-- the Chilean commandos are very, very professional

and they fit within the Blackwater system, " Gary

Jackson, the president of Blackwater USA, told the

Guardian.

 

While Blackwater USA is not nearly as well known as

Halliburton or Bechtel -- two mega-corporations making

a killing off the reconstruction of Iraq -- it

nevertheless is doing quite well financially thanks to

the White House's war on terror. The company

specializes in firearm, tactics and security training

and in October 2003, according to Mother Jones

magazine, the company won a $35.7 million contract to

train more than 10,000 sailors from Virginia, Texas,

and California each year in 'force protection.'

 

Business has been booming for Blackwater, which now

owns, as its press release boasts, " the largest

privately-owned firearms training facility in the

nation. " Jackson told the Guardian, " We have grown 300

percent over each of the past three years and we are

small compared to the big ones. We have a very small

niche market, we work towards putting out the cream of

the crop, the best. "

 

The practice of using mercenaries to fight wars is

hardly new, but it is becoming increasingly popular in

recent years. During the first Gulf War, one out of

every 50 soldiers on the battlefield was a mercenary.

The number had climbed up to one in ten during the

Bosnian conflict. Currently there are thousands of

Bosnian, Filipino and American soldiers under contract

with private companies serving in Iraq. Their duties

range from airport security to protecting Paul Bremer,

the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority.

 

Apart from Chile, the other popular source for

military recruits is South Africa. The United Nations

recently reported that South Africa " is already among

the top three suppliers of personnel for private

military companies, along with the UK and the US. "

There are more than 1,500 South Africans in Iraq

today, most of whom are former members of the South

African Defense Force and South African Police.

 

According to the Cape Times, among the South African

companies under contract with the Pentagon are

Meteoric Tactical Solutions, which " is providing

protection and is also training new Iraqi police and

security units, " and Erinys, a joint South

African-British company, which " has received a

multimillion-dollar contract to protect Iraq's oil

industry, " the Cape Times reported.

 

The recruitment of its citizens, however, isn't making

either the Chilean or the South African governments

happy. The Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance

Act prohibits South African citizens from direct

participation as a combatant in armed conflict for

private gain. Michelle Bachelet, Chile's defense

minister, has ordered an investigation into whether

such recruitment is legal under Chilean laws. Bachelet

also was troubled by stories that soldiers on active

duty are leaving the company to sign up as

mercenaries.

 

It is also only a matter of time before U.S. soldiers

grow unhappy with the presence of mercenaries in their

midst. The high salaries and shorter terms of

employment offered to mercenaries will inevitably make

a serious dent on the military's budget. As

Blackwater's Jackson acknowledged in the Guardian, " If

they are going to outsource tasks that were once held

by active-duty military and are now using private

contractors, those guys [on active duty] are looking

and asking, 'Where is the money?' "

 

Raenette Taljaard, a member of the South African

Parliament, describes the ubiquitous reach of this

" booming cottage industry " of private security

companies:

 

" In addition to becoming an integral part of the

machinery of war, they are emerging as cogs in the

infrastructure of peace. US-allied military officials

and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan are quickly

becoming familiar with the 'brand services' provided

by companies. "

 

In the era of globalization, war has become just

another industry to be outsourced.

 

 

 

 

 

Doug Haddix

 

 

 

 

 

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