Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder

this article from The Nation.



  Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder
  by Jeremy Scahill


A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a
security operative for the company have made a series of explosive
allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in
Virginia. The two men claim that the company's owner, Erik Prince, may
have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were
cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company. The
former employee also alleges that Prince "views himself as a Christian
crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the
globe," and that Prince's companies "encouraged and rewarded the
destruction of Iraqi life."

The rest of this article can be found on the web at:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090817/scahill

Confessed incompetence or obstruction of justice?

Assciated Press reports

"Cofer Black, the former head of the CIA's counterterrorism center, said that looking back, he can't think of a thing “we could have done that would have changed anything.” Black, a top executive with Blackwater Worldwide, the security firm, made the comment in an interview published in November issue of Men's Journal. More...."

Some doubt this man's credibility:

http://911blogger.com/node/18074/print

Some, such as Lee Hamilton and Daniel Marcus,  even suggest the CIA committed acts of obstruction of justice:

(from George Washington Blog:)

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 06, 2007

More Evidence of Obstruction of Justice in 9/11 Investigation

By now you've heard that the CIA destroyed videotapes of interrogations of alleged Al Qaeda members. The interesting part of this story is that the 9/11 Commission claimed that it obtainedmost of its information about the attacks from these interrogations (and then only indirectly as reported by the military to the Commission; the Commission never met the alleged detainees, was not allowed to submit questions to them directly, nor was it allowed to question the alleged interrogators to assess their credibility).

The New York Times confirms that the government swore that ithad turned over all of the relevant material regarding the statements of the people being interrogated:

“The commission did formally request material of this kind from all relevant agencies, and the commission was assured that we had received all the material responsive to our request,” said Philip D. Zelikow, who served as executive director of the Sept. 11 commission ....

“No tapes were acknowledged or turned over, nor was the commission provided with any transcript prepared from recordings,” he said.

But is the destruction of the tapes -- and hiding from the 9/11 Commission the fact that the tapes existed -- a big deal? Yes, actually. As the Times goes on to state:

Daniel Marcus, a law professor at American University who served as general counsel for the Sept. 11 commission and was involved in the discussions about interviews with Al Qaeda leaders, said he had heard nothing about any tapes being destroyed.

If tapes were destroyed, he said, “it’s a big deal, it’s a very big deal,” because it could amount to obstruction of justice to withhold evidence being sought in criminal or fact-finding investigations.

Indeed, 9/11 Commission co-chairman Lee Hamilton says:

"Did they obstruct our inquiry? The answer is clearly yes," says Lee Hamilton, who co-chaired the 9/11 Commission, in the wake of reports the CIA destroyed videotapes of interrogations of two al-Qaida suspects. "Whether that amounts to a crime, others will have to judge," adds Hamilton.

SR says Blackball Blackwater

SR says Blackball Blackwater

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/opinion/story.asp?ID=249355

Feds Raid Blackwater in Shady Arms Deal

Feds Raid Blackwater in Shady Arms Deal

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Feds_raid_Blackwaters_armory_in_firearms_0626.html

Blackwater's shady deal allows company to have AK-47s

Blackwater's shady deal allows company to have AK-47s

http://blacklistednews.com/view.asp?ID=7066

Blackwater, Backup papers filed

http://www.republicbroadcasting.org/index.php?cmd=archives.month&ProgramID=46&year=8&month=5&backURL=index.php%253Fcmd%253Darchives.getyear%2526ProgramID%253D46%26year%3D8%26backURL%3Dindex.php%253Fcmd%253Darchives


http://www.sos.idaho.gov/tiffpilot/tiffpilot.exe?FN=\\sosimg\corp$/%2F10152007%2FLLC%23ORIG07288140903.tif

Blackwater above the law

From the International Herald Tribune:

Security contractor in Baghdad shooting is flying high

By James Risen

WASHINGTON: Last autumn, Blackwater Worldwide was in deep peril.

Guards for the security company were involved in a shooting in September that left at least 17 Iraqis dead at a Baghdad intersection. Outrage over the killings prompted the Iraqi government to demand Blackwater's ouster from the country, a criminal investigation by the FBI, a series of internal investigations by the State Department and the Pentagon, and high-profile congressional hearings.

click here for complete story

5 USC 3108 - Sec. 3108. Employment of detective agencies; restrictions

http://vlex.com/vid/19265891

An individual employed by the Pinkerton Detective Agency, or similar organization, may not be employed by the Government of the United States or the government of the District of Columbia.


If this law doesn't cover Blackwater then the fine, upright, moral gentlemen in Congress should write a new one that does.