Surprise, Surprise -Blackwater Is At It Again

Now that their State Dept. contract has been extended for another year Blackwater is trying to use a back door maneuver to resume its plans to build a base in the San Diego area, just three blocks from the Mexican border.

Well if you love those Blackwater guys as much as I do :-( you might be interested in this Courage Campaign petition (which I just signed) asking Speaker Pelosi to support legislation effectively banning Blackwater from Iraq. We need to stop Blackwater before they use their mercenary profits from Iraq to set up a base of operations on the US Southern border.

The Courage Campaign is reporting:

Blackwater is back in California.

Just a few months after the courageous people of Potrero kicked Blackwater out of their small town on the California border, Blackwater has announced plans to open a 61,600 square-foot "training facility" in San Diego just THREE blocks from Mexican border.

In other words, Blackwater is using your tax dollars on a mercenary war in Iraq -- $320 million paid so far, over 60% in no-bid contracts -- to subsidize building a base of operations inside California.

Blackwater's border bait-and-switch has shocked the citizens of San Diego. Shortly before pulling their plans on Potrero, the private military contractor quietly used a shell company called "Southwest Law Enforcement" to gain city permits for a "vocational trade school" a stone's throw from the Tijuana Airport. While Blackwater denies that this deception is a trojan horse to land border security contracts from the federal government before George W. Bush leaves office, the ominous writing is on California's wall.

What will it take to stop Blackwater for good in California and Iraq? Local and national pressure. This time, the Courage Campaign plans to fight a two-front battle against Blackwater -- on the border in San Diego and in the halls of Congress.

To block Blackwater in California for good, we need to put them out of business in Iraq forever. That's why we're supporting Rep. Jan Schakowsky's "Stop Outsourcing Security Act" (H.R. 4102), which would phase out private security companies like Blackwater in Iraq and Afghanistan. An identical bill in the Senate (S. 2398) has been co-sponsored by Senator Hillary Clinton.

If we can convince Speaker Pelosi to stop Blackwater from privatizing national security with our tax dollars, it could be the beginning of the end for Blackwater in Iraq, in California and hopefully send a message that American citizens do not condone the use of paramilitary contractors at home or abroad.

Please join thousands of thoughtful Americans in asking Speaker Pelosi to take leadership by supporting the "Stop Outsourcing Security Act" as soon as possible.

Please add your voice?

http://www.couragecampaign.org/BanBlackwater



Related posts:

Contract Justice
by Jeremy Scahill for The Nation

A Little Good News from Congress

Potrero Wins Its Battle Against Blackwater


Sound Familiar

It's Time to Fire Blackwater