Blackwater

We know virtually nothing about this. We think about 40 cents of every dollar goes to private military contractors. We think about 800 of them have been killed in Iraq, but we don't know that. They're not even counted. And we think there's about 25,000 to maybe 40,000 engaged in military activities -- in combat-related activities -- but we don't know, and we can't find out!

-- Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)

Blackwater is a window into the Brave New World unleashed by George Bush's Global War on Terror. Congresswoman Schakowsky has been a leading critic of Blackwater and other entities operating in Iraq and elsewhere. If her comments above don't send chills down your spine, you must be one of Them.

The online version of The Nation magazine has a new article by Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, that provides a brief look at the organization al Maliki has declared unwelcome in Iraq after the recent incident in which at least eleven Iraqis were shot and killed. The article features a YouTube video that I'm also embedding here.

Remember Donald Vance? Congressional hearings on Blackwater and related issues featured testimony by Mr. Vance regarding the issues I wrote about back on August 25th. I predicted then that we'd be hearing a lot more about this, and it appears that Blackwater itself has given those hearings a significant ratings boost.

If we survive as a nation with democratic government, the reporting of Jeremy Scahill and others will be followed some day by mass media treatment of these activities, and surely at some point Blackwater: The Movie. Could we even watch it? I'm still fighting my unwillingness to believe, not just that human beings could behave like this, but more importantly, what it says about us, that we have allowed it to reach such proportions and become so entwined with the United States Government at all levels.

There's no way to overstate this. When we examine Blackwater and its affiliates, we're assessing a threat, quite literally, to much of what is important to us in this world. I am one person, and by myself there's little impact I can have on current events. But I wait with bated breath for your response.