Congressional Dimwit Henry Waxman has found a new personal vendetta against BlackwaterUSA and is using his position as Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to slander them in an ongoing effort to lose the war in Iraq.
"Blackwater's contract to provide protective services to the State Department provides that Blackwater can engage in only defensive use of force. In over 80% of the shooting incidents, however, Blackwater reports that its forces fired the first shots."
I'll give Waxman a bye on this one and assume that he is just ignorant of the realities of shooting first in a defensive situation. Perhaps he has just never contemplated the consequences of waiting until someone else shoots you before you consider returning fire.
"In addition to Blackwater, two other private military contractors, DynCorp International and Triple Canopy, provide protective services to the State Department. Blackwater reports more shooting incidents than the other two contractors combined."
No bye here! Waxman is either too stupid to comprehend basic math or he's stupid enough to think the American public can't. Quite simply, Blackwater has more people in country than the others combined and conducts greater risk missions. The math is simple.
"The State Department took a similar approach upon receiving reports that Blackwater shooters killed an innocent Iraqi, except that in this case, the State Department requested only a $5,000 payment to 'put this unfortunate matter behind us quickly.'"
OK, I can understand that $5k cannot buy much more than a democrat haircut in the U.S. but it can go a long way to a family that only makes $700 a year. As for the comment, "the Department's Diplomatic Security Service said [$250,000] was too much and could cause Iraqis to "try to get killed," how many American's would step up if their death meant their family would receive more money than they could ever expect to earn in their life time? Then, Saddam helped illustrate this point by offering rewards to the families of suicide bombers. This section also shows a complete lack of understanding of the culture in this part of the world where it is considered a family members duty to kill the original killer unless compensation is paid; this includes accidental deaths and is the origin of the term "blood money."
"There is no evidence in the documents that the Committee has reviewed that the State Department sought to restrain Blackwater's actions, raised concems about the number of shooting incidents involving Blackwater or the company's high rate of shooting first, or detained Blackwater contractors for investigation"
Maybe that was because the State Department officials were present at the scene as the principle being protected and agree that they were being threatened. As for detaining, DoS does not have arrest authority especially in foreign countries. With such a gross lack of understanding of government responsibilities and limitation, Waxman is a pretty poor choice for Government Oversight
"Using Blackwater instead of U.S. troops to protect embassy officials is expensive. Blackwater charges the government$.I,222 per day for the services of a private military contractor. This is equivalent to $445,000 per year, over six times more than the cost of an equivalent U.S. soldier"
This is the absolute dumbest statement in the entire document. I cannot believe a Congressman can be so stupid! If it isn't a gross act of stupidity then it is a blatant act of deception. Can you say, Lies, Perjury, Libel, and Defamation of Character?
Just in case someone here has never hired an employee or worked in business management or administration, let me explain just how false this is. One sixth of $445k is $6180 a month which is approximately my net income while I am deployed in a combat zone. BUT! This cost does not reflect recruiting costs, training costs, management costs, administrative costs, housing expenses, food, travel expenses, medical benefits, dental coverage, insurance, weapons, ammunition, body armor, armored vehicles, etc. The list goes on and on. A business, especially one in a combat zone, pays for a lot more than just an employee's paycheck. Blackwater also doesn't get paid for workers when they are out of the country unlike the Army that has to pay their soldiers when home or between conflicts. Comparing Blackwater's full in country expenses to a soldier's net wages is dishonest.
In typical Democrat fashion, Waxman cannot produce a paper without the obligatory Bush Bash. For some reason defying the flow of his report and for no apparent reason, Blackwater's earnings scale is measured during the "Bush Administration" instead of the more logical, "since the war began," or "since 9/11."
I am extremely disgusted by this wax-job. It serves no purpose beyond attacking a legitimate company that provides a service to our government.
