MGx - Musings, Essays & Ballads

Privatized armies and now intelligence gathering, this is very, very scary stuff.
Video from Rawstory

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VFP is holding its national convention in Minneapolis this year and I seriously considering attending. Two years ago I went to the Seattle convention and made some great contacts and learned a great deal. This year two of the speakers are former Marine and UN weapons inspector, Scott Ritter and Jeremy Scahill, author […]

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Today at 7:00 PM ET or 4:00 PM here on the left coast you can view a live feed of Town Hall in New York City. Panelists include four noted journalists, Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker, Jeremy Scahill, author of the bestselling Blackwater, and Laila Al-Arian and Chris Hedges, co-authors of Collateral […]

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The big argument about war funding is always that we cannot abandon the troops. Absolutely, there isn’t a soul I know that wants to see the troops stranded. Unfortunately they have been stranded in Iraq from the very beginning and this breakdown of the latest budget request spells it out.
You could argue, of […]

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Veteran running for Congress against ‘freedom fries’ Republican Walter Jones who now opposes the Iraq war, Marshall Adame has gained the ire of Blackwater. Openly voicing criticism over conduct he personally witnessed and a general dislike for mercenaries in general (guns for hire; No more, no less… Private Armies represent the very things we […]

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From the San Diego Times we have a classic David and Goliath tale.
Five members of the Potrero planning group were voted off the panel Tuesday night in a recall election that served as a symbolic referendum on a controversial training camp proposed by Blackwater Worldwide.
The five incumbents all supported the proposed facility.
As the five […]

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Via Rawstory

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Washington Post reports today that a grand jury has been impaneled to investigate other criminal acts by security contractors in Iraq, which according to one source are common.
Private security companies in Iraq “have been shooting a lot of people,” he said.
The Sept. 16 shootings at Baghdad’s Nisoor Square provoked outrage within the Iraqi government, which […]

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Retired Air Force Col. David Antoon has written a powerful piece about the evangelical Christian takeover of the military at Truthdig. His piece is especially meaningful to me as I remember visiting the Pentagon a year ago and being astonished by the camoflage covered bible and the literature pertaining to ‘how to survive in […]

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As everyone knows by now there are peace demonstrations planned across the country including in Seattle, October 27th. Since September, ‘05 I have attended three massive marches in DC and countless local events and believe me attending a peace march can be a very energizing thing to do. Where else can you get together […]

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Joint Urban Operations Office at US Joint Forces Command held a Joint Urban Operations, 2007 last month in DC. Nick Turse has written an in depth article about it at Asia Times. Apparently, the Pentagon has determined that urban warfare is the future and are planning for decades to come.
“We think urban is […]

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For anyone foolishly believing that Iraq had a say in its own affairs the Blackwater controversy proves otherwise. From the NYTimes
Blackwater USA has been involved in a far higher rate of shootings while guarding American diplomats in Iraq than other security firms providing similar services to the State Department, according to Bush administration officials […]

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Amy Goodman interviews Jeremy Scahill and Doug Brooks

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Following an incident in Baghdad which led to the deaths of Iraqi civilians by Blackwater agents, Iraq is revoking the operating license of Blackwater, the world’s largest mercenary army. Condi Rice on the other hand is trying to smooth things over to continue their presence in Iraq.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, en route to […]

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