Blackwater, Enron, Halliburton, KBR… most of the top brands of the Bush administration have been destroyed or devalued. Blackwater Worldwide, with it’s eye on the prize of no-bid contracts to patrol the Mexican border has been rebranded. Hoping to wash away the stains from their homicidal outlawry in Iraq, the killers formerly known as Blackwater became “Xe Worldwide” last week.
Xe Worldwide is ripe for nationalization. The cadre of highly trained security forces would, with a little attitude adjustment, fit nicely into the US Marine Corps. In fact, if the list of indicted Xe Worldwide mercenaries is representative, many of them have already been trained as marines.
Whatever combination of lobbying influence, cronyism and budgetary havoc created by the Bush administration permitted these “service providers” to contract for jobs that should be done by the military, it’s time for a change. It’s time to return our marines to their assignment of protecting embassies, it’s time to return responsibility for government service to the government, and it’s time to roll-up the assets of the crooks who surrounded Bush and let them sort things out through receivership. Where better to start than with his private army?
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What you said.
Dear Sir or Ms.:
I stumbled across your website and was so dismayed by your apparent lack of facts I am taking a moment of my time to provide you with a little education. And before you conclude that I am a right wing nut know that I have been a life long democrat and worked as a volunteer during both of President Clinton’s presidential campaigns. It is incoherent rants such as your opening statement that cause people to look at us as a bunch of emotional pansies.
If you are going to throw barbs at least get your facts straight. You make reference to the “Bush Brands” but you are woefully ill informed. Enron’s business really expanded during President Clinton’s time in office and went bankrupt within the first year of President Bush’s presidency. Not that either president had anything to do with the success or failure of Enron.
Blackwater (aka XE) signed it’s first government contracts during President Clinton’s administration. The contracts were quite significant and they served the administration well.
Halliburton and KBR are both very successful companies that have flourished, stumbled and flourished again during the terms of numerous presidents. KBR was founded in 1901 with Halliburton following in 1919. Both companies have great stories and have provided steady employment and great careers for hundreds of thousands of Americans. They helped grow a strong middle class by paying solid wages and providing excellent benefits to their employees.
Do some research before you cast aspersions.
Normally, I don’t give anonymous trolls much space here; but “Vaughn,” as part of the Blackwater Brigade of Internet Apologists, you are quite special. Enron flourished due to Republican deregulation of energy markets. It’s the same story that’s being repeated this year in the financial markets. Rapacious greed-balls ruled. I think a cultural shift might be in the offing. Radical shifts in media, energy and financial controls are underway. Progressive values will guide regulations that will turn the economy around. Outsourcing no-bid contracts to cronies will be largely a thing of the past. Ideally we will bring the criminal dogs of the Bush era to heel and justice will be served.
Xe Worldwide hopes to dominate that special niche market of “aviation support” that belonged to Air America in the late sixties and seventies. Halliburton and KBR are driven by quarterly results and looking back over the history of the company extolling their distribution of wages and salaries to generations of working people isn’t particularly relevant. In fact, the people who worked for these companies owed their standard of living to the United Steelworkers Union, not to the KBR management. Pension funds all across the USA are dumping KBR stock out of moral and ethical concern.
Government outsourcing of military services, from mess halls to mercenaries, is an appalling result of the Republican destruction of government. The government can manage and control these services better and more cost effectively than private enterprise.
Xe Worldwide is in the power and control business. Eventually their interests must conflcit with the governments of the countries in which they are allowed to operate. Just as people of conscience demand an end to US training of illegal counter insurgency techniques at the School of the Americas (now WHINSEC), so also must we demand strict limitations on the activities of Xe Worldwide in our sovereign territory.
You conclude your comment, “Vaughn,” with the suggestion that I should do some research before casting aspersions. I’d suggest that rather you should do some research before defending Xe/Blackwater, Halliburton/KBR. Here’s an interesting review of KBR’s service to the US in Iraq during 2024. It would be a good place for you to start reading.
It’s time to return our marines to their assignment of protecting embassies,
As far as I now the Marine Security Guard Battalion is still on the job at embassies all over the world.
On the job at battalion strength guarding all US embassies and many consulates everywhere on the planet… In Iraq, rather than reinforce the Marine Embassy Guards with US armed forces personnel, the choice was made to hire private security firms to take over the traditional USMC responsibility of Personal Security Detail for embassy personnel and VIPs. USMC Force Recon could be expected to handle PSD in Iraq better and more honorably than the mercenaries Bush and Rummy hired to do the job. Force Recon is tougher, smarter, better trained, demonstrably more courageous and more patriotic than the Blackwater gang of mall security cops. Why send Barney Fife when you could send the Marines?