Remember when our government felt like this. When those people who claimed Bush was going to declare martial law and rule as el presidente for life seemed believable?
Well we're probably still effed-in-the-a, but at least the Obama admin. is doing a couple of positive things. Refusing to do business with a company like Blackwater definitley falls into this category. In case you didn't know, six Blackwater employees were charged with the voluntary manslaughter of 17 innocent Iraqis back in 2007. Only one has plead guilty, but the company's infractions have been serious enough that the Iraqi government has refused to renew their operating licence. Although they are still employed elsewhere, the Iraq contract made up "1/3 - 1/2" of Blackwater's business so this is a critical blow to the company.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/30/us.blackwater.contract/
Blackwater has also changed it's name to Xe (zee). Changing one's name is a popular PR strategy for an entity whose reputation has been ruined (read: School of the Americas).
And as a bonus, this asshole has left the company.
CEO Erik Prince, a rich conservative-christian who's father, a rich conservative christian in his own right, co-founded the Family Research Council. Prince the younger is a homophobic zealot and former Bush cronie, who once complained that the administration was not socially conservative enough.
Arrevaderchi douche-nozzle!
(Oh and if you're interested in finding out more about Blackwater, there's an execellent book by Jeremy Scahill called Blackwater: Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment