Let's give the Iraqi puppet government some credit: At least they had the sense to delicense and order the Blackwater mercenary outfit out of the country.
The real question is why we allow them here in the U.S.
Recall that FEMA and Homeland Security used heavily armed Blackwater troops in the aftermath of the Katrina disaster in New Orleans. They were seen wandering around in flak jackets and helmets, with no identifying tags, carrying heavy weapons and M-16s. It is not clear how many people they may have killed or injured in those terrible days.
Worse yet, there's word that Homeland Security has standing contracts with Blackwater and other private mercenary firms for other "national emergency" situations in the U.S.
This whole concept is an affront to democracy and a grave threat to the survival of our democratic freedoms.
While the rules are often honored in the breach by officers who tape over their badges during operations, the law requires police in the U.S. to identify themselves with badges that show their number clearly, so that if they abuse their power, people know how to file a complaint or a lawsuit, which is the only recourse they have for illegal behavior by police forces.
Police are also supposed to be trained in things such as Miranda
rights, civil liberties, and so on. Again, while many officers go on
and act like laws unto themselves, particularly in poor and minority
communities, there is a presumption that they will behave in a
law-abiding manner, and when they don't, it is possible to challenge
them.
Not so with private mercenary "police." Such forces have no place in
any democratic society, and they have no place in ours. Nor do they
have any place in American military actions overseas.
Bear in mind that the British use of Hessian mercenaries during
colonial times was one of the main grievances that fired up American
revolutionaries (although in fairness to the German
soldiers-of-fortune, many of them eventually went AWOL and become
Americans).
Why isn't it being decried as a scandal that today, America is
increasingly turning over its military and its police to mercenary
forces, many of whom aren't even Americans? Blackwater, Dynecorp, and
other such firms are hiring Israeli veterans, former South African
police, and Latin American graduates of the notorious School of the
Americas (Torture U) to fill out their ranks, along with veterans of
such U.S. outfits as Delta Force, Navy Seals, and the Green Berets.
The Iraqis have seen close up the inhumanity and ruthlessness of these
mercenary outfits, and are starting to take steps to rein them in or
toss them out. Americans should demand the same here at home.
DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based investigative journalist and
columnist. His latest book is "The Case for Impeachment" (St. Martin's
Press, 2006 and now out in paperback. His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net.
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