William Cormier
OpEdNews
September 1, 2008

Blackwater International is running a full page on their website attempting to compile “a list of qualified security personnel for possible deployment into areas affected by Hurricane Gustav.” This is a task that has historically been undertaken by our various state National Guard Units.

CNN is reporting that President Bush and Vice-President Darth Cheney will not attend the RNC because of Hurricane Gustav. Some believe it’s nothing more than a PR stunt, however, as we look behind the scenes, it is possible that something far more sinister is behind Bush and Cheney’s decision to forgo the Republican National Convention:

Bush tells Gulf Coast residents to flee ‘dangerous’ storm

“This storm is dangerous,” he warned, urging residents to heed calls to evacuate.

After a briefing at FEMA headquarters, Bush said he would forgo an appearance at the GOP National Convention on Monday and will be in Texas instead.

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video from ExpandedBooks.com

David Edwards and Muriel Kane | RawStory.com

Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army, is worried about the giant mercenary firm’s latest foray into private intelligence. “They’re marketing their services to not only foreign governments, but to Fortune 500 corporations,” he recently told an interviewer.

The forthcoming paperback edition of Scahill’s book on Blackwater, which appeared in hardcover in February 2007, will include 100 pages of new material, including a discussion of last September’s shooting spree in Baghdad by Blackwater operatives — which killed 17 Iraqi civilians but for which nobody has ever been charged.

“This is a company that has been accused of murdering Iraqi civilians,” Scahill pointed out, “of shooting the bodyguard to the Iraqi vice-president, of causing blowback attacks on United States troops, of hurting the morale of the United States military — that has cost United States taxpayers over a billion dollars for its operations in Iraq.”

However, Scahill’s greatest concern at present appears to be Blackwater’s venture into the private intelligence business.

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UPDATE DECEMBER 7th
KRONGARD QUITS
reuters.com
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard, under scrutiny for his brother’s link to the Blackwater security firm, has decided to resign, U.S. officials said on Friday.
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