Blackwater mercenaries -- Communitarian COPS

One of my neighbors gifted me a copy of "Blackwater" by Jeremy Scahill. Well written and very well referenced, this book is a great resource for the history and rise to power of private security forces. I learned a lot about the details; now I understand why the War on Terror is so costly and where all the divereted emergency funds are going, and where some of the trillions "missing" from the Pentagon in 2001 went.

Blackwater is only one the many companies training local law enforcement, and this book barely mentions that "Israel is the Harvard of Anti Terrorism." Scahill goes into great detail of the force made up of death squads from El Salvador, South Africa and Chile, but the Israelis get one little paragraph. There's very little about all the joint U.S.--U.S.S.R. police exercises, except the parts telling us that Blackwater trains officers and forces from countries around the world. And the connection to global Community Policing is completely avoided.

It's a good lesson on the power of ommision. Scahill's Hegelian slant is almost too easy to identify. Right wing, Christian, Religious fundamentalists and the Bush administration are the identified problem; communitarians like Obama, Kucinich and even Hillary are portrayed as heroes valiantly trying to stop the advancement of mercenary "justice."

In my layman's opinion, both the left and the right are working toward the same end. Each player has a scripted role to play for us that advances their bosses' ultimate communitarian agenda. We the Marxist ignorant masses are supposed to get so caught up in the phony Hegelian dialectical arguments that we never SEE the emerging final synthesis coming out of all these dialectics, at least not until we are fully prepared to accept it as the best and only possible solution. It's a spiritual revelation only the "enlightened" are able to see. Uh huh.

On page 380 Kucinich is described as "incredulous" when questioning Shay Assad about DoD's preparations for prosecution of mercenaries charged with killing civilans. Assad said "Sir, I can't answer that question," and according to Scahill, Kucinich shot back, "Think about what that means. These private contractors can get away with murder."

Two months before the 9/11 attacks Kucinich proposed a communitarian "solution" to violence - non-violence (which as my readers may suspect leads to-- some selected-violence):

"On April 8, 2003, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced H.R. 1673 (first introduced July 11, 2001) in the U.S. House of Representatives—legislation that would create a Cabinet-level Department of Peace dedicated to peaceful, nonviolent conflict resolution at both domestic and international levels. The Department of Peace would serve to promote non-violence as an organizing principle in our society, and help to create the conditions for a more peaceful world.
http://www.hagelin.org/government/index.html

Here's his campaign for a Department of Peace.
http://www.thepeacealliance.org/

Here's a piece claiming Kucinich threw reps for Nancy Pelosi and AIPAC out of his office for making bizarre proposals and asks for help because now the Israeli lobby plans to unseat him.
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2008/02/371899.shtml

Here's Oprah's "spiritual guru" Marianne Williamson on CNN with Kucinich. Williamson introduced the communitarian "spiritual" solution to global violence, by name, in her book, "A Woman's Worth." http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/138/

On "Blackwater" page 358:

"The IPOA Code, which all member companies are required to sign, comits its member to "agree to follow all rules of international humanitarian law and human rights law that are applicable as well as all relevant internal protocols and conventions.""

According to Blackwater.com, the company is a member of International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centers (IAPTC). http://www.blackwaterusa.com/press_releases/default.asp

I wonder why Scahill never found it of any neccessity to explain to us ignorant readers what international humanitarian law and human rights means. Why doesn't the IAPTC agree to follow the rules established by the U.S. Constitution or any of the the individual state constitutions?

"International humanitarian law (IHL)- Section explaining international humanitarian law (IHL), its role in the protection of victims of war and its relationship with the work of the ICRC. The main treaties are the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols"
http://www.icrc.org/eng/ihl

ICRC has lists of Implementing Laws and Regulations by State. It includes the U.S. Constitution and various U.S. Codes. Okay... I'll try to figure out how that's possible.

"The Asian values debate and its relevance to IHL" explains Asian communitarian values.
http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/57JQZL

Never Yet Melted has an interesting history of IHL:
http://neveryetmelted.com/?cat=29

Then there's the Human rights angle:

"This article considers several explanations for the international human rights movement's sudden heightened attention to rule of law.

The human rights movement has increasingly encountered conceptual, normative and political challenges. Perhaps, as de Mello suggested, rule of law will be a "fruitful principle to guide us toward agreement and results," and "a touchstone for us in spreading the culture of human rights."

We still live in a world where widespread human rights violations are the norm rather than the exception. Rule of law is seen as directly integral to the implementation of rights.

Rule of law may also be indirectly related to better rights protection in that rule of law is associated with economic development, which is related to better rights performance"
"Human Rights and the Rule of Law- what's the relationship?"
by RANDALL PEERENBOOM
University of California, Los Angeles - School of Law
UCLA School of Law Research Paper No. 05-31
Georgetown Journal of International Law, Vol. 36, 2005

Why isn't national law cited in the international association of peacekeepers mission? Because it really doesn't matter anymore. But it will, UN law is gaining ground again, and imagine what precedents can be set if the left succeeds in bringing the right before the international court.

http://psychedelictourist.blogspot.com/2006/11/bush-cheney-rumsfield-convicted-of-war.html

http://www.peoplejudgebush.org/tribunal.shtml

Funny how both sides claim the same objective. Maybe they really do mean what they say. The traditional lines are being blurred. We simply can't rebuild a communitarian world with impediments like the U.S. Bill of Rights getting in the way of peacekeeping operations, now can we? And the bottom line is BOTH "sides" want the same result, a lovely new *civil society.

Here's the examples of the two sides. The first one comes from the the military/official "right," the second one is the official "left/middle". Pick one... there are no other choices.

"STABILITY OPERATIONS AND RECONSTRUCTION

Seeking Interagency Solutions to Evolving Crises

---

The roles of today's military, government and international organizations increasingly intersect across a range of scenarios from crisis prevention and humanitarian support to consequence management and state intervention. As traditional lines blur, new relationships must be forged to ensure operational success. Military and civilian agencies together with nongovernmental organizations must transcend the institutional barriers and stereotypes that prevent meaningful coordination of effort. Advancement of these partnerships requires honest interagency dialogue, coupling foreign and domestic military and civilian agencies. Interagency solutions will define the future of stability operations and reconstruction. The increase in multilateral intervention necessitates the reassessment of the complex relationships between organizations. As security concerns for nongovernmental organizations intensify and the military further engages in stability operations and reconstruction, these organizations will be forced to work together. The development of mutually supportive relationships will enhance the effectiveness of the agencies and organizations providing support, improving the quality of support to those in need.

The U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI) will join with the Eisenhower National Security Series, the State Department's Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS), Joint Forces Command (JFCOM), the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and others to develop actionable international, interagency and service solutions in response to evolving stability operations and reconstruction. Throughout the year, the Eisenhower Series Stability Operations and Reconstruction Series will host events to advance conceptualization and policy for these missions. Through this series, a wide array of organizations will discuss and issue recommendations related to the challenges presented by today's complex security environment focusing on four stability and reconstruction themes."
http://www.eisenhowerseries.com/sor/index.php

A Strategy for the Dept. of Peace to Enhance National Security

Transformation to Create A Culture of Peace

Howard Rosenberg
The Peace Alliance
5/11/06

"The overarching strategy aims to enhance global and domestic security by building and nurturing strong civil society, thereby establishing an environment of healthy and vibrant communities where human needs can be met as the rule rather than the exception. To accomplish this, we aim to create a "network of capacity" that links human and community needs to organizations that can contribute to the strengthening of civil society. The focus will be on building the connections among the broad spectrum of organizations that have peacebuilding as a common intention... and as we strengthen civil society, we will simultaneously enhance our national and global security.

Within this strategy, the role of The Peace Alliance/Department of Peace will be the "systems architect" and facilitator to establish a self-organizing network of capabilities (nonviolent conflict resolution, micro-finance, business, environmental stewardship, truth and justice, women and children's rights, healthcare rights, etc.) focused on peacebuilding by strengthening the capacity for civil society throughout the world. The idea is that, while virtually all the "raw" capabilities exist to do this, the management challenge is how do we orchestrate various organizations (NGOs, businesses, educational institutions, government agencies, military, police, healthcare, etc.) to holistically come together, share a common vision, work as a team, and build the capacity for a strong and vibrant civil society, while respecting diverse cultural perspectives.

An intended consequence for this strategy will be that the networks we help create will become part of the very infrastructure for a global culture of peace. The process will be designed to help fulfill Gandhi's profound wish for humanity to "become the change you wish to see in the world"

Instead of our political leadership asking, in our quest for national security, "How can we arm ourselves and defeat our adversaries... like we did during the Cold War?", we now have the opportunity to ask ourselves: "How can we collaborate with the global community to create, by intentional design, a world where humanity thrives" The answers to these two questions may very well be the difference between a fearful society in decline and a hopeful energetic society that can help lead this world out of darkness.

The Peace Alliance can start playing this role now; we are well positioned to do this and we are earning the reputation of being non-partisan, inclusive, and focused on convening all parties who are interested in peacebuilding in its broadest context. We can be a shining beacon of how humanity can work peacefully and constructively together to create a culture of peace; we will strive for what we want, not what we are against. Our means become our desired ends."

*Civil Society is a phrase introduced by Jacobin freemasons to "change" the course of the French Revolution; the words actually mean mob rule and peace & justice via the guillotine. It gets pertty amazing to recognize so much of their freemason/theosophical and Fabian language... "lead the world out of darkness" is beyond obvious. Can you see any others?

What happens when any company, corporation, group or tribe can estabish its own "enforcement" policies and hire its own special forces to protect the human rights of the inhabitants? Does this ideology explain the blatant actions by members of the Ahtna Indian Tribe on the banks of the Copper River (and on other "Indian lands" across the U.S.)?

If you were a communitarian and understood the need for violent conflicts to effect radical change in the U.S.A., would you consider this as one possible violent conflict area? The Mexican border disputes helped establish Blackwater as a domestic mercenary force. They were on the ground after Katrina hit, before anyone else (including the Mexican Marines). They had tons of weapons but there wasn't any room for food or water for the victims. And according to Scahill, Blackwater soldiers were then hired by the Dept of Homeland Security to protect FEMA.

So I have to wonder again now... what happened to all those N.O. city policemen and the children who went missing during the hurricane "emergency." Are there still Americans living under the control of the FEMA camps? I need to do some serious follow-up to my Katrina articles.