September 2009
18 posts
WatchMy appearance on Countdown with Keith Olbermann Monday, discussing Dick Cheney, torture and the CIA. Also see my article, Seven Points About Dick Cheney and Torture.
This Week in Hate Mail: Homoerotic Edition
Subject: YOU AND OLBERMAN»»”LEFTY BUTT BUDDIES” ! Judy & Chuck <XXXXXXX> Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 9:39 PM To: jeremy@democracynow.org HEY JEREMY ….After seeing you on NO RATINGS »>OVERBITE and then looking at your backround and what you have been on , now I know just makes you tick . You and Bill Ayers have alot in common . You are...
August 2009
16 posts
Seven Points About Dick Cheney and Torture
A response to Cheney’s pro-torture media blitz.
By Jeremy Scahill
First of all, Dick Cheney has all sorts of nerve purporting to speak in defense of the CIA. His administration outed a senior CIA operative, Valerie Plame, in retaliation for her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, exercising his freedom of speech (because he exercised it to criticize the Bush administration’s...
We Need a Special Prosecutor for Blackwater and...
Blackwater’s web of connections includes a Who’s Who of former Bush-era CIA officials. And that’s just one company in a sea of “private contractors”
By Jeremy Scahill
Some parts of Blackwater’s clandestine work for the CIA have begun to leak out from behind the iron curtain of secrecy. The company’s role in the secret assassination program and its...
Blackwater in Court Today in War Crimes Hearing
Will a war crimes lawsuit against Erik Prince and Blackwater be allowed to proceed? That is in the hands of a Reagan-appointed judge in Virginia.
By Jeremy Scahill
UPDATE: Judge TS Ellis III asked a lot of questions about the Alien Tort Statute’s applicability in the case during today’s hearing. He also asked both parties to submit briefs by Friday from Iraqi law experts on why the...
Flushing Blackwater →
My latest article in The Nation outlines what action Congress should take on Blackwater. Excerpt:
Blackwater has proved itself to be a whack-a-mole: it keeps popping up. Despite the Iraqi government’s ban on the company, its operatives remain in Iraq a full two years after the September 2007 Nisour Square massacre, in which seventeen Iraqi civilians were gunned down in Baghdad. This...
U.S. Increasing Use of Private Contractors in War...
In Iraq, armed contractors are increasing as US troops “drawdown.” In Afghanistan, the increases are across the board.
By Jeremy Scahill
The Department of Defense has released an updated census of Pentagon contractors deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan and CENTCOM’s area of operations. The overall number of contractors in the third quarter of 2009 increased slightly from 243,000...
Blackwater: CIA Assassins? →
BY JEREMY SCAHILL
In April 2002, the CIA paid Blackwater more than $5 million to deploy a small team of men inside Afghanistan during the early stages of US operations in the country. A month later, Erik Prince, the company’s owner and a former Navy SEAL, flew to Afghanistan as part of the original twenty-man Blackwater contingent. Blackwater worked for the CIA at its station in Kabul as...
No US Interference in Afghan Elecs--Except James...
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the US remains “impartial” in the Afghan elections.
By Jeremy Scahill
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just released a statement on the Afghan elections, which will be held later this week. Key section:
“The United States of America remains impartial in this election. We do not support or oppose any particular candidate. Like the...
Valerie Jarrett: Trust Obama on Blackwater
By Jeremy Scahill
President Obama’s senior advisor, Valerie Jarrett, was confronted over the weekend with the fact that the administration continues contracting with the scandal-plagued mercenary firm Blackwater (which now does business as Xe Services and US Training Center). “He has to balance national security with transparency and I bet with him. I bet with him and I’m...
US Still Paying Blackwater Millions →
From my latest story in The Nation:
Just days before two former Blackwater employees alleged in sworn statements filed in federal court that the company’s owner, Erik Prince, “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe,” the Obama administration extended a contract with Blackwater for more than $20 million for...
Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder →
Sworn statements from two former employees filed in Federal Court also allege that Erik Prince launched a “crusade” to eliminate Muslims and Islam. Read the Full Story at The Nation by Jeremy Scahill