Blackwater

Overview

Blackwater USA, commonly referred to as "Blackwater", is a mercenary training company based in Moyock (Currituck County), North Carolina, United States. The company owns 6,000 acres in Currituck and neighboring Camden County.

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Notes

• Blackwater was implicated in a 2007-09-16 attack in Baghdad in which 11 Iraqi civilians were reported killed. [1][2]
• Although Currituck County attempted to fine the non-profit owners of a lighthouse $100 per day in 2004 for failing to meet standards which were put into place two years after the nonprofit opened the lighthouse up to the public (which in turn took place after the County lost the battle for ownership of the site -- sounds like vindictiveness to me -W.), the County was more than happy to amend its development ordinance to allow Blackwater to expand firearms ranges, parachute landing zones and explosives training sites. [3]

Links

Reference

• Wikipedia
• Conservapedia no article as of 2007-10-01
• dKosopedia
• SourceWatch

News & Views

• 2007-10-15 Blackwater Is Soaked by Rod Nordland and Mark Hosenball: 'The colonel was furious. "Can you believe it? They actually drew their weapons on U.S. soldiers." He was describing a 2006 car accident, in which an SUV full of Blackwater operatives had crashed into a U.S. Army Humvee on a street in Baghdad's Green Zone. The colonel, who was involved in a follow-up investigation and spoke on the condition he not be named, said the Blackwater guards disarmed the U.S. Army soldiers and made them lie on the ground at gunpoint until they could disentangle the SUV. His account was confirmed by the head of another private security company. Asked to address this and other allegations in this story, Blackwater spokesperson Anne Tyrrell said, "This type of gossip has led to many soap operas in the press."'
• 2007-10-05 The Blackwater Massacre: "Private" Contractors Terrorize Iraq by Justin Raimondo
• 2007-10-03 Religious Left (news briefs): "The Southern Life Community, a consortium of faith-based peace communities in the South, will gather in Virginia Beach, Va., Oct. 19-21. The weekend will include an Oct. 20 March and possible civil disobedience at the global headquarters of Blackwater USA in Moyock, N.C., the 7,000-acre private military base where the company trains a private security force."
• 2007-10-01 Report Depicts Recklessness at Blackwater: "Guards working in Iraq for Blackwater USA have shot innocent Iraqi civilians and have sought to cover up the incidents, sometimes with the help of the State Department, a report to a Congressional committee said today."
• 2007-01-08 Blackwater USA: Onward Christian Soldiers by Al Cronkrite: a rather rightwing-religious, anti-Israel, anti-religious-diversity perspective which seems to start arguing that commercializing the armed forces is a bad idea, and then gets completely caught up in doctrinal discussions about evangelism and other topics.
• 2004-07-21 Currituck's priorities, letter to the editor by Debbie L. Hill of Hillsborough, NC
• 2003-07-23 Soldiers of good fortune by Barry Yeoman: "They fly helicopters, guard military bases and provide reconnaissance. They're private military companies – and they're replacing U.S. soldiers in the war on terrorism."