Blackwater founder Erik Prince

There’s a lot going on right now in Pakistan. The US has a military presence in Pakistan. Some of those soldiers are private contractors. One of those contractors was Blackwater. And now after the Vanity Fair interview with Blackwater founder Erik Prince in which he revealed that Blackwater had been working with the CIA to assassinate Pakistanis.

Now read this opinion piece in the Pakistan’s The Daily revealing the increased suspicion of the US expansion of the war in Afghanistan into Pakistan.

Note: It’s the “Second Editorial” halfway down the page.

Today’s tweets worth mentioning.
In true Tweet-fashion these updates are not necessarily linked as a conversation, but more like random screaming non sequiturs.

WAR
@svendarko said: Obama’s “law of love” is to bomb others because we can’t figure out what else to do. #nobel #peaceprize http://bit.ly/783ORY

@allnitewatchman responded: @svendarko Get with the program. There’s a lot of defense contractors that are pretty happy about this surge in Afghanistan.

CLIMATE CHANGE
@dannymcle @JustPlainBill But since you mention it, CO2 is toxic to humans. Don’t believe me? Try some, please. http://bit.ly/7DgCxs #tcot #p2

HEALTH CARE #hcr

@now7grandkids TO HELL WITH NORTH DAKOTA& TRAITOR KENT CONRAD. THE ENTIRE STATE HAS A HALF MILLION PEOPLE&THEY2 WANT PO. RT.

@penngator Well, at least I’ll only have to wait until I’m 55 instead of 65 to get decent healthcare. #hcr #p2

@Baconmints thank imaginary jesus that johhny mccain isn’t allowed to fuck over the American people from the oval office. #tcot #p2 #GOP #hcr

JOURNALISM
This one’s sad.
@panopticon13 E&P closing seems like a significant milestone in the transition from print to online.

DUMB
Today’s tweet not worth mentioning but so dumb I can’t resist.
@kirkland4 i have a cure for obesity. extreme obesity.
@kirkland4 @svendarko you’re living in a dreamworld my friend. where’s your proof. look at your own criminal govt. and the people that voted them in.
Editor’s note: @kirkland4 supposedly lives in Arizona. Last time we checked that’s still part of the US. It’s your government too @kirkland4. There’s no context for his “dreamworld” comment.

@BDBOY55 Obama hates the middle class !!! but why

@cbdooley Jim DeMint for Senate Majority Leader 2010. #tcot #rino #teaparty

@JTS_1957 RT @alexashrugged: 44% say they’d rather have Bush back than Obama! http://bit.ly/5yKBE4 I TOLD people, be careful what you wish for! #tcot

@ResistTyranny “Death is softer by far than #tyranny.” ~Aeschylus #tcot #ocra #sgp

@thestickman2000 #tcot Obama is the worst President ever in my lifetime. Worse than Carter, Nixon, Bush Jr. Just the worst!

President Barack Obama

President Obama continues to make the same mistake over and over again. From bankers, to members of Congress and even the American people, Obama keeps hoping everyone will just get along and find common ground.

While Obama keeps waiting for everyone do to the right thing, unemployment continues to go up, small businesses are struggling or failing, people are dying from lack of health care, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and bailed out investment bankers are rolling in taxpayer dough.

It’s time for Obama to stop his audacity of hope campaign – what we need is action, leadership and some asses kicked (I’m looking at you Goldman Sachs and AIG).

Perhaps critics of candidate Obama were right when they said he lacked experience. He’s been in the White House for nine months and he’s accomplished nothing.

Health care reform continues to flounder in Congress.

The war in Iraq is still sucking the US Treasury dry and snatching the lives of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians.

In Afghanistan, Obama is thinking about sending more troops, but he appears to be hemming and hawing over that decision.

When the banking industry, which created the current financial mess we’re in thanks to laissez-faire regulation, was on the ropes Obama didn’t take that opportunity to force regulation down their throats, but rather he handed them billions and billions of taxpayer money and hoped that they’d play nice and be cool with regulatory changes later. Wrong.

Before Congress started debating health care reform, the president should have laid out his requirements for a bill he would sign. Obama should have started out with single-payer and made the case for it. There’s a good argument to be made for single-payer, but Obama didn’t even try. Instead, he left it all up to Congress to run wild with and boy did they. Now we’re looking at heavily compromised bills that will likely result in a lot of people paying too much money for health insurance that doesn’t cover anything. Thanks, but no thanks.

And what has he done to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Nothing. We can’t win either of these wars because there is no definition of victory. No one has ever conquered Afghanistan, and neither will the US. And what’s the exit strategy in Iraq? Hope?

Obama’s hope machine has run out of gas. Hope is great, we all need a little bit of it from time to time, but it’s no excuse for inaction. This is politics. It’s partisan.

The time for leadership is now, because let’s face it, pretending that partisan politics is something that can, or should, be avoided is no recipe for success. Obama needs to stop his wishful thinking. Conservatives and liberals will not march on Washington, DC hand-in-hand singing Kumbaya – it’s not going to happen. Wake up or step aside in 2012 to make room for a real leader.

President Obama is ratcheting up the war in Afghanistan with more troops and more money. What the hell is he doing?

There was a story the other day in the Portland Daily Sun about a young soldier killed in Afghanistan. What did he die for? Does Obama really think he’s going to be able to do what Russia couldn’t do when they killed a couple million Afghanis before heading home in 1989 with their tail between their legs?

Bob Herbert said in his column today that the Bush administration screwed up the war in Afghanistan from the get-go and no amount of money and troops is going to salvage it.

Why do we keep doing this? Why do we keep repeating the mistakes of Vietnam? I mean, it wasn’t so long ago that we should have forgotten it already. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have claimed the lives of more than 5,000 US soldiers, hundreds of thousands of civilians and more than a trillion dollars.

It makes no sense. Obama should be ashamed of himself. Every death is on his hands now. He has no excuse. This isn’t change we can believe in. Hope? Whatever.

The State Department has extended a contract with controversial private security firm Blackwater, ABC News has learned. The contract was due to expire this month.

Blackwater founder Erik Prince

Sources say the department has agreed to temporarily continue using the subsidiary known as Presidential Airways to provide helicopter transport for embassy employees around Iraq until a new contract with another security company, Dyncorp International, is fully implemented. Presidential Airways is an arm of U.S. Training Center, which is a subsidiary of the company Xe, formerly and still commonly known as Blackwater.

Read this entire story at ABC News

Last Updated Sept. 15, 2009

On Sept. 9, 2009 another civil case has been brought against Erik Prince and his Blackwater corporate mercenary empire. In this case, like the others, Prince is accused of willfully murdering Iraqis for sport. It’s alleged that Prince hires people who will kill for him, essentially waging his own private crusade and murdering innocent Iraqis as part of his war against Islam.

On Aug. 12, 2009, Erik Prince’s lawyer Peter H. White of Mayer Brown LLP, filed a motion to change the defendants in the case from Erik Prince and his Blackwater corporate entities with the US government. The argument is based on the Westfall Act that prevents employees of the federal government from being sued for doing bad things while working for the government. It’s not clear that Blackwater will qualify as an employee of the government since it’s a contractor and not a person. Here’s an analysis of the Westfall Act and whether employees of the government can be held responsible for their actions. Of course, it’s not clear whether Blackwater is considered an employee.

Court Documents Available for Your Review

Please note that most of these are document collections, not just one document. Use the icons at the bottom of the viewer to examine the other associated documents. I tried to put the most important stuff first, but the exhibits and supporting documents are necessary for the complete picture.

Sept. 9, 2009 court documents related another civil case against Prince.

Aug. 12, 2009 motion to make the defendants in this case the US government rather than Prince and his corporations.

Here are some more documents related to the Aug. 12, 2009 court date. This is an updated version of Prince’s motion to dismiss which includes the expert testimony of HAIDER ALA HAMOUDI.

On Aug. 5, 2009 Prince’s lawyer filed this document with the court.
REPLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF THEIR MOTION TO ENJOIN EXTRAJUDICIAL STATEMENTS REGARDING THIS LITIGATION

Here’s the original complaint filed against Erik Prince and his various companies. Also included are the civil cover sheet and a receipt for the $350 filing fee. The plaintiff is listed as the “Estate of Husain Salih Rabea.”

Here are the documents relating to the defendant’s motion to dismiss.

Here’s a memorandum supporting the motion to dismiss the case. Please remember to use the icons at the bottom of the document viewer to see all of the documents.

Here are the documents The Nation published regarding Monday’s declarations by John Doe #1 and John Doe #2. Here’s John Doe #1’s declaration.

Here’s John Doe #2’s declaration.