Blackwater Going All Prince On Us (But You Can Pronounce The Name)

Who knows, if Prince (the musician) had picked out an esoteric, but pronounceable, name, how many more albums would he have sold?

And, I am quite sure the irony, of changing your company name, to that of a 1969 film of the same pronunciation, one about political murder, a government overthrown, with the rightwing across-the-board working to cover it up, is totally lost on them.

But that is exactly what Blackwater USA is doing

Meet the new company - "Xe," pronounced "zee."

From Noah Shachtman, at Wired's Danger Room;

For the last year or so, Blackwater Xe has been moving away from its core business of diplomat protection, and into -- well, just about everything else, it seems. Firm CEO Erik Prince has put together teams of spies-for-hire. The company is pushing ahead with plans to protect commercial ships, traveling through pirate-packed seas. And in case that doesn't work out, the company is making custom rifles, marketing spy blimps, assembling a fleet of light attack aicraft, and billing itself as experts in everything from cargo handling to dog training to construction management. It's even training pro athletes.

Shachtman was also a bit disappointed, that Blackwater, err, I mean Xe, didn't take his advice, as to changing their logo to his "Hello Kitty-style logos".



From USA Today's "What's in a name? Blackwater aims to bury its past with a new brand"

The company was founded in 1997 by chief executive Erik Prince and former Navy SEAL colleagues. They named it for the swampy black streams around Moyock, in northeastern North Carolina.

Wonder what the folks who run XE — "The World's Favorite Currency Site" — think about Blackwater's name change?

Xe is also the chemical symbol of Xenon, a colorless, ordorless, heavy "noble gas" used in powerful lamps.

Final note: Wikipedia tells us that "xe" is a gender-neutral pronoun, neither male nor female.

Hmmmm ... I don't know about this, we all remember the "New Coke" fiasco.

Zachary Roth, over at TPM Muckraker notes also;

They've also renamed Blackwater Lodge & Training Center, the subsidiary that does much of their controversial overseas operations. It's now the "U.S. Training Center Inc." (Which doesn't exactly mesh with "Xe," but whatever.)

And reminds us;

It's not hard to guess why Blackwater (or wait, Xe) wants to get out of the private security business. In 2007, Blackwater guards opened fire in a Baghdad square, killing 17 Iraqis. Five ex-Blackwater guards were charged with voluntary manslaughter and are awaiting trial.

And recently, thanks largely to that incident and other cases where Blackwater has been accused of using excessive force, the Iraqi government declined to renew the company's contract to operate in the country. Soon after, the State Department announced that, in any case, it wouldn't renew Blackwater's contract to operate in Iraq.

Now, I suspect all the subscriber's to Mercenary Illustrated probably have boners, a new whiff of mystique, about this, even if they do have trouble pronouncing the new name.

But I don't know ...

This may very well turn into the Military-Industrial Complex's version of "Who's On First"

Who's On First?




Bonus Blackwater, errr, Xe, Riffs

"They will have flies walking across their eyeballs"

They Another "I'm Shocked ... Shocked To Find Gambling Going On Here" Moment ...

Top Ten Cloves: Ways The Iraqi Government Can Get Blackwater USA Out of The Country

All You New Iraq Diplomats, Don't Forget To Pack Your Brooms

Breaking News! Burma Junta Contracting Blackwater For Internal Security ...Could Mean Exit From Iraq For Embattled Mercenary Firm; Radio's Limbaugh Charges "Phony Monks" Stirring Up Trouble

Retro Garlic ... Maybe The Next President Needs To Pull Out The Contractors First

It's truly appalling that this situation has occurred, and continues to exist.

Jamie Leigh Jones, the former Halliburton/KBR employee who was gang-raped in Iraq - by her fellow coworkers and contractors - testified yesterday in Congress, as she pursues justice in the case.

Jones told the committee "that she was not aware that when she signed her employment contract, she was effectively signing away her right to bring a lawsuit."

The New York Times has noticed the story today, offering;

"KBR and other companies, meanwhile, have required Iraq-bound employees to agree to take personnel disputes to private arbitration rather than sue the companies in American courts. The companies have repeatedly challenged arbitration claims of sexual assault or harassment brought by women who served in Iraq, raising fears among some women about going public with their claims."

And dday, over on Hullabaloo has Raped And In Legal Limbo, telling the story of Mary Beth Kineston and her sexual harassment and assault, as well as Jones' case;

"Mary Beth Kineston is not the only woman. According to former Halliburton employee and gang-rape victim Jennifer Leigh Jones, 38 women have told their stories of rape and assault to her, but none can come forward due to arbitration agreements"

The Retro Part

Last December, The Garlic took note of the story, in "Along With Shooting Innocent Civilians, We've, Apparently, Outsourced Rape, As Well";

As reported by ABC's Brian Ross (along with Maddy Sauer and Justin Rood), Jamie Leigh Jones, of Houston, was a KBR employee, at the time KBR was a subsidiary of Halliburton, working in Iraq - in the Green Zone - when she was gang-raped by her own co-workers.

And before you think that was the only horrible incident that occurred;

"...The company put her under guard in a shipping container with a bed and warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she'd be out of a job.

"Don't plan on working back in Iraq. There won't be a position here, and there won't be a position in Houston," Jones says she was told.

With this situation languishing, and woman being abused and assaulted, where is the outrage from our government, and in particular Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice?

And I do not frame this in a gender box.

Rice, and her State Department saw to it, and pretty quickly, that other contractors - Blackwater - got legal immunity, after their employees shot and killed 17 innocent Iraqi civilians.

If Rice can protect the hired guns, why isn't she moving heaven-and-earth to see to it that the female contractors are not abused and assaulted?

Maybe some enterprising journalist can ask the Secretary this in her next press conference.

And, perhaps, the first thing Barack Obama, or Hillary Clinton, if and when they are elected President, should make pulling all the contractors out of Iraq first - or, at minimum, see to it that the female contractors can perform their jobs and earn their livings without being subjected to horrifying abuse.


















No Madam Secretary, it's thumbs down for you, until you begin protecting the female contractors working in Iraq!

Oh No, We Have To ... Another "I'm Shocked, Shocked To Find Gambling Going On Here!"

As Steve Benen, over at The Carpetbagger Report asks (rhetorically) "Where does the Bush gang find these guys? Hacks ‘R Us?"

Our "Shocked, Shocked" recipient today is none other than State Department Inspector General Howard L. (Cookie) Krongard, who came oh-so-close yesterday of jumping the shark, nearly denying he even had a brother.

Actually, it ended up playing out more like the old SNL bit - "It's a floor wax and a dessert topping" - with Krongard finally fessing up that "Yes he's my brother and he's on the Blackwater board".

Appearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday, who is looking into Krongard's possible criminal conduct regarding - and here's the "Shocked, Shocked" part - of burying/stonewalling/looking the other way (we're flexible, you call it what you want) investigations into Blackwater, for gun smuggling and, just how they got their golden egg contracts over in Iraq.

The sibling tango began when Krongard was hit with the info, surprise, surprise, that his brother - the former CIA official Alvin B. "Buzzy" Krongard - is currently a member of the Blackwater Worldwide advisory board.

After volleying (okay squirming) denials, Krongard finally broke down into the Chinatown scene, with the committee slapping him around and Krongard blubbering yes "he's Blackwater and my brother!"

The high drama continued to play out late in the day, when Brother Buzzy told TPMmuckraker, about Brother Cookie; "I told him I was going on this board. He claims I didn't tell him," Buzzy Krongard says. "So what can I tell you?"

And lest you think Cookie chills out after hours, check out Barry Crimmins and "It's Just Krong", which details "Think of it, the Inspector General, a man who is supposed to be beyond reproach, has been caught shaking down his own children!"

Sign these guys up for a reality show, they'll make the Osbournes look like The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

Linkfest Below

Stay tuned on this one. This could play out, in the Bush Grindhouse Hall of Fame, of polishing Michael "Heck-of-a-job" Brown's apple - at least Brownie didn't have an Inspector General brother who's about as straight as a corkscrew.

Bonus Cookie and Buzzy Links

Crooks and Liars - Countdown: Blood Is Thicker Than Blackwater

Think Progress: ‘Buzzy’ Krongard contradicts brother’s testimony.

TPMmuckraker: Krongard Recuses Himself from Blackwater Investigations

FBI Concludes Blackwater Killings Unjustified

Other "I'm Shocked, Shocked To Find Gambling Going On Here" On The Garlic

All You New Iraq Diplomats, Don't Forget To Pack Your Brooms

We haven't followed up with the State Department on how our predictions offered last Saturday fared, but we have to add a new one today.

For all you diplomats being forced to serve over in Iraq, you're now going to have to carry some extra luggage;

Brooms

And your first duty will be to continue to sweep the Blackwater killing of 17 Iraqi citizens under the rug (and not any of those bargain ones that Lindsey Graham picked up).

Yet another sterling gem in the Bush Legacy.

It seems, by the news of the morning, the investigation into the Blackwater shooters have been stymied BECAUSE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OFFERED THEM IMMUNITY!

Holy tainted evidence, Batman!

Now, we already know that Bush's Work Wife, Condi Rice, has trouble remembering meetings... But you think, when she was before Congress last week- talking about contractors in Iraq - she could have, at least, hinted about the deal.

Why doesn't The Commander Guy just go on national television, hold up, and show the country, the "Pass Go, Collect $200 Million Dollars" card he gave Erik Prince and Blackwater and we can all get on to other business.

We joked before on how the Bush Iraq Policy was turning from Keystone Cops, to the Marx Brothers... Who Knew!

And Now We Come To The Sanity Clause

The Greek Chorus

FireDogLake: Guess Who Has Immunity Now?

Think Progress: State Dept. Granted Disgraced Blackwater Guards Immunity After Shootings

The Carpetbagger Report: Bush admin. promised immunity to Blackwater

Truthout/AP: Immunity Deal Hampers Blackwater Inquiry

Garlic Exclusive: Evidence of Bush giving Condi Rice the sweetheart kiss she was to pass on to Blackwater