I don't know how many of you who are familiar with the private security force Blackwater-it's a privately-owned, well-equipped, technologically advanced army....right in your backyard. Blackwater security, owned by mega-millionaire Erik Prince, has mercenaries in both the combat theaters of Iraq and Afghanistan and also were first responders for the Katrina disaster two years ago. The mercenaries do not answer to any governing body of the U.S.-they are a privatized armed force on U.S. soil.
There are several problems with this scenario that most Americans probably don't realize. Mercenaries aren't new. Throughout history they've played a vital role in the conquests of many nations. That in and of itself is a problem. These forces act at the behest of private investors and can even be used to overthrow a nation-even one as powerful as the United States. We already seem to have adopted the position that government is no good and that private industry take over most functions of government. I vehemently disagree. Private industry is motivated only by profit, and many a corporation has sacrificed public safety and the health and welfare of the public in order to serve that motivation. Enron was just the tip of the iceberg. Throughout history we've had the Exxon Valdez calamity, and the Union Carbide tragedy in Bhophal killing well over 20,000 when a gas leak at the plant poisoned citizens of the city. In both instances safety precautions seemed to be ignored and thousands lost their lives. It is difficult for me to accept that private industry can and will serve the interest of the greater population of the nation.
Having a fully-armed and equipped standing army solely at the behest of private industry is frightening. Not to mention the fact that any publicly traded company can be purchased, meaning any foreign entity could purchase Blackwater and immediately have a highly-trained, fully-armed, standing army right within our borders. For the first time in U.S. history, the acquisition of a publicly traded private entity could put a foreign troops on our soil. Some of you may believe this to be a highly unlikely scenario, but America is not without her enemies and with Wall Street's influence on K Street, at the right price, the sale of Blackwater Security to the highest bidder is not impossible. If the parties involved stand to make a sizeable amount of money, it's not beyond the realm of possibilities. I am certain that the sale of such a company would not take place without the scrutiny of the CIA or the FBI, but stranger things have happened.
There just isn't a need for a privately owned security force to exist here in the United States. The government was created to protect the rights and interests of every citizen of this nation. Private entities do not share the same interest, nor do they exist for the purposes of the general population. But they've so intertwined themselves inside the machinations of Washington, D.C., there has been a disconnect between the people and their government. Now the only people the government serves are those who sit on high in mahogany-trimmed board rooms, and draw salaries that can equal up to more than half the entire workforces' salary combined. Such absolute power, both financially and indirectly politically, doesn't bode well for the general population. These elitist feel completely separated from the rest of Americans. They consider themselves the uber Americans-those who, if they aren't above the law, they're certainly parallel to it. In their eyes, the laws do not apply to them. All the while American citizens sit idle while Rome burns down around them.
TPOKW?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Does this not go against the American constitution. "No privately armed institution having a mandate that overrides the State's authority jurisdiction "(I am paraphrasing)? So Blackwater still do carry out their operations after getting clearance from the state, right?
So as long as that holds, I think you don't have to worry about them being traded on Wall Street!Whichever private investor buys them, would still have to comply with the law of the land!
There are so many things that are going on in the U.S. that violate the constitution now it's ridiculous. One major major violation is the Federal Reserve Board-a private group of bankers that set the U.S. interest rate and mints money. The constitution specifically states that no other entity but the U.S. treasury will mint money. Fed Reserve Board has been doing it since Andrew Jackson was president. Sadly, most Americans have never even read the constitution of this country so when bills are introduced that challenge the power of the constitution, they have no idea that they are voting themselves into a corner and giving away rights granted them by the constitution. This current generation of Americans are like children, they treat the government like a doting parent instead of an institution that they are supposed to watch like a hawk. The government should do to them whatever they wish-if you aren't going to take your liberties seriously and be responsible citizens-if you want to behave like 5 year olds for the entirety of your life, then you have no right to complain when your government does whatever wishes to you and against you. The citizens of this country are ruining it, not the government.
As far as Blackwater is concerned, we've basically become an oligarchy-we've long since stopped being a democracy. With that said, this government no longer serves the largess of the population. It exists only to cater to the needs of the nation's aristocracy-and the American citizens with their zest to become the next Bill Gates, have turned power over to the wealthiest of this nation, because heroes do no wrong. We have an interesting future ahead of us and I'm not too sure I like the way things look. Blackwater could easily become an instrument of destruction in this country. We talk a lot about the strength of the constitution, but we forget this is a nation that has no problem dismantling treaties that no longer serve American interest.
Post a Comment