some of them are being hired privately to protect corporations and such, but overall, scary.... here's a post from tribe.net on them=
oh i guess it is the same thing in the link.
Blackwater Mercs Deploy in NOLA
Democracy Now! reporters describe conversations with Blackwater™
corporate/government (i.e. fascist) armed squads rotated from US
occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq--getting a share of the $10B +
$50B KBR/Halliburton fund that the regime has hijacked from public
education and health needs. They're getting only $350/day + per diem
(add another couple hundred)--as if they are having to cover motel,
restaurant and auto rental expenses while performing on their
contracts in the flooded city.
Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans
By Jeremy Scahill and Daniela Crespo
t r u t h o u t | Report
Saturday 10 September 2005
New Orleans - Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the
Blackwater private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq,
are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the
mercenaries say they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana
governor; indeed some are wearing gold Louisiana state law
enforcement badges on their chests and Blackwater photo
identification cards on their arms. They say they are on contract
with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the
authority to use lethal force. Several mercenaries we spoke with
said they had served in Iraq on the personal security details of the
former head of the US occupation, L. Paul Bremer and the former US
ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte.
"This is a totally new thing to have guys like us working CONUS
(Continental United States)," a heavily armed Blackwater mercenary
told us as we stood on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. "We're
much better equipped to deal with the situation in Iraq."
Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional
killers in the world and they are accustomed to operating without
worry of legal consequences. Their presence on the streets of New
Orleans should be a cause for serious concern for the remaining
residents of the city and raises alarming questions about why the
government would allow men trained to kill with impunity in places
like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here. Some of the men now
patrolling the streets of New Orleans returned from Iraq as recently
as 2 weeks ago.
What is most disturbing is the claim of several Blackwater
mercenaries we spoke with that they are here under contract from the
federal and Louisiana state governments.
Blackwater is one of the leading private "security" firms servicing
the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. It has several US
government contracts and has provided security for many senior US
diplomats, foreign dignitaries and corporations. The company rose to
international prominence after 4 of its men were killed in Fallujah
and two of their charred bodies were hung from a bridge in March
2004. Those killings sparked the massive US retaliation against the
civilian population of Fallujah that resulted in scores of deaths
and tens of thousands of refugees.
As the threat of forced evictions now looms in New Orleans and the
city confiscates even legally registered weapons from civilians, the
private mercenaries of Blackwater patrol the streets openly wielding
M-16s and other assault weapons. This despite Police Commissioner
Eddie Compass' claim that "Only law enforcement are allowed to have
weapons."
Officially, Blackwater says it forces are in New Orleans to "join
the Hurricane Relief Effort." A statement on the company's website,
dated September 1, advertises airlift services, security services
and crowd control. The company, according to news reports, has since
begun taking private contracts to guard hotels, businesses and other
properties. But what has not been publicly acknowledged is the
claim, made to us by 2 Blackwater mercenaries, that they are
actually engaged in general law enforcement activities
including "securing neighborhoods" and "confronting criminals."
That raises a key question: under what authority are Blackwater's
men operating? A spokesperson for the Homeland Security Department,
Russ Knocke, told the Washington Post he knows of no federal plans
to hire Blackwater or other private security. "We believe we've got
the right mix of personnel in law enforcement for the federal
government to meet the demands of public safety." he said.
But in an hour-long conversation with several Blackwater
mercenaries, we heard a different story. The men we spoke with said
they are indeed on contract with the Department of Homeland Security
and the Louisiana governor's office and that some of them are
sleeping in camps organized by Homeland Security in New Orleans and
Baton Rouge. One of them wore a gold Louisiana state law enforcement
badge and said he had been "deputized" by the governor. They told us
they not only had authority to make arrests but also to use lethal
force. We encountered the Blackwater forces as we walked through the
streets of the largely deserted French Quarter. We were talking with
2 New York Police officers when an unmarked car without license
plates sped up next to us and stopped. Inside were 3 men, dressed in
khaki uniforms, flak jackets and wielding automatic weapons. "Y'all
know where the Blackwater guys are?" they asked. One of the police
officers responded, "There are a bunch of them around here," and
pointed down the road.
"Blackwater?" we asked. "The guys who are in Iraq?"
"Yeah," said the officer. "They're all over the place."
A short while later, as we continued down Bourbon Street, we ran
into the men from the car. They wore Blackwater ID badges on their
arms.
"When they told me New Orleans, I said, 'What country is that in?,'"
said one of the Blackwater men. He was wearing his company ID around
his neck in a carrying case with the phrase "Operation Iraqi
Freedom" printed on it. After bragging about how he drives around
Iraq in a "State Department issued level 5, explosion proof BMW," he
said he was "just trying to get back to Kirkuk (in the north of
Iraq) where the real action is." Later we overheard him on his cell
phone complaining that Blackwater was only paying $350 a day plus
per diem. That is much less than the men make serving in more
dangerous conditions in Iraq. Two men we spoke with said they plan
on returning to Iraq in October. But, as one mercenary said, they've
been told they could be in New Orleans for up to 6 months. "This is
a trend," he told us. "You're going to see a lot more guys like us
in these situations."
