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Oppose New US Blackwater Training Base

October 8, 2007

JOE MILLER

The same private security firm -- Blackwater USA -- that is currently the focus of several Congressional hearings for numerous alleged acts of unwarranted violence and death in Iraq (1, 2), wants to build a large training base -- Blackwater West -- in the desert east of San Diego close to the US border with Mexico.

  1. State Department Ignored Blackwater Warnings
    http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100707B.shtml
  2. The Scandal of Blackwater
    http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/06/4360/

Below find a link (3) to a powerful eight minute segment that aired on KNBC in Los Angeles on August 10, 2007 about the attempts of Blackwater USA to create an 824 acre base with firing ranges, a mock "combat town," high-speed driving course, helipad, etc. in the desert east of San Diego close to the Mexican Border. The segment does an excellent job raising questions about why the base is being proposed, why it is located so close to our border with Mexico, and whether private Blackwater security contractors might, under some circumstances, be deployed to protect our borders, deal with catastrophes, respond to riots, etc. in the United States. The segment also addresses potential ties between Blackwater and political officials and candidates, and features interviews with Rick Jacobs of The Courage Campaign, and Jeremy Scahill, author of "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" (4).

  1. NBC4 on Blackwater in CA and Courage Campaign Activism
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzZ5B2w5M0A
  2. Our Mercenaries in Iraq
    http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0125-25.htm

The California Democratic Party, The Courage Campaign (5), and the website Crooks and Liars (6) are each mounting campaigns to oppose the creation of Blackwater West. Blackwater's original training base is in Moyock, NC, but it now also operates a base in Mount Carroll in northwestern Illinois (7). Jeremy Scahill has an excellent video (8:26 minutes) describing the Illinois base as well as the evolution of Blackwater USA at this link (8).

  1. Act now to block Blackwater's mercenary base on the California border
    http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/StopBlackwater
  2. Tell Boxer and Feinstein:"No Blackwater West"
    http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/10/06/tell-boxer-and-feinstein-no-blackwater-west/
  3. Protest Grows over Blackwater U.S.A Training Camp
    http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/13/511/
  4. Blackwater Invades Illinois
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP_m4m62IfI

When viewed from the perspective of Bush's recent series of ominous Executive Orders, National and Homeland Security Directives, and Martial Law facilitating legislation (9), Blackwater's proposal to create a California training camp, in addition to its Illinois and North Carolina training camps, bodes ill for the maintenance of our constitutionally guaranteed rights and liberties, especially in times of high stress and tension.

  1. Another Executive Order: The Emerging Picture
    http://www.sjvgreens.org/current/bushExecOrder2.shtml

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Joseph Miller
Department of Psychology
51 Madeleva
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556

St. Joe Valley Greens, South Bend, IN