We outsourced the investigation of Blackwater to...Blackwater

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/054718.php

We have achieved a singularity of mindless outsourcing here.

So those headlines you read recently about how the initial investigation cleared Blackwater, now you know...the REST of the story.

This would make a great SNL skit, 30 years ago.

Shouldn't the State Dept. Inspector General be investigating this?

Shocking.

I'm shocked.... SHOCKED to find incompetence, corruption and cronyism in the Bush administration.

No libertarian types in this thread, of course. They're all too busy bitching about paying for healthcare for children.

If there's one good thing about the Bush administration, it's that it exposed libertarian philosophy Wizard of Oz style. The whole illusion's deader than a door nail.

But ratdog, seriously...weren't you surprised at this? Maybe I lack imagination, I dunno. But I have a pretty low opinion of this administration, and even *I* went "WOW!!" when I read this. It hadn't occurred to me that the official gvt. investigation into Blackwater would be written by a Blackwater employee.

The Casablanca thing is too easy. I think we have to go to Apocalypse Now's scene where Kurtz talks about the perfection of the VC cutting off the arms of kids who had gotten vaccinated. "The horror! The horror!" This is just a tale of banal, perfect, robotic evil. It's as exciting as a flowchart.

In all seriousness, dave, no. I was not surprised in the least. Maybe I'd have been shocked four or five years ago, but this fits in so perfectly with the usual Bushie M.O. it was downright predictable. I'm more surprised that you're surprised than by the issue itself.

I actually just read this and TPM got it wrong. The investigation has not been outsourced. Of course, Blackwater is going to write the spot report.

The shenanigans is that the State Department decided to publicize this report as if it meant something.

You'd be even more shocked to learn that contractors have basically been running the show for quite some time now and this really isn't an evil Republican conspiracy at all.

An attack on Blackwater is an attack on..............General Petraeus?

Ooooooh, those funny, joshing Reeps!

[youtube]UedfjY75AVc[/youtube]

Man Bush chose to lead Pentagon contracting probes left under fire to become Blackwater COO

Just watched some of the testimony by Eric Prince today, and I'm sickened.

Kucinich asked Prince point-blank whether the contracts awarded were no-bid contracts (as defined by the State Dept.). Prince replied that the contracts were awarded based on Blackwater's GSA schedule. For those who don't know the term, as GSA Schedule is, in layman's terms, a pre-negotiated price for goods and services; think of it as "not to exceed" prices, particularly when you're talking about a $350 million contract.

It does NOT mean, as Prince implied, that $350 million contracts fall out of the sky just because you have a GSA Schedule. There are literally hundreds of security service providers who have GSA Schedules. Having a GSA Schedule does not shield you from competitive bid procurement, especially when you're talking about large-dollar contracts; it's a basis for negotiation. Any government buyer with a pulse knows that a $350 million task order in-hand means that the buyer has the upper hand in cost negotiations.

The ONLY way a company gets a $350 million contract without competition is that somebody somewhere in the process had to have given a sole-source justification. Any bets where that paperwork disappeared to?

I watched the CEO of Blackwater testify today; Erik Prince, the founder and chief executive of Blackwater, to a Congressional committee. Seems like these former Seals do a good service for the nation, guarding civilians from the State Department and other civilian officials. In a war where civilians are present, as this war, certain security protection firms are required. Rather than condemning Blackwater you should look into the company. Rather impressive record if you ask me. Are they making money? Sure. What would you charge to put yourself in harms way? Nah... don't answer that... I know the liberal reply.

Numerous Blackwater staff have paid the ultimate price to provide security; what makes them less patriotic - according to the Dems - than regular front line troops? Other security firms are also involved but get far less press... This whole Blackwater issue seems to be a liberal fools errand, since they got no traction on criticizing Haliburton.

Link please.

Because they aren't murdering innocent Iraqi civilians.

Not 100% accurate. There is no price limit on a set-aside for Native American businesses. The awarding of those contracts can't be protested and the only real justification needed is that it is a tribal company. Not that that is what happened here, I'm just saying.

Of course there are a lot of ways to write a RFP that will essentially eliminate everyone except for the company you want. Not that I've looked into it too much, so I could be wrong, but I can't imagine there are too many companies out there who could compete with Blackwater when it comes to capabilities.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/02/AR2007100202456.html?hpid=topnews

And we want this company to police itself?
Report Depicts Recklessness at Blackwater

By DAVID STOUT and JOHN M. BRODER
Published: October 1, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 — Guards working in Iraq for Blackwater USA have shot innocent Iraqi civilians and have sought to cover up the incidents, sometimes with the help of the State Department, a report to a Congressional committee said today.

The report, based largely on internal Blackwater e-mail messages and State Department documents, depicts the security contractor as being staffed with reckless, shoot-first guards who were not always sober and did not always stop to see who or what was hit by their bullets.

.............

So all the companies that provided these services prior to 2001 just up and disappeared?

How about two?

Four civilians killed in Iraq worked for N.C. security firm
Posted 3/31/2004 8:28 PM Updated 4/1/2004 12:05 PM
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-03-31-casualties_x.htm
MOYOCK, N.C. (AP) — The deaths of four employees of a local security company and the shocking way the bodies were treated helped bring the conflict in Iraq closer to home, Moyock residents said. The four civilians were killed and their burned bodies dragged through the streets of an Iraqi town Wednesday. They worked for Blackwater Security Consulting, one of five subsidiaries of Blackwater USA based in northeastern North Carolina.

~

7 U.S. security contractors killed in Iraq
Thursday, April 21, 2005 Posted: 1743 GMT (0143 HKT)
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/04/21/iraq.contractors/index.html
(CNN) -- Seven Blackwater USA employees, all Americans, died Thursday in Iraq, the company said. The deaths bring the number of Blackwater employees killed in Iraq to 18.

Rather than criticizing Blackwater you Dems might honor their service to the nation.

I didn't say companies that provided protection services. I said companies with the same capabilities.

Ok, I should have said companies with their capabilities that hadn't violated numerous laws. I worked for a little bit for one of the companies you mentioned and can tell you that their capabilities are nowhere near Blackwater's.

"Capabilities" is code for "who you know."