Politics Plus

Few companies have a greater reputation for corruption and misconduct, from overbilling to murder, than Blackwater Corporation, who renamed themselves Xe in a fruitless attempt to distance themselves from that reputation.  I labeled them the GOP SS when Bush used them against US citizens in New Orleans.  It became so bad that State threatened to cut them off as long as Eric Prince is in charge.  As a result, the company now has new owners.  Are they still the GOP SS?  And is this just an investment, or do the new owners have ulterior motives?

Private US security firm Xe, formerly known as Blackwater International, has been bought by a group of investors, they announced on Friday.

New York-based USTC Holdings said it will acquire Xe and its core operating subsidiaries, but did not disclose the price or terms of the agreement in a statement.

USTC Holdings is an investor consortium led by private equity firms Forte Capital Advisors and Manhattan Partners.

Xe’s current owner Eric price [sic], will sell his entire stake in the company and "will not be involved in the management or operation of the company," USTC Holdings said.

"The company going forward will be managed by a board appointed by the equity owners which will include independent, unaffiliated directors."

The New York Times reported Friday the sale came after the State Department threatened to stop awarding contracts to the company as long as it was owned by Prince, a former Navy SEAL.

The company, once the best known security contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan, has come under pressure since Blackwater guards were accused of killing 17 civilians in Baghdad in 2007.

Prince put the company up for sale in June and moved his family to Abu Dhabi… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Raw Story>

Private equity firms is a roundabout way is saying hedge funds.  In short, the new owners of Xe are Banksters.  I can see no reason that they would not be happy to take profits for turning their mercenary force against the American people at Republican request, but that’s speculation, and only time will tell.  Perhaps of greater concern, is the purpose of this acquisition to protect Wall Street from Main Street wrath when the next bubble bursts?

In the past, I have included video from Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and occasionally others quite frequently, because their views usually reflect my own.  However, changing my sleep schedule to accommodate volunteer activities has me posting in the afternoon, rather than the wee hours.  That means they’re up before Keith and Rachel come on.  Therefore, when appropriate I’ll follow up previous articles with video updates.  Yesterday I posted Afghanis Don’t Believe the Report, debunking the belief that we are on schedule in Afghanistan.  Both Keith and Rachel offered excellent segments on that issue, so here they are.  I suppose that everyone thought I got my ideas from them, but now folks will think they get them from me.

First, Keith and Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post debunk the report using NIEs.

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Next Rachel and David Corn from Mother Jones discuss the war as a political liability.

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GW Bush, aka Crawford Caligula, and the Republican Regime suffered because of public dissatisfaction with their war for oil and conquest in Iraq.  Obama has made Afghanistan his own, even though Bush and the Republicans lost the war before Obama ever took office.

The Wikileaks scandal revolves around two individuals, one either lionized or vilified as he occupies the spotlight of international attention, the other, out of sight and out of mind.  They are thus the star and the forgotten man.  The star won his freedom today.  The forgotten man rots away under conditions that make our nation an international pariah and make the world ask, “What has changed?”

Two articles from the same publication tell the tale.

With a smile and a short statement of quiet defiance, Julian Assange tonight walked free from custody and into the kind of media scrum more commonly seen after a decades-long prison sentence, rather than nine days on remand.

This was the third hearing in as many weeks relating to the WikiLeaks founder’s bail application over sex assault charges against two Swedish women, for which his extradition is being sought, and is unlikely to be the last before the allegations, which he denies, are resolved.

But with the global storm over the website’s leaks and a gathering campaign of online protest against what is seen by some of his supporters as a politically motivated process, this was never going to be a mere procedural hearing.

Journalists from around the world – the US, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands – queued from before dawn to secure a seat in court, while a pyramid of photographers and TV crews teetered precariously at the entrance to the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, in anticipation of the Australian, at some point, walking out of its imposing front doors on to the Strand.

At 6pm, more than five hours after being told that, with conditions, he was indeed free to leave, he did so, and walked out into a battery of flashing lights.

Though in court he had seemed weary, leaning his head against the mahogany wall of the dock as the appeal was heard, Assange had found new energy when he was finally let out of the court’s cells, thanking "all the people around the world who have had faith in me", those members of the press "who are not all taken in", and "the British justice system itself, where, if justice is not always an outcome, at least it is not dead yet"… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <The Guardian>

Yesterday, I declared my support for Assange, so I’ll continue without further discussion.  On to Manning.

As Julian Assange emerged from his nine-day imprisonment, there were renewed concerns about the physical and psychological health of Bradley Manning, the former US intelligence operative suspected of leaking the diplomatic cables at the centre of the storm.

Manning, who was arrested seven months ago, is being held at a military base in Virginia and faces a court martial and up to 52 years in prison for his alleged role in copying the cables.

His friends and supporters also claim they have been the target of extra-judicial harassment, intimidation and outright bribery by US government agents.

According to David House, a computer researcher from Boston who visits Manning twice a month, he is starting to deteriorate. "Over the last few weeks I have noticed a steady decline in his mental and physical wellbeing," he said. "His prolonged confinement in a solitary holding cell is unquestionably taking its toll on his intellect; his inability to exercise due to [prison] regulations has affected his physical appearance in a manner that suggests physical weakness."

Manning, House added, was no longer the characteristically brilliant man he had been, despite efforts to keep him intellectually engaged. He also disputed the authorities’ claims that Manning was being kept in solitary for his own good.

"I initially believed that his time in solitary confinement was a decision made in the interests of his safety," he said. "As time passed and his suicide watch was lifted, to no effect, it became clear that his time in solitary – and his lack of a pillow, sheets, the freedom to exercise, or the ability to view televised current events – were enacted as a means of punishment rather than a means of safety."

House said many people were reluctant to talk about Manning’s condition because of government harassment, including surveillance, warrantless computer seizures, and even bribes. "This has had such an intimidating effect that many are afraid to speak out on his behalf," House said… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <The Guardian>

This is horrific!  It’s what I would expect  from the Bush/Republican Reich, not Obama.  The only mitigations I can see are that Robert Gates was originally a Bush appointee, so most of the Pentagon bureaucracy was set in place by Republicans.  I would hope that Obama is ignoring this only because he is already trying to put two pounds of you know what in a one pound bag.  In any case, Manning is innocent until proven guilty, and there are ways to protect his safety without the Machiavellian measures in place.  Keith Olbermann broadcast an excellent piece with FBI whistle blower, Colleen Rowley.

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Not only have previous whistle blowers revealed far more, without receiving such treatment, but also, Obama did campaign on protecting whistle blowers in the interest of the missing transparency he promised.  Bradley Manning deserves humane treatment.  Solitary is torture.