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State Dept. Has Known (and Done Nothing) about its Afghan Animal House
CIA Outsourced 'Death Squad' Work to Blackwater
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RheaPollstry
09/02/09

In reply to State Dept. Has Known (and Done Nothing) about its Afghan Animal House
I'm having trouble working up any outrage over this. In fact, I'll bet a lot of our soldiers act the same way when they're off-duty. It seems like that's what young straight guys do. You know, nailing their scrotums to boards, lighting their farts, typical Jackass-type behavior.
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homovegetarian
09/02/09

@RheaPollstry: while i find the behavior appalling, i agree that people have a right to act like jackasses when they aren't at work.

if nothing illegal then i'm a little confused as to why anyone's employment should be dependent on our not-at-work behavior.
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BBooms
09/02/09

In reply to State Dept. Has Known (and Done Nothing) about its Afghan Animal House
I have a problem with you simply stating "the government's known all along," because the Obama administration and Bush administration are so distinctly different in a myriad of ways. When you completely erase the line between the two (which you do when you write like that), you place blame and responsibility on the current administration (Hillary photo), when we all know that this kind of behavior was allowed to foster and grow long before the current administration even existed.
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Solomon Grundy
09/02/09

In reply to State Dept. Has Known (and Done Nothing) about its Afghan Animal House
How and why are you conflating Blackwater's killing unarmed civilians with the gay sex antics of these brohans? There are many reasons to criticize the private contractors, but Gawker seems to have zoomed in on the one unobjectionable thing they do. Who cares if they spend their downtime eating corn chips out of each others' asses? Gay-baiting noise.
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CaptainFantastic
09/02/09

@Solomon Grundy: Yes. Tell me how they are screwing up their job, not their homoerotic off-clock activities. Or is acting gay bad now?
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gawkimo
09/02/09

@Solomon Grundy: I think when you occupy an ultra conservative country filled with heavily armed fundamentalist Salafist Muslims who hate our guts -- and who have decades of experience fighting global superpowers -- it's probably not a good idea to give every newspaper in Central Asia photographic evidence of our bare-assed alcoholic hedonism. This echoes Abu Ghraib. How many times does it take to look like total drunken sex freak assholes before we lose the war? These people do not want to be ordered around by men they think are tossing each other's salads in the off hours.
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Edited by gawkimo at 09/02/09 12:41 PM gawkimo was starred gawkimo was unstarred

Solomon Grundy
09/02/09

@gawkimo: Who cares if religious fundamentalists (of any stripe) object to gay sexiness -- they do not get to set the terms of the debate just because they're louder and more hateful than everybody else.

As for the comparison to Abu Ghraib, um, that was systematic rape and sexualized torture. This is at worst creating an atmosphere of sexual harassment. Not good, but also really not comparable, at all.

Also, in every way that counts, we already lost the war.
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Edited by Solomon Grundy at 09/02/09 2:46 PM Solomon Grundy was starred Solomon Grundy was unstarred

gawkimo
09/02/09

@Solomon Grundy: I understand your point, but personally I don't find these pictures sexy. They remind me of frat boys who have no problem beating up a gay guy on the weekend while sodomizing the new pledge in an drunken "episode". Using macho homoerotic posturing as a hazing technique of humiliation is not exactly "pro gay." Interestingly, there's an Afghan angle to all of this. Pederasty has a long tradition in Central Asia. The Taliban actually banned young boys and older men from being behind closed doors alone last year because of the prevalence of sodomizing boys. (There's a proverb that says a bird doesn't fly over Kabul without covering it's ass with one wing.) These guys don't view themselves as gay, either.
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Solomon Grundy
09/02/09

@gawkimo: *flutters fan* I do declare.
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Solomon Grundy
09/02/09

@gawkimo:

(ftr, I'm imagining Levi Johnston in the role of young boy)
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gawkimo
09/02/09

@Solomon Grundy: A lot of pashto men are total bear tops, but they don't view themselves as gay because they would never be the bottom. I think there's some of that being underscored in these pictures: a bunch of repressed macho tops getting soused enough to rape or be raped when the others have passed out (no witnesses). I see a reality show in all of this.
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Dr. Nick
09/02/09

In reply to State Dept. Has Known (and Done Nothing) about its Afghan Animal House
This is all a big misunderstanding. The State Department intended to give the contract to Armorgroup, a security company, but accidentally awarded it to Amourgroup, a private club for bears.
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blix
09/02/09

@Dr. Nick: Don't ask, do tell.
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lobstr
09/02/09

In reply to State Dept. Has Known (and Done Nothing) about its Afghan Animal House
I think the pics we saw earlier of the douchebaggery needs to be uncensored, captioned with the asshats' names, hometowns, and how much they get paid. I would venture to think we'd have a right to know who these pricks are..

Betcha ArmourGroup is gettin' paid in the high 8 figures..

shoutout to muh gawker insomniacs
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secretagentman
09/02/09

@lobstr: I agree their names should be posted, and that one guy in pic number one, his phone number should be sent to me. Thanks US State Dep't!
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rosaluxembourgeoise
09/02/09

@lobstr: Apply here.
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homovegetarian
09/02/09

@lobstr: really? private photos of legal acts should get you publicly humiliated or fired from your job? is that really a standard you want applied to your life?
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Edited by homovegetarian at 09/02/09 7:06 PM homovegetarian was starred homovegetarian was unstarred

gawkimo
08/21/09

In reply to CIA Outsourced 'Death Squad' Work to Blackwater
My favorite move by this paramilitary organization was when a couple of their idiot, maverick Presidential Airways pilots was doing stunt moves in an Afghanistan canyon in 2004 before they plowed into a mountain, killing themselves and three US soldiers. After the widows sued for negligent, maverick-y behavior Blackwater attempted to defend itself by saying since the crash took place in Afghanistan, and Afghanistan is ruled by Shariah law, the company could not be held accountable for the idiot behavior of their idiot pilots. (In Shariah employers are not held accountable for the actions of their employees.) Fortunately, the judge tossed out that lame attempt at using the very legal system Blackwater is fighting in Afghanistan to hide from culpability for hiring maverick-y idiots. The trial is ongoing. The NTSB says Blackwater (Xe) violated FAA and Pentagon rules on providing adequate oversight of their cod-pieced, hillbilly soldiers of fortune.
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Edited by gawkimo at 08/21/09 12:07 PM gawkimo was starred gawkimo was unstarred

SidAndFinancy
08/20/09

In reply to CIA Outsourced 'Death Squad' Work to Blackwater
They outsourced hit jobs to the Doobie Brothers? On second thought, it does make some sense.
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econdave
08/20/09

In reply to CIA Outsourced 'Death Squad' Work to Blackwater
Dirty deeds done dirt cheap.
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naugahydeinplainsight
08/20/09

@econdave: Dirty? Yes. Cheap? Hardly.
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hilikusopus
08/20/09

@naugahydeinplainsight: Yeah, when it comes to the military-congressional-industrial complex, bottom dollar is not the name of the game. One of the few policies from Capital Hill that receives bi-partisan support.
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naugahydeinplainsight promoted this comment Edited by hilikusopus at 08/20/09 10:59 AM hilikusopus was starred hilikusopus was unstarred

FaceMelter
08/20/09

In reply to CIA Outsourced 'Death Squad' Work to Blackwater
Is anyone surprised? We hired a bunch of ex-military/CIA mercs to head security in a war zone. Of course they were running black ops.
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BadUncle
08/20/09

@FaceMelter: And here I was expecting them to conduct vaccinations, build water purification plants, and fix the electric grid.
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♥AntiSocialSocialite♥
08/20/09

In reply to CIA Outsourced 'Death Squad' Work to Blackwater
I always love news about Blackwater; I don't know what side of the fence I'm on about the morality of hiring mercenaries in a wartime setting (because, after all, we DO pay our military), but the whole business - name and all - reminds me of the Bourne trilogy.
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FaceMelter
08/20/09

@♥Anti-SocialSocialite♥: I always considered them an extension of special forces and a way for our government to distance themselves if anything really fucked up went down. You have to assume these guys have more advanced training then your average 18 yr old soldier.
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skt.smth
08/20/09

@FaceMelter: Well they could essentially do anything they wanted and not face any kind of sanction, because they aren't military and therefore are not subject to military code, or probably even to the Geneva Convention.
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bens
08/20/09

@FaceMelter: Except some of their moves aren't so bright. They have lost a lot of diplomats (and employees) in Iraq due to I.E.D.'s because the company wasn't willing to shell out for APC's. Most of their contracts were to protect diplomats and dignitaries. An 18 year old soldier might not have the training, but Special Forces & military hardware do. Blackwater doesn't seem to be all that effective, according to Waxman's report they seem like another of Bush' friends companies getting a porky contract. Just instead of building infrastructure (i.e. Halliburton) they're "bodyguards."
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FaceMelter
08/20/09

@bens: and undercover political assassins.
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♥AntiSocialSocialite♥
08/20/09

@skt.smth: Exactly how autonomous is Blackwater? I'm really fascinated by this whole thing. To whom do they answer?
If they're sanctioned to kill, I imagine they're a fairly sovereign body.
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Edited by ♥AntiSocialSocialite♥ at 08/20/09 6:58 AM

skt.smth
08/20/09

@♥Anti-SocialSocialite♥: Well, their license to operate in Iraq was apparently revoked in 2007, after the deaths of the 17 innocent civilians occurred.

As I understand it, when they were operating as a government contractor in Iraq, they could essentially do anything they wanted. Because they were not military, they were not under military code (U.S. or international). Because they were American contractors, the Iraqi government could not imprison, try, or sentence them for any alleged wrongdoing. And because they were a private company working for the government, they really had no incentive to report wrongdoing to the State Department, which would have made prosecuting them under U.S. law a difficult undertaking. So basically, within the Iraqi war zone, Blackwater could do as they pleased.

It shouldn't be surprising to anybody that such a company would, in essence, become like "The Firm" for paramilitary mercenaries. Not held to account? Check. Ex-military guys with lots of guns? Check. Lots of dark shit to hide? Check. Of course potential whistleblowers are going to be silenced (eternally) in this kind of corporate culture.
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raincoaster
08/20/09

In reply to CIA Outsourced 'Death Squad' Work to Blackwater
I know, I know. You can hate/delete/revoke commenter privileges now, but I have to say Spy nailed it in their Wackenhut investigation by John Connolly a geological era ago.
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BadUncle
08/20/09

@raincoaster: I always got them confused with Fingerhut, and couldn't understand what was so evil about discount massaging chair cushions.
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iplaudius
08/20/09

@BadUncle: Just when life starts to seem a little dull, you come in with a Fingerhut reference. I can’t stop laughing. Can we have a bromance, please?
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