Networks Help Democrats Target Blackwater; Only ABC Notes Firm’s Perfect Record

NB Interview: Jonah Goldberg, Author of 'Liberal Fascism' (Part I)

Networks Help Democrats Target Blackwater; Only ABC Notes Firm’s Perfect Record

By Jeff Poor | October 3, 2007 - 17:26 ET

It was hard enough for Blackwater USA to get a fair shake from the media alone, but when the evening news got star-struck by the Democratic personalities on a congressional committee, that task was monumental.

Erik Prince, CEO of Blackwater USA, testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform making the lead story on “World News,” “NBC Nightly News” and “CBS Evening News.”

“Glad to come here and correct some facts,” Prince said to the committee.

But, out of the 13 comments on the three broadcasts from members of the 41-person committee, only one was a Republican. Rep. Christopher Shays was also the only member to say something positive about the company.

“Thank you for doing a perfect job in protecting the people you’re required to protect,” said Shays (R-Conn.) on “World News with Charles Gibson.” “World News” was also the only one of the three programs to point out that “no official under Blackwater’s protection has ever been killed.”

Another crucial point mostly overlooked by the newscasts was the total cost savings Blackwater is giving taxpayers. According to CBS correspondent David Martin, of the 10,000 security contractors working in Iraq, 1,000 are employed by Blackwater and are assigned to protect American diplomats. If you take into account the cost savings per Blackwater employee versus what it would cost the federal government to offer itself, as reported by ABC correspondent Jonathan Karl, it adds up.

“Well today, the head of the diplomatic security service for the State Department, which would be the group that would be doing this if it weren't Blackwater, said it would actually cost them more than that – about $500,000 to train and equip its guards and send them to Iraq,” Karl said.

According to Gibson, the federal government is paying Blackwater about $400,000 per Blackwater employee. Assuming the cost savings are around $100,000 per employee, for 1,000 Blackwater employees, the government is saving $100 million by hiring the private contractor.

But, unfortunately that was fact and a lot of other facts were lost – as pointed out by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) during the hearing:

“I have no objection to this kind of a hearing, but what really concerns me is that there appears to be a rush to judgment, and I don't think that should happen. It's going to be thoroughly investigated in Iraq by Iraqis and American officials. And until we get that, we won't know exactly what happened or who might have made a mistake or who might have done something they shouldn't have done.”

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Blackwater seems kosher

October 3, 2007 - 17:37 ET by Lame Cherry

I was listening to Henry Waxman yesterday being the PMS chronic complainer he is and considering Iraq is a free fire zone there really is not all that bad of events concerning Blackwater.

Blackwater is fired at numerous times a day and except for popping a few civilians they are doing a really good job all things considered as police in America kill more innocent people than Blackwater has.

As for the billion dollar budget, I concur in Waxman complaining.....my solution is put Henry in charge, only pay him and his employees 250,000 a year and see how they do it riding bikes, using stun guns and smoke signals.
Waxman would be bits and pieces in 3 hours and that would be the end of Blaxman Security.

*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS

Waxman would be bits and

October 3, 2007 - 19:09 ET by drillanwr

Waxman would be bits and pieces in 3 hours and that would be the end of Blaxman Security.

... The charred remains dangling from a bridge while 12th century idiots danced gleefully below.

G-d bless Blackwater.

“You

October 3, 2007 - 18:31 ET by jdhawk

“You do admit that Blackwater personnel have shot and killed innocent civilians, don’t you?” charged Democratic congressman Danny Davis.

No, that would be the terrorists, Congressman Davis, but the below listed diplomats wished they had Blackwater protecting them:

_ Oct. 3, 2007: Polish Ambassador Gen. Edward Pietrzyk was burned when his convoy was ambushed in Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood. The ambassador's bodyguard was killed, along with two Iraqi civilians, while 11 people, including four Polish security guards, were wounded.

_ January 2007: The Russian Embassy was sprayed with gunfire, drawing Russian demands that Iraqi authorities and U.S.-led coalition forces do more to protect Russian diplomatic staff and property in Iraq.

_ December 2006: A Turkish diplomat, Ozcan Sahin, was shot and wounded in the garden of the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad. He was airlifted home for surgery.

_ September 2006: A vehicle carrying Japan's acting ambassador to Iraq, Satoshi Ashiki, was hit by a bullet near the Japanese Embassy, but there were no injuries.

_ June 2006: Four Russian Embassy workers were abducted after an attack on their car in Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood. They were later killed, along with a fifth Russian.

_ May 2006: A diplomat from the United Arab Emirates was kidnapped and released after two weeks.

_ January 2006: A convoy carrying Turkey's ambassador to Iraq, Unal Cevikoz, was hit by machine gunfire as it sped through western Baghdad. No one was injured.

_ October 2005: Two Moroccan Embassy workers were abducted and later killed.

_ July 2005: The Egyptian envoy in Baghdad, Ihab al-Sherif, was kidnapped and killed in Baghdad. Al-Qaida in Iraq later said it killed him because Egypt intended to install a full ambassador in Iraq.

_ July 2005: Algerian Charge d'affaires Ali Belaroussi and another diplomat, Azzedine Belkadi, were kidnapped. Al-Qaida in Iraq said the next week they had been killed.

_ July 2005: A convoy carrying Pakistani Ambassador Mohammed Younis Khan was attacked by gunmen in the Mansour district of Baghdad, but he was not injured.

_ July 2005: Bahrain's top envoy in Iraq, Hassan Malallah al-Ansari, was wounded when attackers tried to abduct him on his way to work.

_ January 2005: A suicide bomber detonated a truck outside the Australian Embassy, injuring two Australian soldiers and killing two Iraqis.

_ November 2003: Two Japanese diplomats were shot and killed in an ambush near Tikrit.

_ August 2003: A truck bomb exploded outside the U.N. headquarters building in Baghdad, killing 22 people, including Sergio Viera de Mello, the U.N. special envoy to Iraq.

_ August 2003: A blast at the Jordanian Embassy was the first major car bombing in Baghdad after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Nineteen people were killed and al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack.

07: Polish Ambassador Gen. Edward Pietrzyk was burned when his convoy was ambushed in Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood. The ambassador's bodyguard was killed, along with two Iraqi civilians, while 11 people, including four Polish security guards, were wounded.