# Blackwater threatened to kill US State Dept. official in Iraq, says NY Times



## CougarKing (1 Jul 2014)

Isn't it called the "Prince group" now?



> *Blackwater threatened to kill US official in Iraq: report*
> 
> Washington (AFP) - *The top manager in Iraq of the notorious private security firm Blackwater threatened to kill a US State Department investigator for probing the company's performance,* The New York Times reported Monday.
> 
> ...


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## cupper (1 Jul 2014)

That just begs the question as to how the Embassy staff could order State Department officials to leave.


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## GAP (1 Jul 2014)

Probably because they were interfering twits.....and they may have told them that they would look the other way if Blackwater carried out their threat.... :-X


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## Fishbone Jones (1 Jul 2014)

:Tin-Foil-Hat: Sounds like Obama is trying to blame Bush\ Cheney for something else :


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## Transporter (1 Jul 2014)

recceguy said:
			
		

> :Tin-Foil-Hat: Sounds like Obama is trying to blame Bush\ Cheney for something else :



And there it is again...


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## Fishbone Jones (2 Jul 2014)

Transporter said:
			
		

> And there it is again...



Trouble with the concept?


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## Transporter (2 Jul 2014)

recceguy said:
			
		

> Trouble with the concept?



Nope. But having read the article, I simply have no idea how you can conclude that it sounds like Obama is trying to blame Bush/Cheney (unless of course you have a preconceived dislike for Obama and literally blame him for everything).


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## Rocky Mountains (2 Jul 2014)

cupper said:
			
		

> That just begs the question as to how the Embassy staff could order State Department officials to leave.



I suspect the ambassador outranks everyone on the ground in the country.  I imagine he appreciated the protection offered by Blackwater who used to brag that they never lost anyone in their care.  Those are the guys I want babysitting me.  They did tend to open fire BEFORE things started to go south and they did end up in an epic gunfight with Iraqi Police but I hate placing blame when someone has a fraction of a second to act or risk the lives of himself and his charges.


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## Nemo888 (2 Jul 2014)

I read Blackwater/Xe/Academi was recently hired  by Montsanto through Total Intelligence Solutions(Also an Erik Prince/Cofer Black corporation) to infiltrate activist groups working against them.  If Blackwater can threaten State Dept officials_ with impunity_ and also work for nefarious global megacorporations that do things like Montsanto they are becoming a threat to national security.


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## Robert0288 (2 Jul 2014)

Source?


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## The Bread Guy (2 Jul 2014)

Robert0288 said:
			
		

> Source?


Here's a claim, from an outlet not known for supporting a lot of what the U.S. government does (or doesn't do) (from 4 years ago) ....


> Over the past several years, entities closely linked to the private security firm Blackwater have provided intelligence, training and security services to US and foreign governments as well as several multinational corporations, including Monsanto, Chevron, the Walt Disney Company, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and banking giants Deutsche Bank and Barclays, according to documents obtained by The Nation. Blackwater's work for corporations and government agencies was contracted using two companies owned by Blackwater's owner and founder, Erik Prince: Total Intelligence Solutions and the Terrorism Research Center (TRC). Prince is listed as the chairman of both companies in internal company documents, which show how the web of companies functions as a highly coordinated operation. Officials from Total Intelligence, TRC and Blackwater (which now calls itself Xe Services) did not respond to numerous requests for comment for this article ....


.... and here's the company's response:


> Monsanto did not hire Blackwater nor did we approve of the firm infiltrating any groups as was suggested in the Nation article. In 2008, 2009 and early 2010, a firm called Total Intelligence Solutions (TIS) provided Monsanto ’s security group with reports about activities or groups that could pose a risk to the company, its personnel or its global operations. The safety of our people is our utmost priority and we value the communities in which we operate. All information provided by TIS was developed by monitoring local media reports and other publicly available information. The subject matter ranged from information regarding terrorist incidents in Asia or kidnappings in Central America to scanning internet blogs and websites. Prior to retaining TIS, Monsanto specifically enquired about and was informed that TIS was a completely separate entity from Blackwater. Beyond the content of the Nation article, we have not engaged people to infiltrate firms/activist groups and we do not condone that type of behavior.


I leave it to individual readers to judge all the shades o' grey between these two positions (big industry can do no right vs. big industry never does any wrong).


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## Fishbone Jones (2 Jul 2014)

Transporter said:
			
		

> Nope. But having read the article, I simply have no idea how you can conclude that it sounds like Obama is trying to blame Bush/Cheney (unless of course you have a preconceived dislike for Obama and literally blame him for everything).



Sigh. Guess you missed the tin foil smilie and the, I thought obvious, connection between Cheney and Blackwater. Perhaps I should space the lines further apart so you can read between them 

I will admit though, to an intense dislike for Obama.

All good.


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## Kilo_302 (2 Jul 2014)

The fact that Blackwater was even in a position of such power is like something out of a dystopian science fiction movie. I don't trust the government by and large, but I sure as #$^# don't trust a private enterprise with the application of military force. I know I know, PMCs are nothing new, and some good has come out of their actions, but if the intrusion of corporate power into politics (and the corruption it inherently brings) is something we should be worried about, giving that power an armed wing with access to corridors of political power is does not bode well.


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## The Bread Guy (2 Jul 2014)

recceguy said:
			
		

> Sigh. Guess you missed the tin foil smilie and the, I thought obvious, connection between Cheney and Blackwater. Perhaps I should space the lines further apart so you can read between them


I didn't want to say it first, but I guess you're too subtle in general  ;D


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## Fishbone Jones (2 Jul 2014)

milnews.ca said:
			
		

> I didn't want to say it first, but I guess you're too subtle in general  ;D



Yup, that right there. That's the ticket. 8)


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