Black Water is building Training Camps for $20 million apiece in 4 U.S. Regions?

Much unlike my usual polls this one is not for or against
any political group. This should be of interest to all of us.

I read in my morning paper The Spokesman Review
on June 29th, 2008 that Black Water is going to
build it's next facility in Idaho near Worley. Now, I find
out that this group has been training local police depts
C.I.A and F.B.I. Whether you agree with Black Water in Iraq or
not, is not the question here. Do you want Military Contractors
with little or no accountability training local Law Enforcement?
And on the Federal Level, why should Black Water be
hired when we already have an Army, Navy, Marines
and Air Force. Does this bother you? It bothered me.

Wayne Madsen Report 10-15-7

The mercenary firm Blackwater USA is well known for the controversy involving its "shoot first, ask no questions" policy in Iraq. It is also known that Louisiana's Department of Homeland Security contracted with Blackwater to provide public law enforcement services in New Orleans following hurricane Katrina.Blackwater is also planning to establish regional training centers in Potrero,California and Mount Carroll, Illinois, billed as Blackwater West and Blackwater North, respectively.
These training centers, in addition to Blackwater's Lodge and Training Center in Moyock, North Carolina -- Blackwater East -- and a possible fourth rumored to be slated for the Pacific Northwest -- Blackwater Northwest -- may result in the establishment of a network of Blackwater-trained police, sheriffs, and other police units around the country.
Given Blackwater's dismal record on human rights and brutality, this spells trouble for civilian control of police and paramilitary forces in the United States, from major metropolitan areas to small rural towns.
On October 14, the Washington Post ran a story, which included photographs from Blackwater's Moyock training center. However, what was most intriguing was a photograph of a police and military patch board at Blackwater's headquarters that indicated the police agencies that have sent their officers to Moyock for training.
Blackwater is secretive about its non-federal, as well as its foreign clients, which the Post pointed out includes Jordan, Azerbaijan, and Burkina Faso, but a WMR inspection of the photograph of the police agencies has yielded the following list of agencies that have used Blackwater for training:


1. Iowa Department of Natural Resources


2. Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff's Department


3. Matthews, North Carolina Police


4. Atlanta Police


5. Chillicothe, Ohio Police


6. Charleston, South Carolina Police


7. Port Chester, NY Police


8. Highland, Indiana Police


9. Unalaska, Alaska Police


10. Metropolitan Washington, DC Police


11. Charlottesville, Virginia Police


12. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (Dulles and Reagan National Airports)


13. St. Louis County Police (Missouri)


14. Queen Anne's County, Maryland Police


15. Prince George's County, Maryland Police


16. FBI SWAT Team


17. Gloucester Township, New Jersey Police


18. Tempe, Arizona Police


19. New York Police Department


20. Yonkers, New York Police


21. Fairfax County, Virginia Police


22. Maplewood, New Jersey Police


23. Gastonia, North Carolina Police


24. Tampa Police


25. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)


26. DeKalb County, Georgia Police


27. Arlington County, Virginia Police


28. Baltimore Police


29. U.S. Coast Guard


30. Suffolk, Virginia Police


31. Franklin City, Virginia Police


32. Milford, Delaware Police


33. University of Texas Police


34. Norfolk, Virginia Police


35. Ottawa-Carleton, Canada Police


36. San Bernardino County, California Sheriff


37. Plattsburgh, New York Police


38. Chicago Police Department


39. Oregon State Police


40. Los Angeles Police Department


41. Tonawanda, New York Police


42. Special Forces of Colombia


43. Jacksonville, North Carolina Police


44. Harvey Cedars, New Jersey Police


45. Elmira, New York Police


46. Department of Corrections, New Jersey


47. Lexington, Kentucky Police


48. Willimantic, Connecticut Police


49. Georgia Department of Law Enforcement


50. City of Fairfax, Virginia Police


51. Alexandria, Virginia Police Special Operations


52. Illinois State Police


53. Dallas, Texas Police


54. Hamilton, Ohio Police


55. Morganton, North Carolina Police

A number of the police departments that have been trained by Blackwater have abysmal civil rights and police brutality records, most notably the Chicago Police and Illinois State Police, both cited by former Illinois Governor George Ryan as being guilty of police misconduct in his decision to commute the death sentences of Illinois' death row inmates.
It was a decision that likely had much to do with his indictment by the Bush administration on corruption charges -- political misuse of the Department of Justice that has been seen in the indictments and investigations of Alabama former Democratic Governor Don Siegelman and HealthSouth former CEO Richard Scrushy, Qwest's former CEO Joseph Nacchio, Democratic campaign contributor Martha Stewart, Coastal Corporation's former Chairman and Democratic contributor Oscar Wyatt, and Democratic-leaning trial attorneys around the United States, as well as the firings of several U.S. Attorneys who refused to engage in political prosecutions, and a Justice Department workup on North Carolina presidential candidate John Edwards in 2004.
The training and potential political indoctrination of police officers by the extreme right-wing and proto-fascist Blackwater, coupled with the politicization of the Justice Department and U.S. courts, has the potential for the streets of Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, and Washington, DC, as well as Chillicothe, Harvey Cedars, and Elmira to turn as bloody as the streets of Baghdad and Fallujah.
Citizens have a distinct opportunity of confronting their local elected city, county, and town officials over Blackwater training of their police officers. Local officials should be pressured to reveal the numbers and identities of officers trained by Blackwater, the subjects covered by the training, the revenues spent, and a public demand should be made to cease and desist in such training.
Copyright 2005-2007 WayneMadsenReport.com
Posted by Michael Difensore at 6:00 AM