This afternoon on my show, Jeremy Scahill discussed his book, “Blackwater,” about the powerful private army that our government has hired to fight alongside our military in Iraq, Afghanistan, and even domestically.
There are so many disturbing angles to this story. We’re losing career military men who leave because they can earn much more in Blackwater’s army of private contractors. There’s no oversight of Blackwater or its employees by Congress or the Pentagon. They recruit mercenaries from other countries, so we’re not just outsourcing our customer service operators, but now we’re outsourcing our soldiers. Blackwater provides security for our diplomats, ambassadors, and even Nancy Pelosi’s recent trip to Syria — that’s a job that used to fall to the US Marines. And there’s lots more.
Listen to our conversation here.