And remember the Blackwater guys who got strung from a bridge in ’94? According to the lawyers of their families, the company is counter-suing them:
Raleigh, NC -- The families of four American security contractors who were burned, beaten, dragged through the streets of Fallujah and their decapitated bodies hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River on March 31, 2004, are reaching out to the American public to help protect themselves against the very company their loved ones were serving when killed, Blackwater Security Consulting. After Blackwater lost a series of appeals all the away to the U.S. Supreme Court, Blackwater has now changed its tactics and is suing the dead men's estates for $10 million to silence the families and keep them out of court.
Okay, this is where I get the coveted Brass Pacifier – just like the one I was awarded for innocence and naivety in supporting the invasion of Iraq… Is this true? Is it possible that it could be true and I haven’t read about it in The Washington Post? Stop laughing! This is either weird left-wing kookiness, or it’s going to be a big story, right?
I knew the name of Cofer Black, the Blackwater vice chairman, rang a bell. Here he is quoted in Ron Suskind’s “The Thirty Percent Doctrine”, in a dialogue with another CIA veteran:
Mowatt-Larsen: “When you’re talking about torture, the question is, who sets the standard of evidence required for taking ‘expedient action’?”
Black: “What do you think the standard should be?”
Mowatt-Larsen: “Evidence is the key word. Because a lot of people are suspected of knowing things that they may not. If your assessments of who should know what are not sound, you could end up hurting a lot of people – and creating a lot of new enemies.”
Black: (nodded) “Fine. What about a case where a person may know about the staus of UBL and a bomb? And finding out what he knows could save a lot of lives. Then, what’s your standard, buddy?” (poking a finger at Mowatt-Larsen) “What do you do, then?”
Hmmm. Making unsound assessments of innocence and guilt. Hurting lots of people. Creating new enemies. Sounds like our boys!
