Blackwater is offering the MV MacArthur, a 183-foot vessel with a crew of 14 and a helicopter pad, as an escort for ships through the Gulf of Aden.
“We have the capability to assist” shipping companies, said Bill Mathews, Blackwater executive vice president. He and other company leaders are former Navy SEALs. Ship security “is kind of what we did for a living” before joining Blackwater, he said.
link
The company isn’t seeking new U.S. security contracts in Iraq, where a Blackwater team was involved in the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians while guarding a State Department convoy in September 2007. The deaths are being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The State Department paid Blackwater more than $832 million to provide security between 2004 and 2006, about half of the money under a no-bid contract awarded in June 2004.
According to Coast Guard records, the McArthur was decommissioned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2003 after nearly 40 years as a research vessel. Built in 1966 by Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., now BAE Systems Norfolk Ship
Tags: MV MacArthur
Tags: Blackwater, US Navy, Samilia, Pirates
Isn't it amazing that in the picture above this ship is flying the American flag. It is another example of some American citizens having the right to wage war outside of government channels. Blackwater is a private army with land, sea and air forces operating out of the United States. That should not be allowed.
Powered by Qumana
No comments:
Post a Comment