Blackwater USA

From the moment I raised my right arm and swore allegiance to my country and the Constitution which has guided us since it was penned, a weight was placed on my shoulders. Although it was a heavy weight, it was not uncomfortable, and something inside me...changed, I guess you could say.

When it comes to covering northeast North Carolina, the Virginia Pilot usually does a better job than any of our own state's papers. That was true of reporting on the Navy's misguided OLF, and it's true of coverage of Blackwater.

It started as a simple question during an online chat (at BlueNC) with Marshall Adame, a Democrat and retired Marine running for Congress in North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District. "We take great pride in being a military-friendly state," wrote a supporter. "Should that pride extend to being a mercenary-friendly state, too?"

Adame, a diplomat who spent three years in Iraq, responded that the U.S. military should have no place for private armies. "They are guns for hire," he wrote, "no more, no less."

Who's Blackwater's "boy" for NC's 3rd Dist House seat?

Via Blackwater watch, this story of a country operating with integrity, honor and decency.

German weapons manufacturer Heckler & Koch said it would end its relationship with Blackwater after media reported that the controversial US-run military firm was using its guns in Iraq and Afghanistan. Blackwater, a private security company which has been contracted to protect high-profile US officials and foreign dignitaries in Iraq, had been using Heckler & Koch machine guns in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thanks to Frank Eaton for this excellent video. Jim Neal's "Hell no" gives us a hell yes moment.

Mother Jones this week features a story following-up coverage here and at the Dome earlier this month. When Blackwater's EVP for Stupidity tried to intimidate Marshall Adame, it looks like he bit off more than he can chew. Of course, the EVP has its own private bulldog working to stomp out dissent and drive up profits, so it's shaping up to be an epic battle.

Adame's comments about the company have enraged Blackwater employees, including executive vice president Bill Mathews. In an internal corporate email, Mathews encouraged his colleagues to barrage Adame with mail ("he was too cowardly to put a phone number on the web," Mathews noted in the message). "[H]e wants this company and all of us to cease to exist," Mathews wrote in the email, which was obtained by the Raleigh News & Observer and posted to the newspaper's web site. "Do you like your jobs? Are you sick and tired of the slanderous bullshit going on in DC? If so, would you all mind joining me in reminding Mr. Adame that he is running for office in our backyard…. Let's run this goof out of Dodge...!"

Our friend and patriot Marshall Adame received the following letter today from Jim Edwards, the chief staff officer of the Carolinas Independent Automobile Dealers Association. Like his ally at the mercenary company itself, Mr. Edwards apparently has more time on his hands than he has sense.

Mr. Adame:

I am NOT a contractor for Blackwater, I do not deploy to places where others fear to tread and yet I'm very familiar with Blackwater, their personnel, and more importantly their high-level, ethical business practices.

It was many years ago when trial lawyer Dave Rudolf explained to me the importance of excellent representation for defendants charged with horrific crimes. Rudolf has taken on more than his share of those defendants, and the case he made for doing so is compelling. Not only is the right to defense clearly laid out in law, it is also morally correct. A happy coincidence.

Though I have big reservations about giving corporations the same rights we give individuals, I nonetheless accept that businesses charged with horrific crimes deserve representation too. It's the American way.

Which brings us to the relationships between two North Carolina companies, Reynolds American and Blackwater, and one of our state's leading law firms.

Mr. Dellinger,

Could you please submit a statement regarding the recent to-do on this blog regarding Womble Carlyle and the idea that it should be denounced for representing Blackwater?