tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post9209499417574975641..comments2024-02-28T20:56:23.768-06:00Comments on Sipsey Street Irregulars: Holy excrement, Batman! The Blackwater just keeps getting smellier and deeper.Dutchman6http://www.blogger.com/profile/09935420042995679958noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-45332033340181855332009-08-11T19:12:28.443-05:002009-08-11T19:12:28.443-05:00Scahill's book on Blackwater isn't bad as ...Scahill's book on Blackwater isn't bad as long as you cross out every use of the word "mercenary" and every single adjective. <br /><br />As for the LeMas exploding ammo- Back before people cross-sectioned his ammo and realized he was selling ordinary hunting bullets from Nosler and Hornady loaded in tactical calibers, he used Blackwater as leverage to try selling his "super blended metal exploding rounds". The whole LeMas ammo story can be found as a archive topic on ar15.com, suffice it to say it was all bull.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18124999982317617536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-33442841690533820472009-08-11T13:48:30.177-05:002009-08-11T13:48:30.177-05:00I stopped reading when I saw "The Nation.&quo...I stopped reading when I saw "The Nation." It's a crazy lunatic-fringe-of-the-lunatic-fringe left-wing fishwrapper that is politically somewhere between Pol Pot and the planet Neptune. Think of "The Daily Worker" but with better graphic design.<br /><br />"unlawful weapons such as sawed off semi-automatic machine guns with silencers..." just means that they use the Official HCI Manual of Style when discussing anything that has anything to do with (gasp!) firearms, because they are Nasty, Dirty, Evil, and Should Be Banned.<br /><br />I am no great fan of Blackwater, but The Nation's credibility with me is somewhere between that of Libyan state media and the Obama administration. Its signal-to-noise ratio is essentially zero and the net information content of a given issue will be, barring extremely unusual circumstances, either null or negative.<br /><br />They have a hard-on for Eric Prince because they think, possibly accurately, possibly inaccurately, that he is a defender of Western Civilization, which they hate because they're still pissed at Daddy for not buying them a pony when they were nine years old. They are not yet ballsy enough to organize bus trips to airports for agitators to spit on returning vets and call them "baby killers" like they were doing forty years ago, because they know they overplayed their hand back then and the loathsome taxpayer hick üntermenschen from Flyover Country got sufficiently upset to pull their noses away from the boob tube for a few years and elect Reagan. So they had some intern type up a wild-eyed breathless screed about Evil Assault Weapons Oh No instead, because they're nothing but a bunch of cowardly hippie maggots. But give President 0 a couple more years, and they'll be thinking they're nine feet tall, bulletproof, and invisible again, mark my words.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-2546534983644135762009-08-07T16:30:58.385-05:002009-08-07T16:30:58.385-05:00++ armed_and_christian said...++
"sawed of...++ armed_and_christian said...++ <br /><br />"sawed off semi-automatic machine guns with silencers" -<br /><br />hey - just wait until you see the NEWEST stuff - <br />"compact, concealable sawed off selective fire automatic assault submachine guns with silenced armor piercing hand grenade launchers"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-37621100837282445562009-08-07T13:26:56.309-05:002009-08-07T13:26:56.309-05:00Harper's Magazine contributing editor Scott Ho...Harper's Magazine contributing editor Scott Horton will be my guest Monday Aug 10 at 5 PM NY time on News Talk Online on Paltalk.com to discuss the allegations against Blackwater.<br /><br />Please go to my blog, http://www.garybaumgarten.com to join in the conversation then.<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />GaryGary Baumgartenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16665260595151901802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-72119103633509369062009-08-07T13:15:48.236-05:002009-08-07T13:15:48.236-05:00"sawed off semi-automatic machine guns with s..."sawed off semi-automatic machine guns with silencers"<br /><br />I *must* have one of these. Just reading those adjectives working together towards a common antecedent gave me a woodyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-68242719895088453862009-08-07T05:19:02.284-05:002009-08-07T05:19:02.284-05:00"Doe #2 states: "Using his various compa..."Doe #2 states: "Using his various companies, [Prince] procured and distributed various weapons, including unlawful weapons such as sawed off semi-automatic machine guns with silencers..."<br /><br />The two fakes that Xe hired to bamboozle the opposition are doing an outstanding job of making them look like complete and total idiots.<br /><br />I mean, really...I stopped reading after that quote, and I normally read every single word of every article you deem important enough to post.<br /><br />Hell, these also could be two Blackwater backoffice techies with delusions of grandeur and fancy (and genuine!) Blackwater ID cards that show they worked for the company.<br /><br />They're reading from a script given to them by their new left-wing agitprop bosses, which explains the bizarre weapons terminology that was probably taken verbatim from a HCI newspaper style manual.<br /><br />Mike, you're being taken here, hook, line and sinker.<br /><br />That being said, there were problems with Blackwater near the end of their Iraq contract.<br /><br />Magpul Dynamics instructor Travis Haley worked for them, and was filmed in a famous rooftop sniping video that's all over on youtube.<br /><br />He said himself he left the company after realizing that their professional standards were going by the wayside, and that they were hiring people that weren't up to the job.<br /><br />I don't doubt that some panicky, inexperienced contractors did light up some hapless Iraqis in that shootout. I also don't doubt in the least that some of the folks killed were also armed tangos that provoked a massacre beyond their wildest fantasies.<br /><br />I'm gong to give Erik Prince the full benefit of a doubt here. The allegations in this article simply aren't credible.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-4975336169562425382009-08-06T23:55:41.934-05:002009-08-06T23:55:41.934-05:00On further review, obviously this reporter doesn&#...On further review, obviously this reporter doesn't have their head screwed on quite right, but if I was a "contractor" working in Iraq (and I get regular offers to go there and work for Strategic Global Staffing aka Halliburton being a parts swapper for a lot of money in exchange for being really bored with nothing to do but do really boring parts swapping work) and I had access to hand grenades in the course of my work...well spud guns are amusing...hand grenade launchers based on the spud gun principal like in the Improvised TM would probably be pretty entertaining on days off, just for something different to play around with rather than swapping out melted M-240 barrels and the like.<br /><br />Just a thought. I mean, as a civ contractor in Iraq you have a lot more leeway in homebrew tinkering without having to fill out a lot of forms and mail samples of things to the BATmen to have them certified under penalty of prison if you do it wrong.<br /><br />Blackwater guys might get bored too. I think they're dirtier than most merc outfits, but that's the nature of the beast with "contractors". I've a number of friends that were Scouts in Rhodesia and after the world elevated Mugwumabe to King, they went merc or became poachers. Most of them are reformed now. You learn a particular, but not very useful in the civilian world skill set and you don't want to write a book about your adventures or go back to school, there's a strong incentive to stick with what you know. Same reason we're getting all these militarized "us against them" law enforcement back from the sandbox. The Chiefs want "us against them" employees and we've just trained a gaggle of them of late and a lot of them decide to not re-up eventually and go merc or LEO. It's what they know. I don't see how one would expect it to happen any other way.tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14230665595988628546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-6577945535192916582009-08-06T21:58:56.905-05:002009-08-06T21:58:56.905-05:00Phelps and ParaPacem
Hand Grenade Launchers:
TM ...<b>Phelps and ParaPacem</b><br /><br />Hand Grenade Launchers:<br /><br />TM 31-210<br />Improvised Munitions Handbook<br /><br /><a href="http://www.libertyreferences.com/improvised-munitions-handbook/grenade-launchers.shtml" rel="nofollow"> section IV No. 5</a>.<br /><br />From the same TM:<br /><a href="http://www.libertyreferences.com/improvised-munitions-handbook/grenade-launcher-57mm-cardboard-container.shtml" rel="nofollow">Another design</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.libertyreferences.com/improvised-munitions-handbook/shotgun-grenade-launcher.shtml" rel="nofollow">And another design</a>.<br /><br /><br />Been done before. Plausible they were doing it again.<br /><br />Unlikely but not implausible.<br /><br />Handy book too.<br /><br />I've got exploding bullet designs with diagrams and casting/machinist/assembly drawings in one of my books on old Eley cartridges. Plausible to make, also been done before. Why do you think one of the Geneva conventions banned "dum-dums and exploding bullets"? Interesting side note: The US wasn't a signatory to that particular Geneva convention and Generally sorta follow it in the same way .50 cal on up are supposed to only be used as anti-material rounds, not anti-personnel.<br /><br />I don't know how they ever came up with any of that Geneva BS anyway other than maybe having rules about agreed ways to exchange prisoners and POW treatment. Can't shoot somebody with a 20mm cannon round but you can shoot at the dude firing for effect with a 155 battery's rolling barrages?????<br /><br />Geneva Convention stuff mostly makes little to no more sense than UN resolutions IMHO.<br /><br />Cheers,<br />Boomer Ladtomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14230665595988628546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-275023663202597652009-08-06T18:51:06.132-05:002009-08-06T18:51:06.132-05:00There are too many things in this that don't a...There are too many things in this that don't add up, as many have pointed out. Hand grenade launchers? Sawed-off semi-automatic machine guns with silencers? No one familiar with weapons would use such terms. <br /><br />BW does deserve your contempt, and many of them are undoubtedly murdering scum, but THIS report smacks of BS and maybe, set up. <br /><br />Perhaps BW has dirt on our illustrious Prez, or highly-placed officials? Or, someone wants to take over BW to provide the seed for someone's Civilian Security Force? Maybe Prince refuses to cooperate with a Prez who is sympathetic to Islam and has a Muslim background? Who knows, but there are too many lib buzz words in this report for me to buy it. "Racist"? "Christian crusader"? <br /><br />There is something else going on here...could just be a bunch of scum-sucking lawyers trying to make a buck... or maybe not. <br /><br />PS--going on the record in federal court means precisely squat. "I did not have sex with that woman." Lying under oath has no meaning and bears no penalty if you have the protection of highly placed officials. In fact, if you are lying on behalf of those officials or money powers in order to further their agenda, perjury bears rich fruit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-80164158868586767282009-08-06T14:06:09.805-05:002009-08-06T14:06:09.805-05:00Mike,
I'm not suggesting that Blackwater is Li...Mike,<br />I'm not suggesting that Blackwater is Lilly white. Just that "mercenary" isn't a bad thing. Are you familiar with the company Executive Outcomes? <br />They did some stand up work in Africa before being neutered by the ANC in SA.<br />Is Blackwater EO? No, but just because something is done for a profit that used to be the purview of a nation state doesn't make them evil incarnate either.<br />You'll have to excuse my reading of these "allegations" with a health dose of skepticism.<br /><br />Word verification for this post: MESSESChris K.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-4004653026859354022009-08-06T13:19:49.612-05:002009-08-06T13:19:49.612-05:00I'm very willing to acknowledge that I've ...I'm very willing to acknowledge that I've been fed a load of crap.<br /><br />Most of the information I've read came from Scahill's book on Blackwater.<br /><br />I understand that your son was/is in the military.<br /><br />As to bowing to the UN, I feel like our guys want to go in there kill the bad guys and get home, but some screwed up person somewhere decided to mix politics and military, thus resulting in more of our guys getting killed in the process.<br /><br />Thanks for explaining your position, this really helps.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00885250350095347547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-52209534701558425092009-08-06T13:19:35.904-05:002009-08-06T13:19:35.904-05:00I'm not a particular fan of these hired guns, ...I'm not a particular fan of these hired guns, but this article and the allegations it contains are really shaky. It looks like all of the substantive allegations are based on hearsay and the rest is mostly name-calling.<br />Hmmm, guys going into a war zone talking smack about killing their less-than-human enemies... SpecOps types who get out to chase the big bucks and jump back into the sandbox being a bit over-macho and over-aggressive... Such operatives wanting, and getting, the most effective tools for accomplishing their mission... It doesn't sound good on paper, but we all know how such things come together in the real world. Anyone who's been in the service has dealt with the fire-breathing, "I wanna kill somethin," mooks and anyone who's been in tough situations knows that such guys are both a serious liability and a great asset. They are liabilities because if they're not kept on a very short leash they will start stuff that doesn't need starting, but they're assets because when the SHtF, they're usually really good at ending it expeditiously too. <br />My limited knowledge of Blackwater suggests to me that the leadership did not effectively control their assets - through training, discipline, and supervision - and the result was often predictably violent. I can easily see sloppy handling leading to unnecessary violence leading to excuses and cover-up leading to more violence and stupidity. I can also see money in the amounts involved here leading to extraordinary efforts to suppress criticism, cover-up criminal activity, and conceal all sorts of aspects of operations.<br />So, where does that leave us?<br />With a hyped-up report from a leftist publication selectively quoting anonymous "operatives" talking mostly about things other "operatives" have related to them and using terminology which no one with basic knowledge of military weaponry would ever use, all in support of a group of Iraqi's suing Blackwater.<br />I balked when they said "John Doe #2 alleges in a sworn declaration that, based on information provided to him by former colleagues..." and they completely lost me when they quoted his testimony saying, "...unlawful weapons such as sawed off semi-automatic machine guns with silencers..."<br />Blackwater might be smelly, they've clearly made some serious personnel and operational decisions, and they definitely deserve close scrutiny, but this article is no smoking gun.<br />Maybe Mike knows more about this outfit than the rest of us do, but without something more to go on, I go back to the past couple of posts about "Boogie-men."<br />JeffJeffKnoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12769470560154822526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-51728224394386147242009-08-06T12:27:02.293-05:002009-08-06T12:27:02.293-05:00Chris K. sez:
"I trust Eric Prince and Blac...Chris K. sez: <br /><br />"I trust Eric Prince and Blackwater/XE more than I trust ATF,FBI,CIA,NSA."<br /><br />Good for you. As for me, I trust Blackwater LESS than the three letters that I've been opposing most of the last twenty years. What does that tell you?<br /><br />You might as well try to figure out who was the good guy in the Hitler-Stalin Pact.Dutchman6https://www.blogger.com/profile/09935420042995679958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-87178302768630567722009-08-06T12:25:16.612-05:002009-08-06T12:25:16.612-05:00"They're mercenaries, and if they got a b..."They're mercenaries, and if they got a big contract to kill you, me and all our friends, the company would do it. They might have some quits, but they'd find replacements on any American big city street."<br /><br />Bingo.<br /><br />Those who protect bureaucrats are NOT your friend.<br /><br />What is so hard to understnad here?<br /><br />They WERE -former- Spec Ops.<br /><br />They sold out for the money.<br /><br />Classic merc definition.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-71713043339817487342009-08-06T12:24:54.954-05:002009-08-06T12:24:54.954-05:00Sounds kinda like the shadow army headed up by Jon...Sounds kinda like the shadow army headed up by Jon Voight on last season's "24."<br /><br />But I still want me some of those exploding bullets ;o)ParaPacemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09331087479753793346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-50363641295570226872009-08-06T12:04:31.654-05:002009-08-06T12:04:31.654-05:00I trust Eric Prince and Blackwater/XE more than I ...I trust Eric Prince and Blackwater/XE more than I trust ATF,FBI,CIA,NSA.Chris K.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-52594385194171438452009-08-06T12:03:42.597-05:002009-08-06T12:03:42.597-05:00PS: And after eight years of George W. Bush I am d...PS: And after eight years of George W. Bush I am disinclined to accept professed patriotism and avowed Christian beliefs as evidence of simon-pure integrity and good intentions.<br /><br />They're mercenaries, and if they got a big contract to kill you, me and all our friends, the company would do it. They might have some quits, but they'd find replacements on any American big city street.<br /><br />It's all about the dollars, right?Dutchman6https://www.blogger.com/profile/09935420042995679958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-64966034553226144582009-08-06T11:59:03.918-05:002009-08-06T11:59:03.918-05:00S Boyd says:
"These guys have gone in and se...S Boyd says:<br /><br />"These guys have gone in and seriously kicked butt in Iraq while the conventional military sits back and bows to the UN."<br /><br />"That's a F-CKING lie!" to quote my son in advance. If you had been over there and seen them up close, you'd know it was and would admit it (if, that is, you weren't being paid by them, then or now -- they DO have an instant Internet response team to deal with bad publicity). <br /><br />Blackwater was real good at killing the wrong people, stirring up an AO, bugging out (or more often were ORDERED out) and leaving American soldiers to get killed in the blowback.<br /><br />They are private contractors who kill people for money. They have rigged it (so far) that, although they are carried on the QDR list of forces, they are NOT beholden to the laws of war.<br /><br />I will admit the possibility that these two birds may not be entirely kosher, but going on the record under oath in a federal court is usually a mark of sincerity (unless you're ATF).<br /><br />The whole religious aspect I think is exaggerated, but killing somebody to protect his own economic ass? Sure, Prince is capable of that. Up close and personal. <br /><br />Let's just say that this (and my son's experiences) are not the only knowledge I have of Blackwater.<br /><br />Mike VanderboeghDutchman6https://www.blogger.com/profile/09935420042995679958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-81029059005702831562009-08-06T11:34:43.637-05:002009-08-06T11:34:43.637-05:00There is SO much about these alligations that is u...There is SO much about these alligations that is unverified. And some that's downright stupid. Where's any proof? Documents, pictures (that don't look like they've been photoshopped or otherwise compromised). <br /><br />All there is, are two individuals (unknown), making statements through a questionable media source. Against a company that can't reveal its business.<br /><br />I wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing was a fabrication by either the media and/or one or two disgruntled (former?) employees. <br /><br />Can you say, "Stephen Glass?" I knew you could.<br /><br />B Woodman<br />IIIAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-20132443493229969332009-08-06T10:55:58.548-05:002009-08-06T10:55:58.548-05:00PS - Phelps - a 'hand grenade launcher' is...PS - Phelps - a 'hand grenade launcher' is a human arm; everyone knows that Blackwater has perfected the cloning of independently operating body parts. Hundreds of contraband human arms, operated by thought projection, were shipped into Iraq and the Stan, to inflict maximum injury of insurgents.ParaPacemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09331087479753793346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-47229357743861073762009-08-06T10:53:16.132-05:002009-08-06T10:53:16.132-05:00What a load of crap. The Doe twins must be secret ...What a load of crap. The Doe twins must be secret operators for Code Pink, trained in observation techniques by John "Dirtbag" Murtha.<br /><br />And I'm with Phelps on this point - I WANT me some o' them essplodin' bullets that inflict "maximum damage!" Why stop with just plain killin' the enemy with a FMJ or a JHP, if you can not only kill them but explode them to? <br /><br />Tuck in your trouser legs and pick up an E-tool... this stuff is deep!ParaPacemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09331087479753793346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-32128251898727649372009-08-06T10:42:31.073-05:002009-08-06T10:42:31.073-05:00Please help me understand what your problem with B...Please help me understand what your problem with Blackwater is. <br /><br />I'm not trying to be adversarial, I'm just very confused.<br /><br />Per the reading I've done, the soldiers of Blackwater are former spec ops. I wouldn't think they would be any different than the conventional military we have over there in that regard.<br />They are American citizens, so not "mercenary" in the technical sense, which is a foreign soldier who fights for whichever side pays the most.<br />These guys have gone in and seriously kicked butt in Iraq while the conventional military sits back and bows to the UN.<br /><br />Again, I'm very confused, trying to think through a position on this. I do not wish to be insulting to anyone, and I apologize ahead of time if I have.<br /><br />Thanks,<br />Stephen<br />IIIStephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00885250350095347547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-36868526337341523252009-08-06T10:35:20.791-05:002009-08-06T10:35:20.791-05:00Oh, and where can I get some of these evil body ex...Oh, and where can I get some of these evil body exploding bullets? I just can't get enough done with these regular old expanding bullets, I need me some illegal mythical HE small arms.Phelpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06270536870200063563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-91686373736755237982009-08-06T10:32:31.948-05:002009-08-06T10:32:31.948-05:00I'm all for keeping these clowns on a short le...I'm all for keeping these clowns on a short leash, but this report is so badly reported that I'm wary of believing it. I mean, "sawed off semi-automatic machine guns with silencers?" There's just SOOO much wrong with that statement that if it was actually in the court filings, it should be dumped for that reason alone. And "hand grenade and hand grenade launchers"? What the hell is a hand grenade launcher? Are they talking about attachments to make hand grenades into rifle launched grenades or what?<br /><br />Where there is that much fear mongering and scary buzz words stuff in, I just can't find it credible.Phelpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06270536870200063563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7575061201749703300.post-56561886917893679352009-08-06T10:27:25.471-05:002009-08-06T10:27:25.471-05:00The combination of really-really-big money (at the...The combination of really-really-big money (at the top, and pretty-big money all the way down to the dogface "contract soldier" bleeding for it) and a religious war (in the mind of Prince), is anyone surprised that some bad actors got involved? <br /><br />I'm really interested in the "Semi-Automatic Machine guns". Do they mean AR-15's or SKS's, or something more-special like an M-240B with single-shot capability?<br /><br />I wonder how deeply hidden the John Doe #1 and #2 are hidden? Do they get to wear WPP logo-hats and T-shirts? <br /><br />Cheers.pdxr13https://www.blogger.com/profile/04663894695994248670noreply@blogger.com