How to Investigate Blackwater USA
The minute the Congress called my name
I'd say, "Now who do
Who do you think you're fooling?"
"We're a private company, and there's a key word there -- private,"
—Erik Prince, Owner and CEO of Blackwater USA, testifying before The US House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, 10/2/07 when asked to share Blackwater's financials with Congress
That rumor you heard about me trying to kill at least one savage everytime I left the wire? TRUE.
WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?
—Ben Thomas, aka Mookie Spicoli, formerly employed by Blackwater USA in Iraq, as he posted April 8, 2006 to the discussion board Get Off the X.
So at long last, Congress has started to investigate Blackwater USA in earnest. That's great, but way too late.
Hauling Erik Prince in to testify before Congress was a necessary first step but won't get anyone very far. Prince has made a fetish of his privacy, and with the State Department's collusion, there isn't much that our elected representatives can get Prince to say on a public forum. But Prince did say one big important thing: What Blackwater does when its contractors run amok is fire them.
So here's how Congress should go about investigating Blackwater: They should subpoena all personnel records that resulted in the firing of their security contractors, and all documents related to the firings, and they should subpoena the entire group of ex-Blackwater security contractors who were let go for cause.
That is, as it were, where the bodies are buried. I also suggest they start their list of ex-Blackwater subpoenas with Ben Thomas.
