Reply #79: Inside the Sausage Factory: Blackwater Edition — By Daniel Schulman Aug. 6, 2009

[L. Coyote]

Inside the Sausage Factory: Blackwater Edition
— By Daniel Schulman - Aug. 6, 2009 - http://motherjones.com/mojo/2009/08/inside-sausage-factory-blackwater-edition


McClatchy's Mark Seibel and the News & Observer's Jay Price probably wish their email thread, discussing whether to cover the latest Blackwater allegations, didn't wind up splashed on the front page of Gawker, but I'm kinda glad it did. It offers a peek inside the sausage factory into the very real struggle reporters are having over whether—and how—to cover this story, which seems more like the plot of last season's 24 than a real-life crime drama. We're talking charges that Blackwater founder Erik Prince not only is out on a religious crusade to kill Muslims, but had informants whacked; allegations of child prostitution and gun-running; accusations of a wife-swapping and sex ring run out of the company's Moyock, North Carolina compound. Compared to this, allegations of tax evasion and money laundering seem downright tame.

These accusations were contained in the anonymous declarations of two ex-Blackwater employees, filed in connection with a series of civil suits brought on behalf of Iraqi civilians. .............