Jeremy Scahill on Bill Moyers Journal tonight, PBS, check your listings:

[babylonsister]

and you get to ask questions if you have any.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/

Ask Jeremy Scahill...
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Since the shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians on September 16 by Blackwater contractors, which is currently under investigation by the FBI and the State Department, newspapers, talk shows and blogs have been buzzing with debate over the implications of a growing private sector "army" fighting alongside US Military officials in Iraq. Many believe these hired soldiers have not been properly held accountable for their mistakes.

Founder and CEO of Blackwater, Erik Prince, recently made the rounds defending his company as a patriotic extension of the US Armed Forces, simply fulfilling the security demands of a military stretched thin.

After watching Bill Moyers' interview with investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill , who has been covering Blackwater for more than three years, do questions still linger about this complicated issue?

Who's funding these private security contractors? Who's giving them their day-to-day orders? Who supplies their equipment and transport vehicles? Under which rule of law are they held accountable? Here's your chance to ask the expert.

Submit your questions to Scahill by commenting below. We will post his responses to select questions early next week.

[scarletwoman]

1. k & r -- let's keep this thread up top! (nt)

[in_cog_ni_to]

2. Excellent! Bill Moyers rocks! So does Jeremy!

Can't wait to watch! Thanks for the heads up!

:kick:

[BeHereNow]

3. Hell on earth-

Paid for by OUR tax dollars.
Unbelieveable.
BHN

[BeHereNow]

4. Dupe-delete

bhn

[lordsummerisle]

5. Thanks for posting this! n/t

[BeHereNow]

6. Kicking for a MUST SEE, DU.

Glimpse of the future and all...
Ignore at your own peril.
BHN

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. one more link

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-flash.html

[Gregorian]

11. Thanks. Online viewers can watch it too.

Scahill is great. I can't wait to see this. Even though it's really sick.

[babylonsister]

12. Sicker than you know! He's getting into Katrina,

Israeli mercenaries, etc. Well worth a look and the guy has a memory that's unreal. He's just chatting!

[Gregorian]

18. It's more than frightening. It's surreal.

Almost like we've paid them to invade us. I don't even know what to say. Evil.

We paid a huge sum for whatever they were doing in New Orleans. For what...

It's about money. Not safety, not protection. Money.

[EFerrari]

31. BW recruited guys from South Africa, too, who had enforced apartheid. n/t

[babylonsister]

8. Kick! On (here) now. nt

[babylonsister]

9. There isn't anyone more knowledgeable than Jeremy Scahill on

Blackwater. He's fascinating, and I'm glad he's sounding this horn again.

[BeHereNow]

10. Kickity boo-bop, amidst the GD dredge of tripe...

BHN

[babylonsister]

13. OMG! The millions of bucks Blackwater is getting is going right back

into the rethug party or their machinations (also giving donations to the green party to defeat the Dem). Ergo, we're paying to strengthen the rethugs.

[Gregorian]

14. This positive feedback loop is very important.

I feel it is at the heart of the Republican party. Party, being the keyword. It's a membership. And more than political. It's business. So you have members funneling their government subsidized monies back into the party. That isn't to say this doesn't happen with Democrats. But nowhere near the level. I would bet that the majority of munitions corporations are Republican owned. How many Democrats build bombs and tanks?


And from what Scahill is saying, Congress was unprepared. Congress cannot keep up with the scandals. What a nightmare.

[Gregorian]

15. The ultimate privatization. The privatization of war.

Dynacor, Blackwater. They're all over the world, fighting, killing.

Bad stuff. Wake up, America. You're paying for it.

These guys were working with Pinochet!

[babylonsister]

17. And the spin-off company of Blackstone , Greystone, catering to the

Fortune 500 companies. Pretty brilliant; getting rich on whatever it takes, and a market was created.

[antigop]

16. KIck --- I watched it. Everyone needs to see this....n/t

[SeattleGirl]

19. I'm watching right now.

I've heard several interviews with Scahill on the radio; nice to see him on with Bill Moyers.

[babylonsister]

20. Good, SeattleGirl. Let me know what you think. Scahill is brilliant and has

a mind like a steel trap.

[SeattleGirl]

21. Okay, babylonsister, here's my reaction: I'm stunned, I'm scared,

and I'm really fucking angry!

I knew a lot of the things Scahill was talking about tonight, but he tied them together in such a way as to sharpen the picture. In addition, he filled in some blanks for me.

I also feel even more irrelevant than I was already feeling. There aren't only the haves and have-mores, there is also an entire segment of government that, while we know OF it, we don't know very much ABOUT it.

I am 3/4 of the way through re-reading "1984", which I haven't read since my senior year in high school in 1973. I see so many parallels between that book and the way things are now. Who can we trust? Who is a subversive? Who is a prole? Who is on our side? Who would rather sell us out for a pocket full of gold instead of being loyal to the Constitution? Who is our friend? Who is our enemy? I think the lines have, in many ways, become even more blurred.

I'm going to watch this again, once it's posted online, because I think there was a lot to absorb.

Holy Mother of God, but we are SOOOOO going down the wrong road.

[babylonsister]

22. Yes, what

Just what in the hell is going on? But I do know there's more curiosity; whether that will garner more attention remains to be seen. I know my new hero Jeremy Scahill has already been interviewed by Waxman.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2091534&mesg_id=2091534

[SeattleGirl]

23. Thanks for the link.

It truly is scary. There are things going on that we are not allowed to know about. I'm not talking about genuine security stuff; I'm talking about a government that is running things behind our backs, that is basically lining up a coup against us. Those of us who are asleep with never see it coming; those of us who are awake will be kept from the truth as much as possible.

Can we fire up the torches yet?

[EFerrari]

24. Agree. Well spoken and a first rate mind.

:kick:

[SeattleGirl]

25. Amen to that.

I think my mouth was hanging open for most of the segment.

I have got to get his book.

[EFerrari]

26. Eric Prince sent in BW on no one's okay to the Gulf Coast.

:wtf:

[SeattleGirl]

27. And THEN they got the contract.

:wtf: indeed!

[EFerrari]

29. I posted a question to Bill's site: Is it true that BW used to train

white supremacist militia people at their NC facility. A CSPAN WJ caller said last week that it was common knowledge up there in NE North Carolina that they did.

[SeattleGirl]

30. Whoa!

Damn, if you get an answer, let us kmow, okay?

That is REALLY freakin' scary!

[EFerrari]

32. I'm going to try to see what I can dig up on my own this weekend.

But, if you think about it, it's just par for the course.

[SeattleGirl]

33. I know.

I just don't want to get to the point where I say, "Oh well....."

(Not that you are doing that; don't take my comment as such.)

[EFerrari]

34. Prince's dad handed out the seed money to Dobson

for Focus on the Family. This guy believes he is one seriously privileged person. (Sort of like Junior's twin or something.) I already know what these guys are but I want to find sources, proof.

Scahill has done such a great job of outing Black Water. :)

[SeattleGirl]

35. The Prince's are really evil, I think.

Scahill did an excellent job! Absolutely excellent.

[Blue_In_AK]

28. Great show.

Should be required viewing. I hope Jeremy Scahill is watching his back. :scared:

[Blue Belle]

36. That was a fantastic interview.

I am so mad and worried about this blackwater thing. I fear our democracy may be over.

[SeattleGirl]

37. You and me both, Blue Belle.

Here's the question: what are we willing to do to stop it?

[Blue Belle]

38. What can we do?

It seems as if Blackwater is getting support on both sides of the political isle. I vote these bastards out, but their round the clock media programs the lack of free thinkers in this country. People are just too busy worrying about which credit card to use to buy whatever they need to make their life seem complete. Sometimes its just really frustrating...

[Uncle Joe]

39. That was an outstanding program, and it occurred to me that global dimming and Blackwater

have something in common, they both mask looming catastrophes. Pain is essential, if you can't feel pain, you literally won't have the sense to take your hand off a burning stove top until your fingers are crispy.

Thanks for the thread, babylonsister.