One man stops a $475 million Iraq contract.
One man stops a $475 million Iraq contract.
“A federal judge yesterday ordered the military to temporarily refrain from awarding the largest security contract in Iraq. The order followed an unusual series of events set off when a U.S. Army veteran filed a protest against the government practice of hiring what he calls mercenaries.”
The contract, worth about $475 million, calls for a private company to provide intelligence services to the U.S. Army and security for the Army Corps of Engineers on reconstruction work in Iraq. The case, which is being heard by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, puts on trial one of the most controversial and least understood aspects of the Iraq war: the outsourcing of military security to an estimated 20,000 armed contractors who operate with little oversight.
Brian X. Scott, a 53-year-old Colorado man, filed the complaint in early April. He argues that the military’s use of private security contractors is “against America’s core values” and violates an 1893 law that prohibits the government from hiring quasi-military forces.
IraqSlogger has more.
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This veteran is a hero. Watch your back, soldier.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:02 pmBut how is George “Idiot Boy” Bush supposed to continue to funnel BILLIONS of dollars to his cronies?!
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:02 pmGood for him, but he must be aware that Blackwater goons might to sent after him.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:06 pmThe judge should be impeached.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:06 pmmight be sent after him > not to sent > typo.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:10 pmJakey Jakey, Jakey……
Is there a reason for your hatred of everything the US stands for? Are you such a BushCo Weinie that ANYTHING they do is acceptable?
How truly sad your life must be.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:11 pmThese “mercenaries” are mostly contractors doing supply line work. Yet another liberal activist judge. Yet another liberal stab in the back of the troops.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:12 pmMAF54 > are you Mark Foley?
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:14 pmWe used to have an MOS 64B, truck driver.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:14 pmOf all the misbegotten actions taken by the would be Bush empire, the
building of a private army that operates outside of any legal framework is perhaps the most disturbing act of all.
Of course Jake, an authoritarian coward who despises the rule of law, supports this action.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:15 pmComment by MAF54 — June 2, 2007 @ 12:12 pm
Nobody listens to a pedophile, MAF54. Go back to viewing your child pornography.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:16 pmAlright!
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:17 pmAre you such a BushCo Weinie that ANYTHING they do is acceptable?
Comment by upside00 — June 2, 2007 @ 12:11 pm
Jake has repeatedly let on that he has a strong man-love thing for his CIC, the Commander Guy.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:18 pmJake, are you having trouble enlisting? Did you “tell”? is that why they wont let you in punk?
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:19 pmTHINKPROGRESS – can you post links to the court documents?
I would like to see how he, as an individual, was able to plead standing.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:19 pmThese “security” contractors are mercenaries, i.e., “soldiers of fortune”, i.e. unsavory and likely criminal characters.
By the way, Jake is senile. Don’t respond to him.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:22 pmPlease check out Brian X. Scott’s wesite
http://www.ourcampaigns.com/
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:22 pmComment by MAF54 — June 2, 2007 @ 12:12 pm
sigh, another irrelevant argument. It matters not what most contractors do, it matters what this contract does.
And you cannot make a contract to violate the law.
So, now it looks like MAF54 and Jake want to get rid of judges who uphold the rule of law. What next, guys, round up everyone who disagrees with you and send them to concentrations camps to be gassed?
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:24 pmThe judge should be impeached.
Comment by Jake — June 2, 2007 @ 12:06 pm
Traitors tot he United States would feel that way. Traitor.
I see you are posting under your own name and your favorite pedophiles name also. Way to go traitorous pedophile.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:24 pmMAF54: what does the term “activist judge” mean? How was this judge being an activist judge?
… it’s your claim, so just wondering what you based it on.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:25 pmOkay Jake & MAF54, you don’t need to worry. Here’s how this will play out.
Eventually, it will work its way up to the Supreme court. Cheney will invite Alito and Roberts to go duck hunting with him before the hearing, wherein he’ll threaten to shoot them both in the face if they don’t rule in BuschCo’s favor.
They will overturn the lower court’s ruling, declaring that as the unitary president, George can do anything he wants, anytime, anywhere. This officially makes George “the Biggest Unit” on the planet, assuring that he can give all of “Unitary Digital Salute” anttime he wants. See, guys, your side wins again.
You are now free to go back to molesting your inflatable dolls.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:29 pminteresting comment made by Dale@ FDL in a discussion on Iraq:
“Mr. Sestak, I spent three years in Iraq as a private contractor. I travelled from one military base to another and was shocked at the extent of the military presence. The huge ultra-bases include two-story gyms, multiple swimming pools, baseball fields, football fields, beauty parlors, massage parlors, movie theaters, etc … My lifestyle in Iraq and the food I ate was much better than in the USA.
Obviously we are building mega-mega-American colonies to control the area for centuries. It is plainly obvious to anyone who sees these American cities.
What would you tell the Iraqi people about these American cities inside their borders. And what would you tell the Iraqis immediately outside the razor wire who are begging for water and dressed in rags? Inside the base we ate baskin robbins ice cream along with twenty other dessert selections every day.”
all I can say is WOW
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:31 pmWhy do veterans hate America?
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:32 pmMAF54 -
I saw first hand in Vietnam what a bunch of assholes and rip-off artists the civilian contractors were (i.e. RMK/BRJ). They stole everything they could get their hands on, bought back used equipment at pennies on the dollar (after they damaged it) and sold it back to the US Gov’t. They used the PX facilities as their own private warehouse to buy and sell on the black market, they sold US dollars to the VC and generally did as they pleased.
I assume things haven’t changed much in 37 years, as we have the same corrupt asswipes in office now as then (R. Nixon ring a bell?).
SO, guess that is all acceptable to you and your ilk, or maybe you are on one of the contractor’s payroll?
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:39 pmSo, now it looks like MAF54 and Jake want to get rid of judges who uphold the rule of law. What next, guys, round up everyone who disagrees with you and send them to concentrations camps to be gassed?
Comment by Briseadh na Faire — June 2, 2007 @ 12:24 pm
Beautifully put.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:40 pmThe outcome of this case likely depends on if Iraq is really a ‘war’ as it has never been officially declared such.
The judge should be impeached.
Comment by Jake
Do you get like backstage passes Jake for being such a good little groupie whorelet?
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:49 pmnot a war..we filed to OCCUPY Iraq long ago and now as we see, that was the plan from the git go.
evil never takes a rest
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:55 pmThat is why Washington D.C. became also the capital of lobbyists .
All what these lobbyists are looking for is to milk that big cow called ‘ Federal budget’.
Poiliticians who retire also join in the chase for the biggest dollar figure they can get as their own lobbyists , or part of an industry lobbying company,whether the lobbyist work for a company,organization,or himself,the end game is the same…to influence for good money return and to have connections
whether it is in health,security,military industries or others
This story is no surprise…
Connections means dollars in the capital,and there is no shortage of lobbyists who chase the dollar…
June 2nd, 2007 at 1:00 pmhow sad it is that jake, if what he claims is true, is 70 years old veteran yet so closed minded and entrenched in his own narrow view that he is part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
to me, that is really sad that he has the opportunity and access to think differently yet makes a choice not to and follows the evil that is this administration blindly.
this is what happened in Germany, the locksteppers aided Hitler’s evil agenda and we all know what happened next.
June 2nd, 2007 at 1:01 pmMAF54 the tURd:
> These “mercenaries†are mostly contractors doing supply line work.
That’s right, like drive-by shootings, arbitrary target practice on live locals, arbitrary destruction of property, most probably some light rape and liberation of stuff etc. etc.
Unofficial motto:
“What happens here today, stays here today.”
June 2nd, 2007 at 1:15 pmWow Way to Go Brian Scott! Great News but where was, is congress on this?? And where is Congress today. We need them working at the very least 5 FIVE days a week.
This is a good start from the people
Willie
June 2nd, 2007 at 1:16 pmWell yeah. That would be the obvious result of seeking to have providers of security for reconstruction projects removed.
You realise that these private contractors fill gaps that US forces don’t want to do and aren’t trained or suited to right ?
Every soldier that isn’t acting as a bodyguard or an escort is able to do something more useful as a result.
Because as we know, if you are trained in a specialised field where your contract of employment is short and those skills can earn you phenominally more in the private sector, you would only choose to do so if you were a criminal.
June 2nd, 2007 at 1:25 pmMAF54:
June 2nd, 2007 at 1:27 pmCould you please answer the long standing question re: your choice to employ MAf54 and how that choice blends with your “faith”. I am a patient guy but chasing you around this site seeking the answer is getting a tad old. Sorry to those of you on topic.
Thank you Brian. Anyone know how to contact him. I swear Cheney et al are trying to get rid of the all volunteer military and hire mercenaries.
June 2nd, 2007 at 1:36 pmBriseadh na Faire,
No luck finding the court docs, but here’s a link to a story with the most detail:
http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=12045
June 2nd, 2007 at 1:37 pmAnd yet most here tell me that we have to have patience with our corrupt (R’s and D’s) politicians to end the Iraq Genocide Project and that our individual efforts are meaningless.
Witness a true hero in Mr. Scott. One man having an enormous effect by simply calling a spade a spade. Yet the “representatives” in congress can’t even pass a non-binding resolution.
What this illustrates is what I’ve been screaming about now for years. You are being misled by your congress and are being lulled into doing nothing by empty promises and bogus excuses.
It’s time to take the country back. Not by force as that is a “last resort” and actually wholly unnecessary, but by standing up and saying “no more”. What do you think would have happened to Mr. Scott’s efforts had he simply relied on contacting his “representatives”?
The time is now and we must stand up. I beg you, stop allowing yourself to be deceived.
June 2nd, 2007 at 1:56 pmBrian X. Scott = alkaida
June 2nd, 2007 at 2:00 pmThe time is now and we must stand up. I beg you, stop allowing yourself to be deceived.
Comment by Fed the Fcuk Up! — June 2, 2007 @ 1:56 pm
****!!!!!Dengerate Ingrates of the World Unite!!!!!****
June 2nd, 2007 at 2:03 pm#31: no.
June 2nd, 2007 at 2:12 pmJustice, we’re already in our own version of Germany. Alas, I think it will be too late once people really start to speak up, just as it was in Germany those years back.
As for the innocent Iraqi’s…do you think anyone in power in our country gives two shits about them? They certainly don’t care about anyone who is poor here, why should the care about anyone poor there. If they can’t be used and abused, well, they’re cronies. :-D Everyone else is fair game beit here or there.
June 2nd, 2007 at 2:13 pmOh, it’s Mr President! Did someone leave the Internet connection to the eight circle of hell open again?
Let’s have a contemplative moment:
http://gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox/2007/05/what_home_is_wh.html
June 2nd, 2007 at 2:14 pmAnd posts #35 and #36 only substantiate my point.
Look at how violently the antagonizer reacts, even calling a fellow American a “terrorist” for using our much vaunted system of justice to address an issue.
Think about that long and hard because that is the very approach that has been used successfully to herd the American public into allowing great wrongs to be perpetrated in its name.
Seriously. The picture is crystal clear if you are willing to just open your eyes and look.
June 2nd, 2007 at 2:23 pmOh, it’s Mr President! Did someone leave the Internet connection to the eight circle of hell open again?
Comment by El Tonno — June 2, 2007 @ 2:14 pm
Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here…
Welcome to the City of Deez…
Deeeeezzzzz Nutzzzzzz!!!!!!
June 2nd, 2007 at 2:24 pm#37
June 2nd, 2007 at 2:25 pmThanks for the closure. I respect your privacy needs. I do think its use impares your ability to be seem as rational but to each their own.
#38,
You could not be more wrong. Here we are in a diary about a single person, Mr. Scott, speaking up and having a monumental impact and your begging surrender because you say no one speaks up or has an impact.
What we need to do is not resign ourselves to defeat because our “representatives” and political operatives (like the trolls here) tell us that there is no hope of winning, but rather unleash upon our country a few million Mr. Scotts.
The question is, who are you going to follow? The corrupt politicians? The trolls? Or, patriots like Mr. Scott?
Make no mistake and I think you would mostly agree, right now you are being led by the corrupt politicians and the trolls. The great deception is that you have no choice. Empirical evidence shows otherwise and our very future depends upon our acknowledging that and bringing about change.
You reference the Germans of the 1930’s and resign yourself to their fate. The truth is that they are the prime example of why we need to stand up now so that we do NOT make that same mistake.
The time is now.
June 2nd, 2007 at 2:38 pmThanks for the closure. I respect your privacy needs. I do think its use impares your ability to be seem as rational but to each their own.
Comment by dbadass
We should just think of MAF54 as the pervert who’s name he adopted. Do we talk to perverts? No. :-)
June 2nd, 2007 at 2:41 pm>> Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here…
Exactly. Actually, 9th circle, Judecca is more like it.
June 2nd, 2007 at 2:43 pmOh, playing “Whack-A-Troll” this morning… cool!!
June 2nd, 2007 at 2:52 pmMore than 1,000 Latin Americans recruited by US private security contractors work as mercenaries performing dangerous jobs in countries under US military occupation. Contractors have found a gold mine in the Latin American market. From Peru, the mercenary may make $5.75 an hour. The contractor gets $1500 a day per mercenary. Pretty good deal for the contractor.
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:07 pm#31: no.
Comment by MAF54 — June 2, 2007 @ 2:12 pm
This piece of sh!t doesn’t want to tell you why he worships pedophiles. It is his dirty little secret. He looks up to somebody that has taken their pedophilia all the way to congress. It is something a pedophile worshiper can really be proud of.
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:20 pmWow Brian X. Scott…good on you! That’s amazing what you did. I hope that the MSM pays attention to this. I truly believe that if the Democrats simply refused to continue to fund the contractors in Iraq, our soldiers would be home tomorrow. And, the Republics couldn’t yell about how they “don’t support the troops”.
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:23 pmIn the past, 200 Peruvians have guarded Baghdad’s Green Zone.
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:23 pmPresident Eisenhower said it best:
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
#48: If he has chosen his nick by symbols at random, the chances for getting “MAF54″ is about 1 out of 80 million.
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:29 pm33 – Zooey, thanks.
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:31 pmBrian X. Scott is a true patriot!
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:32 pmWell, the WaPo has filed the story under “business”… so it goes.
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:40 pmMaf54 (7:46:33 PM): did any girl give you a haand job this weekend
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:38 PM): lol no
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:40 PM): im single right now
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:57 PM): my last gf and i broke up a few weeks agi
Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): are you
Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): good so your getting horny
Xxxxxxxxx (7:47:29 PM): lol… a bit
Maf54 (7:48:00 PM): did you spank it this weekend yourself
Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:04 PM): no
Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:16 PM): been too tired and too busy
Maf54 (7:48:33 PM): wow…
Maf54 (7:48:34 PM): i am never to busy haha
Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:51 PM): haha
Maf54 (7:50:02 PM): or tired..helps me sleep
….
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:42 pm“What next, guys, round up everyone who disagrees with you and send them to concentrations camps to be gassed?”
Why do you think that Haliburton is building “prisons” in this country. Here’s the facts:
Plus, there was that curious development in January when the Army Corps of Engineers awarded Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root a $385 million contract to construct detention centers somewhere in the United States, to deal with “an emergency influx of immigrants into the US, or to support the rapid development of new programs,” KBR said. [Market Watch, Jan. 26, 2006]
The part of this that is really scary is the “or to support the rapid development of new programs” part. Just exactly what “new programs” are they talking about here?
VERY SCARY INDEED.
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:42 pmMaybe they are just programs to relocate prisoners from overcrowded crime incubator A to newly built crime incubator B? Or they foresee a crackdown (that word again) on gangs which apparently have been growing like mushrooms under belowed prez’s oversight?
However, Benjamin and Clover could only be with Boxer after working hours, and it was in the middle of the day when the van came to take him away. The animals were all at work weeding turnips under the supervision of a pig, when they were astonished to see Benjamin come galloping from the direction of the farm buildings, braying at the top of his voice. It was the first time that they had ever seen Benjamin excited–indeed, it was the first time that anyone had ever seen him gallop. “Quick, quick!” he shouted. “Come at once! They’re taking Boxer away!” Without waiting for orders from the pig, the animals broke off work and raced back to the farm buildings. Sure enough, there in the yard was a large closed van, drawn by two horses, with lettering on its side and a sly-looking man in a low-crowned bowler hat sitting on the driver’s seat. And Boxer’s stall was empty.
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:58 pmComment by Kate Henry — When Rex84 was brought up in Iran Contra hearings and pending closure of military bases to be converted to “concentration camps” was a part of the goal. I thought this to be crazy talk. Well 20 years later:
video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8272096722231303649
What’s really important about this particular video is the inclosed building with a 4” diameter pipe that runs the perimeter connected to what looks like a ventilation system. But then you get a look around from the other side and see the AGS natural gas equipment. Of course this is conspiracy sh!t….we are taught to never believe what we see.
June 2nd, 2007 at 4:00 pmThat is a typo (the “programs” part). It should read, “…to support the rapid development of new pogroms.”
June 2nd, 2007 at 4:00 pm> video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8272096722231303649
WTF? HELP. Are we in X-Files territory but without aliens? Someone please debunk this stuff so that I can sleep tonight! Coordinates on Google Earth are where?
Smoking man: “And so it begins…All those Nazi doctors were of good use to us…”
June 2nd, 2007 at 4:11 pmAnd lets get rid also of all the civilian mercenariess in the White House….All those who are there simply to strong-arm us by violating our civil rights and steal elections…I want them all sent to Iraq to replace the Blackwater goons…
June 2nd, 2007 at 5:28 pmJust think – One man did that. He stood up and stuck a finger in the eye of the status quo (or quid pro quo).
June 2nd, 2007 at 5:34 pmWe, you and I and thousands of others, can accomplish the same. All it takes is a little time and the courage to act, to speak out to your elected so-called leaders, to demand change in the way business is done, to attend a peace rally.
America (and the rest of the free world), get off your butts, otherwise it may not be free very much longer.
maybe someone has answereed this and if so, I appologise but anyhow here goes. Where is thia 475 million coming from?
June 2nd, 2007 at 8:00 pmplease someone- tll me!!
billjpa@aol.com
#63 – billjpa,
June 2nd, 2007 at 8:59 pmOur descendants.
One man stops a $475 million Iraq contract
one person, here and there, everyday…
we could get a lot done…
that’s what it’s gonna take…
June 2nd, 2007 at 9:32 pmat the least…
.
My freaking gaud, why in the world do you ppl respond to that loser Jake, he is a fraud, who is hated in real life, do not respond to the turd of a subhuman.
He is only here to disrupt the thread, caught a freakin clue, this guy is hated by dogs, he is scum, and most likely paid to do this….
DONOT RESPOND TO HIS POSTS
IGNORE IT…IT IS BEYOND STUPID
Hating the fact that you guys respond to this idiot
June 3rd, 2007 at 1:17 amAll I gotta say to this man is
WAY
TO
GO!
We need more men like this.
June 3rd, 2007 at 2:06 amFor anyone NOT on the “Ignore List” I do not get paid to post here. Do you?
June 3rd, 2007 at 6:08 pm@ 56 — those are the ones called ~civilian interment~ camps. I have a list.
re Congress and contracts: Waxman is involved in an investigation of Halliburton.
June 4th, 2007 at 8:43 amJust need to chime in my “THANK GOD SOMEBODY IS FINALLY BRINING THIS TO THE COURTS!”
These private militias/mercernaries are a disgrace to the flag.
June 4th, 2007 at 2:29 pmWow….I am ashamed that you all are Americans. You name call with vengence. What happened to respect? Where did it go? Why do we not respect another’s opinion? If we don’t like their opinion, we call them horrible names and cut them to shreds with our words. Is that what freedom stands for? It is no wonder that the world hates Americans and their aggressive and mean attitudes.
The disunity is what the enemy thrives on. If our fathers and grandfathers had done this during WW2, we would all be speaking German or Japanese. Disunity equals surrender, better get used to eating humas and reading the quran.
My son died in Baghdad, so I have paid a heavy price to say this. Stop throwing stones at each other and come up with a constructive way to defeat this enemy, or he will be at our doorstep and 9/11 will look like a day at the park.
June 4th, 2007 at 6:16 pm