Rethinking security by eliminating it!

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune attacks one of the most successful private security companies America has ever produced in their editorial, "Rethinking security contracts".

The company they attack is Blackwater Worldwide. Why would the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Democrat Senator Jim Webb want to force the Defense Department to "review of the use of private contractors like Blackwater Worldwide to provide training for combat and security?"

It is simple. Blackwater was founded by Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL, who attended the Naval Academy, graduated from Hillsdale College, and was an intern in George H.W. Bush's White House. Prince is a major financial supporter of Republican Party causes and candidates. Blackwater's president, Gary Jackson, is also a former Navy SEAL. For work in Iraq, Blackwater draws contractors from their international pool of professionals, a database containing "21,000 former Special Forces operatives, soldiers, and retired law enforcement agents".

There you have it. You have a young Navy SEAL who took an inheritance and in 1997 formed a security company that has grown into the largest and best in the world. They have never lost a client, diplomat or member of Congress they have guarded. They are a highly successful entrepreneurial business, made up of former military men, and they are conservatives. A perfect target for Democrats and editorial boards like the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune is quick to note the September 16, 2007 incident where Blackwater employees in Nisour Square, Baghdad shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians, at least 14 of whom were killed "without cause" according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. No charges have been laid.

However, they fail to mention the March 31, 2004 incident where four Blackwater Security Consulting (BSC) employees were ambushed and killed in Fallujah, and their bodies were hung on a bridge to cheering Iraqi crowds.

The SH-T also does not tell you Blackwater was hired during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by the Department of Homeland Security, as well as by private clients, including communications, petrochemical and insurance companies.

Dear Secretary Gates, Senator Webb and Tom Tryon: Blackwater does the work that others can't or won't do. That is why they are so successful. Let them do what they do best. Protect and defend those most vulnerable.

We need our troops to fight the radical Islamists, not guard diplomats, visiting dignitaries, State Department workers, and other civilian employees in Iraq. Our military troops are not police or security guards, they are war fighters and guardians of our liberty. In the homeland private security is second nature. Blackwater is doing great things in America and worldwide to protect those people and things that need protecting.

What we need to investigate is all the investigations that Congress requires of our war fighters and those that support them. It seems the Democrat Congress with a 9% approval rating and the SH-T losing readership daily would focus on something more important than a great company like Blackwater and the heroes that own and work for it.

A good friend of mine, Dr. Terri K. Wonder is going to Iraq to work for the U.S. Army's Human Terrain System. She will be conducting "needs assessments in various tribal areas about what the beleaguered victims of criminals, terrorists, and sectarian insurgents require in order to improve their lives in the aftermath of the bloodbaths, middle-class exodus, crop, and livestock destruction they experienced".

I have the greatest respect for women like Terri who will forgo personal safety for a higher calling, in this case the welfare of the Iraqi people. Terri is a true patriot. When she returns safely from Iraq we will welcome her home as a fellow "combat veteran". I hope that God and Blackwater watch over her.

I said to Terri when I last talked with her Insha'Allah, with God's help all will be well.

UPDATE: According to U.S. News & World Report, "Sen. Barack Obama has not been a fan of private police like Blackwater in war zones, and some news outlets even reported that they were spurned for his trip last week to Afghanistan and Iraq. But Whispers confirms that Blackwater did handle the Democratic presidential candidate's security in Afghanistan and helped out in Iraq. What's more, Obama was overheard saying: "Blackwater is getting a bad rap." Since everything appeared to go swimmingly, maybe he will take firms like Blackwater out of his sights, the company's supporters hope."