Coming Clean Too Late

This CNN story tells us that the private military contractor Blackwater “delayed and impeded” a congress- ional probe into the deaths of Jerry Zovko, Scott Helvenston, Mike Teague and Wesley Batalona, four of its employees in Iraq, on March 31, 2004 (more on Blackwater is available from here).

This also ties into today’s New York Times column by Paul Krugman on the abominations caused by Bushco’s privatization to outfits like Blackwater and the perverse thinking that people from “industry” can always come into government jobs and ancillary functions and work efficiently.

Though I’ll state that I wish well for Americans working in Iraq for profit and a measure of sympathy for their loss (only going so far since they chose to be there in the first place), my deepest concerns lie with our military who face ever-escalating danger, entrapped in a sectarian civil war with no end in sight.

And whose fault is that?

Krugman and others quite rightly blame Bushco for their gross mismanagement of a war that never needed to be fought, and I share that of course, but the danger faced by our men and women in the armed forces has been heightened by the antics of Blackwater and other for-profit contractors.

With all this in mind, I checked up a bit and found out that the role currently held by Henry Waxman as chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the 110th Congress was held by ranking Republican Tom Davis in the 109th and 108th.

And I can find no record of any inquiry by Davis into the deaths of the four Blackwater employees from that time (typical I suppose...and I realize that it’s possible that the committee may not have known they were employed by Blackwater back then; if so, the company definitely shares responsibility for making this mess even worse).

What I’m saying is that if Davis had decided to hold a hearing on the deaths of the contractors around the time when they took place, with or without Blackwater’s admission of involvement, who knows what effect this would have had in trying to win over Iraqis who could have helped us instead of joining the insurgency instead and thus posing a greater threat to our forces?

(Oh, but Davis has no problem with working himself into a froth over that ad, as you can see here).

And as long as I’m noting the Iraq war here, I just want to add this link to a Courier Times story noting that former Navy Secretary John Lehman (who served under Ronnie Baby) spoke in the area recently about terrorism and added that he’s “no fan of Dubya” (though Patrick Murphy quite rightly voiced disagreement with Lehman’s characterization of Iraq as “a tiny, little war” - and Bob Guzzardi is, so far, my Idiot Of The Month).

And since I mentioned Patrick, here is his response to the latest idiocy from Flush Limbore, characterizing any military personnel who oppose the Iraq war as “phony soldiers” (from here)…

When someone like Rush Limbaugh says that soldiers who disagree with the failed strategies of President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld are "phony soldiers," you have to consider the source.

Rush Limbaugh, who, in January, called Vietnam veteran Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) "Senator Betrayus" for disagreeing with President Bush, has made no secret of his disdain for those who serve and speak out. Where was Rush Limbaugh when it came time to serve his country?

What's more, where was Limbaugh's outrage when Max Cleland, a Senator who left three of his limbs in Vietnam was smeared on television? Where was Limbaugh when Senator John Kerry's (D-MA) service was called into question in the form of millions of dollars in campaign ads?

My service was questioned last year during my campaign for Congress. Fortunately, the swift-boat attack on me didn't stick because people in my district in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and across America know that if someone wears the uniform and serves their country they've earned our respect regardless of political party.

Sadly, the political debate in this country has devolved into who can be more outraged at the latest smear attempt on those who should be thanked and praised for devoted service. Rush Limbaugh's phony outrage and derisive words call into contrast that which we all must honor: our Armed Forces currently fighting for their lives and our freedom all across the world. We need to be vigilant and speak out against those who question the value of that service -- and that goes for people on the right and the left.

Not all of us are lucky enough to get pilonidal cysts and escape the draft, you pompous fool.