I did not laugh. Only a sick, twisted and perverted deviant would laugh at that joke. And I didn’t. Nope.
I agree that Erik Prince of Blackwater is an evil nutcase (but he comes by it naturally; look into his mother sometime!)
But some of the vague accusations here are pointless:
Let’s rewrite that a bit:
Two bits says the story is a fake-out. Get the story out, accusations of vile conduct that can’t be proven. Then associate true stories about how rotten you are with the fake ones, i.e., just another story cooked up by Prince’s enemies…not the black Prince…no, not the Black Prince either… Anyway, it muddies the waters.
Of course I can’t prove it, that’s why the bet is two bits!
Interesting side note: Prince is a fundamentalist reactionary Catholic, unlike the standard Pentecostal/Baptist/Goober affiliation so common on the extreme right…
Word. Jesus, let’s get some evidence here. And not just evidence that some Blackwater employee may have used a child prostitute, but that this was SOP and condoned and approved by Blackwater higher-ups.
My, what a difference the lack of a comma makes. Good to see that the barter system is alive and well in Iraq 
I get the sense this doesn’t matter too much.
No one asks if the rules have been tightened, no one is interested that this was enabled by US policy and taxpayers dollars, no one seems interested that the Omama administration continues to pour money into Erik Prince’s pocket, and no one seems concerned that sworn statements that a current government contractor “has murdered or facilitated the murder” of potential witnesses against that contractor in a criminal investigation. The link with the former Vice President isn’t even worthy of mention.
I guess you become a bit jaded after several years of this stuff, but if you reset for a moment to eight years ago none of this private army in a muslim world would seem possible, would it?
Crazy, weird fantasist stuff.
Does another private contractor even exist which could provide $20 million worth of “security services” in Iraq? Either way, I find it appalling that Obama has extended Blackwater’s contract with the evidence mounting.
I dunno. It might seem strange in modern times but historically, private armies have been trampling across (and presumably getting blown in) that part of the world for thousands of years.
Booty call? Are there many of those? Maybe I’m just uptight, but something rubs me the wrong way about Americans using teenage girls’ and women’s sexual services in a country where they are considered subhuman, regularly have their lives threatened for stepping outside or daring to go to school, and are decapitated for working as prostitutes servicing American military officers and contract workers. It just seems slightly imbalanced.
This was in Iraq, not in Afghanistan. Iraq is relatively liberal in social terms.
It’s common, but quite unfair, to equate “all civilians working in Iraq and Afghanistan” with “Blackwater”.
There certainly are other security companies, both US firms and ones from other countries. My friend who is an executive for a US construction company in Iraq is protected by guards from SafeNet (South African) and Armour Group (British).
Oops. I am still somewhat torn over the issue (as I would be anywhere, even in North America), but my mistake.
I’m not saying that- I know there are others- just wondering if any other private security firm has the manpower to replace all the Blackwater personnel who’ve been Iraq for… 8-odd years.
I saw you quoted Sage Rat, who said Afghanistan, so I just assumed you were going off that.
Blackwater is certainly huge but there are others- Triple Canopy, Dyncorp, Armour Group, and probably at least a dozen others. I know TC has a piece of the State Department protection business.
Blackwater, that’s like the perfect ‘evil corporation’ name!
Headed by a guy named Eric Prince? A Catholic reactionary fundamentalist?
“Hello, Mr. Hanks? Hi, my name is elucidator, and I’ve got a great idea for a movie! OK, kinda far out, but still…”
I’m not endorsing prostitution. I’m actually one of the few opponents of prositution in GD on this board. I’m just pointing out that it’s likely silly to paint it like we’re talking about pedophilia. It’s also, likely, silly to paint it like it’s just Blackwater doing this. I’d bet a decent sum of money that nearly even levels of soldiers in the US military and in Blackwater use the local prostitutes, some percentage of whom are likely minors, and probably the brass is basically aware of this on both sides.
It’s rather sad to say that this shouldn’t be news to anyone, but if it is going to be news, I’d rather it be presented for what it is, rather than as some sort of child porn ring. Taking advantage of impoverished women should get enough outcry as it is without having to tie in phantasms of pedophilia in there. And it’s an issue that likely expands beyond Blackwater, so it’s just being propagandic to slam just them for it.
It’s not prostitution, its vaginal entrepreneurship!
That’s why they changed it to Xe, the perfect “Huh?” name.
It could be that their new slogan (“Rhymes with sexy!”) was a mistake, though.