In One Way, the Contractors Send Wholly Democratic Message: Its All About Money.
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Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe when Blackwater tried to offer $20,000 to family members of the victims of September's open fire in Nisour Square, they weren't offering an insulting payoff on the lives of the innocent, but were trying to spread the virtues of capitalism by teaching the Iraqi citizens a lesson that, in an open market, everything has monetary value.
And it seems the private contractor succeeded in its edifying endeavor, because at least two families are trying to file lawsuits against the company. Both of these families refused to take the payoff after their loved ones were killed by private contractors opening fire in the Baghdad public square. I suppose you can teach about capitalism and democracy, but the one thing you can't teach is the utter soullessness and contemptible greed that is required to enter the inside circles of administration cronies and their sewage-shovelling bedfellows, the contractors. In fact, Blackwater released an infuriating statement addressing the payoffs, which I believe adequately demonstrates the hollowness of the voids where their hearts should be:
"These [payoffs] are customary condolence payments, and are not an admission of
guilt, but recognize that Iraq is an extremely dangerous place. When
faced with an enemy intent on maximizing civilian casualties, innocent
people will tragically be caught in the crossfire..."
In terms of promoting Democracy, by outsourcing our burdens to private contractors, we have passed along the capitalist greed, but we seem to have missed the boat on democratic ideals. The Bush administration has worked for the past five years to install such a cesspool of bureaucratic disorder that things like accountability and transparency, ironically two cornerstones of democracy, are impossible.
Progressive Future also has a petition demanding consequences for Blackwater. Let's not let the inevitable fury that anyone with a soul would experience upon reading the callousness of Blackwater's statement lead to jaded inaction. Let's promote democracy ourselves, by demanding our government install a system of accountability for the actions that represent our country in the global community.
And it seems the private contractor succeeded in its edifying endeavor, because at least two families are trying to file lawsuits against the company. Both of these families refused to take the payoff after their loved ones were killed by private contractors opening fire in the Baghdad public square. I suppose you can teach about capitalism and democracy, but the one thing you can't teach is the utter soullessness and contemptible greed that is required to enter the inside circles of administration cronies and their sewage-shovelling bedfellows, the contractors. In fact, Blackwater released an infuriating statement addressing the payoffs, which I believe adequately demonstrates the hollowness of the voids where their hearts should be:
"These [payoffs] are customary condolence payments, and are not an admission of
guilt, but recognize that Iraq is an extremely dangerous place. When
faced with an enemy intent on maximizing civilian casualties, innocent
people will tragically be caught in the crossfire..."
In terms of promoting Democracy, by outsourcing our burdens to private contractors, we have passed along the capitalist greed, but we seem to have missed the boat on democratic ideals. The Bush administration has worked for the past five years to install such a cesspool of bureaucratic disorder that things like accountability and transparency, ironically two cornerstones of democracy, are impossible.
Progressive Future also has a petition demanding consequences for Blackwater. Let's not let the inevitable fury that anyone with a soul would experience upon reading the callousness of Blackwater's statement lead to jaded inaction. Let's promote democracy ourselves, by demanding our government install a system of accountability for the actions that represent our country in the global community.
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