The City of San Diego plays politics with National Security

Blackwater Worldwide, a private security firm has asked a federal judge to order the city of San Diego to issue the final certificate needed for that firm to open up their training facility in Otay Mesa. If they are unable to do so by this Monday then Blackwater will be in violation of their contract with the Navy. Story here.

The training facility, including the firing range is entirely indoors and will be used to train sailors and Marines in marksmanship, assembly and disassembly of weapons, new weapons systems and in arrest and apprehension techniques. Ostensibly, these sailors and Marines would mostly benefit the physical security forces of U.S. Navy and Military Sealift Command (civilian operated Navy supply ships and notoriously bad aims) vessels against terrorist and small-scale attacks on the same. Think USS Cole.

But with elections coming up, its obvious that Mayor Jerry Sanders and City Attorney Mike Aguirre are caving to the same pressure that denied Blackwater a proposed training facility in East County near Potrero. Unmentioned in article is the city councilman for the district in which the facility resides, Ben Hueso. Hueso has been a vocal critic of Bush the War in Iraq and not coincidentally, Blackwater.

This is a local issue with over-the-horizon implications. Point being, Blackwater is employed almost exclusively by veterans and former members of the military and the instructors who will be doing the training all live in the San Diego area. The sailors and Marines they will be training and the assets and men and women at sea and abroad they will be protecting are all San Diego-based.

For these agitators and obstructionists who wish to portray Blackwater as a shadowy para-military arm of the Bush junta and who will allow their distaste for this Administration and our presence in Iraq to trump the safety of their own neighbors is unconscionable.

Up to this point, Blackwater has jumped through every administrative, bureaucratic and environmental hoop for the city so when they cry foul and claim they are being held hostage by petty, agenda-driven politics, they are exactly right.

But Blackwater Worldwide is not entirely blameless. Let’s face it, were this any other security firm than Blackwater or perhaps Blackwater did not have as ominous a name, this would be a non-issue. So in the spirit of free advice, may we make a suggestion that instead of their current name, it becomes something more non-threatening, fuzzy and in keeping with spirit of peaceful dialog and conflict resolution with the bad guys….

We propose…….





…… Barney Worldwide