An idea just too awesome to not pass along.

It looks like the pirates are making good on their promise to exact revenge for the killing of their 3 compadres on Sunday as a U.S.-flagged cargo ship was attacked on Tuesday but the pirates were denied boarding. The ship was enroute to Mombasa, Kenya.

As was discussed in the comment thread in our post on the same subject yesterday, why aren’t we doing more to defend our cargo ships? Why not arm the crew members or stage a detachment of Marines on our cargo ships? Without getting into exhaustive detail, basically, there are 3 reasons why: the cost of training and arming your crew is quite high, international maritime law is very restrictive in its rules of engagement and we are stretched thin as it is with our uniformed combat personnel to essentially open up a 3rd front in addition to Iraq and Afghanistan.

However.... these guys may be looking for some work.

They are the very same people who are training, right here in San Diego, our sailors in force protection/physical security for our combatants at sea.

Trust us - crossing that Rubicon will have to be considered if things continue in their current trajectory.

Quote of the Day

"Blackwater is getting a bad rap."

So who do suppose handled Obama's security when he was over there in Iraq and Afghanistan? More nutroot heartache surely to ensue.

H/T: Protein Wisdom via Hot Air

P.S. Part and parcel to BDS is the hatred and vilification of any and everything associated with Bush and particularly with regard to the War on Terror. We remember with great clarity how it was that Haliburton’s contract for their work for the military in Kosovo was renewed back in the late 90s under Bill Clinton without competitive bidding with nary a peep from anybody as by all accounts they were doing a bang-up job providing logistical and infrastructure support for the war effort there.

Its pretty simple - the U.S. military is at its best when it can devote the maximum resources possible to killing the bad guys. And when this is done overseas it requires a massive degree of logistical coordination and resources (our day job allows for some keen insight into this area). And when U.S. troops are deployed for long periods of time these logistical resources that house, cloth and feed our troops (to name just the most basic elements – there are many more) are stretched beyond the DOD’s organic capacity because it’s simply too costly and inefficient to maintain these standing resources during peacetime.

This is why outfits like Haliburton and Blackwater are so critical to the effectiveness of our armed forces. Any clear-headed rational assessment of their value will bear this out and this is why it is so frustrating to see them attacked on purely political grounds. Companies like Haliburton and Blackwater aren’t going anywhere…. woops, that’s right – Blackwater is drastically cutting back their security services because the shit they have been taking is not worth the corporate headache. Again, we hope everyone’s happy with this latest development.

Lions and Halliburton and Blackwater, Oh my!

"The experience we've had would certainly be a disincentive to any other companies that want to step in and put their entire business at risk".
- Blackwater Worldwide founder and CEO Erik Prince on getting out of the security contracting business.


Everyone happy, now?


The cut and paste function on the hotel's computer is inop and we're not sure if the link function is working. Associated article can be found at http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/07/blackwater_to_rely_less_on_security_contracting/

The Week in Review

If you only have time for one, please make it this one. A spectacular day finished off by spending some time with our friend and American hero, Bob.

Wowee-kazam! The magicians on the California Supreme Court, making “rights” appear out of thin air.

The City of San Diego, proving its incompetence doesn’t stop at city limits, jerks around with Blackwater and as a result diminishes the defense capabilities of U.S. Naval assets around the world.

The more we get to know the guy, the less confident we are that he really knows what the hell is going on.

B-Daddy with some words of encouragement and a strategy for victory in November.

… and of course, our KBwD segment.

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