Jeremy Scahill and Garrett Ordower ask today on TheNation.com if KBR will be forced to repay the U.S. government $400 million because it hired private security forces in Iraq (such as Blackwater USA). This practice violated KBR's contract with the government, which prohibited the company from hiring security forces outside the Army in an effort to curb wasting taxpayer dollars.
From TheNation.com:
"[The scandle] began with one of the most iconic incidents of the Iraq War: the March 31, 2004, ambush of four Blackwater contractors in the Sunni city of Falluja. The men were burned, dragged through the streets and strung from a bridge. For many in Congress--and the broader population--it was the first they had heard of private soldiers operating in the war zone. Finding out who exactly they were working for in Falluja that day would take nearly three years.Read the full article.As Waxman investigated the circumstances surrounding the ambush, one fact in particular bothered him: The contract the Blackwater men were working under indicated that they were ultimately servicing KBR. For its part, KBR initially denied this, and Waxman became increasingly frustrated that for eighteen months he could not get the military, KBR or any of the companies involved to explain whom taxpayers were ultimately paying for the Blackwater security services, and how much."
Take a moment and read the full article, just for the sport of it. Ignore the advertising.
It appears that everytime one of the muckrakers passes by Blackwater they shtick out a gaff and drag them into the mix. See the hook from above. It again seems to imply that Blackwater has done something corrupt, and even mixes words as if the English language escaped them.
I would think that by now these people would realize that there are only two kinds of publicity: None and Good.
They must realize this or they would not be able to sell advertisement space as much and as often as they do. They can afford to pay Blackwater royalties everytime they use their name.