[Peace-discuss] Blackwater-Virginia Pilot

[Roger Epperson]

It is encouraging that local Southeastern news papers,
like the Virginia Pilot and Raleigh News Observer,
continue writing about this mercenary company's
travails. At the end of the article see the reference
to: blackwaterwatch.com for videos, news posts, and
blogs.   
 
 By JOANNE KIMBERLIN, The Virginian-Pilot 
© August 26, 2007 



Protest marches. Recall elections. Fiery speeches.
Dire predictions. Even the shaking of rattles to ward
off the company's "evil" spirit. 

Blackwater USA says reports of opposition to its
expansion plans in Illinois and California are
"greatly exaggerated," but a look at the happenings in
those states makes one thing pretty clear, They see
things a little differently out there.


Just south of the line that separates Virginia from
North Carolina, Moyock has been rubbing elbows with
Blackwater for 10 years. The company's 7,000-acre home
base lies just outside town. 

When asked about their neighbor - described in a
recent book as "The World's Most Powerful Mercenary
Army" - folks around Moyock mostly shrug. 

"What's the big deal?" asked H.R. Thomas, a retired
Ford worker and long time local resident. "They don't
bother nobody. If they didn't have the T-shirt on, you
wouldn't even know who they were."

Moyock is a company town. Money flows out of
Black-water's compound in the form of paychecks,
purchases and taxes. Its bear-paw logo is practically
a symbol of hometown pride. 

To be sure, there are spats. Sherry Motes shares a
property line with Blackwater. She complains that
there are nights when the sound of gunfire disturbs
her sleep.

"But I worry that if I'm too vocal, I'll be an outcast
from society," Motes said. "I'm surrounded by people
who think everything they do is great."

In other parts of the country, that's hardly the case.


Foreign, hostile lands? That's Blackwater's comfort
zone. The company's security contractors provide armed
protection for diplomats and other targets in Iraq - a
risky role in a deadly place.


"In the ’60s we used to call those kind of people
'peaceniks.’ I never liked ’em very much." - Bill
Winslow, who helps run The Border Station, a popular
tourist quick-stop in Moyock, N.C., speaking about
protesters in Illinois and California.  


Domestic issues, however, can be thorny - at least
outside North Carolina.

This month, in the northwest corner of Illinois,
protesters sang, chanted and drummed outside the gates
of Blackwater's new, 80-acre compound in Mount
Carroll. 

A bid to open an 800-acre facility in the hills
outside San Diego has led to a recall election of the
Potrero, Calif., planning group.

The usual concerns have reared their heads in both
places - noise, traffic, zoning, environment. But now
there's a new, bigger player: the war. 

Opposition to it grows daily on the home front. Even
the strongest objectors, however, avoid blaming the
soldiers. But "hate the war, support the troops" is
not being extended to Blackwater. 

Gordon Hammers is chairman of the planning group
facing recall in California. He said the group is
merely an advisory board and its only advice on the
Blackwater West proposal was to seek more information.

"And for that, they want to kick us out of office," he
said. "We have a group of people here who are
dedicated to their anti-war principal, and they see
Blackwater as a villain."

The company's timing was particularly bad in Illinois.
Mount Carroll lies in a conservative piece of rolling
countryside near the Mississippi, but it's surrounded
by a hotbed of liberal thinking. Illinois has a quiet
tradition of political and social activism, with a
standing network of peace and justice groups. Voters
have passed resolutions demanding the United States
bring home its troops. 

One group in Dekalb has been staging an anti-war vigil
at a busy intersection every Friday afternoon -
blizzards notwithstanding - since before the war even
began.

Dan Kenney, a fourth-grade teacher, is a member of
that group. He said the peace and justice coalition
had just moved private soldiers to the top of its hit
list when he saw a small article in a local newspaper
about Blackwater North opening in Mount Carroll.

"Companies like Blackwater are profiteers making money
off war," Kenney said. "Our focus on that and their
arrival here just happened to come together at the
same time."

The debate over private guns hired by the military has
been sharpened by their unprecedented numbers - an
estimated 25,000 working in Iraq. Problems have
cropped up with control and accountability, but in an
era of military downsizing, they've become such a
fixture on the front that a recent congressional
report said security contractors are widely viewed as
"vital to U.S. efforts to stabilize and reconstruct
Iraq."


Blackwater’s plans for a facility near San Diego have
sparked protests such as this one. A facility opened
in Illinois also stirred opposition. Scott Linnett |
The San Diego Union-Tribune  



No matter: An opposition group named Clearwater has
organized in Illinois. No one will say exactly how
many members the group has, but there's nothing murky
about its agenda. Clearwater wants to drive Blackwater
out of the state. 

"They're a lethal force, hired by our government, that
is not accountable to the citizens," said Mary
Shesgreen, a psychotherapist and member of Clearwater.

Since Blackwater North opened in April, Clearwater has
kept the compound on Skunk Hollow Road in its sights.
A farmer rented a plane and provided surveillance
photos. Kenney posed as a prospective client and
received a tour. A long time Illinois peace activist
who calls himself Martin Hippie stood outside the
property shaking rattles and meditating to ward off
"the evil Blackwater spirits."

Ernie Lieb, who runs an excavation outfit in the area,
said Clearwater doesn't speak for working folks like
him. He says he's already earned some money moving
dirt at Blackwater North.

"Locals just hope the company will bring some jobs and
spend some money here," Lieb said. "Most of the people
I know are glad about it." 

On Aug. 11, Clearwater held a "Gathering at the Gate"
protest. The group said 80 or so people showed up;
Blackwater said it was more like 30. A video,
available on YouTube, shows what appears to be part
revival, part '60s-style peace rally. 

Kenney was one of the speakers.

"We must stop Blackwater before it spreads further,"
he said to the protesters, "before it washes away all
semblances of democracy, before they turn their
trained guns for hire on us. Today we stand here and
ask: What becomes of our souls when war is waged for
profit?"

In the end, the people sang:

"We're on our way 

And we won't turn back...

We'll shut you down, Blackwater

We'll shut you down..."

In California, well-known for its counter culture,
it's not surprising that Blackwater isn't exactly
feeling the love, either.

The company's main foe there is the East County
Democratic Club. Its "Stop Blackwater" Web site warns:
"These are the bases of an invading force bent on
stealing our country from us, right out from under our
noses. CONNECT THE DOTS!" 


Back in Moyock, folks shake their heads when they hear
talk like that.

"In the '60s we used to call those kind of people
'peaceniks,' " said Bill Winslow, who helps run The
Border Station, a popular tourist quick-stop. "I never
liked 'em very much."

What makes Moyock so different? For one thing,
location. Moyock is nestled in the right-leaning Old
South. But even more important, just about every
branch of the service has at least one installation
within an hour of town. Retired military move here.
Weapons and camouflage don't raise an eyebrow.


“Do they really think that if we don’t have
Blackwater, there won’t be a war?” Stylist Joni
Colonna, who’s puzzled over the opposition to
Blackwater in other states  


Timing is another. In 1997, when Blackwater set up
shop, there was no war. The compound was little more
than a training site, and 9/11 had yet to change the
world. 

"Moyock is where we started," said Anne Tyrrell,
Blackwater's spokeswoman. "First impressions made
there were those Blackwater made in the community, not
in the headlines around the world."

Those headlines have hurt the company, said Scott
Silliman, executive director of Duke University's
Center on Law, Ethics and National Security. 

"Blackwater is not well thought of outside eastern
North Carolina and eastern Virginia," Silliman said.
"When you mention them, the first thing people think
about is Fallujah, and it's not a good image. Remember
that? Desecrated, burned bodies hung from a bridge?" 

Lawsuits filed against the company by the families of
the four contractors killed in Fallujah in 2004 have
generated even more negative publicity. So has this
year's release of "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's
Most Powerful Mercenary Army" - a conspiracy-heavy
book written by Jeremy Scahill that made it to No. 9
on the New York Times best-seller list for non
fiction. 

In an attempt to calm the waters, Blackwater has
pledged to use its new facilities only to train law
enforcement and military personnel, and to keep the
most controversial aspect of its business in Moyock. 

"When it comes to our security consulting work,"
Tyrrell said, "the contractors we train and send
abroad remain in Moyock and they always will."

That's fine with Moyock. Outsiders might think of them
as mercenaries, but to locals they're simply known as
"those Blackwater boys."

Living in the shadow of a Blackwater compound that's
nearly 10 times as big as the one proposed for
California - and almost 100 times as large as the one
in Illinois - does not seem to trouble the town.

On a smoke break outside a hair salon, stylist Joni
Colonna puzzled over the out-of-state firestorms.

"Do they really think that if we don't have
Blackwater, there won't be a war?" she ask ed.

Home might not always provide such refuge. Opposition
in Illinois and California is nurturing Blackwater
Watch, a North Carolina-based counterpart. Christian
Stalberg is one of the group's organizers. He's a
computer consultant and native Californian who lives
near Raleigh. 

Stalberg said Blackwater Watch has only a handful of
members so far, most with activist backgrounds. It's
not even sure of its goal. 

"We're just getting our legs under us," he said.

Establishing a beachhead in Blackwater's backyard
won't be easy.

"Don't I know it," Stalberg said quietly. "Don't I
know it."

Joanne Kimberlin, (757) 446-2338,
joanne.kimberlin at pilotonline.com 



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