Well I have written to Mr. Russ Feingold and I wanted it posted for everyone to see and when he replies if he does I will also post it here for everyone to see. I sent one to his Washington office as well.
August 14, 2006
Russ Feingold
517 East Wisconsin Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Subject: Blackwater Security
Dear Mr. Russ Feingold,
I was visiting Wisconsin on the week of August 7, 2006 and while there I ran into a Black Water Security agent and that was immensely troubling to me. I am writing to you not only to inform you of the presence, but also to get feedback on your position about Blackwater Security use in the United States and in foreign countries.
In case you are unaware of this group let me give you a few details about them. Black Water Security was founded in 1996, the same year PNAC (Project for a New American Century) was founded. They are a private security contractor. Bush Administration has paid Black Water more than $320 million since June 2004 to provide "diplomatic security" services globally. Black Water's highly lucrative "diplomatic security" contract was officially awarded under the State Department's little-known Worldwide Personal Protective Service (WPPS) program, described in State Department documents as a government initiative to protect US officials as well as "certain foreign government high level officials whenever the need arises."
Mr. Feingold, according to the most recent Government Accountability Office report, some 48,000 private soldiers, working for 181 private military firms, are deployed in Iraq alone. Black Water, one of the most prominent and successful companies providing soldiers in Iraq, was relatively unknown until March 31, 2004, when four of its contractors were ambushed and killed in Falluja. The Bush administration tried to hide the fact that the four killed were in fact Black Water contract employees. They were first reported as being four citizens, but independent media sources and the Internet blew the story wide open and the truth about who they were finally was revealed.
Gary Jackson, president of Blackwater, told the British newspaper, The Guardian, that former Chilean commandos, "many of who had trained under the military government of Augusto Pinochet, will be sent to Iraq for a year and a half..." You can learn more about Chilean commandos being used by Black Water if you just visit the Source Watch web page.
While in Eagle River, Wisconsin with my family we ran into one of these Black Water security agents. I felt VERY uneasy about it since I had been discussing them in open forum chat rooms like Yahoo a week prior to the trip. The bear claw insignia on the truck immediately alerted me that it was Black Water security. The fact the guy was armed alerted my husband. It was Tuesday, August 8, 2006 we ran into the guy at a Vienna Hotdog stand in Eagle River. I even wrote up a BLOG about the incident at Daily KOS it disturbed me so much. I want to know what business he had in the state of Wisconsin, and in Eagle River.
I placed a call to Eagle River. They told me that Eagle River has nothing to do with Black Water security and he must have been just passing through. How is it legal to have this type of army built up in America under our constitution Mr. Feingold? I am very concerned about their use in foreign countries too. The fact is they are not held up to Geneva Convention rules or made to follow any military code. We have police departments, sheriff departments, and National Guard for state level security problems here in the United States. What is Black Water needed for? Are they even constitutional? I say no sir. I want to know what is your position on private military companies? What do you plan to do as far as legislation to stop them from being used outside the United States and within the United States?
Thank you for your time sir. I hope I get a real response from you regarding this matter and not an automated one.