Bush Mercenary Storm Troopers Invade New Orleans

excerpts from "Overkill: Feared Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans" at Democracy Now!
By Jeremy Scahill and Daniela Crespo

NEW ORLEANS -- Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans.

They say they are on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the authority to use lethal force.

"This is a totally new thing to have guys like us working CONUS (Continental United States)," a heavily armed Blackwater mercenary told us as we stood on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. "We're much better equipped to deal with the situation in Iraq."

Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers in the world and they are accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences. Their presence on the streets of New Orleans should be a cause for serious concern for the remaining residents of the city and raises alarming questions about why the government would allow men trained to kill with impunity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here.

Blackwater is one of the leading private "security" firms servicing the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. It has several US government contracts and has provided security for many senior US diplomats, foreign dignitaries and corporations.

As the threat of forced evictions now looms in New Orleans and the city confiscates even legally registered weapons from civilians, the private mercenaries of Blackwater patrol the streets openly wielding M-16s and other assault weapons. This despite Police Commissioner Eddie Compass' claim that "Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons."

That raises a key question: under what authority are Blackwater's men operating? A spokesperson for the Homeland Security Department, Russ Knocke, told the Washington Post he knows of no federal plans to hire Blackwater or other private security. "We believe we've got the right mix of personnel in law enforcement for the federal government to meet the demands of public safety." he said.

But in an hour-long conversation with several Blackwater mercenaries, we heard a different story. The men we spoke with said they are indeed on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and the Louisiana governor's office and that some of them are sleeping in camps organized by Homeland Security in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

We were talking with 2 New York Police officers when an unmarked car without license plates sped up next to us and stopped. Inside were 3 men, dressed in khaki uniforms, flak jackets and wielding automatic weapons. "Y'all know where the Blackwater guys are?" they asked. One of the police officers responded, "There are a bunch of them around here," and pointed down the road.

"Blackwater?" we asked. "The guys who are in Iraq?"

"Yeah," said the officer. "They're all over the place."


Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! interviewed a woman in New Orleans' French Quarter who would identify herself only as Sandra. The Quarter wasn't flooded and much of it is undamaged, but residents have been pressured to leave. Goodman also spoke with police officers, regular Army troops, and National Guard, all heavily armed, in what appeared to be a constant stream of patrols. She also encountered Blackwater mercenaries. The "storm troopers" in Sandra's account weren't identified.

SANDRA: Yes. They have told us to – well, we had some storm troopers come into our house at 3:00 in the morning the other night. I didn't tell you about this, banging on the door with sirens. It was kind of like being in Germany – Nazi Germany. They came with guns and told us we had to leave our home. And very, very nasty, and said they would come back the next day and drag us out of our homes. We have gotten in touch with the authorities. They cannot do that. There's no reason to. Our house is in perfectly good shape. We even have a swimming pool. We are doing very fine. They can't make us leave our homes.

A Los Angeles Times report, first published earlier this month, identifies the new CEO of Blackwater USA as the Bush Defense Department Inspector General, who just resigned while being suspected of blocking investigations of senior Bush officials. Excerpts with emphasis added:

"Pentagon Investigator Resigning"By T. Christian MillerTimes Staff Writer September 3, 2005WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's top investigator has resigned amid accusations that he stonewalled inquiries into senior Bush administration officials suspected of wrongdoing.

Defense Department Inspector General Joseph E. Schmitz told staffers this week that he intended to resign as of Sept. 9 to take a job with the parent company of Blackwater USA, a defense contractor.

Schmitz will go to work for Prince Group, the Virginia-based parent company of Blackwater USA, as chief operating officer and general counsel. Schmitz formally recused himself in June from any cases involving Blackwater, a private security company with millions of dollars in contracts in Iraq.

Schmitz's departure to the private sector raised concerns among government watchdog groups."He's a person who did not put the appearance of ethics above all else," said Danielle Brian, the executive director of the Project on Government Oversight. "That is not the way the government should function. These are the kind of things that make the general public distrust government."