Blackwater more ties

*May 3, 2007 -- *Locals say no to Blackwater USA. Residents of Illinois
and
southern California are up in arms over the setting up of private
mercenary
firm Blackwater operations in their home towns. Mount Carroll, Illinois
residents are steamed that Blackwater has set up shop in their town and
the
story is receiving attention from Chicago's Channel 7 ABC affiliate.
Local
residents are upset that county officials never held public gearings on
the
establishment of "Blackwater North."

Blackwater also plans to set up a military training center, called
"Blackwater West," in Potrero, a small town 45 miles to the east of San
Diego. More than half of the registered voters of Potrero signed a
petition
opposing Blackwater's plans and the county planning commission's
preliminary
approval for the Blackwater facility. Blackwater pressured local
officials
to use local police and sheriffs to intimidate protestors attending a
county
planning commission meeting on the project. Democratic US Representative
Bob
Filner is looking for ways to block the project.

Blackwater is headquartered in Moyock, North Carolina on an expansive
former
military base. Blackwater is owned by the Prince Group, headed by Erik
Prince, whose sister is married to former Michigan GOP gubernatorial
candidate and Amway heir Dick DeVos. Blackwater and Prince Group are a
bevy
of Christian right wingers, including General Counsel Joseph Schmitz,
former
Pentagon Inspector General and the son of the late racist GOP and John
Birch
Society congressman John Schmitz, Sr. and brother of convicted
Washington
state school teacher pedophile Mary Kay Letourneau. Joseph Schmitz's
brother, John Schmitz, Jr. is married to the sister of Columba Bush, the
wife of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Gary Jackson, Blackwater's
president, steered Blackwater campaign contributions to three GOP
congressmen who have been embroiled in major ethical scandals: former
House
Majority Leader Tom DeLay, former House Armed Services Committee
Chairman
Duncan Hunter, and former House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry
Lewis.
http://waynemadsenreport.com/

By Jeremy Scahill
Blackwater Rising: world's most powerful mercenary army
Sun Apr 8, 2007 00:16
72.201.70.108

Blackwater Rising
Inside the world's most powerful mercenary army
By Jeremy Scahill
Published: Thursday March 15th, 2007
http://gnn.tv/articles/2977/Blackwater_Rising

This article is adapted from Jeremy Scahill's new book, "Blackwater: The
Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" (Nation Books

snipet> Blackwater USA CEO for the Prince Group (2005-)
now is Joseph E. Schmitz former *Pentagon Inspector General*.
*Patton Boggs
Baker Botts
Federalist Society
Knights of Malta 1999*
US English Board of Directors, Counsel of Record
German Ancestry

http://www.nndb.com/people/466/000104154