Oh Blackwater, you scamps

Another day, another Blackwater scandal. It seems to lovable extralegal rascals and their private army have gotten into another minor kerfuffle over whether or not it is wise or even legal to indiscriminately shoot civilians while drunk and off duty. Blackwater employees say yes, foreign governments, the law, and those with a shred of human decency say no. Who is to say who is right?

Two former Blackwater operatives were arrested by US federal agents on murder charges, stemming from their alleged involvement in the shooting deaths of two Afghan civilians in Kabul in May.
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In May, reports emerged that four Blackwater/Xe operatives working for Paravant LLC were alleged to have fired on a civilian car they say they saw as a threat, killing at least one Afghan civilian. According to the Wall Street Journal's August Cole, "At least some of the men, who were former military personnel, had been allegedly drinking alcohol that evening, according to a person familiar with the incident. Off-duty contractors aren't supposed to carry weapons or drink alcohol."

Blackwater employees lighting up a bunch of innocent civilians at a traffic light? Where have I heard that one before? You think they would have passed out a memo telling everyone not to do that. Of course, being the reactionary hotheads that they are, the family of the slain men and the people of Kabul not only blame Blackwater and the US, but are immensely unhappy and loathe us. Hearts and minds, folks, hearts and minds. All in a day's work for Blackwater.

Now I'm not here to pile on Blackwater, mention just how dangerously intertwined they are with our operations overseas, or abhor their tactics and seeming complete lack of any goddamn sense. No, that's what everyone else does. In fact, you might be wondering "Is there anything good that Blackwater is affiliated with?" Well, there is Jeremy Scahill's book, but I'm not sure that's what you meant. But yes, I am here to tell you that Blackwater is in fact affiliated with something good.

One of the stars of the widely acclaimed Iraq war film The Hurt Locker has claimed that the filmmakers hired the mercenary firm Blackwater while shooting the film in the Middle East, including in Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan.

"We had these Blackwater guys that were working with us in the Middle East and they taught us like tactical maneuvers and stuff--how to just basically how to position yourself and move with a gun," said Hurt Locker star Anthony Mackie in an interview with the New York Times's Carpetbagger blog.

You know, now that I think of it, I always suspected Jeremy Renner might have been involved in killing 17 civilians.

Now producers deny this claim, saying they only hired mercs and they may or may not have worked for Blackwater, but they didn't contract out to Blackwater itself. Well, whether Blackwater worked on the film or is only being mention in conjunction with the film, it's at least something positive, because the Hurt Locker kicked fucking ass. So yes, there is something decent that the organization now known as Xe may have been involved in. That's the best news about them that has ever come out. Good for them. More consults on great movies, less killing of civilians and undermining our efforts to fight terrorism. Now go see the Hurt Locker.