June 20, 2010 07:40 AM UTC

State department gives Blackwater $120 Million Contract

• 2 Comments
• by: wade norris

Blackwater has been THE mercenary outfit of choice by the Bush – Cheney Whitehouse to conduct operations in the Global War on Terror.

Recently the Justice department and FBI discovered Blackwater had committed unjustified homicides or perhaps outright assassinations in conjunction with the CIA under Dick Cheney’s orders.

Furthermore, Blackwater paid millions in bribes to local officials to remain silent after a bloody massacre of civilians in Iraq.

Now, Erik Prince is moving to United Arab Emirates, a country with no extradition policy with the U.S. coming on the heels of further investigations.

You’d think this company would never get another dime from the State Department.

You’d be wrong.

CBS News has learned in an exclusive report that the State Department has awarded a part of what was formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide a contract worth more than $120 million for providing security services in Afghanistan….

Under the contract, U.S. Training Center will provide “protective security services” at the new U.S. consulates in Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, the spokeswoman said. The firm can begin work “immediately” and has to start within two months. The contract lasts a year but can be extended twice for three months at a time to last a maximum of 18 months.

Should the firm fulfill all 18 months available in the contract, it will be paid a total of $120,123,293, the spokeswoman said.

The end of the article states the incredible:

The Justice Department’s case or Blackwater’s expulsion from Iraq didn’t block U.S. Training Center from bidding on the multi-million dollar contract, the State Department spokeswoman said….

Two other companies submitted bids for the contract, the spokeswoman said; however, she could not name either of U.S. Training Center’s competitors when reached Friday night.

This sounds like more of the same continued policies of secret war, no bid contracts and the same old Global War on Terror.

President Obama, I know you were handed a crappy situation when you came into office, and I knew it would be difficult task,

but these guys are part of the main reason the situation is so crappy.

Please do not continue the same Bush policy of rewarding bad behavior (in this case murder) with money and contracts.

If we continue doing that, how will the world be able to trust that we are any different than before?