by Jeff Stepper

Created on: March 18, 2007   Last Updated: April 24, 2007

What most people don't realize is that the USA IS intervening in Darfur.

First, a little background information. There is a "security consulting firm" called Blackwater USA. This "consulting" firm is actually a trained mercenary army. The people at Blackwater don't like being called mercenaries, though that is what they are. They are well trained and well equipped. (Most of the personnel are former Navy Seals and ARmy Rangers). Their "mission" is purely defensive, or so they say. Estimates range from 2500 - 7000 of these soldiers being deployed around the world. (No one knows the exact number and Blackwater isn't talking). They are in Afghanistan, Iraq, and pretty much all of the unstable countries in Africa. (The only exception is Somalia, though they are in the neighboring country of Nigeria). A few weeks ago, when the Nigerian army went into Somalia and killed some members of Al Quiada, they army personnel had been trained by the folks at Blackwater.

Not all of what they do are military type missions though, some are humanitarian. They are digging wells for people to get water, showing them how to plant crops that can survive in the harsh African weather, etc. As one of the private soldiers said, "if we dig a well for these people, a village will sprout up around the well." The thinking is that if we provide the basic needs of these people they will see us as the "good guys" and we will have some allies in that part of the world when the dust settles. Of course this thinking could very well backfire on us, (see Noriega, Saddam, etc.).

It is this type of messing around with a sovereign nation that has got us into the trouble we are in both in Iraq and Afghanistan. Think for a moment of what we, as a nation, would do if a foreign nation sent people into this country to train an army to overthrow our government. After we stopped this rebellion, don't you think that we would go after the government we saw as responsible? Of course we would. That is exactly what happened on 9/11. Do you think that these radical Islamic Muslims just woke up one day and decided that the American infidels needed to die? No, what happened was that they finally got tired of our constant interference with other countries' governments to shape the world the way that we thought it should be shaped. And the Bush administration is only one more administration that has done this. This type of thing has been going on since right after WWII through every administration, both Republicans and Democrats.

The message on this newest conflict, of course, is that we are defending our way of life which is partially true. What they don't tell you is that this war is defending that part of our way of life which entails us wanting to be free to interfere around the world as we see fit, which we are doing now in Africa. How long is it going to be before we have to go into one or more of these countries to fight against the forces that we have trained and armed? Only time will tell.
See www.blackwaterusa.com for more information on this "security consulting firm."

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