AMY GOODMAN: At the memorial service for your son? After his talk, he took questions from students at the school. Helvenston et al. After Terminal Cancer Diagnosis, Daniel Ellsberg Reflects on Leaking Pentagon Papers & His Legacy, Daniel Ellsberg Warns Risk of Nuclear War Is Rising as Tension Mounts over Ukraine & Taiwan, Zooey Zephyr, Montanas First Trans Lawmaker, Speaks Out After Being Banned & Silenced by Republicans, Rising Tide of Fascism: Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones Warns of GOPs Growing Embrace of Authoritarianism, Courage Is Contagious: Zooey Zephyr & Justin Jones on the GOPs Silencing of State Lawmakers. Attorney Marc Miles says that shortly after the suit was filed, he asked the court in North Carolina for an expedited order to depose John Potter. But when these four men ended up in Fallujah that day, they were in Pajero jeeps that were not armored at all. Jeremy, lets begin with you. KATY HELVENSTON: Erik Prince told them that they would have to sue Blackwater to get that information. Why cant I have it tomorrow? And I said, Are you going to rewrite it for my eyes only? I mean and I never did get that report. You raised a whole issue of the contract that required a risk assessment on their part and an overview of the mission that they were involved in. And if you stop and you think about it, thats the size of some small towns here in America. Im going to call the secretary and say you brought up a very valid question, and what are we doing about it? Well, Scotty chose the military, and he wanted to continue his education through that. They were escorting three empty trucks on their way to pick up some kitchen equipment at a base west of Fallujah. The Zovko family asked Blackwater to see the After Action Report detailing the incident. They were vulnerable and obvious. Instead, this team was sent out without the required equipment and personnel by those in charge at Blackwater.. Before Helvenston, Teague, Zovko and Batalona were ever sent into Falluja, the omission of the word armored was brought to the attention of Blackwater management by John Potter, according to the families lawyers. We will not be intimidated, he said. Now, imagine that every person in that small town in America has guns and is running around with weapons. A day after the killings, Prince enlisted the services of the Alexander Strategy Group, a now disgraced but once powerful Republican lobbying and PR firm. It was like $19,000-something. And each family was assigned a guard, literally, and it was to me, it was just so bizarre, because we were being watched 24/7. There should be three men per team. And the people he had been with in Kuwait City, all of a sudden he was no longer working in that team. Blackwater said that they would be operating in armored vehicles. In addition, the paper reports, Blackwater billed Regency separately for all its overhead and costs in Iraq. Regency would then bill ESS an unknown amount for these services. But because they didnt have a map, they didnt have G.P.S., and, in fact, funny story, I think they had G.P.S. This is a precedent-setting case, says Marc Miles, an attorney for the families. People should understand, Scotty Helvenston wasnt even in Iraq for more than 48 hours before he was sent to Fallujah. So what this lawsuit is about, its about creating accountability for those firms, those private military firms that are working in Iraq, and its also not only about holding Blackwater accountable for these four deaths, but its also about sending a message to the other private security firms out there that they cannot cut costs to increase their bottom line and put lives at risk. And the guard that was in charge of me, I said, You know, you really need to do something about these helicopters. You know, and he left for a minute or two, and finally the helicopters went away. The other guys were Army Rangers, and they were all very, very experienced combat soldiers. Jane movie, and he ended up playing a small role on the film, because the guy that was supposed to play the Navy Seal instructor was terrified of the ocean. This would have resulted in Blackwater losing profits and would also have delayed the start of the ESS job. The suit alleges that there were six guards available that day, but McQuown intervened and ordered only the four to be sent. They said it was the direct line. Please give today. AMY GOODMAN: Were talking about a groundbreaking lawsuit against Blackwater, the security contractor in Iraq. And I think we can look to a situation such as a new firefighter. Unfortunately, what they didnt know was that there was a much safer route that took them around the north side of Fallujah. Democracy Now! Its a well-connected, Republican-controlled business that has made its fortune because of the Bush Administration. He spent twelve years in the SEALs, four of them as an instructor, and then tried his luck with Hollywood. Instead of being . The suit alleges that Blackwater trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown resented Helvenston and deliberately reassigned Helvenston to the team that was ambushed. He came from a proud family of Republicans; his great-great-uncle, Elihu Root, was once US Secretary of War and the 1912 Nobel Peace Prize-winner. And at that point, they were on the east side of Fallujah. And whats important here is that the lawsuit alleges that because of Justin McQuowns personal animosity toward Scott Helvenston, he intervened to have only four men sent, that only four were sent on Justin McQuowns order that day, instead of six, and the other two were held back to perform clerical duties in the Blackwater facility in Baghdad. KATY HELVENSTON: Yes, and Mark Burnett produced that movie. freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ Helvenston arrived in Kuwait on March 18, where he was under the management of John and Kathy Potter, whom he knew from Combat Missions. In its motion to dismiss the case in federal court, Blackwater argues that the families of the four men killed in Falluja are entitled only to government insurance payments. It is unusual, though, for the head of a company to cast its lot entirely with one party, and it has paid off, because Blackwater literally is making a killing right now, to the point where Gary Jackson, the president of Blackwater, after Bush won the election in 2004, sends out an email to Blackwaters mailing list that says, Bush wins, four more years!! They could have easily traveled this route in a single day, and it would have been extremely less dangerous. They knew what they were getting into based upon the representations by Blackwater. JUAN GONZALEZ: Now, even in the training period at Blackwater, he began to find problems in terms of the quality of the training that was going on? And only the one person that survived the thing, and the whole team had to survive, so if someone on a team didnt make it through, then the whole team was pretty much eliminated. Shortly after entering the city, they get stuck in traffic, and their small convoy is ambushed. JUAN GONZALEZ: And this is a series of articles about this incident? Blackwater has not offered a rebuttal to the specific allegations made by the families, except to deny in general that they are valid. The suit alleges that Blackwater trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown resented Helvenston and deliberately reassigned Helvenston to the team that was ambushed. Go ahead. He spent 12 years in the Navy SEALs until he left in 1994 as an E-6 (Quartermaster First Class).Helvenston began training at Blackwater USA's facilities in March 2004, and developed a personal conflict with head trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown. As we expose Blackwater in this case, it will also expose the inefficient and corrupt system that exists over there.. Thats how I work.. At $21 million, it represented the companys biggest contract in Iraq. But one thing to stress here, and this is what the lawsuit alleges, its not just wrongful death, its also fraud. Company founder Erik Prince and his family have poured serious money into Republican causes and campaign coffers over the past twenty years. And so, we have seen Blackwater really sort of embody the war profiteering in this war on terror. Previously, Justin was a Research Engineer at L una Innovations and also held positions at AeroVironment, Stryten Manufacturing, GE Healthcare, TopRank Marketing, Emerson, General Electric. They had guards on each one of the families. But while the families were grieving, Blackwater viewed it as a profit opportunity. And thats the type of conduct at Blackwater that were dealing with. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. [6] But first we begin by going back to March 31 2004 the day Scott Helvenston and three other Blackwater contractors drove into Fallujah. And to understand what all of these shortcomings that day resulted in, you have to go back to March 31, 2004, and actually Marc Miles, the lawyer, can talk about some things that happened before that, as well. Is it your sense that this is an isolated situation that happened with these men, or are you exploring the possibility that there have been systematic problems with the way these contractors have been handling security? Were gonna go have fun. The four men were, in fact, working under contracts guaranteeing that they would travel with a six-person team. Thats why this case is being watched so closely by other firms operating in Iraq. And she was told that they would have to sue Blackwater to get that information. Erik Prince and his late wife gave $275,000 since 1989 to various political candidates, not a single penny ever to a Democrat. slotId: "thenation_right_rail_72445", And I had turned off the ringer on my bedroom phone, and he left this message, and he said, Mom, Im okay. He was an incredible athlete his whole life. And so, did they assume the risk? Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License, Fighting in Sudan Persists Despite Extended Ceasefires as U.N. Justin McQuown's nickname, according to documents we've gotten and to other people who were in Kuwait and Iraq at the time, was "Shrek," after the green ogre character, and it doesn't . It was good money, but it was never enough, his mother remembers. And so, they didnt know what they were getting into. Jane how to behave like Navy Seals. Blackwater has fought to have the case dismissed by claiming that all liability lies not with the company but the U.S. government. JUAN GONZALEZ: Id like to ask Marc Miles, on the day then that these four Blackwater employees are killed, theyre sent into Fallujah. And I think that, you know, when we talk about Iraq corruption, a lot of times its Halliburton overcharged for this or Bechtel did this. Now, back in the United States, these killings were taken as a threat or a challenge to Americas resolve in the White House and immediately became a sort of turning point in the war. In the presentation, called Managing Contracting Risks in Battlefield Conditions, Capace laid out a legal strategy for deflecting the kind of lawsuit Blackwater now faces. They were not provided with the six folks that they were supposed to have in each vehicle. The suit further alleges that McQuown intervened and ordered only a four-man team be sent, although six were available, the other two remaining to perform clerical duties. Several armed men approach the two vehicles and open fire from behind, repeatedly shooting the men at point-blank range. There he was. But they had put all of the news stuff in a closet, and I pulled it out, and I got the names of the other three families. Helvenston arrived in Kuwait on March 18, where he was under the management of John and Kathy Potter, whom he knew from Combat Missions . On April 17, President Bush spoke at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. One point that I want to make, though, that I think is important is Katy Helvenston talks about the way that Erik Prince and others from Blackwater have dealt with these families. If it had been up to Katy Helvenston, her son wouldnt have been in Iraq at all. Instead, kitchen equipment, actually empty trucks that were going to get kitchen equipment. }); In the Oval Office the killings were taken as a challenge to Americas resolve, according to the Los Angeles Times. None of that was true, says attorney Callahan. Were talking to Katy Helvenston, Scotts mother; Jeremy Scahill, whos breaking the story today in The Nation magazine; and Marc Miles, the attorney for the families of the four Blackwater employees. AMY GOODMAN: How did you hear that Scott had died? Every dollar makes a differencein fact, gets doubled! The real problem here is that we have corporate America involved. tn_ptype: 'article', Copyright (c) 2023 The Nation Company LLC, By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and, agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support. Domination, Sing Your Song: Remembering Harry Belafonte, Who Used His Stardom to Help. And I said, I want an incident report on Scotty. And I said, I want a copy of his contract that he signed with you. And he said, Why? And I said, I just want to know what happened. He said I could he would get it to me in the next few weeks. AMY GOODMAN: Marc, I just want to interrupt for one second. KATY HELVENSTON: Well, I had been in contact with the Zovkos, primarily out of Cleveland, prior to that. Blackwater seems to understand money. Helvenston began training at Blackwater USA's facilities in March 2004, and developed a personal conflict with head trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown. So they were to escort these two E.S.S. JEREMY SCAHILL: Per day. Mr. Rumsfeld answered that Iraq has its own domestic laws, which he assumed applied to those private military contractors. KATY HELVENSTON: I think thats total garbage. KATY HELVENSTON: Yeah. AMY GOODMAN: But you did meet at the memorial service. When less business is being done, and you have more time on your hands, we wanted to bring something positive to your . AMY GOODMAN: When was it after the killing? Jeremy ScahillTwitterJeremy Scahill is the author of the best-selling Blackwater: The Rise of the Worlds Most Powerful Mercenary Army, published by Nation Books. At 17 he made history by becoming the youngest person ever to complete the rigorous Navy SEAL program. So, why would you think that under U.S. laws the company should be held responsible for what happens over there in Iraq? I was going to I pick up the phone and say, Mr. Secretary, Ive got an interesting question. Had they had a rear gunner, had they had armored vehicles, a very strong case could be made that they never would have been killed. And then you are sending them in undermanned. The suit further alleges that McQuown intervened and ordered only a four-man team be sent, although six were available, the other two remaining to perform clerical duties . This month marks the two-year anniversary of the first US siege of Fallujah, in which at least 600 Iraqis were killed. And the email, its incredible, because Scott sort of makes all these apologetics. Theres a lot of innocent people that have died. While this suit doesnt mention the retaliatory US attack on Falluja that followed the Blackwater killings, the case is significant because it could blow the lid off a system that allows corporations to face zero liability while reaping huge profits in Iraq and other war zones. Jane and did a few stints on reality television.
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