Brodner’s Person of the Day: Blackwater USA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Iraqi Death Squad Militia of the Day

Blackwater USA

Blackwater is one of a number of private companies working for the U.S. in Iraq. They handle security detail with particular, er, zeal. They are not accountable to Iraqis nor the U.S. military. So when piles of bodies get higher and the list of witnesses to random and senseless killings grows, Iraqi officials call for the expulsion of the company. But, it seems, it doesn’t matter. The only one whose decision seems to matter is “The Decider.” Mr. “Childrens-Do-Learn.” So we carry on with all this, giving the world and Iraq more reasons to love us. Seems like rivers of blood, seen through the filter of green, would look a lot like. . .Blackwater.

“They’re repeat offenders, and yet they continue to prosper in Iraq,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky. “These guys represent the U.S. to (Iraqis) and there are no rules of the game for them.”

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate