An idea to save our economy

Using the new Los Angeles model of prosecuting gang members--which involves confiscating the assets of gangs and investing that money back into the community--I think the new administration should prosecute all the private military corporations like Halliburton, Bechtel, Blackwater, DynCorp et al on war crimes, bankrupt the hell out of them, and give all our local municipalities community economic packages from the billion dollar settlements. It's our taxes being wasted on this Iraq and Afghanistan reconstruction scam, and I think we have every right to reclaim them.

From the CSM:

Los Angeles - The gang capital of the world is taking a new tack against them: cash damages.

The city of Los Angeles, plagued by 23,000 violent gang crimes since 2004, including 784 murders and 12,000 felony assaults, announced Tuesday that it had won its first civil judgment, for $5 million, against a criminal gang that had dominated the heroin trade downtown for decades.

The verdict could bode well for another first-of-its-kind lawsuit the city filed last month that goes after all assets of gang leaders, not just those associated with their criminal activity. Both suits seek to plow the money back into improving the neighborhoods affected by the gangs through a fund.

"By giving prosecutors more tools to fight gang activity at the local level, we are protecting our communities at the same time [that] we're able to strengthen our statewide anti-gang efforts," said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a statement released with the announcement of the $5 million verdict against the 5th and Hill gang in L.A.

From CNN:

Five former Blackwater Worldwide security guards pleaded not guilty Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter charges and other crimes stemming from a shooting incident in Baghdad that left 17 Iraqis dead.

Each of the former guards has been charged with 14 counts of manslaughter, 20 counts of attempted manslaughter and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime.

...The Baghdad incident, which occurred September 16, 2007, exacerbated the feelings of many Iraqis that private American security contractors have operated since 2003 with little regard for Iraqi law or life. It also created an extremely delicate political situation for the Bush administration and the Iraqi government.

...The company of Blackwater Worldwide does not face any charges.

Exercise:

1. Read the article about the LA model and then read about Blackwater. Notice the similarities in gang members and military corporations--they're both thugs, terrorizing, killing, and injuring innocent bystanders. Replace all phrases such as "criminal gang" "gang leaders" "gang members" etc with "private contractors" "military corporations" "war profiteers" etc etc.

2. Read this Amnesty International report.

3. Get real mad.