Black Water Operating in South Ossetia???

I don't know what to make of this, but there have been several different reports of the bodies of what seems to be Blackwater mercenaries amongst the rubble of the battle of South Ossetia. For those who don't know, Blackwater is a private US security company that has been regularly hired ( in Iraq mostly ) to carry out a variety of jobs like security detail for US govt officials as well as actual fighting. There have been a many cases reported from Iraq of Blackwater employees killing innocent civilians. Since it's a war zone, though, and international law seems to be in limbo, charges have yet to ever be filed, despite first hand accounts of murders.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/22/AR2007092201424.html

What makes this story in South Ossetia even more provocative is that a US passport of one of the alledged Blackwater employees Michael Lee White was found in a building in South Ossetia while Russian military were clearing out dead bodies.



For sure, it is no secret that the US has engaged in covert opperations within other countries for decades. Whether it was the Bay of Pigs or the Iraning coup in 1953, the US has a long history of CIA involvement overthrowing foreign governments. What makes this different, if we agree that there were indeed Blackwater agents in South Ossetia, is that this is the first time the US government is paying a private corporation to take on these tasks. And these private contractors, unlike US military personal, work outside the legal framework of both US and international war-zone law. They essentially answer to no one.

I can't speak to the true motivation for this move. But it's a very troubling story no matter how you look at it. Some believe that Blackwater was sent to South Ossetia to instigate a confrontation that would embarrass Russia globally. Others just believe it to be a new design in the US government's long-standing career in covert military operations. Who knows what to think? But all I can say is that considering the speed at which this incident took place and how quickly the cease-fire was signed, it seems unlikely that Blackwater was contracted by the government in a reactionary measure to keep the peace. But, again, that's obviously speculative.

By many first hand accounts, what the story suggests is that military personel dressed in what was described as Blackwater uniform were fighting amongst the Georgian's against the Russians. And that an American passport of one Michael Lee White was found in a building which was involved in a heavy armed conflict. But no body was found.

Who knows what it's really about...but it's certainly a curious situation that deserves some further investigation.

Here's a Congressional hearing from a year ago related to Black Water