As Opposition to 'Blackwater West' Grows, Author of Bestseller Blackwater Tours CA

As Local Residents and Their Congressman Move to Block Plans for ‘Blackwater West’ in California, Jeremy Scahill Author of NY Times Bestseller Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army Launches Book Tour Across State April 26th – May 5th

Award-winning Investigative Reporter Scahill’s Timely Tour to Hit Santa Barbara, Oakland, Los Angeles, Fresno, Sacramento and Two Stops in San Diego County Where the Major Defense Contractor Plans to Turn 800 Rural Acres into a Security Training Camp is Facing Fiercest Opposition

WHAT: Blackwater the book is an in-depth expose of one of the greatest beneficiaries of the “global war on terror”—a private company based in the wilderness of North Carolina that has been at the forefront of a secretive campaign to change forever how the US wages war. Blackwater goes deep inside the personalities that founded the company, its close ties to the White House, military and intelligence agencies, as well as its role in the conservative movement.

Just this week, the San Diego Union Tribune reported the proposal by Blackwater USA to build a training center on a 800-acre former chicken and cattle ranch in the rural-town of Potrero in San Diego County has torn apart the tiny community and brought protests by those opposed to the company's government contracts in Iraq.

Local Rep. Bob Filner says he is exploring legislation that would block a controversial proposal for a major defense contractor's training camp in the backcountry community of Potrero.

WHO: Jeremy Scahill is a Puffin Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute and a frequent contributor to The Nation magazine. He has won numerous awards, including the prestigious George Polk Award. While a correspondent for the national radio and television show “Democracy Now!,” Scahill reported extensively from Iraq through both the Clinton and Bush administrations. Traveling around the hurricane zone in the wake of Katrina, Scahill exposed the presence of Blackwater mercenaries in New Orleans and his reporting sparked a Congressional inquiry and an internal Department of Homeland Security investigation.

WHERE AND WHEN:

Thursday April 26th

Santa Barbara, CA

Isla Vista Theater 960 Embarcadero Del Norte, 7PM

Saturday April 28th

Oakland, CA

First Congregational Church of Oakland 2501 Harrison (at 27th St.), 7:30PM

Monday, April 30

Los Angeles, CA

Nativity Episcopal Church 6700 West 83rd St. Westchester, 7:30PM

Tuesday, May 1

San Diego, CA

Unitarian Church, 4190 Front Street, 7PM

Wednesday, May 2

La Mesa, CA

La Mesa Community Center 4975 Memorial Dr., 7PM

Thursday, May 3

Sacramento, CA

First United Methodist Church 2100 J St., 7pm

Saturday, May 5

Fresno, CA

North Fork Town Hall, 33507 Recreation Road, 6 pm

For more information, visit: http://www.blackwaterbook.com

Blackwater:

The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army

By Jeremy Scahill

Nation Books / March 20, 2007

ISBN 1-56025-979-5 / 480 pp./ .95 / hardcover

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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070414-9999-1m14black.html

Filner wants review of Blackwater

He considers bill to stop Potrero plan

By Anne Krueger

SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

April 14, 2007

Rep. Bob Filner says he is exploring legislation that would block a controversial proposal for a major defense contractor's training camp in the backcountry community of Potrero.

Land owned by the Charles and Alma Kruetzkamp revocable trust is in escrow to Blackwater USA, a private security firm that wants to build a training center in Potrero.

The proposal by Blackwater USA to build a training center on a former chicken and cattle ranch has torn apart the tiny community and brought protests by those opposed to the company's government contracts in Iraq.

Filner, D-San Diego, told The Associated Press that although his district includes Potrero, company officers did not contact him until after they met with county planners, and after the local planning group unanimously approved a preliminary proposal.

He told the AP that he is exploring legislation that would block the deal pending further review by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has included Blackwater in its review of Iraqi war contractors.

“They're under investigation in a couple of different ways, and I just want to make sure that, if there's something they're doing wrong, we need to know about it before they go further on this project,” Filner said.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, represents most of the East County, but Filner's district includes a narrow strip of the county along the U.S.-Mexico border. The 824-acre project site is near the boundary between the two congressional districts.

Anne Tyrrell, a spokeswoman for Blackwater, said company officials are still trying to determine in which district the project is located. She said Blackwater staff have been trying to arrange a meeting with Filner and are willing to meet with any other elected official.

“We welcome the opportunity to speak with (Filner) as soon as possible,” she said.

Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper said a staffer was invited to a meeting last May with Blackwater representatives and county Supervisor Dianne Jacob. Kasper said the meeting was an information session for the elected officials.

Hunter, who until January was chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, received a ,000 donation in 2004 from Blackwater founder Erik Prince. Hunter, now running for president, favors the company, Kasper said.

Jacob said she met in her El Cajon office with representatives from Blackwater at Hunter's request. She said the company had not yet settled on a site for the training center or filed an application with the county planning department.

“I was asked by Duncan if I would meet with the Blackwater folks and I said I would,” Jacob said. “I didn't know who they were and I didn't know what they did.”

She said she has not met with company officials since then. Jacob said she is prohibited from expressing an opinion about the project because it might come before the Board of Supervisors.

Blackwater has hired Nikki Clay, former chairwoman of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, as a consultant. Clay said her job is to help make local contacts as the company moves forward with its proposal.

The Sacramento office of Clay's consulting firm represents San Diego County, but Clay emphasized that the two offices remain separate.

Blackwater, based in Moyock, N.C., has a 7,000-acre training center there and recently opened an 80-acre facility in Mount Carroll, Ill.

The company has received hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of government contracts for security work in Iraq.

It's the focus of a best-selling book by independent journalist Jeremy Scahill, and of a documentary critical of Iraqi defense contractors.

Blackwater's training center in Potrero would have about 300 students and 60 employees. It would include eight rifle ranges, three pistol ranges, four ship simulators, a driving track and a helipad.

The Potrero planning group, an advisory body to the county on land-use matters, voted 7-0 in December in favor of an early proposal brought by Blackwater.

Since then, opposition to the project has grown and more than 300 of Potrero's approximately 850 residents have signed a petition opposing the training center. Residents say they don't want the noise and traffic the center would bring.

County officials said Blackwater's proposal will take at least two years to process and ultimately will be decided by the Board of Supervisors.

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