« previous | MUCK HOME | next »
Blackwater VP Advising Mitt Romney on Terrorism
Once he was known as the "Flies On The Eyeballs" guy. Lately, he's been the vice president of controversial private security company Blackwater. Now, Cofer Black has a new position: top counterterrorism adviser to Massachusetts Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.
The one-time chief of the CIA's Counterterrorist Center got his flamboyant nickname after delivering a famous post-9/11 briefing to President Bush about the CIA's plans to destroy al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. ("They'll have flies on their eyeballs" when CIA is done with them, Black is reported to have said.) But that wasn't Black's most famous utterance. In September 2002, in his first-ever public testimony before a joint Congressional inquiry into 9/11, Black -- by then the head of the State Department's counterterrorism shop -- acknowledged that in terms of the CIA's "operational flexibility," after 9/11, "the gloves come off." In retrospect, it's considered the first public reference to the agency's detention, rendition and interrogation policies.
Black left government in 2005 to join Blackwater, whose activities in Iraq have drawn both the ire of the Iraqi government and the opprobrium of House Oversight Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA). But that hasn't disqualified Black from advising Romney's campaign.
Last week, the former Massachusetts governor proudly announced he had brought Black on board:
"The United States faces a new generation of global threats and challenges," Black said in a statement issued by the Romney campaign. "Governor Romney recognizes the threats before us and has already laid out the policies needed to give our men and women the tools they need to protect our country."
Given amount of heat Blackwater is drawing these days, it would certainly help the company to be tightly connected to a future administration.
Comments (19)
dasher wrote on September 19, 2007 1:16 PM:"Flies on the eyeballs", eh? How charming; wonder how he got THAT nickname . . .
Although it probably won't happen, since these people appear to be waaay too well-connected and wealthy for real justice to ever touch them, I really, reeaally hope that Blackwater will get what they so richly deserve . . . . .
On the Clock wrote on September 19, 2007 1:19 PM:Double-Guantanamo, indeed. Maybe Mitt should do a fly-by photo-op in front of a guillotine.
Bloody Jacobins.
John Patterson wrote on September 19, 2007 1:20 PM:And considering the brute force Black commands, it doesn't hurt Romney to be associated with the Dobermans from Animal Farm.
So would that make Black one of the pigs?
Duh!
Scott R. wrote on September 19, 2007 1:35 PM:I'm glad to know this fact. Mitt Romney may get my vote just because of this. We need someone who can surround himself with people who are tough on terrorists unlike the libs.
dasher wrote on September 19, 2007 1:39 PM:You just go right on ahead and do that, Scott R.
'Bye now, 'cause we're not buying any goatsh#t stupid here.
Anonymous wrote on September 19, 2007 1:43 PM:Same Grand Rapids Michigan scum who tried to slip De Vos in under a ("I've just had my face sanded and she's no good for you or you'd be doing better) political platform for Governor. Warning: These are evil people and they don't care how they do it. The rule of thumb for them is ...Just don't get caught.
Anonymous wrote on September 19, 2007 1:49 PM:Given amount of heat Blackwater is drawing these days, it would certainly help the company to be tightly connected to a furniture administration.
corrected your typo
Redshift wrote on September 19, 2007 1:52 PM:Getting counterterrorism advice from someone who who profits from more war? Gee, no conflict of interest there! Sure saves on lobbying costs, though...
Anonymous wrote on September 19, 2007 1:59 PM:tough on terroists as in ... pull your modified suburban sideways to block a cabbie while your buddy makes the kill shot from the passenger's seat?
Because you're due vacay time the next day and don't wanna leave Iraq without bragging rights to a kill and all the gore that goes with the story?
I don't know anyone "lib" or other who could call themselves a human being that wouldn't be tough on a known terrorist ... so .... I guess you should mind your P & Q's cause you seem to me to be the type that would like to not leave a hell hole without slaying a unidentified devil just so you could slap yourslef on the back in trying to convince a captive audience that you were "indeed" a patriot and hero and protector of the weak and small. Goes with the territory for your kind. Inside the rage but never your fault. Inside you hate but it's always justified. Mistakes ... easily explained away if not ignored.
Anonymous wrote on September 19, 2007 2:06 PM:Cofer is a lightweight punk and one of a long list of misanthropes of a continuing waterlogged Black family who have really smelly armpits but cry when you fight them. They are the type of thieves that need connections and weapons because without them they can't even raise pigs proper
corinne wrote on September 19, 2007 2:19 PM:Romney's statement is bullshit. He brought Cofer Black on board back in April.
greggp wrote on September 19, 2007 5:24 PM:Has anyone ever seen Cofer Black and Karl Rove in the same room together?
Ben Cronin wrote on September 19, 2007 6:16 PM:What a disgusting human Mitt is.
I certainly hope the Boston Globe runs a headline tomorrow reading:
"Romney Taps Mercenary For Advisor Role"
CMC wrote on September 19, 2007 7:09 PM:It would actually be true.
Wow, the hatred and invective is pretty intense. Is it Romney everyone's mad at, or Republicans in general? Perhaps judgement should wait until the results of the Iraqi investigation are available. Nah!, these guys are all guilty anyway. Hang 'em now and forget due process....War mongering Girondins
Anonymous wrote on September 19, 2007 8:26 PM:The folks who could be helping us save the nation now stopped running for office about twenty years ago... when the mobsters took over Washington...
BlueBerry Pick'n wrote on September 19, 2007 11:16 PM:it gets JUST THIS little bit MORE CREEPY.
take a look at the employment numbers for Blackwater.
Subtract the number overseas.
the REST?
In North America, teaching cops & HLS.
be afraid.
I sure as hell am.
Spread Love...
... but wear the Glove!
BlueBerry Pick'n
Jon wrote on September 20, 2007 5:44 AM:can be found @
ThisCanadian DOT com
~~~
"We, two, form a Multitude" ~ Ovid.
~~~
"Silent Freedom is Freedom Silenced"
The qualifications of an advisor is one who is an expert in the particular field being advised. I think that, this guy has the qualification as per his resume. Maybe you would prefer someone with no experience as an advisor to a presidential canidate. Perhaps this canidate should have hired a tree huger to advise on counter terrorism and the VP from Blackwater to advise on Global Warming.
It doesn't matter what a GOP canidate does or says, you will still attack him. Why, because you are party loyalists. You think that the only answer to anything is to hire a democrate. Doesn't matter who it is, just as long as he is an ASS instead of an elephant.
Unfortunatley the GOP supporters suffer from the same disease.
This upcoming election isn't about who is best for the job, it's about two powerful groups of people trying to get control.
Why is that? Why do you support that? Why are you anti-military action in any situation? Why is it that while America is at War, you support any action that will assist in the defeat on the U.S. presence (not occupation because we are welcome by the Iraqi's... those of you who disagree obviously have never been here) in Iraq.
Why do you hate president Bush, but support a presidential canidate who wants to attack our only Islamic Ally of Pakistan while sitting down to talks with a self-proclaimed hater of the United States, Israel, Christianity and anything not Shia Muslim... to include Sunni Islam (since Iranian assests are supporting the slaughter of Sunnis in Iraq? Oh you didn't know? That's because you've never been here or studied the situation.)
Goldspinner wrote on September 20, 2007 8:13 AM:Sorry, Jon. As a Republican who spent too much time in Utah and has family in Massachusetts, Romney scares the H-E-double hockey sticks out of me. Bush does, too. Thankfully, growing numbers of us recognize the current paradigm shift towards home-grown fascism. It's not about party affiliation, it's a matter of patriotism. As a child of a certified snake-eater, I can assure you that groups like Blackwater that conduct operations against American civilians didn't just start with post-Katrina New Orleans. It's time to take action against these usurpers of democracy before it's too late.
Jon wrote on September 20, 2007 11:16 AM:Goldspinner,
Quit spinning things out of the paradigm!
First of all, no time in Utah is too much. What a wonderful state that is with great people who value the family more than anything else.
Second, throwing terms around like facism is meerly a scare tactic by you and your liberal friends. You can not compare anything of the current situation of the Great United States with the history of facism that this world has witnessed. So stop with that nonsense. If you want to claim that the U.S. is too conservative for you, that is fine. I understand that the agenda of progressive idolotry is too question and change everything. I personally subscribe to the old adage of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Where some prefer... "we can change the society no matter what the issue. Kill the Baby! Save the murderer!
Third, patriotism has nothing to do with politics. Patriotism has everything to do with personal sacrafice to ensure the well being of this country.
Finally, being a child of a certified snake-eater, doesn't make you a snake eater. The service of my grandfather, and father doesn't say a damn thing about me... except the values that they imparted to me on service... thus I serve. How did you miss out on that value of your Father?