Jeremy Scahill

Author, Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

Nine months after Blackwater Worldwide guards protecting a State Department convoy killed 17 Iraqis, the F.B.I. has still not concluded its investigation into the shooting. It is even rumored that Blackwater is providing security services to those conducting the FBI investigation. And, while some of the guards might be found culpable, the company itself is unlikely to face charges. A bill making contractors working for the US government in conflict zones liable under US criminal law passed the House, but is stalled in the Senate and opposed by the White House.

How does all this jibe with our notion of a citizen army? What has led to the dependency on contractors, estimated to number over 30,000 in Iraq alone, to provide security to US officials and others in danger zones? How did a secretive training camp in the backwoods of North Carolina become the source of choice for military outsourcing? Is this an inevitable revolution in military affairs as some have suggested or an insidious threat to our democracy as others assert? What has been the impact of public scrutiny on Blackwater's role in service to the US government?

Jeremy Scahill's investigation of Blackwater preceded the September incident in Baghdad that made headlines around the world. In 2007, he received the prestigious George Polk Book Award in 2007 for Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Army. He has continued to follow the Blackwater story and will share these new observations and findings. Scahill is a Puffin Writing Fellow at the Nation Institute and a frequent contributor to The Nation magazine. He has been interviewed on radio and TV, including The Bill Moyers Journal.