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New Meeting: Stop Blackwater Rally
| Walter Davis | |
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Announcing a new meeting for The San Diego County Community Coalition!
What: Stop Blackwater Rally When: Wednesday, June 11, 3:00 PM Where: Click the link below to find out! Meeting Description: STOP Blackwater - Wednesday, June 11th Rally Outside Front Door of Blackwater's New Site Community Groups Charge Blackwater Misused Federal Court to Muscle into Cal-Mex Border Site and Call for Facility Including Shooting Range to Be Shut-Down "No to Baghdad on the Border" New Facility 500 Yards From International Border Will Exacerbate the Potential for Increased Human and Civil Rights Violations to Both Migrants and Members of Border Communities SAN DIEGO, CA (June 8) – - San Diego locals continue protest against Blackwater's new foothold on the West Coast, only blocks from the Cal-Mex border in Otay Mesa, California. Blackwater opened the facility under clouds of subterfuge and obvious circumvention of local laws, finally using temporary restraining order issued by Federal Judge, a President Bush Sr. appointee, to muscle their way into the facility and avoid public hearings, environmental review and traditional public scrutiny. WHEN: Wednesday, June 11, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. WHAT: Locals Rally Outside the New Blackwater Training Facility, speakers include, Jeremy Scahill, Blackwater Author and others TBA WHERE: 7685 Siempre Viva Rd, San Diego, CA 92154. The public is invited. Community members will express their views about the miscarriage of local laws, the inappropriate use of mercenaries for public security training, and the desire to have the facility shut down in Otay Mesa, California. For many who were successful in blocking Blackwater's attempt to build a more than 800 acre para-military facility in Potreo, California, Blackwater represents the ultimate expression of the worst decisions made by the Bush administration and their extreme privatization agenda. Jeremy Scahill, author of the International and New York Times bestseller and the winner of prestigious Polk Book Award, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" will speak to the community at both events. Scahill, whose book inspired San Diego's local movement, is currently on a national tour to launch the fully updated paperback edition of his bestseller, featuring an exposé on "Baghdad's Bloody Sunday," a shooting spree carried out by Blackwater in Baghdad's Nisour Square on September 16, 2007 where 17 innocent civilians were cut down by Blackwater gunfire without provocation. On April 25, 2008, Rep. Bob Filner (CA-51) held a press conference at the same site about the project. "This is a private company that would profit from instability and insecurity at the border," said San Diego City Councilmember Ben Hueso, who represents the 8th District where the project is located and who spoke at event. "It's their motive and it's their interest that we have conflict and that we have problems at the border. The more there are, they more they'll profit. This is why we do not want private companies engaging in national security objectives. It is a complete conflict of interest when you mix corporate profits with community benefit." "Any Navy training should be handled internally by the Navy itself and not by war profiteers who seek to by-pass public scrutiny," said Martin Eder, spokesperson for Activist San Diego. "Blackwater has a history of running roughshod over the interests of civilians, whether it is in Iraq and Potrero and now Otay Mesa. What they did in Otay in blatant disregard to the rights of government and citizens to know the truth about this so-called 'vocational training facility'. Blackwater is known for shooting first, and asking questions never – San Diego has good reason to fear Blackwater on our sensitive international border." Reacting to the audit report of the Blackwater permits provided by the City of San Diego on June 6, Ray Lutz, coordinator for Citizens' Oversight Projects (COPs) said, "The audit report completely sidestepped the most important issue: how Blackwater used the various permits and multiple identities to allow processing of the mercenary-type training facility under rubber-stamp 'Ministerial' review instead of allowing the public to review and approve their plans under 'Discretionary' processing. Finally, suing the city in federal court to force the permits to be issued steps far over the line of propriety, a blatant violation of traditional local control traditions. The character of Blackwater can be seen in these actions. This is not the sort of operation we want in this county, whether it is in Potrero or in Otay Mesa." DIRECTIONS: 805 South to 905 East, Turn right at Britannia (just opposite Brown Field Control Tower), Turn left on to Siempre Viva (third light). Info: 619-263-9301, info@prcsd.org or www.prcsd.org SPONSORED BY San Diego Peace Resource Center, Activist San Diego, CitizensOversight.org , plus others. Raymond Lutz Coordinator, Citizens' Oversight Projects (COPs) http://www.StopBlackw...  http://www.CitizensOv... raylutz@CitizensOversight.org / 619-447-3246Learn more here: http://progressivecon... |
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