As I reported here and here, last year, Blackwater International bought a defunct chicken ranch in the mountains about 40 miles east of San Diego with plans for converting it into a training camp for local and federal (military) law enforcement, including Border Patrol. Local advocates protested Blackwaters´presence. The company dropped those plans this March. signon SanDiego reports: The same month, Blackwater, sneakingly using the name "Raven Development Co", applied and city inspectors approved permit applications for a 61,000 square-foot indoor facility in Otay Mesa, an industrial warehouse park along the U.S.-Mexico border, just several miles away. They applied for routine inspection permits under the name Raven Development Group, a name its lawyers said the company had used for other projects, and never explicitly sought permission to convert a warehouse into a school in part because the area is already zoned for vocational facilities.
Opponents against Blackwater say, “This whole process flunks the smell test. They don't ever give us the whole picture of what they're here for. Blackwater can't start using its new facility in the industrial Otay Mesa area until the project is approved by the city planning commission."
Blackwater lawyers told Huff they had been honest in their dealings with city inspection agencies. They argued it was too late for the city to demand they go to the planning commission because inspectors had already approved the required permits.
Attorney Michael Neil said the company risked losing part of a $400 million Navy contract if it could not begin training sailors in counterterrorist defense tactics by next week. The program is part of a firearms training initiative launched after the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in a Yemeni port by terrorists in a small boat.
“Blackwater will suffer, the Department of the Navy will suffer and to some extent the security of our country will suffer if sailors aren't fully trained,” Neil said. Blackwater has argued in court filings that elected officials moved to block the project for political reasons ahead of next week's primary election.
Opponents against Blackwater say, “This whole process flunks the smell test. They don't ever give us the whole picture of what they're here for. Blackwater can't start using its new facility in the industrial Otay Mesa area until the project is approved by the city planning commission."
Blackwater lawyers told Huff they had been honest in their dealings with city inspection agencies. They argued it was too late for the city to demand they go to the planning commission because inspectors had already approved the required permits.
Attorney Michael Neil said the company risked losing part of a $400 million Navy contract if it could not begin training sailors in counterterrorist defense tactics by next week. The program is part of a firearms training initiative launched after the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in a Yemeni port by terrorists in a small boat.
“Blackwater will suffer, the Department of the Navy will suffer and to some extent the security of our country will suffer if sailors aren't fully trained,” Neil said. Blackwater has argued in court filings that elected officials moved to block the project for political reasons ahead of next week's primary election.
About Blackwater Worldwide: founded in 1997 by Erik Prince and Al Clark, is a private military company and one of the GOP´s largest PAC Contributors. The company recieves multi millions in government contracts. It has been referred to as a security contractor or a mercenary organization by numerous reports in the international media. The company trains more than 40,000 people a year, from U.S. or foreign military and police services, as well as other U.S. government agencies. The training consists of military offensive and defensive operations, as well as smaller scale personnel security. Technologies used and techniques trained are not limited by U.S. domestic law, although it is unclear what legal status Blackwater operates under in the U.S. and other countries, or what protection the U.S. extends to Blackwater operations globally.
Blackwater, the largest private security firm in Iraq, has been under scrutiny as a federal grand jury in Washington investigates the company's involvement in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians. The firm is also under investigation for possible weapons smuggling allegations – violations the firm strongly denies.
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