Katrina-hit states turn to security firms

Security companies yesterday said they have seen an upswing in demand for services in the ravaged Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina blew through the region 12 days ago.
Most firms said that work could continue for years as Gulf cities emerge from the rubble and flooding to start repairs and reconstruction.
"Most unfortunately, this looks like a long-term construction process for any one of the cities affected," said Tom Kennedy, senior vice president for protection services at Vance International Inc.
The Oakton investigation and security-consulting company last week sent about 20 employees to New Orleans, Biloxi, Miss., and three other Gulf Coast sites to assess property damage for 10 companies.
Mr. Kennedy, who would not name any of the clients, said the company expects to send more employees to the region as buildings are reopened.
"It's a metamorphosis, but we're there mainly to protect the facilities," he said, adding the company has not helped law enforcement with quelling looters.
Blackwater USA, a Moyock, N.C., security services firm, also has sent about 150 of its workers to the region, said spokeswoman Anne Duke.
The company's guards started helping the U.S. Coast Guard Sept. 1 with search-and-rescue missions, lending one of its Puma helicopters for the missions, Ms. Duke said.
Additionally, Blackwater guards are protecting facilities that house "priceless art pieces" and special landmarks, Ms. Duke said, refusing to disclose which cultural centers or landmarks are being guarded.

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Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans

New Orleans - Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the mercenaries say they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor; indeed some are wearing gold Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and Blackwater photo identification cards on their arms. They say they are on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the authority to use lethal force. Several mercenaries we spoke with said they had served in Iraq on the personal security details of the former head of the US occupation, L. Paul Bremer and the former US ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte.

"This is a totally new thing to have guys like us working CONUS (Continental United States)," a heavily armed Blackwater mercenary told us as we stood on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. "We're much better equipped to deal with the situation in Iraq."

Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers in the world and they are accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences. Their presence on the streets of New Orleans should be a cause for serious concern for the remaining residents of the city and raises alarming questions about why the government would allow men trained to kill with impunity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here. Some of the men now patrolling the streets of New Orleans returned from Iraq as recently as 2 weeks ago.
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Rob Kall: "IT" Is Happening Here!!

I woke up at 4:30 AM to a nightmare that is real. Paid mercenary killers—Blackwater paramilitary mercenaries—the ones that are hired to stalk the worst danger zones of Iraq—are roving the streets of New Orleans, armed to the teeth, with permission to kill.

They have been purportedly hired by the federal and Louisiana governments.
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