It didn’t seem at the beginning of this hearing that any part of Blackwater’s operations in Iraq had a thing to do with MoveOn.org’s “Betray Us” ad. But that impression didn’t account for the vigorous argumentation of Rep. Darrell Issa.
Issa brought out a massive placard of the ad showing General David Petraeus and launched into a full-bore assault on his Democratic colleagues, who, he implied, ran the ad themselves in the New York Times. “What they couldn’t do to our men in women in uniform,” he said — presumably meaning run their names through the dirt — they’ll now do to Blackwater. “I’m not here to defend Blackwater,” Issa said with the utmost sincerity, “but I am here to defend General Petraeus and members of the military.” (Blackwater contractors, by the way, make on average six times more than U.S. troops in Iraq.)
The hearing is simply “a repeat of the MoveOn ad,” Issa says, which seems to be the line the GOP is taking. One of Issa’s GOP colleagues said that the Democrats first tried to discredit the President, then the U.S. military, then the Iraqi government and “they’re trying to discredit contractors now.” Several GOP members of the panel moved to adjourn the hearing, for fear of slander. Some kinds of slander, anyway.
