{"id":2283,"date":"2005-09-22T22:11:00","date_gmt":"2005-09-23T02:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.meehawl.com\/Blogfiles-wp\/?p=2283"},"modified":"2005-09-22T22:11:00","modified_gmt":"2005-09-23T02:11:00","slug":"team-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meehawl.com\/Blogfiles\/2005\/09\/22\/22\/11\/team-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Team America"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thenation.com\/doc\/20051010\/scahill\">In an hourlong conversation I had with four Blackwater men, they characterized their work in New Orleans as &#8220;securing neighborhoods&#8221; and &#8220;confronting criminals.&#8221; They all carried automatic assault weapons and had guns strapped to their legs. Their flak jackets were covered with pouches for extra ammunition. When asked what authority they were operating under, one guy said, &#8220;We&#8217;re on contract with the Department of Homeland Security.&#8221; Then, pointing to one of his comrades, he said, &#8220;He was even deputized by the governor of the state of Louisiana. We can make arrests and use lethal force if we deem it necessary.&#8221; The man then held up the gold Louisiana law enforcement badge he wore around his neck.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an hourlong conversation I had with four Blackwater men, they characterized their work in New Orleans as &#8220;securing neighborhoods&#8221; and &#8220;confronting criminals.&#8221; They all carried automatic assault weapons and had guns strapped to&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 4.9.8 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In an hourlong conversation I had with four Blackwater men, they characterized their work in New Orleans as &quot;securing neighborhoods&quot; and &quot;confronting criminals.&quot; They all carried automatic assault weapons and had guns strapped to their legs. 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