Resolutions

Resolution Number SDL07.10

Opposing Blackwater West and Mercenary Training in California

WHEREAS, Blackwater USA, a North Carolina-based private security firm under contract to the Pentagon to supply armed personnel for duties in the Iraq War, proposes to build a large mercenary and paramilitary compound called Blackwater West near Potrero, in San Diego County, on an 824-acre parcel that includes Cleveland National Forest acreage, borders a proposed wilderness area adjacent to the Hauser Wilderness, and is both an important watershed and an environmentally sensitive habitat for wildlife; said mercenary and paramilitary activities are inherently dangerous and pose serious risks - including severe fire danger - to surrounding communities and wilderness areas, will deplete groundwater, substantially increase traffic, increase noise from shooting ranges, driving track, and helicopter activities, among many other environmental concerns; and

WHEREAS, Blackwater USA and other private contractors are not subject to an effective system of oversight and accountability with respect to their operations and government contracting activities, and are the subject of ongoing hearings before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee regarding allegations of waste, fraud, and abuse; Blackwater USA has resisted attempts to subject its private soldiers to the Pentagon's Uniform Code of Military Justice, claiming they are civilians, and has simultaneously claimed immunity from litigation under civil law in the United States, asserting its forces are part of the Pentagon's "Total Force;" and

WHEREAS, the "John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007" (H.R. 5122), which was signed into law by President Bush in October 2006, seriously weakens two bulwarks of liberty - the Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act of 1807 - by expanding the power of the president to declare martial law and use troops as a domestic police force in response to a "public emergency" or any "other condition;" and Blackwater troops (which were deployed domestically in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina) or other private mercenary and paramilitary forces pose a severe threat to the civil liberties of the American people and now could be deployed to quell public dissent, put down popular uprisings, or even to stop opposing points of view through intimidation or outright force

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the California Democratic Party opposes the Blackwater West Project; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that all military, paramilitary, or related security/law enforcement training operations in California, whether private, governmental, or some combination of the two, should be conducted on, and only on, secured U.S. military bases or other established government-regulated facilities designed for that purpose.

Respectfully submitted, Raymond Lutz, AD-77 Delegate and President, East County Democratic Club 

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Adopted by the Executive Board
Of the California Democratic Party
At Its Executive Board Meeting
Radisson Hotel, Sacramento
July 15, 2007

References:
1. H.R. 5122 (109th): "John Warner National Defense Act for Fiscal Year 2007," sponsored by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R) 52nd Congressional District
2. "Making Martial Law Easier," The New York Times, 02/19/07 editorial
3. "Bush Moves Toward Martial Law," Frank Morales, GlobalResearch.ca, October 29, 2006