After the killings, Katy Helvenston joined the families of Mike Teague, Jerko Zovko and Wesley Batalona in grieving and in seeking details about the incident. As they tell it, after demanding answers about how the men ended up dead in Falluja that day and being stonewalled at every turn, they decided to conduct their own investigation. tn_articleid: [72445], So the next morning they were off.. And Scott wrote in this email to Blackwater, that I think [that my team leader] felt that there was a hidden agenda. KATY HELVENSTON: And I was just literally stuttering. These four guys were sent out without armor, without the adequate guns, without adequate personnel, and Blackwater takes it as a moment to say, 'Hey, we're famous now. KATY HELVENSTON: He was told that he was going to be security for the ambassador, Paul Bremer. Reading this, it would seem that Blackwater has a reasonable defense. The U.S. attack was sparked by the gruesome killing of four private contractors inside Fallujah. The pictures are famous at this point of what happened to them on that day. And Bush jokes about it. It mostly was, Mom, please dont worry, Im OK. Im gonna be home soon and Im gonna see ya. He did some stunt work on the movie, but mostly he trained the cast of G.I. Scott Helvenston (US Navy SEAL) ~ Bio Wiki | Photos | Videos They knew what they were getting into based upon the representations by Blackwater. They were escorting three empty trucks on their way to pick up some kitchen equipment at a base west of Fallujah. MARTIN SMITH: But the men were uneasy. Im going to call the secretary and say you brought up a very valid question, and what are we doing about it? But because they didnt have a map, they didnt have G.P.S., and, in fact, funny story, I think they had G.P.S. Explore Scott Helvenston net worth, bio, age, height, family, wiki, birthday, career, salary [Last Update 2021]! Lets take this opportunity. Now, just recently, last month, Cofer Black, who is a former C.I.A. You know, I need to meet with these people.. I mean, thats I knew it was him from his looks, everything. KATY HELVENSTON: He did call me that morning from I assume it was from that base that he stopped at. We have seen numbers in the range of 20,000 to 30,000 contractors working in Iraq. AMY GOODMAN: An excerpt from _Frontline_s program Private Warriors, documentary on the role of private military contractors working in Iraq. All four of these men were veterans of the U.S. military, of Special Forces. KATY HELVENSTON: I was in my home office doing research, and I was on the computer and I had CNN on. Did they assume the risk? And then the reports are that E.S.S. On January 5, 2005, the families filed the lawsuit against Blackwater in Wake County, North Carolina. This is life and death were talking about here, and as Marc Miles says, the commodity that Blackwater deals in is human beings. Would he speak to them? Blackwater has fought to have the case dismissed by claiming that all liability lies not with the company but the U.S. government. It was like $19,000-something. He was a great golfer. And there are other people that have talked to Katy and Marc that have affirmed all of this. Scott Helvenston, Katys son, was the youngest Navy Seal ever. MARTIN SMITH: Around 9:30 a.m., they approached the center of town. Blackwater is scooping up lucrative Homeland Security contracts. So they were easy to pick out. One of the people profiled in the story is Katy Helvenston, the mother of 38-year-old Scott Helvenston, who was killed on that day in Fallujah. He was taken out of that team and put in with men that were wonderful, good people, but he had never met them, he had never worked with them. The Uniform Code of Military Justice does not apply to these contractors in Iraq. And she was told that they would have to sue Blackwater to get that information. New Yorks Working Families Party Came Back From the Brink. They charged the government $400,000 for 14 guys for 28 days in September of 2005 14 guys, $400,000 for 22 days in September. They had guards on each one of the families. Go ahead. Well, Scotty chose the military, and he wanted to continue his education through that. We will finish the job. Brig. He said, Im gonna go over there, make some money, maybe make a difference. He had two men with him that held Scotty down. Within moments, their bodies are dragged from the vehicles and a crowd descends on them, tearing them to pieces. We will hunt down the criminals. By signing up to receive emails, you agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation's journalism. Blackwater has fought to have the case dismissed by claiming that all liability lies not with the company but the U.S. government. But on March 12, 2004, Blackwater and Regency signed a subcontract, which specified security provisions identical to the original except for one word: armored. Blackwater deleted it from the contract. The suit alleges that Blackwater trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown resented Helvenston and deliberately reassigned Helvenston to the team that was ambushed. KATY HELVENSTON: Donna Zovko and her son Tommy. A day after the killings, Prince enlisted the services of the Alexander Strategy Group, a now disgraced but once powerful Republican lobbying and PR firm. trucks from a city of Taji to an army base, which is on the west side of Fallujah. !, The White House, for its part, has turned the issue of accountability of Blackwater and other private security companies into a joke, literally. They were standing outside our rooms when we got up in the morning. [includes rush transcript]. Helvenston began training at Blackwater USA's facilities in March 2004, and developed a personal conflict with head trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown. Helvenston arrived for training at Blackwaters North Carolina campus around March 1, 2004. Erik Prince comes from a major powerful Republican family in Michigan. targeting:{ So Donna and I think the check was like it was quite a bit of money. There should be three men per team. AMY GOODMAN: Each of you in separate hotels? This is viewer supported news. According to the suit, Blackwater was gung-ho to start in order to impress ESS and win further contracts. We couldnt hear anything that was being said. Thats the only thing they understand, she says. He went through the rigorous Navy Seal program at age 17. He was an incredible athlete his whole life. In an expose in the new issue of the Nation magazine, independent journalist Jeremy Scahill tells the story of the struggle of the four families of the slain Blackwater contractors to hold those responsible for their deaths accountable. Heres Why. It was about what happened to Scotty and Jerry and Mike and Wesley. They have no respect for me or the other mothers or brothers or children. And I think that, you know, when we talk about Iraq corruption, a lot of times its Halliburton overcharged for this or Bechtel did this. Scott Helvenston Net Worth & Bio/Wiki 2018: Facts Which You Must To Know! Prince has never given a penny to a Democrat. If you think Democracy Now!s reporting is a critical line of defense against war, climate catastrophe and fascism, please make your donation of $10 or more right now. With regard to the wrongful death of these four men, that face is Justin McQuown of Blackwater. The company refused to comment on the case, but McQuowns lawyer, William Crenshaw, told The Nation there are numerous serious factual errors in the lawsuit, saying, On behalf of Mr. McQuown, we extend our sincerest sympathies to the families of the deceased. And to understand what all of these shortcomings that day resulted in, you have to go back to March 31, 2004, and actually Marc Miles, the lawyer, can talk about some things that happened before that, as well. But today, Blackwater is facing a potentially devastating battlethis time not in Iraq but in court. Instead of being . And that may work for some companies that are manufacturing staples or shoes or something along those lines, but what Blackwater doesnt understand here is that the commodity that theyre dealing with is not a paper clip or a staple, but its actually human life, and so what we want to do is we want to create a situation where these companies are held accountable. KBR/Halliburton refuses to discuss the matter and will not confirm any relationship with ESS. The man heading the training was Justin McQuown, nicknamed Shrek, after the green ogre movie cartoon character. Scotty had tried to call me in the middle of the night, Katy Helvenston remembers. Jeremy, lets begin with you. But while the families were grieving, Blackwater viewed it as a profit opportunity. tn_subject: ['criminal-j', 'society', 'us-wars-an', 'war-and-pe', 'war-on-ter'], Those were all misrepresentation. Jane movie, and he ended up playing a small role on the film, because the guy that was supposed to play the Navy Seal instructor was terrified of the ocean. The suit further alleges that McQuown intervened and ordered only a four-man team be sent, although six were available, the other two remaining to perform clerical duties. In fairness, though, Justin McQuowns lawyer William Crenshaw did issue a statement to me, in which he said that there were numerous serious inaccuracies in the piece, and then he said that on behalf of his client Justin McQuown, that he wanted to extend his sympathy to the families and called it regrettable that anyone would imply that Justin McQuown had anything to do with the tragedy of what happened in Fallujah. Company founder Erik Prince and his family have poured serious money into Republican causes and campaign coffers over the past twenty years. MARC MILES: Well, what were going to prove at trial is that because Blackwater essentially cut corners and because of this personal animosity that Justin McQuown had with Scott Helvenston, they werent allowed to gather intelligence and do the pre-tip inspection and all of the things that they were told that they would be allowed to do and that is actually represented in the contracts for the mission that they were doing work under. Since the team was driving without a rear-gunner and did not have armored vehicles, the insurgents were able to literally walk up behind the vehicles and shoot all four men with small arms at close range, the suit alleges. Trumps Blackwater Pardons Took It Away. By the time I got the message hed already been killed., Shortly after Helvenston left that message, the men left the base and set out for their destination. But they had put all of the news stuff in a closet, and I pulled it out, and I got the names of the other three families. COL. JOHN A. TOOLAN: Unfortunately, it was going out on CNN. We will not be intimidated, he said. About 6,000 of these are security contractors. What theyre trying to do is to say, Lookwe can do anything we want and not be held accountable. And when we come back from break, Katy, I want to ask you if Scott felt ready to go out on that day, March 31, 2004. I would submit to you that in this case, this is one case that privatization is not a solution. Over a thousand people died because of what happened to Scotty that day, says Katy Helvenston. freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ This month marks the two-year anniversary of the first US siege of Fallujah, in which at least 600 Iraqis were killed. And Im reading these articles, and all of a sudden . I wasnt kidding. Scott Helvenston - Wikipedia This was not done, according to Miles, so as to pad Blackwaters bottom line and to impress ESS with Blackwaters efficiency in order to win more contracts. And Erik had a check for the Zovkos. AMY GOODMAN: Were going to break, Katy. Surely there are other instances like this one with wrongful conduct involved, but, of course, we havent seen one single prosecution coming out of any contractors in Iraq, and that is essentially the entire focus of the litigation here. 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He is currently a Puffin Writing Fellow at the Nation Institute. AMY GOODMAN: How did you hear that Scott had died? That, in and of itself, is quite unusual, that these guys would not get a chance to acclimate themselves to the very hostile environment that theyre going to be operating in. JUAN GONZALEZ: Jeremy, in your article, you talk about some of the contracts that you were able to get copies of, where actually Blackwater was subcontracting to others, but in their contract they deleted certain provisions of the protections of these men, and the men actually complained about it, the superiors complained about it. And I do want to say we invited Blackwater on the program today. Please give today. They told them that they would be operating in teams of no less than six, where you would have three individuals in each vehicle a driver, a navigator and a rear gunner who has a 180-degree view of the rear to protect from behind. Scott Helvenston and his team were to deploy to Iraq on March 29. And whats important here is that the lawsuit alleges that because of Justin McQuowns personal animosity toward Scott Helvenston, he intervened to have only four men sent, that only four were sent on Justin McQuowns order that day, instead of six, and the other two were held back to perform clerical duties in the Blackwater facility in Baghdad. Lay out this story. On March 30, 2004, Helvenston, Teague, Zovko and Batalona left Baghdad on the ESS security mission. Mr. Rumsfeld answered that Iraq has its own domestic laws, which he assumed applied to those private military contractors. Thats not what I was hired to do. And at that point McQuown apparently told him that if he didnt do it, he would be fired immediately. And so, did they assume the risk? Instead, this team was sent out without the required equipment and personnel by those in charge at Blackwater.. Were also joined by Katy Helvenston, the mother of Scott Helvenston, who was killed that day, March 31, 2004 in Fallujah. Scott Helvenston - Reality TV World It was this corporate greed, combined with McQuowns animosity toward Scott Helvenston, which began at the training in North Carolina, that the families allege played a significant role in the deaths of Helvenston and the other three contractors. His family is linked in with Richard DeVos, the Amway founder who basically funded the Republican revolution of the 1990s. KATY HELVENSTON: I called Blackwater at about 7:00 at night. Scott Helvenston was a walking ad for the military. Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License, Fighting in Sudan Persists Despite Extended Ceasefires as U.N. AMY GOODMAN: Marc, I just want to interrupt for one second. Blackwater was paying its men $600 a day but billing Regency $815, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. And they, at that time, asked specifically for the incident report and a copy of the contract. Username. So what this lawsuit is about, its about creating accountability for those firms, those private military firms that are working in Iraq, and its also not only about holding Blackwater accountable for these four deaths, but its also about sending a message to the other private security firms out there that they cannot cut costs to increase their bottom line and put lives at risk. KATY HELVENSTON: Well, apparently he had the audacity to suggest that maybe there was a better way of running these certain missions, in that the people who were subcontracting out with Blackwater would actually survive the mission. }); In the Oval Office the killings were taken as a challenge to Americas resolve, according to the Los Angeles Times. Attorney Marc Miles says that shortly after the suit was filed, he asked the court in North Carolina for an expedited order to depose John Potter. In its motion to dismiss the case in federal court, Blackwater argues that the families of the four men killed in Falluja are entitled only to government insurance payments. It is unusual, though, for the head of a company to cast its lot entirely with one party, and it has paid off, because Blackwater literally is making a killing right now, to the point where Gary Jackson, the president of Blackwater, after Bush won the election in 2004, sends out an email to Blackwaters mailing list that says, Bush wins, four more years!!
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