Raven 23: Presumption of Guilt Think Again

On September 10, 2001, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld presents his vision for a new type of military that relies heavily on privatization.  Rumsfeld claims that he is not trying to destroy the Pentagon, but “save it from itself.”  At the exact time that he is giving his speech, four radical Jihadists are checking in to the Marriot Hotel in Herndon, VA. 

Less than 24 hours after giving his speech, Donald Rumsfeld would no longer be talking about war in the figurative sense.  He would be involved in it literally, as he bravely rushed into the embers of the West Wall of the Pentagon to save lives. 
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Mike and Gina introduce the men of Blackwater’s Raven 23: Dustin Heard, a former US Marine from Maryville, Tennessee; former US Marine Evan Liberty from Rochester, New Hampshire; US Army veteran Paul Slough of Sanger, Texas; and Nicholas Slatten, a veteran of the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, of Sparta, Tennessee.
Their families and military comrades discuss the characters and reputations of these small town enlistees, and what motivated them to join the fight after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacking attacks on New York and Washington DC.
The episode also introduces Blackwater Worldwide founder, Erik Prince.

FOR MORE:

GALLUP POLL:
62% feel U.S. made a mistake sending troops to Iraq (2007)
https://news.gallup.com/poll/28099/latest-poll-shows-high-point-opposition-iraq-war.aspx

NYT:
From Texas to Iraq, and Center Of The Blackwater case (2008)
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/19/us/19slough.html

SUPPORT THE MEN OF RAVEN 23:
http://www.supportraven23.com/









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Gina and Mike explain how US Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld put in motion the growing influence and use of military contractors the day before the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacking attacks on New York and Washington DC.
This episode introduces Judge Royce Lamberth, chief of the US District Court for the Washington DC circuit and head of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) that allowed law enforcement to spy on US citizens. 
Meanwhile, Dustin, Evan, Paul and Nick deployed to find the conflict, US preparedness and the people they encountered markedly different from what they expected.

And Blackwater Worldwide founder Erik Prince describes how his military contracting company morphed from a battlefield supply service to a finely honed, superbly equipped diplomatic protection squad and quick reaction force to meet growing violence across war-torn Iraq.

FOR MORE:

RUMSFELD INTERVIEW
Donald Rumsfeld's 9/11 story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haCq-WS-VXU

LAMBERTH INTERVIEW
Judge Reflects after 9/11, 'Bloodcurdling' Briefings
https://www.npr.org/2013/07/11/198329788/fisa-court-judge-reflects-after-sept-11-bloodcurdling-meetings-and-briefings

SKATING ON STILTS
Book by Stewart Baker
https://www.skatingonstilts.com/







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In this episode, Iraq slips closer toward civil war as the US occupation enters the fourth year of a mission that President George W Bush declared “accomplished” three years earlier. 
The U.S. is having trouble recruiting soldiers to staff the occupation, so the government hires nearly 200,000 military contractors to fill the recruitment gap. 
With their tours ending, Dustin, Evan, Paul and Nick consider their options in the private sector, and each decide to rejoin the fight as contractors for Erik Prince’s Blackwater Worldwide. 
Robert Ford, the second-in-command at the US Embassy in Iraq during this time, recalls that tensions grew to a fever pitch between Iraqi civilians.

And Mike and Gina look to define the word "mercenary".

FOR MORE:

LOS ANGELES TIMES
Contractors outnumber troops in Iraq (2007)
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jul-04-na-private4-story.html

INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS:
Geneva Conventions protocol relating to Mercenaries
https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/ihl/WebART/470-750057








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In this episode, Gina and Mike recreate the events of Sept. 16, 2007 based on the US government’s own evidence, showing that the Raven 23 convoy took incoming gunfire in Nisour Square from AK-47 wielding insurgents.


They interview members of the 19-man Raven 23 team about their minute-by-minute experiences during the Nisour Square incident and its aftermath.

And examine the transcripts of the Iraqi witness statements to deconstruct why the body count and survivor accounts changed so wildly in the aftermath of the incident. 


Digging into the US government’s documents, witness statements, victim lists and trial transcripts shows a subpar investigation conducted three weeks after the incident as well as outright violations of criminal procedure. 


Former Raven 23 member Tommy Vargas unearths long-buried information about the Nisour Square incident and hands it over to Gina.

FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING THE EVENTS OF SEPT. 16th, 2007, PLEASE VISIT:
http://www.supportraven23.com/incident




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In this episode, we’re introduced to: Nick Poulos, Blackwater's detail leader; TJ Hill, a mechanic working for Blackwater, and Keith George, Blackwater's  Iraq protection leader. Each of the men recounts his memories of the Nisour Square Incident, and where the government’s inquiry went off track.
And Gina sits down with former Raven 23 vehicle commander Tommy Vargas, who has recently found long-buried information






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