Though Mitt Romney says that he wants to bring “innovation and transformation” to Washington, it seems as though he’s perfectly content to stick with the insiders.

Consider Cofer Black, a former senior CIA official who was criticized by the 9/11 Commission for not passing on vital intelligence to the FBI. Today, Black serves as the Vice President of Blackwater USA and as Romney’s senior counter-terrorism adviser and chair of his Counter-Terrorism Advisory Group.

Cofer’s company is the largest private security contractor in Iraq with “close personal and political ties” to the Bush Administration.” Last week, Blackwater contractors were involved in a shooting incident that left eight Iraqis dead, but Cofer shouldn’t worry about hiring a lawyer just yet. An obscure 2004 edict from the Coalition Provisional Authority keeps Blackwater immune from prosecution in Iraq, and the US government has refused to punish Blackwater for its actions (though this might change due to the Iraqi government’s anger about the situation).

Is Romney serious about “change” and “putting our own house in order?” Hiring a counter-terrorism adviser who is a senior executive at a shadowy and corrupt private security contractor seems to indicate that Romney will be more of the same.

This entry was is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.