Residents of Potrero, Calif., won a symbolic victory in their struggle against Blackwater’s plans to build a training camp just outside the town. On Dec.11, Potrero voters recalled five town officials who approved the mercenary corporation’s plans for 11 firing ranges, a helipad and driving track in Potrero.
Blackwater has vowed to continue the project despite widespread opposition from the residents. The recall was driven by the residents’ correct view of Blackwater as a corporation complicit in war crimes. Blackwater is the subject of congressional and criminal investigations for the murder of 17 Iraqi civilians in September 2007.
Blackwater Vice President Brian Bonfiglio admitted that opposition to the project is correlated to anti-war sentiment. He said, “If my project was in with the county three years ago we wouldn’t be having this problem because the views on the war were very different. Everyone who’s tired of the war sees us as attached to that.”
