Are the republicans building their own private army? It would seem that they in fact are. What are the ramifications of a political party having it's own mercenary force? Can they be deployed within the US? Yes, apparently they can. Could this be an indicator that there is a coup in the works? It just may be.

Here is an article from Salon regarding the ties between the Bush Administration and Blackwater. Here is a brief sketch of the current connections between Blackwater and the republican party.

• Erik Prince, Blackwater's founder, who has donated "roughly $300,000 to Republican candidates and political action committees. Through his Freiheit Foundation, he also gave $500,000 to Prison Fellowship Ministries, run by former Nixon official Charles Colson, in 2000."

• J. Cofer Black, Blackwater Vice Chairman, a 28-year veteran of the CIA Van Heuvelen describes as "one of the more prominent faces associated with the Bush administration's interrogation and extraordinary rendition policies." Black is also a senior adviser to GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

• Rob Richer, Vice President for Intelligence, who is the former head of the CIA Near East Division. "In 2003," according to Salon "he briefed President Bush on the nascent Iraqi insurgency. In late 2004, he became the associate deputy director in the CIA's Directorate of Operations, making him the second-ranking official for clandestine operations."

• Fred Fielding, a former outside counsel for the firm, who "has had a long career as a lawyer to prominent Republicans. From 1970 to 1972, he was an associate White House counsel in the Nixon administration; from 1972 to 1974, he was present for the denouement of that administration as deputy White House counsel." Fielding is a former counsel to President Reagan and current White House counsel to President Bush.

• Ken Starr, another counsel to Blackwater, who was hired by the firm in 2006, is best known "as the Independent Counsel who investigated Bill Clinton. He revealed the intimate details of Clinton's affair with intern Monica Lewinsky in the infamous Starr Report and set in motion Clinton's impeachment by Congress."

So the connections between Blackwater and the Republicans are certainly undeniable. A mercenary force could never be deployed domestically though, there would be an immediate outcry would there not. Apparently a mercenary force can in fact be deployed without much more than a peep. From an article published in The Nation Oct 10 2005 -

"The men from Blackwater USA arrived in New Orleans right after Katrina hit. The company known for its private security work guarding senior US diplomats in Iraq beat the federal government and most aid organizations to the scene in another devastated Gulf. About 150 heavily armed Blackwater troops dressed in full battle gear spread out into the chaos of New Orleans. Officially, the company boasted of its forces "join[ing] the hurricane relief effort." But its men on the ground told a different story."

And then there is this from Truthout Sept 10 2005

"What is most disturbing is the claim of several Blackwater mercenaries we spoke with that they are here under contract from the federal and Louisiana state governments."

The catalyst for a massive domestic mercenary deployment need be nothing more than another "terror" event, or even a natural disaster. The current administration would claim that it is a necessity to deploy "private contractors" as the vast majority of National Guard troops are either currently deployed over seas or or recuperating from previous deployments.  The State Department's recent cover up of Blackwater misdeeds in Iraq is just further indication as to how well connected and coddled this band of mercenaries are.