Blackwater Fights Back

I had missed this story from the The New York Times on November 1 about Blackwater, America’s mercenary army in Iraq, hiring influential people in D.C. to help improve the company’s image.

Of special note is the fact that Blackwater has used the PR firm of Burson-Marsteller, headed by Mark Penn, who advises Hillary Clinton. Penn, however, claims the Blackwater work was landed by the political consulting firm of BKSH. BKSH is owned by Burson-Marsteller, so Penn cannot honestly wash his hands of this one.

By the way, for a chuckle, check out Burson-Marsteller’s home page for the automatic streaming video (it’s called a “sprite”) of a woman who explains the firm’s capabilities, leaving no overused and trite cliché unspoken.