Blackwater latest

Francesca Akhtar · September 17, 2007

Hi everyone,

this post isn't directly relatd to the assassination but I know there has been mention of Blackwater on here so thought members might be interested in this:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070917/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

The BBC's take on it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6998788.stm

Ron Ecker · September 17, 2007

Who is playing games at or with Google?

I went to Google and searched Blackwater. I clicked on the second item that appeared, an article in Wikipedia. The article stated right off that Blackwater employees are "the scum of the earth." It was like reading the Onion.

I posted the link on another forum because I couldn't believe it. It was like it was too good to be true. And it was. When I followed the link I had posted (the same link from Google), I got a straightforward, non-critical article on Blackwater, but looking exactly the same as the article that vilified it.

What happened?

Ron Ecker · September 17, 2007

Peter,

Thanks, I guess that's the only explanation that makes sense. (Except for one that I don't want to consider.)

Ron

John Simkin · September 18, 2007

Who is playing games at or with Google?
I went to Google and searched Blackwater. I clicked on the second item that appeared, an article in Wikipedia. The article stated right off that Blackwater employees are "the scum of the earth." It was like reading the Onion.

I posted the link on another forum because I couldn't believe it. It was like it was too good to be true. And it was. When I followed the link I had posted (the same link from Google), I got a straightforward, non-critical article on Blackwater, but looking exactly the same as the article that vilified it.

What happened?

This happens all the time. Editors critical of Blackwater, Bush, CIA, etc. edit the relevant page to say something critical. However, the editor in charge, who claims to be objective, in reality, someone on the right, removes the critical comments straight away.

The only chance you have of keeping your edit online is to fully reference the article. I did this with Operation Mockingbird and they then left it alone.

Francesca Akhtar · September 18, 2007

Thanks for the added info Peter - very interesting. Can't say I'm surprised at the reaction in the White House. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

Re: pages mysteriously disappearing / being editied on the internet, someone I know told me that they were doing some research on someone involved in the assassination and had found some links via google with a lot of information. She said the next day she went back and typed exactly what she had the day before but this time her results came up blank. Not one link. She said after a few days she tried again and this time some of the links reappeared but with some of the 'more interesting' ones omitted.

Jack White · September 18, 2007

From the FWST, 2004:

Here’s a pretty good article from ’04 ...

Less-equipped contractors paid to do military's work 'Today is absolutely tragic. It's

chilling'

By Scott Dodd;peter Smolowitz

Source: THE FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM

Credit: Knight Ridder News Service

Thursday,April 1, 2004

Edition: FINAL, Section: News, Page 1A

Printer friendly Email this story

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--The former police officers and special operations soldiers who work for Blackwater USA in northeastern North

Carolina find themselves playing an unprecedented, controversial and little-known role in the occupation of Iraq.

With the U.S. military stretched thin, they have lucrative jobs -- civilian security forces can earn more than $15,000 a month -- defusing roadside bombs, escorting food convoys,

protecting visiting dignitaries and even guarding U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer.

They often work in the most dangerous parts of the country, including the town of Fallujah, where four Blackwater employees were ambushed and killed in their

sport utility vehicles Wednesday. Dancing Iraqis dragged their charred corpses through the streets and hung two of them from a bridge.

Hearing the early reports, Susie Randolph of Horry County, S.C., immediately feared for her husband, David. A former police officer, David Randolph heads a Blackwater

security team based nine miles from Fallujah, which he calls Iraq's "baddest town."

On Wednesday afternoon, Randolph called his wife by satellite phone to tell her that his group was safe. She could hear helicopters firing in the background.

After 15 minutes, he hung up, saying some co-workers were pinned down and needed help.

"I just try to think the Lord is going to take care of him and he's going to be all right," Susie Randolph said Wednesday. "That's the only thing I can think with four kids."

National security analysts say that as the war on terrorism continues, more and more jobs once done by soldiers are being handled by for-profit contractors who often have less

equipment and less training.

"We weren't being realistic with ourselves about the role the contractors played and the potential risks," said Peter Singer, a Charlotte native with the Brookings Institution in

Washington, D.C., who wrote Corporate Warriors, a book about private defense contractors. "There's a lot more dangers and a lot more costs."

Blackwater's success is a result of the military's increased reliance on civilian partners. Founded in 1996 by a former Navy Seal, it recruits

in part from police departments and military bases in the Carolinas and has extensive dealings with the Defense Department.

The company has been awarded more than $57 million in contracts since 2002, according to government records and an inspector general's report. Its responsibilities include

training more than 10,000 Navy sailors in security each year and providing guards and two helicopters for Bremer's security detail.

The company's 6,000-acre compound in Moyock, N.C., is a half-hour drive from Norfolk, Va., and the world's largest Navy base. It uses elaborate facilities to train the military and

law enforcement officers -- such as a mock R.U. Ready High School that simulates Columbine-like attacks.

"They are one of the largest employers in the region," said Wayne Leary, Currituck County economic development director. He estimates that it employs more than 200 people in

the area.

Providing security appears to be Blackwater's newest operation. Blackwater Security Consulting LLC -- the division that employed the four

men killed Wednesday in Iraq -- was formed last year, North Carolina records show.

The company wouldn't say much. Its founder was out of town Wednesday, and a company spokesman declined to say whether the employees killed in Fallujah were from North

Carolina.

Besides security, the Pentagon is relying more on contractors to fill other traditional military roles, such as training Iraqi police and providing troops with food and housing.

National security analysts say the military is stretched thin and doesn't have enough troops to do all the jobs.

Part of the motivation is political as well, said Mark Burgess of the Washington-based Center for Defense Information. Using contractors keeps down the casualty counts of U.S.

troops, and there's usually less outcry after violence.

"It almost puts a layer between political bosses and events on the ground," Burgess said. "Appearances are everything."

But Burgess said giving contractors a more prominent role is likely to inflame Iraqis angry about the high-paying jobs going to foreigners -- much the same as U.S. workers are

upset when jobs are outsourced.

More than 15,000 contractors work in Iraq -- about one for every 10 U.S. soldiers, said Singer, of the Brookings Institution.

More than $20 billion -- one-third of the U.S. Army's operating budget in Iraq and Afghanistan -- goes toward contractors, he said.

"They are playing a whole range of mission-critical roles," Singer said. "That's in spite of our doctrine which says you don't turn over mission-critical roles to private contractors."

The Pentagon does not track the exact number of contractors or their casualties. Singer estimates that at least 30 have been killed in Iraq and about 180 have been wounded. That

total does not include missionaries or contractors handling reconstruction projects.

"They are very clearly going after civilian contractors, and today is absolutely tragic," Singer said. "It's chilling."

To our readers

We realize that the photograph to the right is disturbing, but the editors felt it was necessary to publish at least a small image to accurately convey the horror of the incident. You can

let us know your opinion by contacting our reader advocate at (817) 390-7692 or dhouse@star-telegram.com.

1. Photo: THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT/STEVE EARLEY VIA AP Two guards stand at the gate to the Blackwater training facility in Moyock, N.C. Blackwater

Security Consulting, which employed the four men killed in Iraq, was formed last year.

Jack White · September 18, 2007

Keep in mind that Blackwater is only one of many mercenary groups. Don't forget

Wackenhut, Kroll and Halliburton:

..........

History

of private military companies

The mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous, and if anyone supports his state by the arms of mercenaries, he will never stand firm or sure, as they are disunited, ambitious, without

discipline, faithless, bold amongst friends, cowardly amongst enemies, they have no fear of God, and keep no faith with men...wrote Machiavelli in The Prince.

As Peter W. Singer says in his book, Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry (ISBN 0801441145), "[T]he monopoly of the state over violence is the exception in world

history, rather than the rule. The state itself is a rather new unit of governance, appearing only in the last four hundred years. Moreover, it drew from the private violence market to build its public power."

And as Lt. Col. Tim Spicer says in his book, An Unorthodox Soldier: Peace and War in the Sandline Affair (ISBN 1840183497), "Mercenary soldiering has a long and honorable history...When

something is both widespread and long lasting, there must be some fundamental reason for it. In the case of mercenaries, the reasons why they have continued to survive and prosper down the centuries

can be reduced to just two: efficiency and technology."

The War on Terror and the 21st Century

The modern private military company has evolved from a hybrid of the wild activities of rogue white officers, and their African recruits, often linked with intelligence agencies running around Africa, and

their more legitimate counterparts working under contract from Cold War hero countries. This coupled with the risk advisory services offered to corporations by companies like Kroll, Inc. and CRG and

the introduction of more legitimate players from the high ranks of big militaries have come together to offer security to companies doing business in hostile regions and to countries seeking to upgrade

their militaries.

The war in Iraq and Afghanistan along with the promised long global war against terror has created a boom in the security and risk advisory market. Trained and experienced military personnel from

Special Forces units in the US, UK, Israel and South Africa are retiring to take part. The same is true for the intelligence agencies as companies aiding business ventures in Iraq like GlobalOptions and

Diligence see executives on the boards from the CIA, DIA, FBI, the Secret Service, FEMA and MI6.

Many companies are subsidiaries of larger firms. MPRI and Titan were bought by L-3 Communications which is traded on the NYSE. Defence Systems Limited was bought by Armor Holdings, Inc.,

renamed ArmorGroup than bought out by its board. Group 4 Securicor is a merger between Group 4 Falck and the Wackenhut Corporation providing services from armed prison guards to guarding

embassies to supplying electronic surveillance. Computer Sciences Corporation acquired DynCorp.

Many of these companies, while paid with taxpayer money when working under government contracts, are often registered offshore somewhere, escaping tax on many profits from re-entering the

representative, public Treasury.

Other companies provide specialized advice and training for maritime concerns such as Executive Solutions International, LLC (ESI). The threat to port cities where liquefied natural gas comes in on

container ships could be severe. Pirating and other attacks on the high seas are a threat in many areas of the world. Companies are developing to meet the security needs of cities and companies subject to

terrorist or other attacks on shipments.

The laws surrounding hired soldiers and civilian contractors is not clear and not well defined under international agreements. This is a reason why increasingly the focus is regulation at the national level;

e.g. as the licensing mechanisms used by the United States and South Africa demonstrate. Yet many of the hired soldiers are not American; they could be from the country of conflict, or flown in from

Chile, El Salvador, or South Africa. Exactly what jurisdiction, aside from their employer, they are under is, according to some commentators, uncertain. [1]

This is true for American contractors as well. Civilian contractors working for Dyncorp in the Balkan wars were implicated by a fellow employee for indulging in a child prostitution and sale ring in the

war torn country. [2] Those who turned in the employees were fired, and later the offending employees were fired , however not charged with anything. [3]

Some of the interrorgators in the Abu Ghraib crimes were civilian contractors provided by Titan and CACI. They have yet to be charged for any crimes, however they are being sued as are the two

companies. [4][5][6] All three companies have continued to receive large wartime contracts from the US government.

Points of Interest

The Center for Public Integrity: Making A Killing: The Business of War

"At least 90 companies that provide services normally performed by national military forces but without the same degree of public oversight have operated in 110 countries worldwide." [7]

"Arms dealers have profited from a massive unregulated sell off of low price surplus armaments into the most fragile, conflict-ridden states and failed states. The weapons, mostly from

state-owned Eastern European factories, have found their way to Angola, Sudan, Ethiopia, Colombia, Congo-Brazzaville, Sri Lanka, Burundi and Afghanistan where conflicts have led to the deaths

of up to 10 million people during the past decade." [8]

"Since 1994, the U.S. Defense Department has entered into 3,061 contracts with 12 of the 24 U.S.-based PMCs identified by ICIJ, a review of government documents showed. Pentagon records

valued those contracts was more than $300 billion. More than 2,700 of those contracts were held by just two companies: Kellogg Brown & Root and Booz Allen Hamilton. Because of the

limited information the Pentagon provides and the breadth of services offered by some of the larger companies, it was impossible to determine what percentage of these contracts was for training,

security or logistical services." [9]

"The International Traffic in Arms Regulations Law (ITAR) requires PMCs to obtain approval from the State Department before selling their services to a foreign government. State's Office of

Defense Trade Controls reviews contract proposals to ensure they do not violate sanctions or other U.S. policy. However, PMCs can also sell their services abroad through the Defense

Department's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, which does not require any licensing by State. Under FMS, the Pentagon pays the contractor for services offered to a foreign government,

which in turn reimburses the Pentagon." [10]

Outsourcing the Pentagon

The following is according to the Center for Public Integrity's Outsourcing the Pentagon:

"In April [2002], the Army told Congress that its best guess was that the Army had between 124,000 and 605,000 service contract workers. In October, the Army announced that it would permit

contractors to compete for "non-core" positions held by 154,910 civilian workers (more than half of the Army's civilian workforce) and 58,727 military personnel." [11]

"In 2003, the IG [inspector General] reported that out of 113 service contract actions reviewed (with an estimated value of $17.8 billion), at least 98 had one or more problems, including

inadequate competition, lack of surveillance, or inadequate price reasonableness determinations." [12]

"The Freedom of Information Act applies to "agency" records. Contractors, in this context, are not "agencies," even where they perform decisional roles. Similarly, government officials are

subject to a body of conflict of interest provisions, pay caps, limits on political activity, and labor rules that do not similarly constrain contractors who perform similar, even the same, work." [13]

"Between 1998 and 2003, the Pentagon awarded more than $47 billion in contracts designated for small businesses to companies that have each earned more than $100 million from Defense

Department contracts alone during that six year period." [14]

"The homeland security industry is currently the fastest growing sector of the U.S. economy, predicted to grow from a $5 billion industry in 2000 to $130 billion in 2010, according to the

Homeland Security Research Corporation, a private California think tank." [15]

Corporate warriors

In 2002, Peter W. Singer wrote the following in "Corporate Warriors: The Rise and Ramifications of the Privatized Military Industry" by Peter W. Singer. (Links to 91K/46 page .pdf file.)

"With the rise of the privatized military industry, actors in the global system can access capabilities that extend across the entire spectrum of military activity-from a team of commandos to a wing

of fighter jets-simply by becoming a business partner."? (pg. 1-2)

"Many PMFs operate as "virtual companies." Similar to Internet firms that limit their expenditure on fixed (brick and mortar) assets, most PMFs do not maintain standing forces but draw from

databases of qualified personnel and specialized subcontractors on a contract-by-contract basis." (pg. 15)

"The unrestricted access to military services ushered in by the rise of the privatized military industry has clearly enhanced the role of nonstate groups which at one time had been at a disadvantage

in a system dominated by states. PMFs provide these groups with new options and new paths to power not imagined until very recently." (pg. 31)

"The ultimate problem with PMFs is that they diffuse responsibility. Questions about who monitors, regulates, and punishes employees or companies that go astray are still to be fully answered.

That many of these firms are chartered in offshore accounts complicates the matter further." (pg. 34)

Recruiting candidates

In "Transfering Costs of War to Latin America is Morally, Politically Wrong" in The Miami Herald, January 29, 2005, Geoff Thale observes:

"In El Salvador, the security firms are said to be pleased with the candidates they have found. Many of them served in the Salvadoran armed forces; they are highly motivated, because they are

being paid several times what they could earn in the Salvadoran economy; and they are cheap, because even paying five times what an average Salvadoran earns means that the security firms are

paying far less than they would have to pay to recruit U.S. civilians to do this work."

"The U.S. military contracts out elements of security operations to U.S. companies, who recruit relatively low-cost Latin Americans to fill the jobs. The contractors keep labor costs down, thus

helping their bottom line. The Latin Americans are poor, need the work and benefit from what are -- by their standards -- high salaries."

"Latin America and other less-developed regions shouldn't serve as a cheap labor pool to recruit people for dangerous jobs that are part of the U.S. military mission in Iraq. It may be tempting to

pay others to take risks for us. It may be particularly tempting to pay people from foreign countries such as El Salvador, Colombia or Chile, so that we don't experience the human cost of

casualties or deaths ourselves. But it's not morally acceptable."

"U.S. military and government officials are attempting to avoid paying the political cost in the United States of the war in Iraq by hiring poor Latin Americans to do part of the fighting and the

dying in place of U.S. citizens. Whether one supports or opposes the U.S. war in Iraq, one can agree that it is the U.S. military that ought to bear the burden of fighting a war that the United

States initiated. Allies may join in and send their own troops in support if they so choose. But U.S. contractors working for the Pentagon shouldn't be recruiting civilians in Latin America to bear

the burden of carrying out a U.S. military mission."

"When a U.S. soldier is wounded or killed in combat, his or her family, neighbors and community feel the weight of the war and ask themselves, Is it worth it? In a democracy such as the

United States, it is important for citizens to share the burden related to military action abroad, feel the impact and make the judgment about whether it's worthwhile."

Creating distance

The July 3, 2003 cover feature, Soldiers of Good Fortune by Barry Yeoman for The Independent Weekly makes the following assertions:

"Private military corporations become a way to distance themselves and create what we used to call 'plausible deniability,'" says Daniel Nelson, a former professor of civil-military relations at the

Defense Department's Marshall European Center for Security Studies. "It's disastrous for democracy."

"The lack of oversight alarms some members of Congress. "Under a shroud of secrecy, the United States is carrying out military missions with people who don't have the same level of

accountability," says Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a leading congressional critic of privatized war. "We have individuals who are not obligated to follow orders or follow the Military Code of

Conduct. Their main obligation is to their employer, not to their country."

"An analysis shows that 17 of the nation's leading private military firms have invested more than $12.4 million in congressional and presidential campaigns since 1999."

"In 2001, according to the most recent federal disclosure forms, 10 private military companies spent more than $32 million on lobbying."

"Federal law bans U.S. soldiers from participating in Colombia's war against left-wing rebels and from training army units with ties to right-wing paramilitaries infamous for torture and political

killings. There are no such restrictions on for-profit companies, though, and since the late 1990s, the United States has paid private military companies an estimated $1.2 billion, both to eradicate

coca crops and to help the Colombian army put down rebels who use the drug trade to finance their insurgency."

"The Pentagon has become so dependent on private military companies that it literally cannot wage war without them. Troops already rely on for-profit contractors to maintain 28 percent of all

weapons systems."

"There are some weapons systems that the U.S. military forces do not have the capability to do their own maintenance on," concedes David Young, a deputy commander at the Defense Contract

Management Agency."

Accountability

Lt. Col. Tim Spicer makes the following remarks in his book, An Unorthodox Soldier: Peace and War and the Sandline Affair:

"Another frequent allegation about PMCs is that they are "not accountable." Not accountable to whom? World opinion? Outside politicians? I can only speak for Sandline, but we are always

accountable, to our own policies and ethos and to our client government, with whom we always have a binding contract."? (pg. 24)

"[T]he majority of legitimate PMCs are quite capable of continuing to operate and grow without the introduction of a regulatory regime. PMCs will accept external regulation if it is manageable

and adds to their commercial aspirations and operational effectiveness. [ ] I would suggest that since PMCs operate in an international setting and in high-risk, volatile situations, the sort of

heavy-handed regulation employed in other areas of public concern might not be entirely appropriate." (pg. 27)

"Any PMC must adhere to the law of armed conflict, as defined by the Geneva Convention, and show a respect for human dignity and human rights. Although our operatives are always enlisted

in the forces of the governments who employ us, not least to ensure a clear chain of command, if one of our people were told, for example, to attack a village, an action which would unnecessarily

endanger innocent lives, he would not do it." (pg. 53)

Trade association view

Doug Brooks, president of the International Peace Operations Association, a representative group for PMCs makes the following statements:

Contrary to various media reports, private security company (PSC) employees in Iraq are not becoming overnight millionaires. Sensational reports of $1500 or even $3500 per day salaries tax

free float around in the media, but the reality is far different. Private security professionals with the highest qualifications and suffering the greatest risk may earn as much as $700 per day, far

below the sensational salaries many experts have been claiming. [16]

Skilled private contractors in Iraq are doing everything from rebuilding the education system and electrical grids to protecting fledgling democracy efforts. It is critical that the industry spearhead

efforts challenging rogue companies and contractors who violate the public trust. [17]

The reality is that every UN or regional peace operation in existence today requires and utilizes the services of the private sector. IPOA members have proven their effectiveness and value in these

operations. [18]

In a globalized economy, all transnational companies, whether their focus is manufacturing, mining, transportation or even security, look for employees with the required skill sets from local,

regional, and international sources. [19]

Jack White · September 18, 2007