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25 September 2007 [ More relevant articles about the "Salvador option and Iraq's death squads... ] *Read also part 1: "Iraq: Security Companies and Training Camps" (Sarah Meyer, 17 May 2006) |
* Sarah Meyer articles and researches published by the BRussells Tribunal.
Italian Squadristi
There is an uncanny resemblance between the the WW2 Italian Squadristi [1], Blackwater and the thousands of other “security” forces.
SECURITY, OED. "The condition of being
protected from or not exposed to danger; freedom from doubt; Now, chiefly,
well-founded confidence, certainty; freedom from care, anxiety or
apprehension."
There is no such thing as "security". "Security" companies were formed to
make money on our anxieties, just as pharmaceutical companies financially
thrive on anxiety about health and have a vested interest in illness.
Dirk Adriaensens has been involved with Iraq for 17 years. He is on the
executive committee of the
BRussels Tribunal and is the coordinator of SOS Iraq. He writes:
"Security guys and gals don't have to abide by the Geneva Conventions. They
do as they wish. No rules, no regulations. They can operate with impunity.
As such these "security companies" can be called "death squads". Not "Angels
of Death" but "Devils of Death". For this, they make a lot of money.
Privatization of war is big, big business."
The documentation by The BRussells Tribunal in
The Salvador Option Exposed asks "Who is Blowing up Iraq?" There is a
full list of articles concerning death squads published on The BRussells
Tribunal website.
We have to ask what is the motive for violent occupation, for violence in
one's own country as well as in another's country. Security Company Death
Squads Timeline is a follow - up to Sarah Meyer's original article,
Iraq Security Companies and Training Camps (17.05.06). This first
research contained the history with lists of security companies. The present
article is resource material which has been collected since May 2006.
+
1.
AEGIS
2.
ARMORGROUP
3.
BEARINGPOINT
4.
BLACKWATER
5.
CACI
6.
CONTROL RISKS
7.
CRESCENT SECURITY GROUP
8.
CTU SECURITY CONSULTING INC.
9.
DYNCORP
10.
EODT
11.
ERINYS
12.
GARDAWORLD
13.
GSI
14.
HALLIBURTON/ KBR
15.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN
16.
PARSONS
17.
TITAN
18.
TOKAI
19.
TRIPLE CANOPY
20.
GENERAL
Security Companies
Security Contracts to Continue in Iraq
04.02.07. Walter Pincus, Washington Post. New Top Commander Counts Hired
Guards Among His Assets. … Aegis Defence Services Ltd., a British
security firm, has about 1,000 employees in Iraq, about 250 of them Iraqis,
under a $300 million contract that began in 2004. … A sample check of the
personnel records of 20 of 125 Iraqi nationals then on the payroll found no
evidence of an interview for six, no evidence of a police background check
on 18 and no records at all on two. "As a result, there is no assurance that
the Iraqi national employees do not pose an internal security threat," the
inspection report said. … Another contract up for bids is the operation of
the Counterinsurgency Center for Excellence (COIN CFE) for up to three years
at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, in a section called the Phoenix Academy,
which is devoted to joint U.S.-Iraqi training. Established in 2005 by Army
Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the commander of Multi-National Force-Iraq then,
it will now operate under Petraeus, who recently rewrote the Army's
counterinsurgency manual.
Iraq's Mercenary King.
15.03.07. R. Baer, ICH. As good as John le Carre novel! "According to a
February 2006 Government Accountability Office report, there were
approximately 48,000 private military contractors in Iraq, employed by 181
different companies. There may now be many more."'As a former C.I.A. agent,
the author knows how mercenaries work: in the shadows. But how did a
notorious former British officer, Tim Spicer, come to coordinate the
second-largest army in Iraq—the tens of thousands of private security
contractors (AEGIS)?' ... Article also mentions Blackwater, Dyncorp, Hart
Security, Erinys ... "Private military companies—companies providing
security in the field—make up a $30-billion-a-year industry globally ..."
U.S. Pays Millions In Cost Overruns For Security in Iraq.
12.08.07. S. Fainaru, Washington Post. The U.S. military has paid $548
million over the past three years to two British security firms that protect
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on reconstruction projects, more than $200
million over the original budget, according to previously undisclosed data
that show how the cost of private security in Iraq has mushroomed./ The two
companies, Aegis Defence Services and Erinys Iraq, signed their
original Defense Department contracts in May 2004. By July of this year, the
contracts supported a private force that had grown to about 2,000 employees
serving the Corps of Engineers. The force is about the size of three
military battalions. ... The size of this force and its cost have never been
documented. The Pentagon has said that about 20,000 security contractors
operate in Iraq, although some estimates are considerably higher. ... Aegis
and Erinys work side-by-side in Baghdad's
Green Zone.
How BAE and a rather mysterious Labour peer get rich as our troops die
02.09.07. Craig Murray, uruknet. To you and me, the Iraq and Afghan wars may
look like unmitigated disasters. Hundreds of our young soldiers have died,
as have untold thousands of local civilians, but to what end? Even the
minority who supported the invasion of Iraq are inclined to agree that the
subsequent occupation has been catastrophically handled. Iraq is more than
ever a failed state, with an abysmal decline in the most basic water, energy
and health services for the majority of the population. Armed militias
control their little fiefdoms, sometimes actually constituting the laughably
named Iraqi security services. Nowhere is that more true than in Basra, now
controlled from Tehran, while our troops hunker in ditches under mortar fire
and take casualties whenever they venture out on patrol. Last month, for the
second time, the Iraqi governor of one of the provinces we had declared
secure and 'handed over' to Iraqi forces was murdered, almost certainly not
by Al Qaeda but by the very warring factions to whom we have handed control.
Meanwhile in Afghanistan, the drugs warlords we promoted to the Karzai
government preside over massively increased opium harvests and busy heroin
factories (...) These wars have also introduced us to the new phenomenon of
'legitimate' mercenary companies such as Aegis Defence Services .
There are currently up to three times as many British mercenaries as British
troops in Iraq. Tony Blair's favourite mercenary soldier, Colonel Tim
Spicer, famed for his involvement in failed coups with Sandline and
Executive Outcomes and now boss of Aegis Specialist Risk Management, has
added many millions to his private fortune. But the biggest British
beneficiary has been BAE Systems – formerly British Aerospace –
highlighting its extraordinary and poisonous relationship with New Labour...
U.S. Army Awards Iraq Security Work To British Firm.
14.09.07. A. Klein, Washington Post. The U.S. military confirmed yesterday
that it awarded the largest security contract in Iraq to a private British
firm, Aegis Defence Services, in a deal worth up to $475 million over
two years.
2. ARMORGROUP
Headed by the Conservative MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind, earned 50% of its £129m
revenues from Iraq last year. See Guardian story below, 'General' (02.04.07)
Second British Firm Bids for Iraq Security Contract.
12.05.07. Klein / Fainaru, Washington Post. Armourgroup has bid for what is
believed to be the largest U.S. security contract in Iraq, Worth about
$475m. ArmorGroup already is one of the largest security firms in Iraq, with
more than 1,200 employees. It says it is the largest convoy escort
contractor in Iraq -- accounting for about 30 percent of convoys --
including about 1,200 missions last year. … the potential bidders also
include Aegis Defence Services.
Three Iraqi contractors killed in southern Iraq.
25.06.07. Reuters. Three Iraqi security contractors working for the
British-based ArmorGroup were killed in a roadside bomb attack on their
convoy near the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Monday. Two foreign
contractors were wounded in the attack, said Major David Gell, a British
military spokesman in Basra, quoting a statement from the company. He did
not give their nationality.
3. BEARING POINT
BearingPoint Gets Contested Iraq Contract.
28.07.03. finance.pro2net.
Bearing Point.
Sourcewatch. " In July of 2003, BearingPoint was awarded a contract by USAID
worth $79.5 million to facilitate Iraq's economic recovery with a two-year
option worth a total of $240,162,688."
HHS Selects BearingPoint to Provide HSPD-12 Credentialing Services.
01.08.07. Business wire. Pilot and Full Capability Project to Be Implemented
Immediately. BearingPoint, Inc. (NYSE:BE), one of the world’s largest
management and technology consulting firms, today announced it has been
selected to perform an Identity and Access Management Pilot and Full
Capability implementation for the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. The objective of the pilot is to validate a process for supplying
secure identification or “smart cards” to 112,000 HHS employees and
contractors.
Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army
Katrina
Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans.
19.09.05. JEREMY SCAHILL, truthout. Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries
from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq,
are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the mercenaries
say they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor; indeed some are
wearing gold Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and
Blackwater photo identification cards on their arms. They say they are on
contract with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the
authority to use lethal force.
Surviving At The Pleasure Of The President
27.03.07. Sheila Samples, ICH. "Blackwater is in place to become this
nation's shadow police force and is its current shadow army. Go back to the
"dry run" of Katrina and take a look at the heavily armed force that laid
seige to New Orleans, that sped through the streets rounding up hurricane
victims, packing them into a "detention" arena where they were forced to
stay for days without food or water or assistance. Go back even further --
the bodies hanging from the bridge in Fallujah were not US soldiers, but
Blackwater mercenaries -- death squad troops 100,000 strong who roam the
Iraqi streets at will and stir up violence and hatred against the uniformed
US military."
New Orleans After 24 Months
01.09.08. Greg Palast, ICH. We needed an answer to a weird, puzzling and
horrific discovery. Among the miles and miles of devastated houses, rubble
still there today in New Orleans, we found dry, beautiful homes. But their
residents were told by guys dressed like Ninjas wearing "Blackwater"
badges: "Try to go into your home and we' 'll arrest you."
2006
Beating the Drums of War. US Troop Build-up: Army & Marines authorize
"Involuntary Conscription..
23.08.06. Mahdi D. Nazemroaya, Global Research. U.S. Army & Marines are
recalling thousands of Inactive Servicemen; The Timing of the U.S. Troop
Build-up: Iran, and the Broader Middle East; The Role of Mercenaries in
Iraq; The Build-Up of U.S. troops in Baghdad and the Green Zone; The Mystery
of Coalition Casualty Figures, the Inverse Relationship(s) between Civilian
Deaths and Coalition Deaths, Sectarian Violence, and Balkanization;
Deceiving the Public on the Military Agenda from Woodrow Wilson to Bush Jr.;
The Authority to involuntarily conscript individuals in the Ongoing War:
What does that mean?; All Signs lead to more Militarization and possibility
for Conflict in the Middle East
Blackwater Shot Down in Federal Court.
24.08.06. The Nation / Truth Out. In a major blow to one of the most
infamous war profiteers operating in Iraq, Afghanistan and New Orleans, a
federal appeals court has ruled that a wrongful death lawsuit filed against
the mercenary firm Blackwater USA can proceed in North Carolina's state
courts. The suit was brought by the families of the four Blackwater
contractors ambushed and killed in Falluja, Iraq on March 31, 2004.
Revolving Door to Blackwater Causes Alarm at CIA..
12.09.06. K. Silverstein, Harpers. …today, Blackwater reportedly has
revenues of about $100 million annually, almost all of it from government
contracts, and maintains “a compound half the size of Manhattan and 450
permanent employees,” … on Monday, the Washington Post had a front-page
story saying that CIA counterterrorism officers have “signed up in growing
numbers for a government-reimbursed, private insurance plan that would pay
their civil judgments and legal expenses if they are sued or charged with
criminal wrongdoing . . .
In Iraq, contractor deaths near 650, legal fog thickens
10.10.06. Reuters. The legal cases involve Blackwater Security and
Halliburton.
Waxman opens fire on Blackwater
12.12.06. J. Holland, Alternet.
2007
Rep Price (NC) calls for war contractor accountability
10.01.07. southern studies. North Carolina calls itself "the most
military-friendly state in the country." It's home to several key military
bases that have been engaged in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and it's also
home to private contracts like Blackwater International and
Research Triangle Institute. This makes it especially noteworthy that
Rep. David Price (D-4th District) today has announced legislation to boost
oversight of military contractors overseas. Here's the announcement from
Price's office: ...
Security firm sues lawyer over lawsuit in Iraq death case
20.01.07. Star Bulletin. Private security contractor Blackwater USA
is seeking $10 million from the attorney representing the estates of four
employees killed and mutilated in Iraq, arguing their families breached the
security guards' contracts by suing the company for wrongful death. … The
insurgents burned and mutilated the guards and strung two of the bodies from
a bridge. The gruesome scene, caught on camera and broadcast worldwide,
prompted the U.S. military to launch a three-week siege of Fallujah. The
families said yesterday that Blackwater also has asked a federal court to
move the dispute into arbitration, having failed so far in its ongoing
efforts to have the lawsuit dismissed. Arbitration is necessary "in order to
safeguard both (Blackwater's) own confidential information as well as
sensitive information implicating the interest of the United States at war,"
attorneys for Blackwater Security Consulting, a unit of Moyock-based
Blackwater USA, wrote in a petition filed December 20. ... Dan Callahan, a
California-based attorney representing the families, called the claim
"appalling." … "This is a shock-and-awe tactic," Callahan said yesterday.
Blackwater silent after helicopter crashes in Iraq, killing five
23.01.07. AP,MIKE BAKER. This page is no longer available. 'Officials at
security contractor Blackwater USA were silent Tuesday after a
company helicopter crashed in central Baghdad, killing five American
civilians onboard and rekindling memories of the brutal slaying and
mutilation of four employees in 2004'.
4 Americans in Iraq Crash Shot in Head
24.01.07. CBS.
Our mercenaries in Iraq
25.01.07. J. Scahill, LA Times / Fairuse. Now, Blackwater is back in
the news, providing a reminder of just how privatized the war has become.
Outsourcing Iraq war a grave threat to democracy
25.01.07. J. Scahill,chron.com. This article no longer available: Summary:
'We should say no to the wider use of mercenaries. … They were highly
trained mercenaries deployed to Iraq by a secretive private military company
based in North Carolina — Blackwater USA. … From Iraq and Afghanistan
to the hurricane-ravaged streets of New Orleans to meetings with Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger about responding to disasters in California, Blackwater
envisions itself as the FedEx of defense and homeland security operations.
Such power in the hands of one company, run by a neocrusader bankroller of
the president, embodies the "military-industrial complex" President
Eisenhower warned against in 1961. Further privatizing the country's war
machine — or inventing new back doors for military expansion with fancy
names like the Civilian Reserve Corps — would represent a devastating
blow to the future of American democracy.'
Bush's "Private Military Contractors" Fight and Die Unchecked in Iraq: The
Blackwater Story
29.01.07. Buzzflash.
Blackwater: The Rise of the World's
Most Powerful Mercenary Army
Jeremy Scahill, Nation Books, 2007
Blackwater contractors linked by common threads
01.02.07. Hampton Roads.
New Congress to shine a spotlight on Blackwater USA
05.02.07. Hampton roads.
After many denials, US Army confirms private security contract in Iraq
07.02.04. AP /topix. Blackwater is named as being involved in a
'hidden' contract which "perhaps might have bern illegal."
MARCH-APRIL 2007
Blackwater -- Bush’s Republican Guard
01.03.07. Yuram Weiler, Tehran Times.
White Hot Rage
21.03.07. C. Sheehan, ICH. "I have long suspected that Blackwater
Security and L. Paul Bremer (what’s his nickname? Scooter?
Pookie?) were responsible for the insurgency in Iraq and subsequently the
death of my son, Casey. I am reading Jeremy Scahill’s new book: Blackwater
and it is doing nothing to decrease my suspicions, only confirm them."
Making a Killing: America's Private Army and the Business of War
25.03.07. D. Zlutnick, Area Intermedia / uruknet. These private companies
are part of a huge surge in the outsourcing of war, which is extremely
evident in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, Colombia, Haiti, and numerous other
countries. Private contractors are the second-largest con- tingent of the
"Coalition of the Willing" with a ratio of about one armed con- tractor for
every two American soldiers.
Jeremy Scahill on Soldiers of Fortune.
30.03.07. Truthdig, transcript and audio file
Massive security contractor faces growing protest in rural California town
over 842-acre base.
03.04.07. M. Rafferty / M. Kane, Raw Story. But if private security
contractor Blackwater USA gets its way, this 850-strong community
will soon host an 824-acre military training base, replacing the erstwhile
chicken ranch with fifteen firing ranges and an emergency vehicle operator’s
course the length of ten football fields. . A RAW STORY investigation has
already led to the removal of one lawyer connected to the project. The
inquiry has also discovered that California congressman and current
presidential candidate Duncan Hunter -- who is the ranking member of the
House Armed Services Committee -- is a client of the firm, Blackwater USA, a
massive US security contractor in Iraq.
MAY 2007
Blackwater Rising
02.05.07. UPI/legitgov. The world's most controversial security service is
now open for business in Illinois... According to critics, Blackwater is
nothing more than a corporate warlord, based in North Carolina, with a
payroll of hired gunslingers-- hundreds of them now protecting diplomats and
contractors in Iraq... The firm has received hundreds of millions of dollars
in State Department security contracts the past few years. But Blackwater
also has a law enforcement training division. And the company says the
facility it just opened in northern Illinois is for police training.
US: Blackwater lawsuit accuses ex-employee of stealing secrets.
10.05.07. Bill Sizemore, The Virginian-Pilot /Corpwatch. Blackwater USA is
accusing an ex-employee of stealing trade secrets in a case featuring
allegations of false imprisonment, gun-waving commandos, cloak-and-dagger
contracts and a late-night police raid.
New Scrutiny for Iraq Contractors.
Wall Street Journal Free Preview. ‘A Blackwater USA contractor's killing of
an Iraqi security guard is putting new pressure on the Bush administration
to prosecute private-company employees accused of crimes in Iraq, and
highlighting the murky legal status of the 130,000 foreign contractors
working there.’
Blackwater lawsuit over U.S. security contractors killed in Iraq headed for
private arbitration
25.05.07. AP/IHT.
Lawsuit in Outsourced US War Is Moved Out of Court
25.05.07. Reuters / Truth out. After years of high-stakes legal wrangling, a
lawsuit stemming from the gruesome deaths of four U.S. contractors in Iraq
is moving behind closed doors in an action seen as an important precedent
for the booming private security industry.
U.S. Security Contractors Open Fire in Baghdad
27.05.07. Fainaru / Saad al-Izzi, Washington Post. Blackwater
Employees Were Involved in Two Shooting Incidents in Past Week
JUNE 2007
What if our mercenaries turn on us?.
03.06.07. ***Chris Hedges, Philly.com, anti-war.com. “Armed units
from the private security firm Blackwater USA opened fire in Baghdad streets
twice in two days last week. It triggered a standoff between the security
contractors and Iraqi forces, a reminder that the war in Iraq may be
remembered mostly in our history books for empowering and building America's
first modern mercenary army. … Mercenary units are a vital instrument in the
hands of despotic movements. Communist and fascist movements during the last
century each built rogue paramilitary forces. And the appearance of
Blackwater fighters, heavily armed and wearing their trademark black
uniforms, patrolling the streets of New Orleans in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina, may be a grim taste of the future. In New Orleans
Blackwater charged the government $240,000 a day. … And the thugs with
automatic weapons, black uniforms and wraparound sunglasses who appeared on
the streets in New Orleans could appear on our streets.”
Blackwater Heavies Sue Families of Slain Employees for $10 Million in Brutal
Attempt to Suppress Their Story.
08.06.07. Daniel J. Callahan, Marc P. Miles, AlterNet The lawyers
representing the families of four American Blackwater contractors killed in
Fallujah make the case that the company's executives are suing the families
to keep them quiet and to avoid an accountability.
July 2007: AWOL
AUGUST 2007
A very private war.
01.08.07. J. Scahill, Guardian. There are 48,000 'security contractors' in
Iraq, working for private companies growing rich on the back of US policy.
But can it be a good thing to have so many mercenaries operating without any
democratic control? ... While there is ongoing outrage between Iraqis and
the military over such deadly incidents, this one came with a different, but
increasingly common, twist: The Americans involved in the shooting were
neither US military nor civilians. They were operatives working for a
secretive mercenary firm based in the wilderness of North Carolina. Its name
is Blackwater USA.
The Mercenary Revolution: Flush with Profits from the Iraq War, Military
Contractors See a World of Business Opportunities.
10.08.07. J. Scahill, Independent / uruknet. There are now almost 200,000
private "contractors" deployed in Iraq by Washington. This means that U.S.
military forces in Iraq are now outsized by a coalition of billing
corporations whose actions go largely unmonitored and whose crimes are
virtually unpunished.' Sections on: There's no democratic control; An Arm of
the Bush Administration; A Marketplace for Warfare; New World Disorder; The
Spy Who Billed Me; Multinational Mercenaries
Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army
19.08.07. Review. R. Liddle, timesonline.
Blackwater Buys Brazilian Bombers.
27.08.07. strategypage. Security company Blackwater U.S.A. is buying Super
Tucano light combat aircraft from the Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. These
five ton, single engine, single seat aircraft are built for pilot training,
but also perform quite well for counter-insurgency work. The aircraft can
carry up to 1.5 tons of weapons, including 12.7mm machine-guns, bombs and
missiles. … The aircraft is also used for border patrol.
Blackwater Offers Classes To Combat Active Shooters.
27.08.07. wtkr. Private security contractor Blackwater USA has developed an
intensive training course to prepare law enforcement officers for active
shooters like the one that killed 32 people at Virginia Tech.
Blackwater Starts Active-Threat Classes.
28.08.07. AP-forbes – legitgov. Private security contractor [Waffen-SS]
Blackwater USA has developed an intensive training course to prepare law
enforcement officers to handle active shooters such as the one who killed 32
people at Virginia Tech. The five-day session, advertised Monday, will put
trainees into simulated [false flag] scenarios at a mock high school and a
5,000-square-foot tactical house, among other facilities at Blackwater's
sprawling campus in northeastern North Carolina.
SEPTEMBER 2007
Iraqi police say security contractors open fire in western Baghdad, killing
at least 9
16.09.07. AP-IHT. That is, “9 civilians and wounding 18,” Iraqi police said.
US security firm banned from Iraq
17.09.07. rte.ie / legitgov. US security firm Blackwater has been banned
from operating in Iraq after eight civilians were killed inBaghdad
yesterday.
Will Iraq Kick out Blackwater
17.09.07. Time.
U.S. bans diplomatic ground movements in Iraq outside protected Green Zone
17.09.07. IHT. The United States on Tuesday suspended all land travel by
U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq outside Baghdad’s
heavily fortified Green Zone amid mounting public outrage over the alleged
killing of civilians by the U.S. Embassy’s security porvider Blackwater
USA.
Blackwater Guards Accused of Past Deaths
17.09.07. AP / legitgov. In the past year, employees of the Blackwater USA
security firm have been involved in other incidents in which they were
accused of killing civilians and security forces in Iraq. … [some details]
Rice apologises for US security firm shootings
18.09.07. E. MacAskill, Guardian. · Move to prevent Iraq government
expulsions · Blackwater guards blamed for deaths of eight civilians
Differences emerge over Blackwater shooting
18.09.07. news.com. [surprise, surprise]
What happens to private contractors who kill Iraqis? Maybe nothing.
18.09.07. A. Koppelman, M. Benjamin, Salon.com.
Checkbook Imperialism: The Blackwater Fiasco
18.09.07. Robert Shee, Truthdigg. Please, please, I tell myself, leave
Orwell out of it. Find some other, fresher way to explain why “Operation
Iraqi Freedom” is dependent upon killer mercenaries. Or why the
“democratically elected government” of “liberated” Iraq does not explicitly
have the legal power to expel Blackwater USA from its land or hold any of
the 50,000 private contractor troops that the U.S. government has brought to
Iraq accountable for their deadly actions.
Repugnant Black Water ...
18.09.07. Imad Khadduri, Free Iraq/uruknet. "Lawyer Hassan Jaber Salman
Al-Mayahi, who is one of the wounded in this incident told Agence
France-Press from his Yarmouk hospital bed "an explosion occurred near the
Al-Nisoor roundabout" as he was heading to the Ministry of Justice for an
appointment. He added " Four of the mercenary cars completely blocked the
streets and shouted to everybody in English to back away. There were only
two civilian cars in front of me as we turned around and managed to move to
! about a distance of 150 meters from them. Immediately after that, (and as
our backs were to them) they started shooting directly at us from their
elevated positions in their SUVs with medium and heavy machine guns. My car
was hit from the back by 12 bullets and was completely destroyed. I was hit
with four bullets in the back and a bullet in my arm." The lawyer added that
"the explosion was very far from the roundabout and there was no reason
whatsoever for this atrocity by the mercenaries. They even killed the
policeman standing in the roundabout in front of my eyes. I also saw an
elderly woman who was trying to get her son who was killed from inside his
car when they shot and killed her, too. I saw tens of civilians crawling on
their stomachs moving away from their cars with bullets streaming over their
heads."...
Wounded Iraqis: 'No one did anything' to provoke Blackwater
19.09.07. CNN.
Shooting shines light on murky world of Iraq security
19.09.07. Reuters / ICH. The Iraqi government might find it difficult to
prosecute the case, and even harder to revoke Blackwater's licence because
it most probably does not have a current one.
Iraqi prime minister disputes Blackwater USA's version of deadly shooting
19.09.07. newspress.com / ICH. A preliminary review by the Interior Ministry
found Blackwater security guards fired at a car when it did not heed a
policeman's call to stop, killing a couple and their infant. The report said
Blackwater helicopters also had fired - a finding the company denied. The
Defense Ministry said 20 Iraqis were killed, considerably higher than the 11
dead reported before.
Maliki Blasts Blackwater Firm
19.09.07. McClatchy / Truthout. Leila Fadel of the McClatchy Newspapers
reports, "Blackwater security guards who protect top U.S. diplomats in Iraq
have been involved in at least seven serious incidents, some of which
resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al
Maliki said Wednesday."
Despite Repeated Incidents, Blackwater, Others 'Rarely' Investigated
19.09.07. blogs.abc.
Congress weighs rules for private security firms in iraq.
19.09.07. McClatchy. [odds nothing happens here!]
Blackwater's 'Drug War' Bonanza
19.09.07. Village voice / legitgov.org. $15 billion of your money up in
smoke for under-fire mercenary company, other defense contractors. By
Harkavy 19 Sep 2007 While Blackwater's mercenaries beg for mercy for killing
a baby and 19 other people in Baghdad on Sunday, they're already working on
another lucrative government contract on yet another foreign adventure: the
"war on drugs." In a major new outsourcing deal reported by only a few
outlets, including the Army Times, Blackwater will divvy up a $15 billion
pot of government gold, along with four huge defense contractors: Raytheon,
Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and Arinc.
Armed Guards in Iraq Occupy a Legal Limbo
20.09.07. NY Times.
Where Military Rules Don't Apply
20.09.07. S. Fainaru, Washington Post. Blackwater's Security Force in Iraq
Given Wide Latitude by State Dept. … authority that exempted the company
from U.S. military regulations governing other security firms, according to
U.S. and Iraqi officials and industry representatives.
George W. Bush's Thug Nation
20.09.07. Robert Parry, Consortium News/ uruknet. Overseas, it now appears
that Bush has authorized "rules of engagement" that have transformed U.S.
Special Forces into "death squads," much like those that roamed Latin
America in the 1970s and 1980s identifying "subversives" and murdering them.
"Blackwater has no respect for the Iraqi people," an Iraqi Interior
Ministry official told the Washington Post. "They consider Iraqis like
animals, although actually I think they may have more respect for animals.
We have seen what they do in the streets. When they’re not shooting, they’re
throwing water bottles at people and calling them names. If you are
terrifying a child or an elderly woman, or you are killing an innocent
civilian who is riding in his car, isn’t that terrorism?" [Washington Post,
Sept. 20, 2007]
The highhandedness of the Blackwater mercenaries on the streets of
Baghdad or the contempt for traditional rules of war in the hills of
Afghanistan also resonate back to the marble chambers and well-appointed
salons of Washington, where swaggering tough-guyism reigns from the Oval
Office to the TV talk shows to Georgetown dinner parties.
On Sept. 19, Senate Republicans blocked an up-or-down vote on a bill seeking
to restore habeas corpus rights against arbitrary imprisonment for people
whom Bush unilaterally has designated "unlawful enemy combatants."
Bush’s supporters portrayed those who favored habeas corpus restoration as
impractical coddlers of America’s enemies.
Senate Dems Hear Whistleblower Claims of Abuse
21.09.07. Robert Brodsky, govexec.com. No government officials or
contractors appeared before the committee to tell their side of the story.
The Defense Department has declined to comment on some of the cases because
of pending lawsuits. Several of the contract companies cited no longer exist
and another (Blackwater) was asked to appear but declined. Vance said
his only crime was telling the FBI that his employer, Shield Group
Security, a now-defunct military contractor in Iraq, was selling weapons
to terrorists, bribing Iraqi officials and trading weapons and ammunition to
U.S. soldiers in exchange for liquor."The guards would threaten me and
physically assault me," Vance said. "For the first few weeks I was at
Camp Cropper I was denied a phone call. No one in my family knew where I
was, if I was alive or if I was dead."
Blackwater: Hired Guns, Above the Law
21.09.07. J. Scahill, The Nation / globalresearch.ca. This is an edited
transcript of the prepared testimony of Jeremy Scahill before the Senate
Democratic Policy Committee, September 21, 2007. Video.
The real story of Baghdad's Bloody Sunday
21.09.07. K. Sengupta, Independent. The eruption of gunfire was sudden and
ferocious, round after round mowing down terrified men women and children,
slamming into cars as they collided and overturned with drivers frantically
trying to escape. Some vehicles were set alight by exploding petrol tanks. A
mother and her infant child died in one of them, trapped in the flames.
Feds Target Blackwater in Weapons Probe
21.09.07. AP/legitgov. Federal prosecutors are investigating whether
employees of the private security firm [Waffen-SS] Blackwater USA
illegally smuggled into Iraq weapons that may have been sold on the black
market and ended up in the hands of a U.S.-designated terrorist
organization, officials said Friday.
Blackwater denies allegations
Blackwater working again in Iraq
21.09.07. BBC. The US security firm Blackwater has resumed limited
operations in the Iraqi capital Baghdad four days after a deadly shootout
involving the company.
US Embassy Resumes Some Travel With Help of Blackwater Security Firm
21.09.07. VOA. Includes Randall Report download. The U.S. Embassy
resumed limited travel by road with Blackwater USA protection in Baghdad on
Friday. As VOA's Jim Randle reports, the move came just days after all
travel by land by U.S. officials was suspended amid public outrage over the
killing of civilians by private guards from the American company.
Iraq Probe of U.S. Security Firm Grows
22.09.07. Washington Post
Rice, Al-Maliki Keep Distance at Meeting
22.09.07. MATTHEW LEE, The Associated Press / uruknet.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
kept a polite distance Saturday as they attended a group meeting and avoided
discussion of a deadly Baghdad shootout involving guards from a U.S. company
protecting American diplomats. The two greeted each other before the
meeting, but in a brief exchange of pleasantries, the issue of the shootout
didn't come up, deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey said. W! ith
tensions soaring over the Sept. 16 incident, Rice and al-Maliki chose not to
speak about it at a United Nations gathering at which they were among senior
diplomats and officials from Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria,
weighing future assistance to Iraq....
Security Firm Faces Criminal Charges in Iraq
23.09.07. Glanz, Tavernise, NY Times. The Iraqi government expects to refer
criminal charges to the Iraqi courts within days in the killing of at least
eight Iraqis by a private American security company, the state minister for
national security affairs said Saturday, and he said that the government had
received little information so far from the American side of the joint
investigation... National Security Ministry and Defense Ministry stated that
"the murder of citizens in cold blood in the Nisour area by Blackwater is
considered a terrorist action against civilians just like any other
terrorist operations."
U.S. Repeatedly Rebuffed Iraq on Blackwater Complaints
23.09.07. Raghavan / Fainaru, Washington Post. Senior Iraqi officials
repeatedly complained to U.S. officials about Blackwater USA's alleged
involvement in the deaths of numerous Iraqis, but the Americans took little
action to regulate the private security firm until 11 Iraqis were shot dead
last Sunday, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.
Iraq: Videotape of Blackwater Attack — Jaafari Maneuvers in Najaf — Pentagon
Report
23.09.07. Juan Cole, Informed Comment/uruknet.
Iraqi authorities said Saturday that they have a videotape of the shootings
in Nisur Square last Sunday by Blackwater security guards, which shows that
they fired without provocation. The company has maintained that its
personnel were responding to incoming fire. There is now talk in Baghdad of
trying the guards, though a decree by US viceroy Paul Bremer may hold the US
nationals harmless. Meanwhile, c! harges surfaced that Blackwater employees
had shipped weapons to Iraq without proper paperwork, which could be
interpreted as a form of arms smuggling.
The company denies the charges....
Is Anyone Surprised?
Iraq says won't move to expel Blackwater
23.09.07. Dominic Evans and Paul Tait, uruknet. Iraq will not take immediate
steps to expel U.S. security firm Blackwater, under investigation over a
shooting which killed 11 Iraqis a week ago, a government security official
said on Sunday. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had vowed to freeze the work
of Blackwater, which employs about 1,000 people guarding the U.S. embassy in
Baghdad, after the shooting in western Baghdad last Sunday but it was back
at work five days later. The Iraqi government! and U.S. officials have
agreed to set up a joint inquiry into the work of private security companies
like U.S.-based Blackwater, which many Iraqis see as private armies acting
with impunity....
Iraq Expands Blackwater Investigation
23.09.07. AP, Guardian. Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said the Moyock,
N.C.-based company has been implicated in six other incidents over the past
seven months, including a Feb. 7 shooting outside Iraqi state television in
Baghdad in which three building guards were fatally shot. Khalaf said other
incidents include: a Sept. 9 shooting in front of Baghdad's municipal
government building that killed five people and wounded 10; a Sept. 12
shooting that wounded five on the capital's Palestine Street; a Feb. 4
shooting near the Foreign Ministry, in which Iraqi journalist Hana al-Ameedi
died; a May shooting near the Interior Ministry that claimed the life of a
passer-by and a Feb. 14 incident in which Blackwater employees allegedly
smashed windshields by throwing bottles of ice water at cars.
The Deadly Game of Private Security
23.09.07. NY Times.
Iraqi PM Fears for Nation's Sovereignty
24.09.07. AP. In a half-hour talk conducted in his Manhattan hotel suite,
the 57-year-old politician from Iraq's Shiite heartland said it is
unacceptable that U.S. security contractors would kill Iraqi civilians, a
reference to a Sept. 16 shooting incident involving company Blackwater USA
that left at least 11 Iraqis dead. He also decried a recent arrest by U.S.
forces of an Iranian citizen who had been invited into the country by Iraqi
officials.
Maliki insists Blackwater must pay for shootings
24.09.07. E. MacAskill, Guardian. The Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki,
showed an unexpected streak of stubbornness yesterday in his stand-off with
the US over the Blackwater shootings, insisting that action had to be taken
against the private security firm. In an interview with the Associated
Press, Mr Maliki, who is in New York for the United Nations general
assembly, said Blackwater posed "a serious challenge to the sovereignty of
Iraq and cannot be accepted". … A new point of tension emerged yesterday
over the US military forces' arrest of an Iranian on Thursday. Mr Maliki, a
Shia Muslim who has a good relationship with Tehran, said the man had been
invited to Iraq. "The government of Iraq is an elected one and sovereign.
When it gives a visa it is responsible for the visa. We consider the arrest
... of this individual who holds an Iraqi visa and a [valid] passport to be
unacceptable."
Expert: Prosecution Just Cost of Biz For Iraq Security Contractors
24.09.07. Spencer Ackerman, tpmuckraker.com.
BLACKWATER AND 'RENDITION'
The picture that proves 'torture flights' are STILL landing in the UK
10.06.07. Daily Mail. "Records show the plane is owned by Blackwater USA,
a CIA contractor described as "the most secretive and powerful mercenary
army on the planet". An eyewitness, who previously worked as an RAF
electronic warfare expert, said that as the plane - a CASA-212 Aviocar -
taxied to a stop on the runway it was met by a US military Humvee.
Hot Air Department
Blackwater Goes Down the Rabbit Hole .
04.09.07. S. Weinberger, Wired. Uh-oh, there's a new pro-Blackwater blog at
www.blackwaterblogger.com -- dubbed The White Rabbit -- dedicated to
defending truth, justice and the reputation of the world's most notorious
(merc outfit) private security contractor.
VIDEOS
Blackwater:The Shadow War
Video shows Blackwater guards fired 1st
VIDEO: JEREMY SCAHILL, BLACKWATER SHADOW ARMY.
5. CACI
Abu Ghraib abuse firms are rewarded.
16.01.05. Observer. As prison ringleader awaits sentence, defence
contractors win multi-million Pentagon contracts
Pentagon Spends Billions To Outsource Torture.
07.09.06. J. Holland, Alternet.
In Washington, Contractors Take on Biggest Role Ever
03.02.07. SCOTT SHANE / RON NIXON, LA Times/fairuse. It did not matter that
the company they chose, CACI International, had itself recently avoided a
suspension from federal contracting; or that the work, delving into
investigative files on other contractors, appeared to pose a conflict of
interest; or that each person supplied by the company would cost taxpayers
$104 an hour. Six CACI workers soon joined hundreds of other private-sector
workers at the G.S.A., the government’s management agency.
CACI gets $35 million contract to support Louisville operation
19.04.07. Charlotte biz journals.
6. CONTROL RISKS
Abducted contractors appear in videotape
03.01.07. C. Torchia, AP, San Diego.com.
Cutting Costs, Bending Rules, And a Trail of Broken Lives
29.07.07. S. Fainaru, Washington Post. Ambush in Iraq Last November Left
Four Americans Missing And a String of Questions About the Firm They Worked
For. The convoy was ambushed in broad daylight last Nov. 16, dozens of armed
men swarming over 37 tractor-trailers stretching for more than a mile on
southern Iraq's main highway. The attackers seized four Americans and an
Austrian employed by Crescent Security Group , a small private
security firm. Then they fled.
8. CTU SECURITY CONSULTING INC.
CTU TRAINING FACILITIES IN PHILLIPINES
Security company sued over deaths of contractors in Iraq
04.05.07. Salt Lake Tribune. Don Feeney is a legendary special forces
operative and entrepreneurial mercenary known for putting together crack
teams of security contractors for difficult and dangerous assignments. ...
And when those risks resulted in the deaths of Utah native Brandon Thomas
and Colorado-born contractor Todd Venette, the families claim, Feeney failed
to honor promises to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars in life
insurance. ... KBR, which owned the contract with CTU for providing
protected transportation for company officials, has not been named in the
Utah suit.
9. DYNCORP
Dyncorp gets extension to train police officers in Iraq.
05.09.06. Reuters.
DynCorp Dynamite On New High.
07.06.07. Forbes. While greed may be
good, war is better. Security contractors have benefited from a
dangerous world: one with non-stop news coverage of military campaigns and
casualties. One company that has done especially well is DynCorp, which
turned in financial results Thursday morning that blew by Wall Street
expectations.
Private security force isn't desirable.
10.09.07. elpasotimes. DynCorp 'International is a a private
international security contractor that has sent more than 5,000 private
security personnel and police trainers to 11 different countries for the
U.S. State Department. Now the officials at DynCorp have another bright idea
-- why not train and deploy 1,000 private "agents" to bolster Border Patrol
forces along the Mexican border until the Patrol is able to achieve its
mandate of hiring and training thousands of new agents. That's a really bad
idea.'
10. EODT
Iraq Mercenaries.
09.04.07. Larisa Alexandrovna, uruknet. Former spook Bob Baer has a
tremendous piece in Vanity Fair (see Blackwater) about the private military
now running amok in Iraq, including Erinys. Just to remind you, the former
Russian KGB agent - Alexander Litvinenko - murdered with polonium-210 while
living in London was an employee of Erinys. If you remember, Erinys was also
one of the radiation sites investigators picked up on their trail of the
polonium assassins. While Erinys does not figure into the this piece in any
big meaningful way, it still adds an interesting series of questions in the
world of private mercenaries.
(see Aegis)
12. GARDA WORLD
5 BRITONS CAPTURED. The British government said five British nationals had been kidnapped, while the Canadian security firm Garda World confirmed that the captives were four Britons employed as a security detail and their client.
Five Britons kidnapped in Baghdad.
29.05.07. Channel 4 news. With video.
Note: Mr. Andy Bearpark, a large man who would be formidable in a
dark alley, was one of those interviewed on Channel 4. Mr. Bearpark spoke a
year ago at the London School of Economics. He – like Mr. Blair - used the
word ‘transparency’
innumerable times. His talk, and his answers to questions, were mostly
oblique, much in the style of Prime Minister Blair – both thus sounding as
if they are saying a great deal but upon further examination much of it is
fluff and bluster. Mr. Bearpark is a perfect front-man for mercenaries.
However, my notes quote his following comment; "Laws are insufficient. "The
objective is to control." This is ominous, as the concept follows the
obstruction of law by the Bush as well as the Blair government. War crimes
are committed. For further details on the kidnapping, see
Five Britons kidnapped in Baghdad ambush (30.05.07. J. Borger / A.
Gillan, Gaurdian) "Gunmen in police uniforms seize four security guards and
a finance expert. The security guards were working for GardaWorld, a
Canadian-based firm employing mainly British ex-soldiers. The finance expert
was working for BearingPoint, a US management consultancy based in
Virginia which won a contract in 2003 to help rebuild the Iraqi financial
system. A further Guardian story:
Elaborate operation inside ministry stirs fears of new tactics
A multibillion dollar industry built on the most dangerous jobs in the world.
30.05.07. D. Pallister, Guardian. Following recent kidnappings, this is an
Information-full article about security companies in Iraq, including
Gardaworld, Blackwater, Dyncorp and Vinnell, Aegis, ArmorGroup, Control
Risks.
13. GSI
Brian Tilley was murdered in Iraq by 4 corrupt Iraqi police officers in May 2004
Intelligence in Iraq: L-3 Supplies Spy Support.
09.08.06. P. Chatterjee, Corpwatch. Government Services Incorporated (GSI)
supplies staff for an operation that spreads over 22 military bases in the
Middle East. GSI is a major subsidiary of L-3 Communications, a Fortune 500
company. Retired Lieutenant General Paul Cerjan took GSI's helm in May,
after spending a year running Halliburton 's multi-billion dollar military
logistics contract in Iraq and around the world. Details on subcontractors.
Riveting, informative article.
14. HALLIBURTON/KBR
(most material on Halliburton Watch)
Contractors Sue Over Deaths in Iraq
15.09.06. CBS. KBR Employees Say Attack That Killed 7 U.S. Civilians In Iraq
Could've Been Prevented.
Halliburton paid $4 million to politicians for 600% gain on contracts since
2000
26.09.06. Halliburton Watch. Meanwhile, a
VIDEO was released (20.09.06) of a Halliburton convoy under Iraqi fire.
Halliburton’s advice is to wear
clothing that hides U.S. citizenship and ties to KBR.
Pfizer, Halliburton Grab Democrats as Hearings Loom (Update2)
31.01.07. Bloomberg. Pharmaceutical companies and Iraq war contractors, both
heavy Republican contributors, are among the companies scrambling to hire
lobbyists with Democratic ties as they prepare for congressional
investigative hearings next week.
Washington's $8 Billion Shadow.
20.02.07. Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, Vanity Fair / ICH.
'Mega-contractors such as Halliburton and Bechtel supply the government with
brawn. But the biggest, most powerful of the "body shops"—SAIC, which
employs 44,000 people and took in $8 billion last year—sells brainpower,
including a lot of the "expertise" behind the Iraq war.'
Contractor could lose $400 million.
04.03.07. Jay Price News observer/Truthout. Military contracting giant
KBR Inc. could be docked up to $400 million for improperly using private
security companies in Iraq, the company disclosed this week.
Halliburton bails out of Iraq, KBR and now America.
12.03.07. Halliburton Watch. Halliburton is moving to UAE at a time when it
is being investigated in the U.S. for bribery, bid rigging, defrauding the
military and illegally profiting in Iran. It is currently in the process of
divesting all of its ownership interest in the scandal-plagued KBR
subsidiary, notorious for overcharging the military and serving contaminated
food and water to the troops in Iraq. Although Halliburton will still be
incorporated inside the United States, moving its corporate headquarters to
UAE will make it easier to avoid accountability from federal investigators.
Lawmakers Rail Against Halliburton Unit for Alleged Abuses .
19.04.07. AP / Truthout. U.S. lawmakers on Thursday railed against senior
Army officials and defense contractor KBR Inc. over persistent allegations
of fraud and contract abuse on a multibillion-dollar deal to provide food
and shelter to U.S. troops in Iraq.
REPORT
Goodbye Houston: An Alternative Annual Report on Halliburton.
15.05.07. Chatterjee, Corpwatch. ‘The new report (the fourth in the series)
is being issued on the eve of Halliburton 's annual general meeting in
Woodlands, Texas, on Wednesday, May
16th, 2007. An in-depth, hard-hitting report, "Goodbye Houston," provides a
detailed look at Halliburton's military and energy operations around the
world as well as its political connections. It includes a series of
recommendations for the company and its shareholders as well as for the
United States policymakers.
Iraq convoy was sent out despite threat.
03.09.07. LA Times – legitgov.org. Unarmored trucks carrying needed supplies
were ambushed, leaving six drivers dead. Records illuminate the fateful
decision.
15. NORTHROP GRUMMAN
Northrop Grumman robot for Iraq?
Northrop sees growth ahead in homeland security.
19.09.07. Reuters. Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
generates about $1 billion in homeland security revenues each year and says
it expects annual growth of over eight percent in the sector over the next
three years. … Northrop is already one of the biggest U.S. homeland security
contractors, given its role with Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N: Quote,
Profile, Research) as prime contractor on the U.S. Coast Guard's $24
billion, 25-year Deepwater modernization effort. … t is also a key player in
other areas, including detection of anthrax for the U.S. Postal Service, and
use of biometrics for citizenship and visa services . Biometrics
refers to use of measurable physical characteristics, such as fingerprints,
irises, and even veins, to authenticate identities.
16. PARSONS
Idle Contractors Add Millions to Iraq Rebuilding
Parsons Corp. under fire for Iraq work
10.10.06. AP / Seattle pi. ‘shoddy work recently prompted the U.S. Corps of
Engineers to cancel its $75 million contract to renovate a critical police
training academy in Baghdad. Parsons also lost deals to build a prison and
dozens of medical clinics in that country after the government cited missed
deadlines and cost problems. … Along with Pasadena, Calif.-based Parsons,
companies that enjoy the lion's share of the big government contracts
include Bechtel Corp. of San Francisco, Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Fluor
Corp., and Houston-based oil services contractor Halliburton Co.’
VIDEO NBC. FLEECING OF AMERICA: PARSONS IN IRAQ .
17. TITAN
Titan's Translators in Trouble
The Unaccountables
07.09.06. T. McKelvey, Prospect. 'One December night in 2003, Adel L.
Nakhla, a chunky, broad-shouldered Egyptian American interpreter with a
soft, almost feminine voice, went to Cell 43 in Abu Ghraib's Tier 1A. He was
accompanied by Army Specialist Charles A. Graner Jr., a reservist convicted
in January 2005 of abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib, to the cell where a
former Baath Party member, A.A. (his attorney asked that his name not be
used for safety reasons) was lying on a mattress. A.A. had been classified
as a “high-value target” because of suspected terrorist activities. ... On
May 7, 2004, shortly after the Abu Ghraib scandal broke, Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld and Acting Secretary of the Army Les Brownlee appeared
before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Brownlee said they would make
sure individuals “responsible for the shameful and illegal acts of abuse are
held accountable.” Eighty-nine members of the U.S. military have been
prosecuted for detainee-related misconduct since the start of Operation
Enduring Freedom. And recent reports of rape, murder, and other crimes in
Haditha, Mahmudiya, and other Iraqi towns indicate that some soldiers
responsible for such acts will be held accountable. (
they wern't
A Translators Tale.
09.08.06. P. Chatterjee, Corpwatch.
A total of 199 Titan translators have been killed in Iraq and another 491
have been injured, according to the U.S. Department of Labor statistics, the
highest of any company in Iraq. AIG refuses insurance. Gripping stories.
18. TOKAI
VIASPACE Expands Scope of Security Business with New Industry Applications,
Teaming Agreements, Resources & International Focus
04.09.07. money.cnn.com. VIASPACE is broadening its focus to include
potential customers in Asia and the Middle East, working with new teaming
agreement partners, expanding its business development and marketing
resources, and developing new software upgrades for established security
systems. The company is also exploring security and surveillance
applications with Raytheon Net Centric Systems per a jointly executed
teaming agreement. The company recently signed a teaming agreement for
collaboration on software development of VIASPACE Security products with
Tokai Bussan Co., Ltd. of Nagoya, Japan, which has strong marketing
capabilities, a substantial distribution channel and the trust of many
government and commercial customers in Japan. … “Our security division is
focusing on the growing market for commercial and military security
solutions in the United States as well as Asia and the Middle East …”
19. TRIPLE CANOPY
Did an American fire on Iraqis unprovoked?
22.12.06. NBC. U.S. security contractors allege their supervisor was ‘out of
control.’ ‘But Shepard and Schmidt acknowledge they waited almost two days,
by which time their supervisor left Iraq, to report the incidents to their
company, Triple Canopy.
The men were fired, along with their supervisor, who has denied wrongdoing,
according to the company. Shepard and Schmidt are now suing Triple Canopy.’
Four Hired Guns in an Armored Truck, Bullets Flying, and a Pickup and a Taxi
Brought to a Halt. Who Did the Shooting and Why?
15.04.07. Steve Fainaru, Washington Post. 'The full story of what happened
on Baghdad's airport road that day may never be known. But a Washington Post
investigation of the incidents provides a rare look inside the world of
private security contractors, the hired guns who fight a parallel and
largely hidden war in Iraq. The contractors face the same dangers as the
military, but many come to the war for big money, and they operate outside
most of the laws that govern American forces. ... Not a single case has been
brought against a security contractor, and confusion is widespread among
contractors and the military over what laws, if any, apply to their conduct.
Private contractors were granted immunity from the Iraqi legal process in
2004 by L. Paul Bremer, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority,
the U.S. occupation government. ... The only known inquiry into the July 8
incidents was conducted by Triple Canopy, a 3 1/2 -year-old company
founded by retired Special Forces officers and based in Herndon. Triple
Canopy employed the four guards. After the one-week probe, the company
concluded that three questionable shooting incidents had occurred that day
and fired Washbourne and two other employees, Shane B. Schmidt and Charles
L. Sheppard III.
Fuller list of security companies
here .
20. General
2006
GAO Report on Iraq Reconstruction Contracts (PDF file)
Military Conflict Becoming a Private Enterprise
31.03.06.
Pentagon Spends Billions To Outsource Torture.
07.09.06. J. Holland, Alternet.
The Unaccountables
07.09.06. T. McKelvey, Prospect.
How US merchants of fear sparked a $130bn bonanza..
10.09.06. P. Harris, Observer. The homeland security market has an army of
lobbyists working for its interests in Washington. Seven years ago there
were nine companies with federal homeland security contracts. By 2003 it was
3,512. Now there are 33,890. The money is huge. Since 2000, $130bn (£70bn)
of contracts have been dished out. By 2015 annual federal spending on the
industry could be $170bn.
Documentary slams corporate profits in Iraq war..
15.09.06. Reuters. Iraq for Sale, R. Greenwald.
Spy Agencies Outsourcing to Fill Key Jobs..
17.09.06. LA Times. “Some of the work being outsourced is extremely
sensitive. Abraxas Corp., a private company in McLean, Va., founded by a
group of CIA veterans, devises "covers," or false identities, for an elite
group of overseas case officers, according to current and former U.S.
intelligence officials familiar with the arrangement. Contractors also are
turning up in increasing numbers in clandestine facilities around the world.
… In Baghdad, site of the agency's largest overseas presence, contractors
have at times outnumbered full-time CIA employees … ”
As Army Adds Interrogators, It Outsources Training
23.09.06. W. Pincus, Washington Post. HUMINT. …”the number of people
training to be interrogators is to rise again. The Army is gearing up for
the effort by hiring private companies to handle the training. Last month,
the service awarded contracts that could grow to more than $50 million in
the next five years to three private firms to provide additional instructors
to the 18-week basic course in human-intelligence interrogation at Fort
Huachuca.” ... The firms winning this new Rumsfeld device for increased
corporate profit are: Integrated Systems Improvement Services Inc. in
Sierra Vista, Ariz.; MTC Technologies Inc. of Dayton, Ohio; Oak
Grove Technologies Inc. of Raleigh, N.C.
Official: Guard Force Is Behind Death Squads
14.10.06. E. Knickmeyer, Washington Post. "Whenever we capture someone,
we rarely find anyone is an employee of the government ministries," Bolani
said. When they are, "they've turned out to be mostly from the FPS …”
IRAQ: WHAT DOES ‘JOB DONE’ MEAN?.
19.10.06. S. Meyer, Index Research. With regard to the disintegration of
Iraq, a recent Washington Post article (14.10.06) spoke of Iraqi death
squads and their connection with the Facilities Protection Service (FPS).
Ms. Knickmeyer neglected to mention that Donald Rumsfeld, with the
enthusiastic support of President Bush, was the originator of the FPS.
Iraq: End Interior Ministry Death Squads
29.10.06.Human Rights Watch. “Evidence suggests that Iraqi security
forces are involved in these horrific crimes, and thus far the
government has not held them accountable.”
Are 70,000 Pentagon Mercs Killing Iraqis? (Is Grass Green?)
Diogenes, ViveleCanada.
Corporate Mercenaries
30.10.06. War on Want. “Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) sell
security and military services at home and overseas. Over the last 10 years
these companies have moved from the periphery of international politics into
the corporate boardroom, becoming a ‘normal’ part of the military sector. …
The British government today comes under attack for its growing use of
mercenaries in conflict zones while failing to introduce legislation to
tackle their human rights abuses. A new report launched today by the charity
War on Want reveals that no prosecutions have followed hundreds of accounts
of personnel from private military and security firms committing abuses in
Iraq.”
Census Counts 100,000 Contractors in Iraq.
05.12.06. R. Merle, Washington Post.
U.S. to Armor-Plate Iraqi Police Vehicles
16.12.06. W. Pincus, Washington Post.
U.S. to triple number of military trainers in Iraq
17.12.06. Reuters.
Navy vet says he was tortured by U.S. forces
18.12.06. ABC. “Suit filed against Rumsfeld. Twenty-nine year old Donald
Vance was a private security employee in Baghdad.”
JANUARY 2007
Law Catches up to Private Militaries
04.01.07. Military.com. Since the start of the Iraq war, tens of thousands
of heavily-armed military contractors have been roaming the country --
without any law, or any court to control them. That may be about to change,
Brookings Institution Senior Fellow P.W. Singer notes in a Defense Tech
exclusive.
The Living Reality of Military-Economic Fascism.
20.01.07. By Robert Higgs, Mises. In countries such as the United States,
whose economies are commonly, though inaccurately, described as "capitalist"
or "free-market," war and preparation for war systematically corrupt both
parties to the state-private transactions by which the government obtains
the bulk of its military goods and services: Garden-variety Corruption of
Officials; Legal Corruption of Officials; Absence of Proper Accounting
Invites Theft; PAC Contributions Are Bribes; How Government Corrupts
Business. Can Anything Be Done. References
Gangsters for Capitalism
27.01.07. Clinton L. Cox, ICHblog. 01/27/07 -- -- “Although benign U.S.
intentions are an article of faith among many Americans, theft, murder and
oppression have always been central to U.S. policies and practices in the
non-white world. George Bush’s crusade for ‘democracy’ is yet another
chapter in the shameful saga. The U.S. has routinely destroyed democracy
throughout the globe while its leaders spout words about spreading
democracy.”
Petraeus' Iraq testimony unsettling
27.01.07. John Aloysius Farrell, Denver Post . U.S. Army Lt. Gen. David
Petraeus testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week on
Capitol Hill, during hearings on his nomination to be general and commander
of the multi-national forces in Iraq. Some interesting questions not
answered .. eg., Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., asked Petraeus if he could tell
the Senate what percentage of the Iraqi security forces are reliable. The
general said, "Sir, I cannot."
If They Pay We Kill Them Anyway
27.01.07. Ghaith Abdul Ahad, Guardian. Fadhel and other Mahdi Army
commanders describe an intimate relationship with Iraqi security services,
especially the commandos of the Iraqi interior ministry. He says the Mahdi
Army often uses these official forces in conducting its own operations
against Sunni "terrorists". … "We control most of Baghdad, our main enemy is
the Americans,"
U.S. Plan for Iraqi Force Surprises Senator
27.01.07. W. Pincus, Washigton Post. The WPost should read this blog about
the FPS, as should all members of the Senate and Congress. Then
perhaps there would not be such ‘careful’ language. Mr Pincus writes: “H.
Petraeus, the new top U.S. commander in Iraq, told Congress that he might
supplement efforts to secure Baghdad using the Iraqi Facilities Protection
Service, a 150,000-man force that guards Iraqi government agencies. But that
service is widely considered unreliable, and elements were described in July
by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as "more dangerous than the militias,"
according to Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.).' "The prime minister said he wanted to
get rid of the FPS as fast as possible," Reed said this week, recalling his
meeting with Maliki in Baghdad last summer. There are "bad elements" in FPS
units that "are carrying out murders and kidnappings . . . [and] attacking
the infrastructure that they are supposedly protecting," Reed said in his
trip report about what Maliki had told him. "Because of the FPS," Reed
wrote, Maliki said that "some governmental ministries' guards are more
dangerous than the militias." ...
Contractor deaths in Iraq nearing 800
28.01.07. Chron.com.
Meet the CIA's New Baghdad Station Chief
28.01.07. K. Silverstein, Harpers. Unfortunately, several sources have
informed me that the CIA has nominated a man who has been widely criticized
within the agency and seen as a bad fit for the role. Furthermore, I'm told,
the new station chief is closely associated with detainee abuses, especially
those involving “extraordinary renditions”—the practice of covertly
delivering terrorist suspects to foreign intelligence agencies to be
interrogated. The name of the person (with minimal research) is easily
found.
"The History of Western Complicity in Iraq, From Churchill to Kennedy to
George W. Bush"
30.01.07. Barry Lando on Democracy Now.
Reports Fault Oversight of Iraq Police Program
31.01.07. Witte / Merle, Washington Post. In one case, contractors building
a camp for American trainers constructed an Olympic-size swimming pool that
hadn't been ordered. In another, human waste reportedly continues to leak
from plumbing fixtures at a barracks for Iraqi police recruits, a year after
the problem was first identified and despite assurances from the contractor
that the problem was being fixed. Together, the reports offer a revealing
glimpse at one aspect of the $38 billion American-led reconstruction effort.
Dyn Corps International and Parsons at Baghdad Police College are tagged. …
Parsons was ultimately paid $5.3 million for substandard work, auditors
found.
FEBRUARY 2007
Security in Iraq takes a bite out of contractor’s budgets
01.02.07. AP.
In Washington, Contractors Take On Biggest Role Ever
04.02.07. NY Times. Without a public debate or formal policy decision,
contractors have become a virtual fourth branch of government. On the rise
for decades, spending on federal contracts has soared during the Bush
administration, to about $400 billion last year from $207 billion in 2000,
fueled by the war in Iraq, domestic security and Hurricane Katrina, but also
by a philosophy that encourages outsourcing almost everything government
does
Former - Generals Are Deeply Involved In War Industry
04.02.07. N. Mottern, Consumers for Peace / ICHBlog. CONFLICT OF INTEREST:
There appear to be no laws or regulations preventing former military
personnel from testifying on issues of war and peace before Congress. But,
there is a question about whether their testimony should be accepted at face
value when they are employed by firms benefiting from war.
Reviewing the testimony of Mr. Keane and three other former generals on
January 18 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, there is a
distinct pattern. Those most involved in the military industry, Mr. Keane
and former four-star army general Barry McCaffery, endorsed, respectively,
escalation and continued investment in the Iraq War. Those with the least
involvement in the military industry, former Marine General John P. Hoar and
former army Lt. Gen. William Odom were for withdrawal. …
JOHN M. Kean: ABC News / General Dynamics, URS Corps ($4billion sales),
Allied Barton Security, Kholberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. (KKR), Keane
Advisors LLC;
BARRY R. McCAFFREY: Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Southern Command when he
retired in 1996; NBC news; DynCorps; 2006 - $2billion); McNeil Technologies;
HNTB Federal Services; The Wornick Company; JOHN P. HOAR, ex- Commander in
Chief of the U.S. Central Command: J.P. Hoar & Associates Inc; CNA
Corporation …
Iraq Water Deal Illuminates Murky World of Secret Contracting
06.02.07. AP / Truth Out. CIA officers operating in northern Iraq bought
drinking water from a bottling plant there for years prior to the 2003
invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. That changed soon afterward. A CIA
officer handling logistics for the Middle East and other regions recommended
that an American company provide water and other supplies, according to
former government officials.… Federal prosecutors in San Diego are preparing
to seek indictments against Foggo and Wilkes on charges of honest services
fraud and conspiracy, two government officials familiar with the
investigation told The Associated Press last week.
US Congress probes Iraq War contracting.
08.02.07. ABC.
Eisenhower's Worst Nightmare Now Harsh Reality For U.S.A.
20.02.07. John Hachette, Niagara Falls Reporter / ICH. 'Consider this
mind-twisting equation from a well-researched article in the current issue
of "Vanity Fair" magazine: Private federal contractors now "absorb the taxes
paid by everyone in America with incomes under $100,000."
The US favourite and PNAC document signer Ahmed Chalabi back on the scene.
Alleged intel fixer Chalabi to assume new role as part of 'surge'
21.02.07. Brent Beutler, Raw Story. 'Mr. Chalabi will serve as an
intermediary between Baghdad residents and the Iraqi and U.S. security
forces mounting an aggressive counterinsurgency campaign across the city.'
Iraqi Police Commit Rape – ˇArmed, Trained, and Funded by the US
23.02.07. Y. Susskind, anti-war.com
AP: Nearly 800 Iraq Contractors Killed
23.02.07. M. Roberts, Truth Out. ' In a largely invisible cost of the war in
Iraq, nearly 800 civilians working under contract to the Pentagon have been
killed and more than 3,300 hurt doing jobs normally handled by the U.S.
military, according to figures gathered by The Associated Press.'
War Contractor Suffers Setback in Suit
26.02.07. Washington Post. 'A private security company sued by the families
of four employees slain in Iraq suffered a setback Monday when the Supreme
Court refused to intervene in the case.'
MARCH 2007
Contractors rarely face disciplinary action in Iraq
15.03.07. T. McKelvey, Nieman Watch. There are 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq –
and 100,000 contractors. More than 269 soldiers and officers have faced
disciplinary action for detainee-related incidents since October 2001. Only
one contractor has. Why have troops
been held accountable for crimes but contractors have not?
APRIL 2007
25% of UK Iraq aid budget goes to security firms
02.04.07. D. Pallister, Guardian. · £165m bill includes guards for staff and
police training · Leading beneficiary is company headed by MP. 25% of UK
Iraq aid budget goes to security firms. The big beneficiaries have been the
New York-based risk consulting company Kroll and the UK companies
ArmorGroup and Control Risks. ArmorGroup, which is headed by the
Conservative MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind, earned 50% of its £129m revenues from
Iraq last year. ... The rising cost of security at the expense of
development aid reflects the American experience. According to the latest
audit of US spending, 34% of the $21bn (£10.6bn) allocated for Iraqi
reconstruction has been diverted to security - an increase from $4.56bn to
$6.31bn. For private contractors, the cost of security is now running at an
average of 12% for each contract.
Uniform Code of Military Justice
(from
Secrecy News). '"In November 2006, Congress expanded UCMJ [Uniform Code
ofMilitary Justice] authority over contractor personnel authorized to
accompany the force. However, as of February 2007, DOD has provided no
implementation guidance for this change in law." As of mid-March, there was
still no such implementation guidance.
"The liability and accountability of contractor personnel in most cases is
already provided for in U.S. law, international agreements, conventions,
treaties, and Status of Forces Agreements."
"However, in some cases a gap may emerge where the contractor personnel are
not subject to the UCMJ (only in time of declared war) and the contractor
commits an offense in an area that is not subject to the jurisdiction of an
allied
government (for example, an offense committed in enemy territory)."
"In such cases, the contractor's crime may go unpunished unless other
federal laws, such as the military extraterritorial jurisdiction act (MEJA)
or the war crimes act (WCA) apply, or the contractor is otherwise subject to
the UCMJ (for example, a military retiree)." See
Contractors Accompanying the Force - Training Support Package (12.03.07)
and
related explanatory material .
The Future of the Military in the Private Sector
04.07. Bortynk.
McCaffrey: 600 U.S. Mercenaries Have Been Killed in occupied Iraq
16.04.07. Defense News / ICH. There are roughly 130,000 Mercenaries in Iraq,
said McCaffrey; about 4,000 of them have been wounded and 600 have been
killed, he said.
Pentagon prevents military from testifying before House panel
20.04.07. Goveexec.com. Pentagon lawyers abruptly blocked mid-level
active-duty military officers from speaking Thursday during a closed-door
House Armed Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee briefing
about their personal experiences working with Iraqi security forces.
Mission Accomplished in Iraq by Bremer and CPA
22.04.07. Evelyn Pringle, Sierra Times. 'When President Bush announced
“Mission Accomplished,” and the end of the war in May 2003, he also said we
would help the citizens of Iraq rebuild their country. "Now that the
dictator's gone,” he stated, “we and our coalition partners are helping
Iraqis to lay the foundations of a free economy." .. Apparently he was
referring to the Coalition Provisional Authority that took up residence in
Saddam's luxurious palace in May 2003, with the newly appointed King, Paul
Bremer. The CPA was granted the authority to award reconstruction contracts
in Iraq and it used that authority to implement what will go down in the
history books as the most blatant war profiteering scheme of all time.'
http://
Government Keeps a Secret After Studying Spy Agencies
26.04.07. S. Shane, NY Times. 'Ronald P. Sanders, chief human capital
officer for the director of national intelligence, said that because
personnel numbers and agency budgets were classified, he could not reveal
the contractor count. ... Steven Aftergood of the Project on Government
Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, said the decision not to
reveal the numbers was a sign of dysfunctional policies.'
Who Will Stop the U.S. Shadow Army in Iraq?
29.04.07 Tom Gram ; Jeremy Scahill. Important article. “there is another
disturbing fact which speaks volumes about the Democrats' lack of insight
into the nature of this unpopular war -- and most Americans will know next
to nothing about it. Even if the President didn't veto their legislation,
the Democrats' plan does almost nothing to address the second largest force
in Iraq -- and it's not the British military. It's the estimated 126,000
private military "contractors” who will stay put there as long as Congress
continues funding the war. / The 145,000 active duty U.S. forces are nearly
matched by occupation personnel that currently come from companies like
Blackwater USA and the former Halliburton subsidiary KBR, which enjoy close
personal and political ties with the Bush administration. Until Congress
reins in these massive corporate forces and the whopping federal funding
that goes into their coffers, partially withdrawing U.S. troops may only set
the stage for the increased use of private military companies (and their
rent-a-guns) which stand to profit from any kind of privatized future
"surge" in Iraq. / According to the Government Accountability Office, there
are now some 48,000 employees of private military companies in Iraq. / …
"These private contractors are really an arm of the administration and its
policies," argues Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who has called for a withdrawal of
all U.S. contractors from Iraq.” The ‘case for Blackwater’ is discussed.
MAY 2007
Firms Protest Exclusion From Iraq Security Bid
05.05.07. Klein / Fainaru, Washington Post. ‘Three years ago, DynCorp
International challenged the awarding of the first security contract,
worth $293 million, to Aegis, a firm led by Tim Spicer … Aegis is in
the running for the new contract, but Blackwater Security Consulting is
challenging the Army over the process. … Blackwater wrote that the
Army's decision to exclude it was "defective" and "meaningless," in part
because the military did not explain how it evaluated the contractor's
offer. … Erinys Iraq is also challenging the Army's decision to
exclude its offer …’
Author and DN! Correspondent Jeremy Scahill Testifies in Landmark House
Hearing on Defense Contracting
11.05.07. Democracy Now transcript. There are over 120,000 private
contractors currently deployed in Iraq and yesterday, a House panel put some
of the harshest criticisms of this privatization of war into the
congressional record for the first time. Democracy Now! correspondent and
The Nation magazine investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill testified before a
House Appropriations hearing on defense contracting. Scahill is author of
the book “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army.”
[includes rush transcript]
Former collaborator discloses details of US-ordered assassinations,
sectarian bomb attacks targeting Iraqi civilians
11.05.07. Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq/ uruk. An Iraqi who asked
not to be identified had disclosed some of the US activities such as
assassinations and bombings in markets that aim at sparking sectarian
fighting among Iraqis so as to facilitate the partition of the country (...)
The former collaborator said that the Americans have a unit for "dirty
jobs." That unit is a mix of Iraqis, Americans, a! nd foreigners and of the
security detachments that are deployed in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities.
This unit doesn’t only carry out assassinations, but some of them specialize
in planting bombs and car bombs in neighborhoods and markets. This unit
carries out operations in which wanted people whom the American army does
not want killed are arrested. The former collaborator said that "operations
of planting car bombs and blowing up explosives in markets are carried out
in various ways, the best-known and most famous among the US troops is
placing a bomb inside cars as they are being searched at checkpoints.
Another way is to put bombs in the cars during interrogations...
Contractor Deaths in Iraq Soar to Record
19.05.07. Broder, Risen: NY Times. At least 917 mercenaries killed; more
than 12,000 wounded in battle or injured on the job. Casualties among
private contractors [mercenaries] in Iraq have soared to record levels this
year, setting a pace that seems certain to turn 2007 into the bloodiest year
yet for the 'civilians' who work alongside the American military in the war
zone, according to new government numbers.
In privatized US war, foreigners do most of dying
23.05.07. Reuters/ICH. The war in Iraq is killing nine civilian contractors
a week on average, roughly three times the rate of last year, and U.S.
government statistics show that non-Americans do most of the dying.
Outside the gate, it's the wild west. We are basically a taxi service with
guns'
31.05.07. Guardian. A day in the life of a security guard in Iraq. This UK
(unnamed) security guard earns £90,000 a year, tax free.
Security staff who make up a private army in Iraq
30.05.07. K. Sengupta, Independent. There are 44,000 private security
contractors in Iraq, forming what the US Senate dubbed the "largest private
army in the world". .. About 21,000 of those private guards are British -
approximately three times the total number of British troops in the country.
JUNE 2007
Judge Halts Award of Iraq Contract
02.06.07. Klein, Fainaru, Washington Post. The case, which is being heard by
the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, puts on trial one of the most
controversial and least understood aspects of the Iraq war: the outsourcing
of military security to an estimated 20,000 armed contractors who operate
with little oversight. … Scott's challenge set off a domino effect,
prompting the Government Accountability Office to dismiss protests brought
by two major private security contractors the Army had removed as potential
bidders -- Erinys Iraq, a British firm, and Blackwater USA of
North Carolina. … The Army has been narrowing the field of candidates for
the Iraq security contract. One is Aegis Defence Services, a British
security firm. Aegis won the initial Iraqi security contract in 2004. That
contract, worth $293 million, was set to expire in May but has been extended
as others have filed protests. Scott said he was indifferent that his court
claim had complicated the Erinys and Blackwater protests. "They're
just trying to get a piece of the mercenary action," he said.
Mercenary firms fear bloodbath in Iraq
03.06.07. B.Brady, Scotsman.
Iraq's mercenaries - with a licence to kill
04.06.07. *** Johann Hari, Independent/uruk. 'These private
contractors can get away with murder... They aren't subject to any laws at
all' … These men are not "security contractors", nor are they "civilian
operatives", nor "reconstruction workers". There are now more of them in
Iraq than there are professional soldiers: Britain alone has 21,000 in the
country, raking in $1.6bn a year. (Bremer’s) Order 17 … exempted all
mercenaries operating in the country from having to obey the law.” …
Cheney ’s involvement in starting ‘security ‘ companies; Blackwater
The US right has a slew of reasons to privatise the US military so rapidly.
The most obvious is simple corruption. It funnels money to companies in
which they have a huge stake, and who in turn donate a fortune to the
Republican Party. This is justified in public by a market fundamentalist
conviction that governments can never run anything properly, so their
functions must always be sold off. … In mercenary wars, all citizens are
asked to give is money, not blood. The Cheney model of mercenary warfare
being tried out in Iraq is, in fact, a way of making possible his vision of
a 21st century in which wars for resources will be "necessary" on a "regular
basis".
The security industry: Britain's private army in Iraq
05.06.07. Johnson / Woolf / Whitaker, Independent. The British security
guards taken hostage in Baghdad are just four among a foreign legion paid
for by you. Yet as we grow more reliant on them, their future is perilous in
a country without rules
Killing the Patient: Ira's Security Forces are Part of the Problem
11.06.07. B. Katulis, New American Progress.
Iraq Contractors Face Growing Parallel War
16.06.07. S. Fainaru, Washington Post. As Security Work Increases, So Do
Casualties. Wayne (Reconstruction Logistics Directorate of the Corps of
Engineers) described security contractors as
"the unsung heroes of the
war." She said she believed the military wanted to hide information showing
that private guards were fighting and dying in large numbers because it
would be perceived as bad news.
JULY 2007
REPORTS
CRS Views Private Security Contractors in Iraq
July '07, Secrecy News. CRS Report. 'The extensive reliance by the U.S.
government on private security contractors to support military forces in
Iraq poses numerous policy and legal questions that are explored in a new
report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service.'
Private Security Contractors in Iraq: Background, Legal Status, and Other
Issues
(updated) 11.07.07. CRS Report.
ARTICLES
In outsourced U.S. wars, contractor deaths top 1,000
04.07.07. Bernd Debusmann, Reuters. The death toll for private contractors
in the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has topped 1,000, a stark reminder
of the risks run by civilians working with the military in roles previously
held by soldiers.
A further 13,000 contractors have been wounded in the two separate wars led
by the United States against enemies who share fundamentalist Islamic
beliefs and the hit-and-run tactics that drain conventional armies.
More contractors than troops in Iraq
04.07.07. T. Christian Miller, LA Times / uruknet. U.S. relies heavily on
corporations. More than 180,000 civilians -- including Americans, foreigners
and Iraqis -- are working in Iraq under U.S. contracts, according to State
and Defense Department figures obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
NOT ONLY SECURITY COMPANIES NEED A CLOSER LOOK!
PRIVATE SPIES: Who Runs the CIA? Outsiders for Hire
08.07.07. R. J. Hillhouse, Washington Post. Red alert: Our national security
is being outsourced. The most intriguing secrets of the "war on terror" have
nothing to do with al-Qaeda and its fellow travelers. They're about the
mammoth private spying industry that all but runs U.S. intelligence
operations today. ... The director of national intelligence has put our
security at risk by classifying the study on outsourcing and keeping the
truth about this inadequately planned and managed system out of the light.
Much of what has been outsourced makes sense, but much of the structure
doesn't, not for the longer term. It's time for the public and Congress to
demand the study's release. More important, it's past time for the industry
-- an industry conceived of and run by some of the best and brightest the
CIA has ever produced -- to come up with the kind of innovative solutions
it's legendary for, before the damage goes too deep.'
Silent Surge in Contractor Armies
18.07.07. CS Monitor. There are two coalition armies in Iraq: the official
one, which fights the war, and the private one, which supports it. ...
Estimates of the number of private security personnel and other civilian
contractors in Iraq today range from 126,000 to 180,000 – nearly as many, if
not more than, the number of Americans in uniform there. Most are not
Americans. ...
Mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan: Have Gun, Will Travel
19.07.07. CONN HALLINAN, CounterPunch. Widespread use of mercenaries in
Iraq, Afghanistan, and Latin America by the Bush Administration has drawn
the attention of the United Nations Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries,
according to upsidedownworld.com. The Working Group found that mercenaries
were recruited from throughout Latin America and then flown to Ecuador to
train at the huge U.S. base at Manta. Others were trained in Honduras at a
former training camp used during the Reagan Administration's war against the
Sandinistas in Nicaragua./ According to the Working Group, mercenaries
working for a subsidiary of an Illinois-based company, Your Solutions Inc.,
suffered "irregularities in contracts, harsh working conditions, wages
partially paid or unpaid, ill-treatment and isolation and lack of basic
necessities such as medical treatment and sanitation." / A major reason for
using private security companies is that they are not subject to
Congressional oversight.
2 British Firms Are Finalists for U.S. Job in Iraq
28.07.07. A. Klein, Washington Post. Contract Outsourcing Weighed. In what
has become a contentious competition, Aegis Defence Services and
ArmorGroup International are considered top contenders for a contract
worth up to $475 million to provide intelligence services to the U.S. Army
and security for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on reconstruction work in
Iraq. Aegis won the initial contract in 2004, a three-year, $293 million
deal.
AUGUST 2007
Contractors in Iraq operating with few restraints
12.08.07. AP - Boston Globe. There are now nearly as many private
contractors in Iraq as there are US soldiers -- and a large percentage of
them are private security guards equipped with automatic weapons, body
armor, helicopters, and bulletproof trucks.
D A N G E R
Defense Agency Proposes Outsourcing More Spying
19.08.07. W. Pincus, Washington Post. Contracts Worth $1 Billion Would Set
Record. The Defense Intelligence Agency is preparing to pay private
contractors up to $1 billion to conduct core intelligence tasks of analysis
and collection over the next five years, an amount that would set a record
in the outsourcing of such functions by the Pentagon's top spying agency.
Contractors in Iraq Have Become U.S. Crutch
20.08.07. W. Pincus, Washington Post. A Congressional Research Service
report published last month (see
above, Report) titled "Private Security Contractors in Iraq:
Background, Legal Status, and Other Issues," puts it this way: "Iraq appears
to be the first case where the U.S. government has used private contractors
extensively for protecting persons and property in potentially hostile or
hostile situations where host country security forces are absent or
deficient."
Mercenaries in Iraq Have Become U.S. Crutch .
20.08.07. W. Pincus, Washington Post / ICH. The expanded contractor use has
evoked new attention to a 1995 criticism of the practice. According to the
study, a Defense Department Commission on Roles and Missions found then that
depending on contractors was detrimental and that it kept the Pentagon "from
building and maintaining capacity needed for strategic or other important
missions."
Private Security Contractor behavior in Iraq is detrimental and unacceptable
22.08.07. M. Adame, American chronicle.
The Great Iraq Swindle
23.08.07. The Rolling Stone / legitgov.org. How Bush Allowed an Army of
For-Profit Contractors to Invade the U.S. Treasury --How is it done? How do
you screw the taxpayer for millions, get away with it and then ride off into
the sunset with one middle finger extended, the other wrapped around a
chilled martini? Ask Earnest O. Robbins -- he knows all about being a
successful contractor in Iraq. (Issue 1034, The Rolling Stone) According to
the most reliable estimates, we have doled out more than $500 billion for
the war, as well as $44 billion for the Iraqi reconstruction effort. And
what did America's contractors give us for that money? They built big
steaming shit piles, set brand-new trucks on fire, drove back and forth
across the desert for no reason at all and dumped bags of nails in
ditches... But what happened in Iraq went beyond inefficiency, beyond fraud
even. This was about the business of government being corrupted by the
profit motive to such an extraordinary degree that now we all have to wonder
how we will ever be able to depend on the state to do its job in the future.
SEPTEMBER 2007
Private security contractors' role grows in Iraq
04.09.07. usatoday-legitgov.org. The number of times that private security
contractors [mercenaries] working for the U.S. military fired warning or
deadly shots at Iraqis nearly doubled during the past year, according to the
U.S. military command in Iraq. In the year ending May 2007, there were 207
reported incidents of mercenaries firing shots, up from 115 during the same
period the year prior, according to the Multi-National Force-Iraq. The
incidents resulted in four deaths of Iraqis in separate shootings.
Baghdad's New High-Security Complex
08.09.07. AP. The compound is guarded by patrols including former Ugandan
Army guards and other security contractors from EODT Technology Inc.,
based in Lenoir City, Tenn. Incoming prisoners are given jumpsuits with a
five-digit number over the left breast and are kept in the intake prison
known as Rusafa 5. .. The Rusafa complex is filling up — having gone from
about 2,500 prisoners in February to 6,300 today. The complex can hold
7,300, which it is expected to hit within 8 to 10 weeks.
Iraq a boon to US Arms Industry
16.09.07. Filasteen, uruknet. “What a surprise! Significantly, in 2007, Iraq
will, as in 2006, spend more on its security forces than it will receive in
security assistance from the United States. In fact, Iraq is becoming one
of the United States’ larger foreign military sales customers,
committing some $1.6 billion to FMS already, with the possibility of up to
$1.8 billion more being committed before the end of this year. And I
appreciate the attention that some members of Congress have recently given
to speeding up the FMS process for Iraq." - General David H. Petraeus.”
'Help Wanted' Ad Belies Report on Iraq Security
17.09.07. Walter Pincus, Washington Post. A week ago today, Gen. David H.
Petraeus started his rounds on Capitol Hill, reporting that security in Iraq
was improving to the point that a small number of troops could begin coming
home by year's end. But 10 days ago, his commanders in Baghdad began
advertising for private contractors to work in combat-supply warehouses on
U.S. bases throughout Iraq because half the soldiers who had been working in
the warehouses were needed for patrols, combat and protection of U.S.
forces.
New Military Report Acknowledges Signs of Police State in Baghdad
18.09.07. Huffington Post. Virtually ignored in last week's national debate
on the US military surge was a report by military experts recommending that
the Iraqi police service be scrapped because of its brutal sectarian
character. The scathing report stopped short of acknowledging that
continuing US support for the Iraqi Security Forces is in violation of the
1997 Leahy Amendment barring assistance to known human rights violators. …
Called "The Report of the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of
Iraq", the Sept. 7, 2007 report was issued by Marine Gen. James Jones [ret.]
and a panel of some 30 top military experts, many with 30 years' experience.
The media noted its primary assessment, that the Iraqi army was progressing
but would require another 12 to 18 months before being combat-ready. The
explosive sections of the 130-page, single-spaced report were ignored. They
are quoted here extensively ...
180,000 Private Contractors Flood Iraq
20.09.07. AP. The United States has assembled an imposing industrial army in
Iraq larger than its uniformed fighting force and responsible for a such a
broad swath of responsibilities the military might not be able to operate
without its private-sector partners. More than 180,000 Americans, Iraqis,
and nationals from other countries work under a slew of federal contracts to
provide security, gather intelligence, build roads, forge a financial
system, and transport needed supplies in a country the size of California.
That figure contrasts with the 163,100 U.S. military personnel, according to
U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla., the organization responsible for
military operations in the Middle East. The Pentagon puts the military
figure at 169,000. There are another 12,400 coalition forces in Iraq.
Making a killing: how private armies became a $120bn global industry
21.09.07. Independent. There is nothing new about soldiers for hire, the
private companies simply represent the trade in a new form. "Organised as
business entities and structured along corporate lines, they mark the
corporate evolution of the mercenary trade," according to Mr Singer, who was
among the first to plot the worldwide explosion in the use of private
military firms.
In many ways it mirrors broader trends in the world economy as countries
switch from manufacturing to services and outsource functions once thought
to be the preserve of the state. Iraq has become a testing ground for this
burgeoning industry, creating staggering financial opportunities and equally
immense ethical dilemmas. … According to some estimates, more than 800
private military employees have been killed in the war so far, and as many
as 3,300 wounded.
These numbers are greater than the losses suffered by any single US army
division and larger than the casualties suffered by the rest of the
coalition put together.
Bush's Free World and Welcome to It
23.09.07. Tom Englehardt, Tom Dispatch. Freedom as Theft
Honoring American LiberatorsM . Taking a trip down memory lane.
Homeland Security's Jackson Resigns
24.09.07. E. Sullivan, Washington Post/truthout. The Homeland Security
Department's second-in-command resigned Monday, citing personal financial
reasons.
VIDEOS
Video. Oursourcing Victory.
Mark Fiore, 1 min.
Video.. Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers. 75 min.
Iraq for Sale: Banned Excerpts
Video History of the US “Death
Squads”
(29.03.07, uruknet)
Video Iraq’s “Death Squads”
supported by the US (30.03.07, uruknet)
Armies for Hire.
Video 14.05.07. Peter Snow. BBC. Since the invasions of Iraq and
Afghanistan there has been a staggering boom in the demand for civilian
soldiers who carry arms for private companies. . Part I: the Dogs of Peace.
Read about new video, Iraq – Shadow
Company
here
Video.. Mercenaries in Iraq
(12.06.07, Jazeera.) This is 'Aljazeera Inside Iraq'
(09-06-’07), good debate about mercenaries in Iraq, Phyllis Bennis author of
"Challenging Empire" is really great.
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FOOTNOTE
Paxton, The Anatomy of Fascism , Vintage 2005, pp 58 - 62
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Sarah Meyer is a researcher living in the UK. She is a member of the BRussells Tribunal.
The url to Security Company Death Squads Timeline is:
http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2007/09/security-company-death-squads-timeline.html
and
http://www.brusselstribunal.org/SecurityCompanies1.htm
The shorter url is:
http://tinyurl.com/2b476w
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If you are going to use information from this site, as more than some have, please have the courtesy to credit Index Research. Thank you. Sarah Meyer