Outsourcing to the max

THE COMPANY FORMERLY KNOWN AS BLACKWATER, now with a suitably inscrutable moniker of Xe, seems to be a major player in the campaign against the jihaddis in Pakistan. According to Jeremy Scahill's article in The Nation, 

At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the center of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, "snatch and grabs" of high-value targets and other sensitive action inside and outside Pakistan, an investigation by The Nation has found. The Blackwater operatives also assist in gathering intelligence and help direct a secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs parallel to the well-documented CIA predator strikes, according to a well-placed source within the US military intelligence apparatus.

"It wouldn't surprise me because we've outsourced nearly everything," said Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff from 2002 to 2005, when told of Blackwater's role in Pakistan. 

I'm probably mistaken, but to this old fart, it appears to me that using mercenaries is a sure sign of decadent imperialism. Countries have to look after their perceived interests, but Xe smacks of cynicism and decadence. If you'd like a précis, ol' FABIUS MAXIMUS has a list of salient points about the above. Also, if you haven't seen it, do rent a copy of "War, Inc.", a black comedy about America's first totally out-sourced war. Love the hot sauce.

But, if you need to train an army or rent one, Xe sure can help. Their site proclaims:

Xe has the ability to develop, test, and manufacture weapons and armor. With some of the most qualified firearm specialists in the world, we are able to gather input from experienced professionals for design of high quality weapons and armor. Our team’s extensive backgrounds in military and law enforcement gives us access to the information we need to produce the best armor and weapons for our customers. 

A ready supply of clothing, protective gear, weapons, and life support needs is located at our Headquarters. This entire stock of equipment is managed by Xe's logistics and procurement division and securely supervised in a designated warehouse. All personnel are properly outfitted for the requirements of the contract before departing the United States for work overseas. Our personnel are properly prepared to meet the needs of its customers.  

Making a killing in Afghanistan

LA Times : Four men with the U.S. firm once known as Blackwater are said to be under investigation in the deaths of two Afghans. A U.S. report found serious fault with private security firms in Afghanistan.

Kabul : Residents say the U.S. contractors opened fire without provocation after one of their vehicles tipped over in a traffic accident. The driver of a Toyota said the Americans ordered him to stop, then told him to move on. When the driver began pulling away the Americans started shooting. A passenger in the car was killed and a man walking about 200 yards away was shot in the head. No weapons were found in the Toyota, or on the bystander. A lawyer representing the four contractors said the company [Xe] falsely accused the men of drinking alcohol that night.

The U.S. spent between $6 billion and $10 billion on security contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2003 through 2007 alone, according to Congress. In all, there are more than 71,000 security contractors or guards, armed and unarmed, in Afghanistan.

Since February, oversight of security contractors in Afghanistan has been entrusted not to Congress or the Pentagon, but to a British-owned private contractor, Aegis.
The company was hired by the American government after the U.S. military said it lacked the manpower and expertise to monitor security contractors.

The US military says it lacks the manpower and expertise to monitor its mercenaries ....

h/t Pogge via B'n R.

Blackwater joins wingnut weird week

How do you get rid of a bad rep, especially one that has a mitt-full of your people charged with manslaughter? (As Blackwater does).

Change your name.

Blackwater Worldwide is abandoning its tarnished brand name as it tries to shake a reputation battered by oft-criticised work in Iraq, renaming its family of two dozen businesses under the name Xe. The parent company's new name is pronounced like the letter z.

Blackwater Lodge & Training Centre — the subsidiary that conducts much of the company's overseas operations and domestic training — has been renamed US Training Centre Inc., the company said today.

The decision comes as part of an ongoing rebranding effort that grew more urgent following a September 2007 shooting in Iraq that left at least a dozen civilians dead. Blackwater president Gary Jackson said in a memo to employees the new name reflects the change in company focus away from the business of providing private security.

[...]

In his memo, Jackson indicated the company was not interested in actively pursuing new private security contracts. Jackson and other Blackwater executives said last year the company was shifting its focus away from such work to focus on training and providing logistics.

Actually, Blackwater's focus was shifted for them. First, they lost their benefactor and then Iraq told them to bugger off. The State department said they wouldn't be renewing any security contracts with them and that would have left them seriously exposed for what they really are - mercenaries.

And where did Blackwater come up with the Xe?

Oh... what the hell. I'll give you our take on it.

First, you have to remember that Blackwater is led by a bunch of arrogant, self-important wanks. They don't view themselves as anything less than "patriots" in the truest American ultra-right-wing definition of the word.

Xe is the elemental symbol for Xenon, an odourless, colourless gas. It is also a "noble" gas.

Is that where it comes from? I don't know. If it is, however, they might better have picked H2S... which stinks.

The DNA won't change.

The Amway Blackwater Focus on the Family Tree

Bill Berkowitz reports that Amway is getting ready to make a comeback.
What superb timing.
Just as we are getting used to the idea that much of the financial markets is one giant ponzi scheme, a company roughly based on the pyramid chain letter is set to rebuild its brand : a multi-level marketing scheme based on selling cleaning products to yourself while buying motivational tapes from the person up the chain who talked you into it.

Don't sneer. Amway made over $7-billion in 2007, having exported 80% of its business abroad to China, India, and Russia - where presumably a whole new batch of "distributors" is out looking around for people willing to buy their motivational tapes.
It's all about the networking.
Berkowitz reminds us of Amway's own networks and Muckety provides a nice interactive family tree with many more links than I've pillaged here :

• Amway co-founder Richard DeVos was chair of the Republican National Committee and former chair of the Council for National Policy.
• His son Dick DeVos, billionaire former president of Amway, is married to Betsy DeVos, former chair of the Michigan Republican Party and founder of the National Right To Life Committee.
• Betsy is the older sister of Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater USA.
• Betsy and Erik's mom, Elsa Prince Broekhuizen, is a director of the Council for National Policy along with Grover Norquist and Paul Weyrich and FotF's James Dobson, and a board member of Focus on the Family herself.

As Amway co-CEO Doug DeVos put it : "We thought, well, if we’re going to build a brand, build the brand that everybody knows already."

Fun fact : While the Mormons took the brunt of the negative coverage for their anti-gay marriage Proposition 8 campaign in California, the Colorado Independent reports that our Focus on the Family tree pumped more than six times as much as the Mormon church did into it via the Protect Marriage campaign - $1.25 million .
.
Cross-posted at Creekside

Blackwater ends bid for San Diego training centre

Blackwater Worldwide has withdrawn its bid to build a training centre in San Diego's East County near the small town of Potrero. (Emphasis mine)

Blackwater Worldwide dropped its plans yesterday to build a military and law enforcement training camp in East County, ending a storm of controversy over the security contractor's presence in the county. Brian Bonfiglio, a Blackwater vice president, said the decision came down to noise – gunfire tests at the 824-acre site in Potrero exceeded county standards – and not fiery opposition from residents, environmentalists and those politically opposed to Blackwater's role as a contractor guarding officials in Iraq.

“Blackwater has maintained its position from the very beginning that if we could not meet or exceed (California) and San Diego County guidelines that we would not proceed, and we are keeping to that commitment,” Bonfiglio said in a statement.

Umm... ok. Except that the noise tests didn't actually present a prohibition.

Glenn Russell, interim deputy director of the county planning department, said noise tests for the proposed rifle range exceeded county standards on the east side of the property, along federal Bureau of Land Management land.

Russell said county noise standards require an average of 50 decibels, while the gunfire noise tests were as high as 80 decibels. That would be like comparing restaurant noise with the sound of a vacuum cleaner.

Russell said county officials told Blackwater that if any residences were built on the federal land, Blackwater would be required to stop shooting at the site. He acknowledged it was unlikely houses would be built on the federal land.

“They (Blackwater) apparently weren't keen to place a condition on their project,” Russell said.

And then there is the fact that the citizens of San Diego County initiated a recall campaign and, in December 2007, turfed out five members of the county planning group who favoured Blackwater's proposed training facility and replaced them with members opposed to Blackwater's plans. There were plans to put forth a resolution against the proposed Blackwater facility at the next scheduled meeting.

John Robb has more.

Blackwater emerges from the sewer again

Is there anything Erik Prince's mercenaries aren't allowed to equip themselves with in Iraq?

Suddenly, on that May day in 2005, the copter dropped CS gas, a riot-control substance the American military in Iraq can use only under the strictest conditions and with the approval of top military commanders. An armored vehicle on the ground also released the gas, temporarily blinding drivers, passers-by and at least 10 American soldiers operating the checkpoint.

So which outfit did this?

Both the helicopter and the vehicle involved in the incident at the Assassins’ Gate checkpoint were not from the United States military, but were part of a convoy operated by Blackwater Worldwide, the private security contractor that is under scrutiny for its role in a series of violent episodes in Iraq, including a September shooting in downtown Baghdad that left 17 Iraqis dead.

How is it that Blackwater is even allowed to be in possession of CS gas?

Of course, this whole thing has been written off by Blackwater as a mistake. It was supposed to be a "smoke" canister; not tear gas.

Anne Tyrrell, a spokeswoman for Blackwater, said the CS gas had been released by mistake.

“Blackwater teams in the air and on the ground were preparing a secure route near a checkpoint to provide passage for a motorcade,” Ms. Tyrrell said in an e-mail message. “It seems a CS gas canister was mistaken for a smoke canister and released near an intersection and checkpoint.”

Well, there, Anne, it seems witness tell something of a different story. They claim that the CS gas canisters came from the air and the armoured vehicle on the ground. That would make it a coordinated mistake.

We can take that a little further in two directions.

First, if the mercenaries employed by Blackwater are so incompetent that they can't distinguish the difference between a CS gas canister and a smoke canister, it would suggest that "world class training" Blackwater spouts on about isn't worth the paint on the sign.

Secondly, the release of smoke in a convoy stuck in a traffic jam is not a tactic anyone familiar with personal protection would employ. It obscures the sight lines and arcs of those tasked with providing protection. It would make the task more difficult; not easier.

Officers and noncommissioned officers from the Third Infantry Division who were involved in the episode said there were no signs of violence at the checkpoint. Instead, they said, the Blackwater convoy appeared to be stuck in traffic and may have been trying to use the riot-control agent as a way to clear a path.

Which would be better than simply opening fire to clear a path. The truth is, if any military unit, a real military unit used CS gas for that purpose, the courts-martial would be coming hot and heavy.

Jill has pulled up some information on CS gas. It is nowhere near as harmless as some people would suggest.

Now the question. What else does Blackwater have in their bag of weapons?

Blackwater too mercenary even for the mercenaries

Matt Stoller points out that Blackwater USA, is now out of the International Peace Operations Association.

Blackwater USA has ended an inquiry into the private security contractor's performance by withdrawing from an industry group that initiated the review after the company's guards were accused of killing 17 Iraqis in Baghdad last month.

The International Peace Operations Association said in a statement Friday that Blackwater withdrew its membership two days after the group decided to examine whether the contractor's "processes and procedures" complied with the group's code of conduct.

Why would Erik Prince pull his private armed forces out of the one group that is working to legitimize private military contractors? Could it be he's afraid of what they'll find?

J.J. Messner, the association's director of programs and operations, would not cite a specific episode that prompted the group's decision. Messner said Blackwater representatives initially agreed such a review was appropriate. He would not say why the company decided to sever the relationship.

You have to approach this with a certain amount of relativism. The IPOA membership list contains a variety of private military contractors from logistics suppliers to armed security operators. The effort is to provide legitimacy to mercenary armies and present themselves as a better option than state-provided armies to UN peacekeeping and security operations. The code of conduct issued by the IPOA is voluntary for member companies but, in the case of an association review, any report would include where a company under review did not meet those voluntary standards.

Given that Blackwater is under a cloud already and is being investigated by the US Congress, the last thing Erik Prince would want is a negative report from a mercenary trade association.

LadyBroadoak provides even more as people are starting to realize that Blackwater is run by little more than a Christian fundamentalist war lord.

And then there is Blackwater's 2007 Christmas card.

A Christmas wish that Christ’s great love,
His grace and goodness, too
May fill your heart and bless you now
and all the whole year through

May the Lord Jesus truly bless you during this wonderful season
as you rejoice with family and friends

Blackwater Worldwide

Yeah. I know. Don't let the incongruity ruin your day.

It's called murder... unless Blackwater is involved

America's mercenary army is going to eventually bite the hand that keeps them rolling in juicy government contracts and unprecedented layers of protection from prosecution. This should get interesting:

Federal agents investigating the Sept. 16 episode in which Blackwater security personnel shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians have found that at least 14 of the shootings were unjustified and violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq, according to civilian and military officials briefed on the case.

Now, any civilized country employing mercenaries (Yeah! Doesn't that sound special?!) would:

A) Immediately cease doing business with such a company of soldiers of fortune until an investigation completely cleared the company of wrongdoing;
B) Prosecute those directly responsible for any and all criminal acts.

Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to seek indictments, and some officials have expressed pessimism that adequate criminal laws exist to enable them to charge any Blackwater employee with criminal wrongdoing. Spokesmen for the Justice Department and the F.B.I. declined to discuss the matter.

Well, it is still being investigated, so a civilized government would wait until all the facts are in before indicting their mercenaries.

The case could be one of the first thorny issues to be decided by Michael B. Mukasey, who was sworn in as attorney general last week. He may be faced with a decision to turn down a prosecution on legal grounds at a time when a furor has erupted in Congress about the administration’s failure to hold security contractors accountable for their misdeeds.

Ummm... any civilized country employing mercenaries would have a homegrown law which allowed prosecution of people who, you know, kill other people without justification. Hell, the US did it for "unlawful enemy combatants". If they can find a way to ignore the Geneva conventions, you'd think they could find a way to prosecute murder by their hired guns overseas.

Investigators have concluded that as many as five of the company’s guards opened fire during the shootings, at least some with automatic weapons. Investigators have focused on one guard, identified as “turret gunner No. 3,” who fired a large number of rounds and was responsible for several fatalities.

Yes, turret gunner No. 3 sounds like a real piece of work. Any civilized country employing this kind of mercenary would react by making sure that particular mercenary army, which obviously doesn't screen its recruits very well, was no longer allowed to take the field.

It gets better. You'll want to read the whole thing. Then you'll probably want to take a shower.

Oh yeah. Just case you missed the subtle hints. Civilized countries don't employ mercenaries. The US Declaration of Independence is just one document which says so.

Blackwater gets a kiss from Condi

Lewis Black always has a line to bring your attention to something like this. Let's see now, what would Lewis say? I know...

Jesusfuckingchrist!!!

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ordered special agents from the State Department's bureau of diplomatic security to accompany every convoy guarded by Blackwater USA in Baghdad, department spokesman Sean McCormack said today.

Additionally, the State Department announced it would be deploying "dozens" of agents to supervise Blackwater operations in Baghdad.

Rice also ordered that all radio transmissions from convoys traveling outside the guarded Green Zone in Baghdad, which houses the U.S. Embassy, be recorded, and that video cameras be installed in every vehicle, McCormack said. All data will be archived.

Want to bet that when the next "incident" occurs the camera will be conveniently hit by a stray round?

Monitoring radio transmissions from convoys is a great idea. So far, the US military, Blackwater and the State Department in Iraq have proved that they can achieve new levels of isolation by not solving a radio and data communications interoperability problem. Everybody is on different frequencies and gee, no one seems able to manage the job of net-control.

Now, however, the State Department and US military have decided to fix that. How long has this war been going on?

So, in order to continue to give Blackwater USA and its Republican-connected chairman, Erik Prince, a nice juicy government contract in Iraq, the government will pay to have government security agents ride along with the private security agents which the government has hired to relieve government security agents of the task of protecting State Department personnel.

I don't want to say "redundancy and waste" too loudly, but how much sweeter a deal can Blackwater get?!

I know. I shouldn't have asked.