Blackwater now in the private intelligence business

[Straw Man]

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Scahill_updates_Blackwater_book_with_new_0731.html

 Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, is worried about the giant mercenary firm's latest foray into private intelligence. "They're marketing their services to not only foreign governments, but to Fortune 500 corporations," he recently told an interviewer.

The forthcoming paperback edition of Scahill's book on Blackwater, which appeared in hardcover in February 2007, will include 100 pages of new material, including a discussion of last September's shooting spree in Baghdad by Blackwater operatives -- which killed 17 Iraqi civilians but for which nobody has ever been charged.

"This is a company that has been accused of murdering Iraqi civilians," Scahill pointed out, "of shooting the bodyguard to the Iraqi vice-president, of causing blowback attacks on United States troops, of hurting the morale of the United States military -- that has cost United States taxpayers over a billion dollars for its operations in Iraq."

However, Scahill's greatest concern at present appears to be Blackwater's venture into the private intelligence business.

"Blackwater started a private intelligence company," he explained, "a private CIA essentially, called Total Intelligence Solutions. And the man running Total Intelligence Solutions is J. Cofer Black. He's a thirty-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency. He also was the guy who ran the CIA's extraordinary rendition program, the government-sanctioned kidnap-and-torture program."

"His thirty-year CIA career, his network of contacts, his knowledge that was gained through his work in the most sensitive areas of the United States government is now on the open market for hire," Scahill said sadly.

"This isn't a liberal or conservative thing," concluded Scahill. "You have a lot of traditional conservatives who are outraged at what they see as the degradation of the United States armed forces. ... This has everything to do with the future of war-making and global stability."

[TerminalPower]

Ponder this...good read, thanks Straw Man.

[Straw Man]

Yeah - a privately run CIA selling it's services to foreign governments

what could go wrong?

[24KT]

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance" -- Thomas Jefferson

“How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?” --Proverbs 6:9

[Purple Aki]

They've now got aeroplanes, too.






Run for your tin foil hats, pinkos.

[headhuntersix]

I have been talking about this for a long time...Prince wants to be able to field a fully independent Bde sized element with Air/medivac..artillery support, armor and infantry. It won't be heavy armor but armord cars and light arty, maybe mortars or light rockets, but u get eveything u need to hold, invade or protect a country. I guess that included intel....they get that stuff now from us, but if they're hired someplace we aren't...they will need their own. Most of that info will come from us, one way or another. I would highly recommend that book.

[Fury]

Awesome. They're becoming like Ocelot's private army in Metal Gear Solid 4. Good shit. That Prince guy knows how to make money. Works out for the ex soldiers and spec ops guy in there, too. They make six figures for a couple months of work in Blackwater.

[headhuntersix]

The average guy makes about 600 per day...no taxes but no medical Ins so u need to buy that for ur family. The supervisors can make between 600-800 or so. But Blackwater which is SEAL heavy, has been hiring alot of South American SOF, which comes cheaper and they don't care as mich about "collateral damage"...but are very good soldiers. BF get that book...great stuff.

[Straw Man]

The average guy makes about 600 per day...no taxes but no medical Ins so u need to buy that for ur family. The supervisors can make between 600-800 or so. But Blackwater which is SEAL heavy, has been hiring alot of South American SOF, which comes cheaper and they don't care as mich about "collateral damage"...but are very good soldiers. BF get that book...great stuff.

HH - the book is an expose not a promotional piece.  I take it you see no problem with a private army that operates outside the law, pays no taxes and appears to be answerable to no one except themselves?  I wonder what will happen if our country gets a new administration which doesn't agree with the status quo of this situation.   I can easily see a future where Blackwater will be working against the interest of the United States.   

[24KT]

HH - the book is an expose not a promotional piece.  I take it you see no problem with a private army that operates outside the law, pays no taxes and appears to be answerable to no one except themselves?  I wonder what will happen if our country gets a new administration which doesn't agree with the status quo of this situation.   I can easily see a future where Blackwater will be working against the interest of the United States.   

Considering all the crap they've been pulling in Iraq, ...are you sure those days are in the future and not here NOW?

[youandme]

I can easily see a future where Blackwater will be working against the interest of the United States.   

You must be hanging around the wrong getbig crowd, cause no American men and women that have past military service are going to fight their own countrymen.

[Straw Man]

You must be hanging around the wrong getbig crowd, cause no American men and women that have past military service are going to fight their own countrymen.

yeah, that could never happen here

I can see a group of business/military/religious kooks deciding that America is on the wrong path and decide to try to do something about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot (interesting how that known traitor Prescott Bush was wrapped up in this too)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=628728631767818729

[240 is Back]

Q:  How many Blackwater employees does it take to throw an innocent civilian down a flight of stairs?

A:  None.  He fell.

[headhuntersix]

HH - the book is an expose not a promotional piece.  I take it you see no problem with a private army that operates outside the law, pays no taxes and appears to be answerable to no one except themselves?  I wonder what will happen if our country gets a new administration which doesn't agree with the status quo of this situation.   I can easily see a future where Blackwater will be working against the interest of the United States.   

I read the book straw..I have everybook written so far on Blackwater or the rise of private military contractors...I have friends with all 3 big US companies...I love it. U Libs can go cry in ur beers..they're here to stay. Why is everything a problem for u guys. I think the Military, combat and anything associated with it are affronts to ur tenuous hold on manhood, u can't or won't serve and then bash anything to do with it. Blackwater serves a purpose, just like KBR...there is nobody else to do what they do.

Hey Jag i did't know u were in Iraq and had detailed first hand knowledge of how and what Blackwater does....I didn't know u had walked patrols or suffered IED attacks and were a combat harded ex-navy SEAL. Oh wait.....please don't second guess people who's job and conditions u couldn't even fathom.

[Straw Man]

I read the book straw..I have everybook written so far on Blackwater or the rise of private military contractors...I have friends with all 3 big US companies...I love it. U Libs can go cry in ur beers..they're here to stay. Why is everything a problem for u guys. I think the Military, combat and anything associated with it are affronts to ur tenuous hold on manhood, u can't or won't serve and then bash anything to do with it. Blackwater serves a purpose, just like KBR...there is nobody else to do what they do.

Hey Jag i did't know u were in Iraq and had detailed first hand knowledge of how and what Blackwater does....I didn't know u had walked patrols or suffered IED attacks and were a combat harded ex-navy SEAL. Oh wait.....please don't second guess people who's job and conditions u couldn't even fathom.

I'd have a lot less problem with them if they were inside the law rather than outside.

I also don't see why the regular military can't do the same job.  If they're not up to the job then make them better.  There's no need to pay 10x more for the "service" that they provide.

[headhuntersix]

Well atleast u want to debate the issue....and they are good questions. There is only a finite number of SOF guys....and they're doing other things. Its cheaper to pay these companies. We pay one fee per job/contract. They run there own contract with KBR for food etc. We don't have to worry about medical/housing/dental/insurance etc etc for a lifetime, for the soldier and his family. Its cheaper.

[headhuntersix]

Straw...read the book it lays it all out..good and bad plus the history of these companies and what Price intends to do.

[Straw Man]

Straw...read the book it lays it all out..good and bad plus the history of these companies and what Price intends to do.

What's the bad part?