Superpower for Hire: Rise of the Private Military

YouTube/Vice

Vice takes an unprecedented look into the shadowy industry of Private Military Companies.

For the past two decades these private companies, likeBlackwater, Aegis and G4S have silently consumed military operations around the world, doing everything from back-end logistics, protection of government VIP’s and diplomats to actual combat duties.

In this documentary Vice explores the origins of this industry, their rise in the war on terror and their future operations around the world.


Hat tip: Old-Thinker News

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Blackwater Builds Foreign Mercenary Force in UAE

Editor's Note: What could possibly go wrong with rogue private forces being used as secret police of the crown?

Blackwater chopper - AFP File image

Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The crown prince of Abu Dhabi has hired the founder of private security firm Blackwater Worldwide to set up an 800-member battalion of foreign troops for the United Arab Emirates, the New York Times said Sunday.

The Times said it obtained documents that showed the unit being formed by Erik Prince's new company Reflex Responses with $529 million from the UAE would be used to thwart internal revolt, conduct special operations and defend oil pipelines and skyscrapers from attack.

The newspaper said the decision to hire the contingent of foreign troops was taken before a wave of popular unrest spread across the Arab world in recent months, including to the UAE's Gulf neighbors Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

The UAE itself has seen no serious unrest. Most of its population is made up of foreign workers.

Blackwater, which once had lucrative contracts to protect U.S. officials in Iraq, became notorious in the region in 2007 when its guards opened fire in Baghdad traffic, killing at least 14 people in what the Iraqi government called a "massacre."

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New US Security Appointments and The Dangerous Separation of State and Military

An actual corporate army for hire: Blackwater, now "Xe" resides in 
Dubai, the globalist gangster hideout of choice, to avoid extradition 
for their various accused crimes against humanity. Here they roam the
streets of New Orleans on corporate and government payrolls.

Tony Cartalucci, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

Bangkok, Thailand April 29, 2011 - The latest game of Washington musical chairs expects to see General David Petraeus head the CIA while current CIA Director Leon Panetta is to take over Robert Gate's position as Secretary of Defense. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) astutely noted that this arrangement further blurs the lines between America's "intelligence community" and the role of the US Armed Forces.

To call the CIA an "intelligence agency" is entirely a misnomer. In reality, the CIA has become an extra-legal private military that has waged secret wars for decades. It has been recently augmenting its repertoire with pilotless drones to carry out air campaigns along the Afghan-Pakistani border. The CIA has also been involved in on-going military operations inside of Iran, Somalia, and now Libya. The CIA's ever expanding budget has long been categorized as "classified" and therefore entirely unaccountable to both the American tax payers and their so-called elected representatives.

The CFR's article, "Crumbling Wall Between the Pentagon and CIA" notes that the CIA's growing influence is due to "its greater integration with the military." This "greater integration" will engender the US military with less oversights and more secrecy as it expands its support for the CIA's growing role in waging global war.

US under pressure to arm Libya rebels

A Libyan rebel fighter detains a
captured alleged mercenary in a car
© AFP Trevor Snapp

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States came under mounting pressure Sunday to help arm rebels facing Moamer Kadhafi's emboldened and regrouping military, amid charges Washington missed recent chances to oust Libya's strongman.

President Barack Obama has insisted that all options including military action remain on the table with respect to Libya, where Kadhafi forces have unleashed deadly airstrikes on rebels and civilians in efforts to crush an uprising in which thousands are believed to have been killed.

But with the administration cautioning that a decision on a no-fly zone was still far off, US lawmakers and former officials appearing on Sunday talk shows coalesced around the likelihood that supplying weapons to the outgunned rebels was a way forward.

"I assume that a lot of weapons are going to find their way there (to rebels in Libya) from one means or another over the course of the next weeks," Democrat John Kerry, who helms the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CBS's "Face the Nation."

Ex-governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, also said Sunday it was time to "covertly arm the rebels" and enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.

And Stephen Hadley, national security advisor for Obama predecessor George W. Bush, said Washington should look at the potential for funneling arms to Kadhafi's opponents.

"Obviously, if there is a way to get weapons into the hands of the rebels, if we can get anti-aircraft systems so that they can enforce a no-fly zone over their own territory, that would be helpful," Hadley told CNN.

When asked if sending weapons to opposition forces was a possibility, Pentagon spokesman Colonel David Lapan told AFP: "As the president said, all options are being considered, but we're not discussing details of the various options."

Kerry said a no-fly zone -- which would necessitate air strikes to take out Libya's defenses -- should be set up in conjunction with allies, but warned that direct military action would be "trickier."

"The last thing we want to think about is any kind of military intervention, and I don't consider the fly zone stepping over that line," he said.

"We don't want troops on the ground. They don't want troops on the ground."

But there were other ways of displaying US might to Tripoli, including the use of military transport planes to fly Egyptian refugees out of Tunisia, and the recent arrival in the Mediterranean of two US warships with marines on board.

Picture taken near the oil town of
Ras Lanuf of the wreckage of a loyalist jet
© AFP Roberto Schmidt

"We have made the presence of American military felt for that purpose," Kerry said.

Washington recently missed a key opportunity to end Kadhafi's four-decade grip on power, according to a former regime member.

"We asked for help when he was on the ropes," Libya's ex-minister of immigration Ali Errishi, who resigned shortly after the uprising began nearly three weeks ago, told CNN's "State of the Union."

"I said, you give us little help now. It was just a little nudge," when what was needed was greater US military support at the height of the chaos when several key Kadhafi loyalists and military figures abandoned the regime, Errishi said.

"They were dragging their feet, I don't know why," said Errishi.

He also stressed he had "no doubt" that Kadhafi would refuse to negotiate terms for his own departure.

"This is a man who has shown that there's only one choice for Libyan people: either I rule you or I kill you."

Rebels have taken control of much of Libya's eastern half, but Kadhafi's well-armed forces have gone on the counter-attack against rag-tag groups of rebels who are often armed only with AK-47 assault rifles.

Obama's 2008 rival for the presidency, Republican US Senator John McCain, reiterated his call for a no-fly zone Sunday, saying it would "send a signal to Kadhafi" that Obama was serious in his call for the Libyan leader to step down.

"We can't risk allowing Kadhafi to massacre people from the air," he told ABC's "This Week."

Like Kerry, McCain backed off from direct military engagement but said "there's a lot we could do, including intelligence capability and giving them technical assistance."

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Private Security Continues to Invade American Towns

APS logo (image: APS)

Brandon Turbeville

Activist Post

A couple nights ago, I was sitting in front of the TV waiting on the local campaign coverage. Amid the mindless programming that passes for entertainment, and the irritating advertisements that follow it, a particular commercial caught my eye. This commercial, which initially resembled the trailer for COPS, depicted uniformed officers carrying out their nightly duties. One of these scenes involved an officer manhandling and arresting a suspect in what appears to be a public place. While my initial reaction was one of disgust for the glorification of the police state, I was somewhat more disturbed when I saw what this commercial was actually advertising. It was for a relatively new company named Advanced Protection Services, located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

APS is a private investigations and security contractor functioning in only two states, as of yet – South Carolina and Arizona. Its staff is drawn from former law enforcement and military personnel and its services range from property and nightclub security to community patrol.  The latter, which is stated clearly on the APS website, is particularly concerning due to the fact that, while there may be a place for private security firms, “community patrol” is a local police duty.  Interestingly enough, APS patrol cars are similar to Horry County and Myrtle Beach city police cars and have been seen in the area before.  Whether or not these vehicles were patrolling is unknown. However, a presence has clearly been established.

Nevertheless, without the benefit of local advertising, one might have been lulled into thinking that the new cars patrolling their neighborhoods with “Advanced Protection Services” painted on the side were merely the result of the creation of another specialized task force designed to harass the citizenry and waste taxpayer money. Unfortunately, while this would be bad enough, it appears that South Carolina has now been invaded by a miniature version of Blackwater Xe. This is a clear indication of the rise of the trend in private security firms engaging in work that was once done by local police who are allegedly accountable to the people. (See here as well.)

Last year, it was discovered that a private security company, American Police Force, had entered the small town of Hardin, Montana and had assumed the duties of patrolling the town and enforcing laws. APF had originally been contracted to provide security at a detention center near Hardin. However, not long after, residents were answering to them as if they were real law enforcement personnel. APF “officers” were soon driving around in police patrol vehicles, harassing citizens, and acting as if they were truly the authority in Hardin. Only after the independent media, such as Alex Jones’ Infowars, exposed APF did the mercenaries leave Hardin.

Private security forces, DynCorp specifically, were also used in the aftermath of Katrina in New Orleans.  The use of private security forces in war theatres such as Iraq and Afghanistan is bad enough, but their use against the American people is unconscionable.  Unfortunately, this is a trend that is continuing to grow by leaps and bounds every year. While one can argue that there is a place for private security companies, there is no argument to be made for their assuming duties designated to local police forces. It is important for everyone to remember that private security forces, whether contracted out by the government, businesses, or acting alone, have no jurisdiction. They are not police officers and should not be treated as such.

It’s not likely that many local police officers appreciate private security being brought in to do the jobs designated to them -- especially when these contractors make many times more money than public officers for doing the same (if not less) amount of work. Thus, it is important for everyone -- average citizens and police officers alike -- to speak up and stop private security forces from invading our communities. For those communities that have already been invaded, it’s time to make your voices heard and drive them out.


Brandon Turbeville is an author out of Mullins, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Francis Marion University where he earned the Pee Dee Electric Scholar’s Award as an undergraduate. He has had numerous articles published dealing with a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, and civil liberties. He also the author of Codex Alimentarius - The End of Health Freedom 


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State Dept. tried to hide Blackwater’s piece of $10 billion contract: report

Contract comes despite Sec. Clinton's pledge to ban 'private mercenary firms'

Daniel Tencer -- Raw Story 

The State Department has awarded part of a $10-billion embassy protection contract to the company formerly known as Blackwater, but you wouldn't know it by looking at government documents.


On Thursday, the State Department announced the winners of a tender to protect security services to diplomatic missions around the world, including the US's massive embassy in Iraq. The name Xe Services -- Blackwater's current name -- doesn't appear in the contract, but the name International Development Solutions does. 

Spencer Ackerman reports at Wired.com that International Development Solutions is a shell company set up by Blackwater in partnership with engineering firm Kaseman to run US Training Center, a Blackwater subsidiary.

"No one who looks at the official announcement of the contract award would have any idea that firm is connected to Blackwater," Ackerman writes.

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