The make-up of Blackwater

Iraq's Hired Hands Under Fire
as the Pot of Gold Starts to Run Low
By Ewen MacAskill and Richard Norton-Taylor
Guardian
September 22, 2007
Security boom ends amid complaints about civilian killings and immunity
They needed to be hired fast after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. With too few US soldiers on the ground, demand for private security guards was at a level not seen since the mercenary heyday of Congo in the 1960s. Former special forces soldiers from the US and Britain, with their wrap-around shades and swagger, had to be supplemented by Chileans, Colombians and Jordanians.
No exodus

British companies were yesterday reluctant to comment on Blackwater. However, one described the company as being at the "aggressive end of the market", and expressed surprise that the state department still employed them. But there are still profits to be made in Iraq. Earlier this month the Pentagon renewed its contract with Aegis, a British company run by Tim Spicer, a former colonel in the Scots Guards, at $475m over two years, the biggest single deal in Iraq, to provide "reconstruction security support services". All the directors of British private security companies said business will improve when the security situation improves. "There is no great exodus, nothing to panic about," said William James, spokesman for the Olive Group.

Companies are looking at work in other countries, such as Afghanistan and Sudan. Blackwater is diversifying into training US law enforcement officers. Some companies may also move into helping protect humanitarian work, though aid organisations are nervous about this. John Hilary, War on Want's director of campaigns and policy, said: "There is a massive difference between the provision of security and paramilitary services and the hearts and minds work of delivering humanitarian aid. They are not compatible industries." As for Iraq, the private security guards are largely unrepentant about their role over the last four years. One of them said: "Someone had to fill the void."
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/contract/2007/0922guardianblack.htm

A Very Private War
By Jeremy Scahill
Guardian
August 1, 2007
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/contra...
There are now 630 companies working in Iraq on contract for the US government, with personnel from more than 100 countries offering services ranging from cooking and driving to the protection of high-ranking army officers. Their 180,000 employees now outnumber America's 160,000 official troops. The precise number of mercenaries is unclear, but last year, a US government report identified 48,000 employees of private military/security firms.
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At present, Blackwater has forces deployed in nine countries and boasts a database of 21,000 additional troops at the ready, a fleet of more than 20 aircraft, including helicopter gun-ships, and the world's largest private military facility - a 7,000-acre compound in North Carolina. It recently opened a new facility in Illinois (Blackwater North) and is fighting local opposition to a third planned domestic facility near San Diego (Blackwater West) by the Mexican border. It is also manufacturing an armoured vehicle (nicknamed the Grizzly) and surveillance blimps.

UN on the Offensive Against Iraq Mercenaries
By Daniela Estrada and Gustavo González
Inter Press Service
July 13, 2007
http://www.globalpolicy.org/nations/sovereign/military/...
Mercenary recruitment agencies that send former soldiers to Iraq have been accused in Chile of human right abuses, illegal association, possession of explosives and unauthorised use of army weaponry, and are the target of a special United Nations mission.
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Navarro said that U.S. private security companies such as Blackwater and Triple Canopy, who recruit guards at the request of the U.S. government to send into armed conflict zones to protect strategic installations, tend to subcontract to South American firms like Red Táctica Consulting Group. The owner of the Washington-based Red Táctica is José Miguel Pizarro, a retired general of the Chilean army who lives in the U.S. He is also known as a commentator on Iraq security issues for the U.S. news service CNN. Pizarro had at first agreed to meet with the UN mission in Santiago, but later changed his mind, saying that Gómez del Prado is not impartial and has taken an "anti-American" stance, according to Gómez del Prado himself.
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Chile has been a country of concern to the UNWG since 2004, when it was reported that 124 former Chilean soldiers were in Iraq. Sources in Santiago estimate that there are currently 500 Chilean mercenaries there, while Navarro says there are 1,000. The university experts at the meeting said that Chile has copious legislation on private security services, but mercenaries are not outlawed, so that it is essential for the country to ratify the UN Convention and adjust its domestic legislation accordingly.
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In Iraq, many contractors are run by Americans or Britons and have elite forces staffed by well-trained veterans of powerful militaries for use in sensitive actions or operations. But lower down, the ranks are filled by Iraqis and third-country nationals. Hundreds of Chilean mercenaries, for example, have been deployed by US companies such as Blackwater and Triple Canopy, despite the fact that Chile opposed the invasion and continues to oppose the occupation of Iraq. Some of the Chileans are alleged to be seasoned veterans of the Pinochet era.
Some 118,000 of the estimated 180,000 contractors in Iraq are Iraqis. The mercenary industry points to this as encouraging: we are giving Iraqis jobs, albeit occupying their own country in the service of a private corporation hired by a hostile invading power. As Doug Brooks, the head of the Orwellian-named mercenary trade group, the International Peace Operations Association, argued early in the occupation, "Museums do not need to be guarded by Abrams tanks when an Iraqi security guard working for a contractor can do the same job for less than one-50th of what it costs to maintain an American soldier. Hiring local guards gives Iraqis a stake in a successful future for their country. They use their pay to support their families and stimulate the economy. Perhaps most significantly, every guard means one less potential guerrilla."
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Outsourcing is increasingly extending to extremely sensitive sectors, including intelligence. The investigative blogger RJ Hillhouse, whose site TheSpyWhoBilledMe.com regularly breaks news on the clandestine world of private contractors and US intelligence, recently established that Washington spends $42bn (£21bn) annually on private intelligence contractors, up from $18bn in 2000. Currently, that spending represents 70% of the US intelligence budget.

But the mercenary forces are also diversifying geographically: in Latin America, the massive US firm DynCorp is operating in Colombia, Bolivia and other countries as part of the "war on drugs" - US defence contractors are receiving nearly half the $630m in US military aid for Colombia; in Africa, mercenaries are deploying in Somalia, Congo and Sudan and increasingly have their sights set on tapping into the hefty UN peacekeeping budget; inside the US, private security staff now outnumber official law enforcement. Heavily armed mercenaries were deployed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, while there are proposals to privatise the US border patrol. Brooks, the private military industry lobbyist, says people should not become "overly obsessed with Iraq", saying his association's member companies "have more personnel working in UN and African Union peace operations than all but a handful of countries"

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International Training

Over the years, Blackwater’s reputation as the premier weapons and tactics training facility in the United States had spread worldwide. Today, Blackwater has and is currently training select military and other government groups from US-friendly nations at Blackwater and abroad.

Our instructors are ranked the best in the world and our facilities are second to none. With appropriate US Department of State approvals, Blackwater can meet your training objectives. Training can be conducted at our Moyock Facility or in your country.

Past or Current Projects

Greece – In 2003, Blackwater USA trained special security teams that were preparing to the 2004 Olympic Games held in Greece

Azerbaijan – In 2005 Blackwater USA was contracted to enhance Azerbaijan Naval Sea Commando’s maritime interdiction capability. The contract included the facility up-grades, supply of basic maritime equipment, development of recruiting material, and maritime interdiction training.

Afghanistan – Currently, Blackwater USA is training various groups of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior in weapons and tactical operations. This training is in direct support of US Drug Enforcement Agency’s efforts to build a robust and capable narcotics interdiction capability.

For more information on International Training please email us at: international@blackwaterusa.com

Blackwater Global Stability Solutions

Blackwater USA, has a proven track record of superior advisory support to government agencies and private organizations. We are in position across the globe ready to provide rapid planning consultation, rapid mobility/logistics, and security assistance support in areas devastated by war or natural disasters.

Our thousands of highly specialized global stabilization professionals form the backbone of our consulting and services support capabilities. Blackwater Global Stability Solutions approaches every challenge with focused analysis. We pride ourselves on providing solutions that are practical, economical, timely and effective.

When failure is not an option and hope is not enough