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10/18/09
Citizens of Highlands County Florida Fight A Blackwater Wannabe
By Dan Kenney

Many “Blackwater wannabes” have been sprouting up around the country this past year. Proposed large private training centers have been brought to my attention from California, Ohio, Michigan, Virginia, and Florida. The one in Ohio was defeated by citizens. The ones in California and Virginia are still being fought.

The proposed 7,700 acre Eagle National Training Center that was under consideration near Venus Florida has for now been turned down on their attempt to secure zoning changes. The Highland County commissioners voted unanimously to not approve the requested zoning variances.

Opponents of the proposed private military and security training facility turned out in large numbers to speak out against the project. The citizens filled the meeting room and more waited outside. The meeting lasted for over 12 hours. It is unclear if the security center is a dead deal, the developer, Greg Eagle of the Ft. Meyers area isn’t saying. There is a good chance that it is and credit must go to the opponents who worked quickly and with determination to stop it.

The developers made many concessions to try and when over the local residents like giving up plans for a 6,000 foot runway and firing of large guns. But the citizens were not swayed. Many of the citizens voiced concern that Eagle was just purchasing the land but then would lease it to Blackwater (now known as Xe.)

But because Eagle lost this round it does not mean the fight is over. Eagle could come back in six months with a revised plan to try and fit into the present zoning requirements. Also De Soto County, one hour from Highlands, has let it be known that if Highlands didn’t want the training center they would take it. The promise of 1,000 jobs that Eagle has put out is very tempting in the present economic environment.

Also watch for another Eagle Training Center that may be coming to a neighborhood near you. According to a 10 year business plan that was submitted to the commissioners Eagle, following in Blackwater’s footsteps, plans to create twenty additional satellite training installations nationally. Their plan was to make the Florida location a headquarters. Their plan also included the training of foreign soldiers and police. It also mentioned the possibility of “flipping the property” to a larger private training company such as Blackwater.

It seems that many have seen the huge profits that companies like Blackwater, Triple Canopy, DynCorp, and others are making and have decided it is time to join them at the U.S. government privatization feeding trough.

Be on the watch for a private military security company near your home town.

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 11, 2009
CONTACT:
Dan Kenney
815.793.0950

NoPrivateArmies Joins With the UN Working Group In
Calling On Honduras to Stop the Use of Mercenaries

NoPrivateArmies, the international citizens’ group formed in the United States to fight against the rising tide of mercenary use around the world joins with the UN Working Group to call upon Honduras to end their increased use of mercenaries.

The UN Group, formed in 2005 by the Commission on Human Rights to study the use of mercenaries around the world, states that they have been told that nearly 200 mercenaries have been hired to protect properties and individuals in Honduras. The recruitment, use, financing, and training of mercenaries are prohibited under the International Convention on the issue which was signed by Honduras.

We, members of NoPrivateArmies group, urge the Honduran authorities to end the use of private military within the country and investigate the reports of their presence. We also urge the Obama administration to join with the international community in condemning the use of hired guns in Honduras.

We also call upon our president and the current administration to prepare plans for ending our own government’s dependency upon private military and security contractors (PMSCs). The U.S. government now has more PMSCs working in Iraq and Afghanistan than U.S. soldiers. Experience has demonstrated that whenever security and the use of force have been outsourced to private military contractors human rights are too often violated for the sake of profit.

The use of private military or mercenaries has increased to over $100 billion per year business around the world. Fortune 500 companies, weak states, and even radical groups involved in government overthrows hire these companies like Blackwater (Xe), CACI, Triple Canopy, DynCorps, and hundreds of others to do the work that was once reserved for standing armies serving at the will of governments. Now security in Honduras and around the world is moving into the hands of hired guns that work for those who can afford to pay the highest price. This is not the environment that the vulnerable citizens of Honduras need during this time of crisis.

Two Years Still No Justice
The nation wide citizen’s group noprivatearmies.org and the Illinois Clearwater group mark the two year anniversary of the Nisour Square shooting with a call on Congress to end the use of private military companies.

Two years ago on a sunny September in Baghdad 17 unarmed innocent civilians were gunned down by contractors of the Blackwater Worldwide private military company. (Now known as Xe.) Over 40 civilians were injured in the massacre. The Blackwater security contractors were part of a U.S. state department convoy making its way through the busy Nisour square. When the convoy was stopped by traffic the contractors became edgy. When a car, driven by a medical student, did not stop when ordered to stop they opened fire. This led to five of the contractors firing indiscriminately in a 360 degree radius. Many of the victims were shot in the back trying to flee the scene. One nine year old boy was killed in the backseat of his father’s car.

The U.S. Army, the Iraqi police, the FBI and the U.S. department of justice all investigated the incident and found no justification for the shooting. Today two years later the five contractors who were responsible for the murders are still free.

Other private military companies such Armor Group North America, CACI, Triple Canopy, and DynCorp to name only a few of the over 600 that are under contract to the U.S. government; have also been found to be involved in fraud, sex trafficking, arms smuggling, civilian murders, torture and other criminal activity. Still taxpayer money is being used to pay for these multi-million dollar contracts.

The noprivatearmies.org citizens group calls upon Congress to begin the work necessary to end our dependency upon these mercenary companies. The group urges Congress to give back to the military the responsibility of providing security and carrying out combat operations instead of outsourcing our security to these companies that operate in war zones for their personal profit.

How much longer must the families and loved ones of those gunned down in Nisour Square wait for justice?

UN Working Group Update
The workshop, held at the UN Church building in UN Plaza, was a large group. Folks from the International Peace Institute, five members of the UN Working group, Human Rights First, International Committee of the Red Cross, several academics from UW at Madison, Columbia, Harvard, etc, lawyer types, a representative from the International Peace Operations Association (IPOA) and Center for Constitutional Rights. There was also a lawyer there who represented pmscs in lawsuits filed against them by their victims. She had some interesting perspectives about the industry's role in foreign affairs.

Much time was spent discussing what the inherent rights of a state are. The discussion was focused in this way to try and determine when a state could and could not use mercenaries. One of the revealing statements by one of the UN Working group members, an ambassador from Russia said that right from the start it was never the working group nor the Human Rights Commission's intention to get rid of the PMSCs (mercenaries) but to come to an agreement with member states of the UN on how to regulate them and to put in place sanctions for states who violate the convention on PMSCs.

The working group started their work in 2005 and hope to have a final draft of the convention for the UN general assembly to consider by 2015. They feel they are nearing the half way mark on their work on this. This year they were studying the use of mercenaries in Afghanistan and the U.S. We were given the first draft of the convention to review and make comments on before September 30th. If anyone would like a copy let me know and I will send you one.

One of the good things to come out of the workshop for our work is a contact I made with Laura Raymond of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). As you may know a lawyer from their organization is leading the lawsuit in US courts against Blackwater on behalf of the families and victims of the Nisour Square shooting, as well as other Iraqi citizens who have been injured or had a loved one killed by Blackwater contractors. She said that the CCR plans to build a national campaign around the issue of pmscs this coming year and would like to work with noprivatearmies.org.

Also a curious thing was that the representative for IPOA was very friendly. He offered his assistance in anyway our group could use him etc. He also told me he was very glad when Blackwater withdrew from IPOA because it alleviated a lot of PR headaches for him.

I also got a copy of the DOD's latest guidelines related oversight of pmscs. The interim final rule will not actually go into affect until November or December and was probably was released because of the UN group's visit.

I could go on ... I took about ten pages of notes. Most of the discussions were very technical about specific language in the convention etc.

It was clear that the use of pmscs in Afghanistan is going to continue and that Afghanistan is the new private contractor gold mine.

Some of the key points the UN group released in their press statement dated 8/3/09, at the conclusion of their two week US visit were:

1. Concern over the "lack of transparency" to the public of contracts and subcontracts between the U.S. and PMSCs.
   
2. "The Working Group is greatly concerned that PMSCs contracted by US intelligence agencies are not subject to public scrutiny due to classified information. The Working Group believes the public should have the right to access information on the scope, type and value of those contracts."
   
3. The Working Group calls on US prosecutors to play a more proactive role in investigating and prosecuting allegations of human rights violations."
   
4. "The Working Group is concerned by the stated US policy intention to increase the number of private security contractors to match the surge in troops in Afghanistan." (Actually it was reported that we already have more private contractors than soldiers in Afghanistan.) Chairperson Shaista Shameem said, "We are particularly preoccupied that the use of PMSCs to protect US forward operating bases in most places in Afghanistan may further dilute the distinction between military and civilian personnel, an obligation under international humanitarian law. We are also alarmed by the trend towards an extensive privatization of war."
   
5. The Working Group is also concerned by the recent objection expressed by the Administration to a prohibition in the 2010 defense funding bill of the use of contractor personnel from interrogating persons detained.
   
6. Finally the WG called on the US authorities to engage constructively in the international process to draw up a convention to form an international framework for regulating the use of PMSCs.

Recommendations
The WG also made recommendations:

1. Congress should adopt legislation that provides criminal jurisdiction over contractors and civilian employees.
2. The Department of Justice should ensure prompt and effective investigation of any allegations of human rights violations committed by PMSCs and prosecute.
3. When contracting the US government should ensure victims' right to an effective access to justice.
4. The Department of Justice should promptly make public statistical information on the status of cases involving PMSCs.
5. The US Government and Congress should press for further transparency and resist the use of State secrets privileges in court.
6. The US Government should make public the number, names, number of personnel, weapons, vehicles, and the type of activities contracted to PMSCs.
7. The US Government should regularly release statistics on the number of private military and security contractors injured or killed while supporting US operations.
8. The US Government should establish a specific system of federal licensing of PMSCs and especially of their contracts for operations abroad.
9. The US Government should put in place a vetting procedure before awarding contracts.
   
10. And finally the US Government should launch investigations on the use of PMSCs on rendition flights.

Noprivatearmies.org can draw from these recommendations for a focus on how we can move forward on the national level. We can urge Congress to adopt some of these recommended practices and address the UN Working Groups’ concerns.

Submitted by: Dan Kenney

Xe is the Problem
Keeping the corporation formerly known as Blackwater out of Skunk Hollow.
By Jenny Tomkins
At first glance, it appears that 2009 didn’t start so well for the military contractor Xe, until February known as Blackwater Worldwide. In January, with multiple other lawsuits pending, six of its former employees went on trial for the death of 17 Iraqi civilians in September 2007 in Nisoor Square, Baghdad. And in March, its contract in Iraq, where it has so far made more than $1 billion dollars, was canceled. Read more

Blackwater gets new Iraq contract from U.S. Deal is renewed for a year while FBI investigates fatal shootings. The U.S. State Department has agreed to renew Blackwater USA's license to protect diplomats in Baghdad for one year while the FBI investigates a 2007 incident in which the company's guards are accused of killing 17 Iraqis. Read more

Senator Clinton Cosponsors Legislation to Ban Use of Private Security Contractors: A day after Jeremy Scahill’s story went live on The Nation.com, Senator Clinton, whose staff refused for a week to answer his questions about her position released this statement. The timing is interesting considering her do or die Tuesday coming up on the 4^th. Read More:

Obama’s Mercenary Position: A senior foreign policy advisor to Barack Obama has told The Nation that if elected Obama will not “rule out” using private security companies like Blackwater. Read More:

Blackwater Probe Enters New Phase: The Associated Press reported on the 22^nd of February that the U.S. authorities investigating Blackwater Worldwide are returning to Baghdad to revisit the scene of the September shooting. Read More:

Making A Living With A Gun: This article from the Fiji Times documents how since the 1970s the impoverished country of Fiji has positioned itself as a “discount-soldier surplus store. “Private armies became a viable commercial enterprise the moment America invaded Iraq,” says a retired Fiji colonel and director of Security Support Limited, the biggest of the country’s six mercenary employment agencies. Read More:

Erik Prince To Release Book This Summer: Erik Prince, the founder and CEO of Blackwater Worldwide will defend his company in a new book due out this summer. Tentative title: We Are Blackwater. Read More:

Blackwater Central To Upcoming Talks with Iraqi Ambassador: The Iraqi ambassador to the US, Samir Sumaidaie said that the role and status of private security firms like Blackwater will be central to upcoming talks between Washington and Baghdad. Read More:

Afghan Begin Crackdown On Private Security Guards: The government says it is trying to control illegal weapons and improve the regulation of an industry that has grown from nothing in 2001 to at least 60 companies employing almost 30,000 people. Read More:

Blackwater Protestors Released Judge Russell Duke allowed the seven protestors to make a statement during the sentencing hearing. Read more:

Steve Baggarly: My Words To the Judge This a link to the words spoken to the judge by one of the seven arrested in North Carolina protest at Blackwater this past October. Read more:

U.S. Cannot Manage Contractors In Wars, Officials Testify To Congress Now that there are more private contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq than U.S. military personnel the government can’t begin to keep up to do oversight. Jack Bell, deputy undersecretary of defense for logistics reported that there are now over 196,000 contractor personnel working for the Defense Department in Iraq and Afghanistan. Read more:

Unisys Predicts Five Security Issues Likely To Emerge Across Multiple Industries in 2008 This is a business article that gives you a view of one way the security business grows its market. Read more:

Blackwater Sues Wiley Rein for $30 Million Blackwater security filed a $30 million malpractice suit against Wiley Rein on Wednesday, alleging that the firm made costly missteps in a wrongful death case brought on behalf of four former Blackwater employees who were killed in Iraq in 2004. Read more:

A Look Into the Role of Blackwater, Triple Canopy, and DynCorp in Plan Colombia This article takes an in depth role into private military, security firms and Plan Colombia. Read more

Blackwater Employees Honored By the American Red Cross for their Blood Drives What can I say about this one. Just that life presents ironies that no one could even dream of. Read more:

Military Contractors Are Hard to Fire ITT Federal Services International, a defense contractor hired to maintain battle gear for U.S. troops in Iraq, repeatedly failed to do the job right while collecting $638 million since October of 2004. Read more:

U.S. To Insist Iraq’s Government Guarantee Civilian Contractors Specific Legal Protections 1/24/08 - The New York Times reports that the international mandate for the U.S. is about to expire in 11 months, but the Bush administration will insist that the government in Baghdad give the U.S. broad authority to conduct combat operations and guarantee civilian contractors protection from Iraqi law. Read more

Activists to Appear In Court to Appeal Conviction 1/24/08: The seven activists arrested in North Carolina during a protest at Blackwater headquarters are back in court to appeal their convictions. The protestors say they were denied their constitutional right to a public trial. Read more

ACLU of North Carolina Asks North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission To Investigate Protestors’ Trial 1/7/08: The North Carolina ACLU has asked for the investigation because the District Judge held a significant portion of the trial behind closed door. The judge cleared the courtroom of the public and AP reporters. ACLU NC legal director said if this is true than the protestors’ right to a public trial guaranteed by the 1st and 6th amendments to the Constitution was violated. Read more

To read the ACLU-NC’s letter to the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission: Click here

Former Blackwater Employees Sentenced 1/10/08: Two former Blackwater employees were sentenced to probation on gunrunning charges. They were granted leniency because they have been helping federal investigators for more than a year. Read more

French President Negotiates With Saudi Arabia On Behalf of French Security Contractors 1/14/08: Sarkozy talked with Saudi leaders about defense contracts for French companies worth 10 billion euros to monitor Saudi Arabia’s borders. Read more

Obama Investigates Blackwater Using Tear Gas on U.S. Troops 1/15/08: Senator Obama sent a letter to Defense Secretary Gates calling on him to respond to the NY Times report that Blackwater guards had used CS gas on civilians and U.S. troops at a checkpoint in 2005. Click onto read more for a copy of the letter as well. Read more

Justice Department Running into Legal Obstacles with Blackwater Case 1/16/08: Justice Departments says it is running into “serious legal difficulties” in pursuing criminal prosecutions of Blackwater security guards involved in the Sept. shooting of Iraqi citizens. No surprise here however it is further verification of what we had thought all along. Read more

Human Rights First Finds Will to Prosecute Contractors Lacking 1/17/08: The executive director of Human Rights First said, “The biggest obstacle is not law, but political will.” Isn’t that the truth! Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/917/v-print/story/886015.html

NY Times Names One of the Blackwater Shooters 1/18/08: Paul Slough, 28, of Dickens Texas has been identified as the “turret gunner No. 3” of the Sept. shooting of Iraqi citizens. Less than a month after the shooting friends saw him at a tailgate party outside a Texas Tech football game in Lubbock. Read more

AP Exclusive: Repairs to Blackwater Convoy Vehicles Could Complicate Baghdad Inquiry. January 13th : " Blackwater Worldwide repaired and repainted its trucks immediately after a deadly September shooting in Baghdad, making it difficult to determine whether enemy gunfire provoked the attack..." The article also says that Anne Tyrell said "any repairs would have been done at the government's direction." The state department would not comment on whether it ordered the repairs to the vehicles involved in the shooting. Read More

NY Times: 2005 Use of Gas by Blackwater Leaves Questions: January 10th, 2008: US.S. soldiers report that on a May day in 2005 at a Baghdad checkpoint into the Green Zone, a Blackwater helicopter threw a canister of CS gas down onto the checkpoint. The CS gas dropped is a riot-control substance the American military in Iraq can use only under the strictest conditions and with approval of top military commanders. 25 American soldiers were affected as well as many Iraqi citizens. The only provocation was the convoy Blackwater was guarding was being held up in the crowded traffic at the check point. Read More:

Christian Science Monitor: Private Security Contractors Look To Africa For Recruits: January 8,2008: Namibia kicked out two top officials of an international American security group that had plans to recruit thousands of former Namibian soldiers to work in Iraq and Afghanistan. The company, Special Operations Consulting-Security Management Group (SOC-SMG) has the US Army and Marine Corps among its clients. Read More

National Journal: Private Military Industry Continues To Grow: January 9, 2008: This article in addition to describing how PMSCs cause threats to sovereignty it also gives a good overview of the history and rise of private armies. One section is entitled "Private Armies, Private Wars" It ends with this thought provoking quote by Deborah Avant, political science professor and director of international studies at the US of California at Irvine, " The big risk is not what the companies are going to do in and of themselves. The big risks are what the consumers are going to ask them to do." Avant is the author of The Market For Force. She has been invited to the conference in Madison at the end of this month. Read More:

Human Rights Watch: Iraq: Pass New Law Ending Immunity For Contractors: January 9,2008. This is a press release calling on Iraq's parliament to approve legislation to end immunity for foreign private security contractors. Human Rights Watch also urged the US government to prosecute American security contractors in US courts. Read More:

Institute For War & Peace: Private Security Firms Flooding Afghanistan: January 8, 2008: There are currently 60 private security companies in Afghanistan, employing between 18,000 and 25,000 men. But according to the Afghan government "many of these firms, often unlicensed and unregulated, are guility of some of the very crimes their clients hired them to protect them from, including armed robbery, kidnapping and murder." The ministry has shut down 10 private security firms and has conducted raids on several more in recent days. Read More:

Past Coverage

Chicago Tribune Exclusive - July 31, 2007
Blackwater -University of Illinois Tie
Tom Dempsey is under scrutiny for a link to military trainers
By E.A. Torriero and Jodi S. Cohen

The Virginian-Pilot - July 25, 2007
Blackwater Supports Inquiry Into Fatal Shooting
Bill Sizemore

Chicago Tribune - July 23, 2007
Anti-War Activists, Locals Are Wary About Military Contractor's New Training Site
E.A. Torriero,Tribune staff reporter

Jeremy Scahill
Presentation to residents of Elizabeth, Illinois in Jo Daviess County
You Tube

The Virginian-Pilot - May 20, 2007
Suit against Blackwater over contractor deaths moves to arbitration

Interviews with Jeremy Scahill
YouTube
At Center Network

ABC7Chicago - Wednsesday, May 2, 2007
Blackwater Rising
The world's most controversial security service is now open for business in Illinois. But is Blackwater, Inc. looking to make Illinois an outpost for what has been called the world's largest private army?

Freeport Journal Standard April 25, 2007
Residents organize to oppose Blackwater

Jeremy Scahill's Democracy Now Interview with Amy Goodman - Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army