Senator Webb Won't Back Waxman; Says Blackwater Should Still Compete for Contracts

Senator Jim Webb won't back Congressman Henry Waxman's call for the US government to cancel Blackwater's contracts.

Moonbat writer Jeremy Scahill buttonholed politicians at the Democrat National Convention this week for a left-wing website. While getting Waxman to make his unprecedented call to cut off Blackwater - and receiving some praise for his own work against the company - Scahill didn't get Senator Webb to say the same.

To the contrary: Despite all his criticism of the company, Webb says he thinks Blackwater should still compete for contracts. Here's the dialogue:

JEREMY SCAHILL: "Do you think that, though, that Senator Obama should cancel Blackwater’s contract with the State Department, because it will be there if he wins? What should he do on Blackwater specifically?"

SEN. JIM WEBB: "I’m not—I mean, I’m not in a position right now to say that Blackwater’s contract specifically should be cancelled. I think all of them should be aggressively reviewed and, you know, have standards put on them, and I think Blackwater, like other companies, ought to compete."

Waxman Joins Moonbat Writer and Calls for Obama to Cancel Blackwater Contracts

Congressman Henry Waxman, the California Democrat who has abused his committee chairmanship to help a trial lawyer make millions in a suit against Blackwater, is now calling on Barack Obama to have the US cancel its contracts with the company.

Waxman made the statement in league with moonbat writer Jeremy Scahill for a leftwing website.

In his commentary, Scahill appears upset that Senator Obama is not for an immediate pullout from Iraq. "Obama’s Iraq policy in reality is one of downsizing and rebranding the occupation, not entirely ending it," he says. That would be good news for Blackwater, which is needed to provide security as US troops pull out.

Waxman tells Scahill that he thinks Blackwater is doing a "very poor" job in Iraq, and promises to "investigate" the company even more. He also praises Scahill, saying, "And so, they’re going to be investigated much further by the Congress and people in the administration and good people like you on the outside."

Waxman says Blackwater has not "lived up" to its Worldwide Personal Protective Services (WPPS) contract in Iraq - an odd comment because the company has been universally praised for its stunning 100 percent success record in keeping Americans safe.

Even Senator Obama has said that he thinks Blackwater's "getting a bad rap." And Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.), another Blackwater critic, would not back Waxman when Scahill asked him to.

So Waxman is putting himself out on the extreme fringe with his comments - and his praise of one of Blackwater's goofier critics.

Readying for Hurricane Gustav

Blackwater has sent out a notice seeking qualified personnel to work on potential rescue, recovery and stability efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav.

AP reports that the notice went out on Friday. The company volunteered to help out during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, donating use of a helicopter to the Coast Guard and assisting with rescue and recovery efforts on the ground. Blackwater is credited with saving 128 people in the New Orleans area.

Finding a demand for its services, the company expanded its business in the rescue, recovery and stability sectors.

PSC Presence to Increase as US Troops Leave Iraq, State Department Says

The presence of private security contractors (PSCs) in Iraq is increasing for two reasons: (1) the shift from combat to rebuilding means that more diplomats are leaving secure areas to work in the field and require security; and (2) US troops who had guarded reconstruction and infrastructure projects are leaving.

Contractors "will increasingly take over these former roles and missions, increasing [the] numbers of private security, State Department press officer John Fleming tells USA Today.

New oversight policies will "hold contractors accountable," Fleming says.

Helping Canada Improve Counterinsurgency

Washington Post blogger Robert O'Harrow, in his Government, Inc. blog, points out that Canada has hired the Terrorism Research Center, "a part of the universe of companies owned by Blackwater founder Erik Prince." The company will provide Canadian troops with higher-level expertise on the Taliban and related terrorist groups.

"Government Inc. was sifting through new contracts and saw that Canada had given the Arlington company a sole source contract worth about $848,000. Terrorism Research will be working to help counter insurgency forces perform better in Afghanistan," O'Harrow reports.

"This according to Canada's Globe And Mail: 'The move was announced yesterday, after weeks of mounting attacks by the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, including Kandahar province, where Canadian soldiers are fighting, and the security situation has markedly worsened.

"'Traditionally, cultural awareness training was a brief introduction to the language, culture, customs and food. This training, while providing basic instruction in these areas, did not provide the operational relevance required to conduct [counterinsurgency warfare],' a Canadian government contract notice posted yesterday says."

Visit the Terrorism Research Center's website at http://www.terrorism.com/.

A Passionate Defense from a Blackwater Dad

The father of two young men who served in Iraq - one a former Marine who worked as a Blackwater diplomatic security provider for two years and the other a soldier in the 101st Airborne Division - figuratively rips the head off an ignorant critic in a local paper.

C. Daniel Manrique's defense of Blackwater in the Ocala, Florida Star-Banner is an exciting read. It's a real red-meat response to the now-typical pabulum from the Hate Blackwater corner.

For those of you out there who don't think writing a piece in the local paper is worth the effort, think of this: the Ocala newspaper article turned up today on Google News and reached readers around the world. And if you're a Blackwater veteran or a spouse or parent of one, so much the better. That gives you instant credibility. So go ahead and fight back for the Good Guys.

US Is Creating a 'Destabilizing' Situation by Letting Iraqis Try American Contractors

By negotiating with Iraq to revoke the immunity of American private security contractors from Iraq's undeveloped and corrupt legal system, the US is creating a "destabilizing" situation.

That's what two scholars from the center-left New America Foundation write in an important piece in today's Wall Street Journal.

The "positive" effects of an expected prosecution of Blackwater contractors for their alleged role in the September 2007 Nisoor Square incident risk:

being overshadowed by a more destabilizing development: the apparent agreement, as part of U.S.-Iraqi Status of Forces Agreement negotiations, to revoke the immunity from Iraqi law that private security contractors have enjoyed since 2003. This decision could place diplomats, Iraqi civilians and PSCs at greater risk, and undermine the US mission in Iraq. More must be done to hold security contractors accountable for their actions -- but this is not the way to do it.

The problem of accountability, scholars Michael A. Cohen and Maria Figueroa Kupcu argue, is not going to be solved by handing Americans over to Iraqi justice, whatever that might be. To the contrary; it would only make things worse:

placing contractors at the mercy of an underdeveloped Iraqi legal system is not a solution. Greater liability for PSCs will also bring a higher price tag. Furthermore, PSC ranks will become deprofessionalized, as many of the most experienced contractors may decide that the risks of being thrown in an Iraqi prison are not worth a paycheck.

That would mean increasing reliance on third-country or local nationals, who lack the professionalism of the US, British, Australian and other PSCs. There's little accountability there - and much less security for the protectees.

"There are better ways to ensure accountability," Cohen and Kupcu maintain. "In 2006, Congress extended the Uniform Code of Military Justice to cover Pentagon contractors. Legislation in Congress now would place State Department contractors under the jurisdiction of the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act. The bill, which would also create an office of enforcement in the FBI to investigate alleged contractor offences, is opposed by the Bush administration. But its eventual enactment would go a long way toward clearing up much of the legal confusion surrounding contractors.

"Unfortunately, at the exact moment that contractor-related accountability issues are being taken more seriously, the Bush administration is negotiating an agreement with the Iraqi government that would weaken protections for PSCs, and risk undermining the professionalization of the private contractors protecting US diplomats."

Congressmen Accuse Waxman of Blocking Probe of Corrupt Colleagues

Congressman Henry Waxman (pictured), who has raised eyebrows by doing favors for a trial lawyer with a business interest in trashing Blackwater, now stands accused by two other lawmakers of blocking a probe into congressional corruption.

Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Mark Souder (R-IN) have filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee over a published report that a mortgage company "gave illegal mortgages prohibited by House rules to members of Congress, congressional staff and other officials," Fox Business reports.

The lawmakers say that Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "is ignoring their demands for an investigation into cheap, VIP mortgages allegedly given by Countrywide Financial to House staff members and elected officials."

Issa and Sounder went to the House Ethics Committee after Waxman twice declined to pursue the issue, saying that it isn't the duty of his panel to investigate cases involving alleged corruption of his colleagues and their aides.

New Video Explains Low-Altitude Air Drop Service

A new Blackwater video describes the company's Low Cost-Low Altitude (LCLA) air drop service, which the US military is using to supply the troops in Afghanistan. We've posted some great amateur videos of the Blackwater C-212s delivering pallets of ammunition to US Army forward operating bases, but this one is an official product of the company. Some excellent video footage, and a great description of exactly what the taxpayers getting for their money: Pinpoint, rapid parachute delivery of food, water, ammunition and supplies to troops in remote areas too risky for helicopters and inaccessible for the Air Force's large cargo planes.

Watch closely and you can see the Blackwater pilots' evasive maneuvering to avoid Taliban groundfire. This is an extremely dangerous service performed by American military veterans who crew the planes.

In Darfur, Mia Farrow Says Blackwater Can Help Where Governments Have Failed

From a refugee camp in Darfur, actress Mia Farrow calls on Blackwater to help resolve the terrible humanitarian crisis in Sudan. Farrow (pictured in a file photo) says she's already been in touch with the company's chairman to talk about solutions.

ABC News reports, "Two unlikely allies met for breakfast last month in New York to discuss a possible collaboration: Mia Farrow, actress and passionate activist for Darfur refugees, and Erik Prince, founder and CEO of the government contractor, Blackwater Worldwide.

"Farrow told ABC News that Blackwater, despite its controversial history and allegations of murdering civilians in Iraq, might be able to help the 'hopelessly under-equipped' African Union forces deployed in Darfur with logistics and training.

"'Blackwater has a much better idea of what an effective peace-keeping mission would look like than western governments,' Farrow told ABC News from a refugee camp in near the Darfur border. Farrow said those governments have been unsuccessful in standing up to the Sudanese government and bringing peace to the region."

The rest of the article consists of commentary pooh-poohing the idea and trashing Blackwater. But Farrow is an important advocate given her cultural status and her leadership in the pro-Darfur movement.

Prince told the Wall Street Journal last month that he would provide the expertise, training and logistics to support a duly constituted African force in Darfur, and that he would do it at-cost, that is, as a charitable action.

6 Blackwater Guards Receive 'Target' Letters; Company Defends Its Team

Six Blackwater diplomatic security guards involved in the September 2007 shootout at Baghdad's Nisoor Square reportedly have received "target letters" from the Justice Department - an indication that they might be prosecuted.

The company itself does not appear to be a target of prosecution, and has been cooperating with the Justice Department and a federal grand jury.

"Since the September 16, 2007 incident, we have said that, based on statements of company personnel who were directly involved, we believe those involved acted appropriately," Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell says. "If it is determined that an individual acted improperly, Blackwater would support holding that person accountable. But at this stage, without being able to review evidence collected in an ongoing investigation, we will not prejudge the actions of any individual."

Is Diplomatic Security Too Risky for Big Publicly Traded Companies?

In his August 14 interview on CNBC, Blackwater CEO Erik Prince says he's surprised that huge, publicly traded defense contracting giants are getting into the private security area because of the incredible risks involved. Prince says,

"We’re uniquely positioned because we have a large facility. No one’s made the investment in the assets that we have. Even our big competitors, the Lockheed Martins, the Northrop Grummans of the world, they are running hard to get into this space but I’m surprised their risk management boards let them do that. They’re one incident away of being filleted in the media like we were."

The trial lawyers are going to love this one!

CNBC Interviews Blackwater CEO

Blackwater CEO Erik Prince was the guest on CNBC's major morning financial talk show Squawk Box. Among the points Prince raised in the interview, prompted by the three co-hosts:

On commitment: "Our guys take tremendous risks. Many have paid the ultimate price. Many have given parts of themselves in the process."

On business expansion: "We’re certainly not focusing as much on security going forward because we take a lot less grief. … It hammers our ability to raise capital. Our training site is growing like crazy, our aviation is growing a lot."

On whether an Obama administration would affect Blackwater's security contracting in Iraq: "All of it is competitively bid. Whoever takes over in January, the US government unfortunately is not going to be born again hard fast innovative and efficient. Someone’s going to do the work. The private sector’s going of be a part of it."

On profitability: "The margins aren’t nearly as good as you think. Law firms, PR firms and accounting firms have much better margins than we do." (Hmm - that raises the question: Is the taxpayer getting a good value in services performed by law firms and accounting firms under federal contract? A Congressional Budget Office study might be revealing.)

Blackwater Wants Strict Accountability Standards in California

Blackwater supports proposed legislation to standardize accountability for firearms training in California, where it has opened up a new facility for the Navy.

The company announced support for a proposed bill that, in its words, "would serve to hold all responsible firearms training facilities to a common standard, allow training of responsible citizens, and, hopefully, reduce firearms capabilities of dangerous criminals."

"Blackwater endorses AB2498 and urges it be passed.

"Blackwater, which recently opened a facility in San Diego County, has long supported a strict credential policy, requiring every student it trains to provide documented proof of their suitability for training and eligibility to possess firearms. The company is committed to safe training on the use and handling of firearms, but is equally committed to ensuring that those firearms are in the hands of capable and confident citizens, not prohibited felons."

(Photo: Interior of new Blackwater training range in San Diego County.)

Darfur Offer Provides More Accountability than UN Peacekeepers

Blackwater CEO Erik Prince's offer to train an African force to save Darfur has a built-in accountability measure that far exceeds United Nations peacekeeping standards.


As he said in the July 29 Wall Street Journal, he envisions a team of US military personnel to monitor a Blackwater training and logistical support operation to help a duly constituted African military force to stop the Darfur atrocities.


This reminds us of an article that Mountainrunner blogger Matt Armstrong wrote recently in Serviam magazine about UN peacekeepers. In that thought-provoking piece, Armstrong reveals that United Nations peacekeeping troops are exempt from international humanitarian law.



"The U.N. cannot impose a common military code of justice or judicial process on its forces without provoking a drop in troop contributions from member states," he says.

"If accountability is the core problem critics have with private military and security contractors, then the demonstrated lack of Blue Helmet accountability, whose troops are sent to some of the most challenging environments on the planet, should raise equally powerful concerns. "

(Addendum: London's Daily Mail runs a new story of how Dutch UN peacekeepers stood aside while Serbian troops rounded up thousands of men, women and children under UN "protection" and slaughtered them.)

SBA Memo Does Not Accuse Blackwater

You wouldn't know it by Congressman Henry Waxman's spin when he released a memo to the press, but the Small Business Administration Inspector General did not accuse Blackwater of improper behavior.

A reporter for the Virginian-Pilot (a paper that has long been critical of the company) actually read the memorandum and reports, "The memo, written by Glenn Harris, counsel to SBA inspector general Eric Thorsen, refers to 'potential misrepresentations by Blackwater' but does not accuse the Moyock, N.C.-based firm of breaking federal laws or improperly obtaining contracts."

Waxman postured in a written statement that Blackwater “misled contracting officials who in turn ignored blatant warning signs. It is deplorable that no one ever looked out for the interests of the federal taxpayer.” He said it as fact, when that's not what the Inspector General said at all.

Wanting It Both Ways: Senators Critical of Blackwater Want Assurances It Will Continue Serving

Senators who have been critical of Blackwater are now concerned that it might quit the security business in Iraq, and want assurances that the company will continue.

They've been beating the stuffing out of the company, accusing it of all kinds of wrongdoing. But then, when the company's leaders say that the security contracts aren't worth all the heat from Congress and the media, the senators worry that Blackwater might actually leave them high and dry.

They add, with a twist, that recent news reports suggesting that the North Carolina-based company might get out of the diplomatic security business are all the more reason for the State Department not to be so dependent on private contractors.

The Federal Times reports,

Given these intentions, the senators want to know whether State has been assured Blackwater will fulfill its recently renewed multimillion-dollar security contract. They also want to know what the department plans to do to shore up its Diplomatic Security Service and lessen its reliance on private security contractors.

They cite recent news reports that quote State officials as saying the other two private security contractors providing services under State’s Worldwide Personnel Protective Services contract would be unable to take on Blackwater’s work if the company pulled out.

Senators Bob Casey (D-Penn.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) co-signed a letter of concerns to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

On the Ground Training Afghan Counternarcotics Police

Blackwater is training Afghanistan's new counternarcotics police - the men and women on the front lines to combat both the illegal drug business and to take away a big source of funds for the Taliban and, presumably, al Qaeda.

I haven't seen anything else like it in the above video. This stuff is new. Some of the highlights are what appears to be a main lobby of Afghanistan's new Counter-Narcotics Training Academy. On the wall are painted the flags of the "nations and organizations" that made the academy possible. Look at the emblems, one by one: Afghanistan, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, United Nations, Blackwater . . .

The Blackwater logo among those flags: The Afghans and Coalition members on the ground appear to have quite a different opinion of the company, working with its people up-close, than does most of the American public.

The video shows how Blackwater is helping Afghan women integrate into the counternarcotics police; how it trains new police recruits in law and safety as well as paramilitary CN tactics; how it mentors the new police out in the field; and how it conducts live-fire exercises. These guys and women are heavily armed: they're training to go out against not only heavily armed drug gangs, but against the Taliban.

The video ends with images of some of the results of the training and mentoring: world's biggest drug bust that took place last month at Spin Bolduk, a haul so big that British warplanes had to be called in to incinerate it from the air.

Congressman Henry Waxman and others want to put a stop to such activity by putting Blackwater out of the federal contracting business.

Here's a direct link to the YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YLSYosNcM8

NATO May Rent Helicopters from Blackwater

Britain and NATO are so short of helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan that the alliance is reportedly negotiating to rent some from Blackwater Worldwide.

That's what London's Independent is reporting today. The UK is said to want more helicopters in order to avoid overland travel, where roadside bombs are taking a toll on British morale.

Waxman Strategy: Make Blackwater Ineligible for Federal Contracts

As he continues to hammer away at the linchpin that keeps US diplomatic activity secure and the troops resupplied in wars on the other side of the world, Congressman Henry Waxman is revealing his strategy.

If he can't discredit the job Blackwater is doing - with its 100 percent success record defending diplomats, aid workers, and visiting congressmen and senators from terrorist attack - Waxman thinks he can destroy the company by picking away at regulatory issues.

ProPublica.org describes what's happening: "Waxman appears to be taking a new tack: scrutinizing the contractor's employment practices to make it ineligible for future federal contracts."

"So far," says ProPublica.org, whose reporting is biased against the company, "Waxman's strategy seems to be working."

Waxman began his jihad against Blackwater in February 2007, at the behest of a California trial lawyer. The trial lawyer, Dan Callahan, is suing the company on behalf of shell companies that another trial lawyer set up in the names of four security guards whom terrorists murdered in 2004.

Sounds like a sleazy arrangement: A congressman using taxpayer dollars to discredit a defendant in a lawsuit on behalf of a private businessman, a trial lawyer, who stands to make millions by suing a private company that the congressman is pressuring the government to investigate. Too bad there's no accountability to stop such abuse.

Erik Prince Offers to Train African Force to Save Darfur

Blackwater CEO Erik Prince tells the Wall Street Journal that he is willing to train and equip an African force to save Darfur.

And he doesn't want to make a nickel doing it. He's offering to do it at cost.

This amazing news is tucked way down in William McGurn's "Main Street" column that ran in the WSJ on July 29. McGurn writes:

Mr. Prince says that the 9,000 or so African Union soldiers in Darfur, as part of the United Nations peacekeeping force, are a good start. But he says that to be effective they need better training, communications and equipment. That is more or less the same message from a report released yesterday by the Darfur Consortium, a coalition of 50 African-based and Africa-focused NGOs. "One year ago the U.N. Security Council stood unanimous and promised Darfurians the strongest and largest protection force ever," says a coalition spokesman. "Today that force is just over a third deployed, lacks even the most basic equipment and is unable to protect itself let alone civilians."

Mr. Prince has a remedy. He believes that with 250 or so professionals, Blackwater can transform about a thousand of the African Union soldiers into an elite and highly mobile force. This force would also be equipped with helicopters and the kind of small planes that missionaries use in this part of the world. It would be cheaper than the hundreds of millions we are spending to set up a larger AU/U.N. force. And he says he'd do it at cost.

Blackwater would not do the fighting. Its people would serve as advisers, mechanics and pilots. Aid workers and villagers would be equipped with satellite telephones that include Global Positioning Systems.

When they call in, the troops would respond.

"I'm so sick of hearing that nothing can be done," he says. "The Janjaweed is a truly unfettered bully. No one has stood up to them. If they were met by a mobile quick reaction force of African Union soldiers, the Janjaweed would quickly learn their habits were not sustainable." And to ensure accountability, he says, the U.S. could send 25 military officers to observe how Blackwater is doing and serve as liaisons.

Up until Blackwater's offer, all the other "Save Darfur" activity is just useless talk. McGurn notes, "That's the point: Strongly worded resolutions, sanctions and boycotts are generally what you do in place of decisive action. I understand that the whole idea of Blackwater helicopters flying over Darfur probably horrifies many of the same people frustrated by Mr. Bashir's ability to game the system. But it's at least worth wondering what that same Blackwater helo might look like to a defenseless Darfur mother and her daughters lying in fear of a Janjaweed attack."

Any takers?

UN Peacekeeping Chief Rejects Blackwater Offer on Darfur

He didn't even offer the diplomatic decency of "due consideration." He simply warned against the temptation to use "mercenaries" to solve humanitarian problems.

He is Jean Marie Guehenno, the outgoing head of peacekeeping operations for the United Nations (pictured). The Frenchman held a news conference July 29 and threw cold water on Blackwater CEO Erik Prince's offer to train and support a duly constituted African force that would be used to solve the Islamist horrors against the people of Darfur.

In his eight years in charge of UN peacekeeping, Guehenno has accomplished nothing to stop the Darfur atrocities.

Imagine: The UN's top peacekeeping official takes Blackwater's offer so seriously that he must comment about it in a news conference. Erik Prince is holding a lot of moral power in his hands. He has the UN on the defensive.

Update: Guehenno says UN peacekeepers are 'stretched to limits' and in 'danger' (BBC)

Obama Campaign Still Won't Talk About Blackwater Help

The Obama campaign still isn't answering questions about whether the presidential candidate accepted security protection from Blackwater Worldwide during his trip to Afghanistan and Iraq. Citing Paul Bedard's column in US News & World Report, London's Daily Telegraph reports,

A tight-lipped Anne Tyrrell, spokeswoman for Blackwater, said she could neither confirm nor deny that the company had been involved in the visits by the senators to Afghanistan or Iraq.

My request to Bill Burton, Obama's national spokesman, for comment on the Bedard story - including whether the alleged quote or its sentiment was genuine - went unanswered.

But a source familiar with Obama's security arrangements told me that Blackwater, along with the Secret Service, did pull security for the three senators in Afghanistan, though not Iraq.

Deceiver describes this as Obama's "Rosie O'Donnell moment" That's maybe a tad harsh but it will be interesting to see whether Obama's public position on Blackwater changes as a result of his up-close time with their personnel in Afghanistan.

Inspector General Faults SBA in 4 of 5 Findings, But Waxman Spins It to Blame Blackwater

The Inspector General of the Small Business Administration (SBA) has faulted the SBA in four out of five findings concerning Blackwater Worldwide.

Congressman Henry Waxman (D-Cal.) is alleging "waste, fraud and abuse" on his committee website, which contains a headline today worded to imply that the SBA has a major problem with Blackwater.

Blackwater is certain to take the blame in the headlines soon to be generated from the Waxman statement. Waxman generated the complaint to the SBA in March.

However, a look at the SBA Inspector General memorandum shows that of the five "findings," the government agency itself appears to be at fault in four of them.

In Finding 1, Blackwater and an affiliated company "may have" won contracts that were set-asides for small businesses, even though the company no longer qualified as a small business. It's pretty subjective and inconclusive, because of Blackwater's use of contractors versus employees in key areas to support the troops.

In Findings 2-5, the Inspector General blames the SBA itself - not Blackwater. Take a look at the original document and see for yourself: http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20080728141224.pdf.

Waxman spins the issue in a memorandum dated today, July 28, and titled: "SBA IG Finds Blackwater May Have Misrepresented Small Business Status." That's the gist of his complaint - he doesn't make an issue of the IG's four allegations against the SBA itself.

At the core of this argument is whether Blackwater can call its contractors "contractors," or whether it must designate them as "employees." The SBA IG report is littered with weasel words like "could have" and "potential," not daring to issue any definitive finding at all.

Waxman, as part of his work helping trial lawyers who stand to make millions from suing Blackwater, complained to the SBA, saying that the company shouldn't be allowed to call its contractors "contractors," but instead should call them "employees" so they can be taxed. Big Labor doesn't like how the law allows contractors either, because they can't be unionized and forced to pay dues to the union political machine.

The trial lawyers and labor unions are among the biggest campaign contributors to the very partisan Waxman's political party.

(Follow-on added at 5:08 PM: This blog broke the story of the SBA IG report. The first news report appearing on Google News was a McClatchy story written by Joseph Neff of the Raleigh News & Observer - the folks who gave the world the phony "news" about the Duke lacrosse team - posted at 4:27 PM. Standish posted the story first at 3:36 PM eastern time.)

Prince Shows Off Blackwater Headquarters

In a surprisingly upbeat article, the Associated Press described their recent visit to Blackwater headquarters in Moyock, North Carolina:

Erik Prince gets his guests to the runway seconds before the turboprop's approach. The financiers hop out of his black Chevy Suburban and gawk as the pilots drop a pair of packages that float to within feet of their target — just as they might on a mission for Blackwater Worldwide in the Afghan backcountry.

His audience is captivated by the show, but the Blackwater founder and CEO focuses on a seemingly minor detail: the parachutes.

"They're made out of the same stuff sandbags are made out of," Prince tells the group in hurried, staccato sentences. "They are truly disposable. The normal parachutes you put a human out under are much more expensive. With these, you can use them, repack them. It's very cheap."

The State described other aspects of a media visit: Prince "whipped his Chevy Suburban down Blackwater's driving course, where drivers can practice wet and dry runs around corners blinded by berms. Company officials opened up an airplane hangar where the company was working to improve 10 helicopters for a 'Middle East client,'" believed to be one of the Gulf states, which are increasingly threatened by Iran.

Just as Blackwater is preparing to transition away from the security business, it seems the media is coming to realize the quality and importance of its work. The AP writes, "Blackwater Worldwide built a reputation by successfully protecting the nation's top diplomats on the world's most volatile streets. Now the company is looking to... build up other aspects of its business."

By tapping the expertise of its veterans — from ex-SEALs to former Coast Guard officers to FBI agents — Blackwater instead sees a future in using its mobility and flexibility to seek out and quickly fill other gaps that present themselves.

"There's always been gaps. The military can't be all things to all people all the time," Prince said while standing on a gleaming Blackwater logo in the airy lobby of his company headquarters. "There are always going to be some pieces that the private sector can help in."

When Prince noticed a shortage of US combat medics, he developed a school and program to train his own. They practice rescues and vehicle extractions across on Blackwater's campus, and Prince is now looking for customers who want to hire medics as contractors.

MidEast Times Explains Economics of Contracting

When Blackwater recently announced that it was pulling back from the personal protection business, many people were (wrongly) surprised. What else do contractors do, they wonder, if not pull triggers? Well, it turns out there's a great deal more to contracting. The Middle East Times explains:

It has long been a myth, albeit a popular one, that the majority of private military contractors are gun shooters. In fact, the reverse is true, as has been pointed out, largely in vain, by trade groups such as the Professional Services Council and the International Peace Operations Association.

According to estimates from the IPOA, the total value of what it calls the global peace and stability operations industry is about $20 billion for all companies providing services in the field. Of that number, private security contractors make up only about 5 percent to 10 percent, or a maximum of $2 billion annually. The normal peacetime number would be closer to 5 percent for PSCs, but Iraq has driven it up.

Moreover, contrary to popular perception, the Middle East Times reports that security does not pay better than other forms of contracting:

To understand the difference, one has only to follow the money. For example, compare two major contracts in Iraq, the World Wide Personal Protective Services and the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program. The current WPPS contract, the second, was awarded in July 2005. The State Department utilizes it as an umbrella contract under which it issues task orders to the three contracting companies -- Blackwater USA, DynCorp and Triple Canopy. The bulk of the personnel come from Blackwater. The contract has a ceiling of $1.2 billion per contractor over five years -- one base year and four option years. That works out to $240 million per contractor per year.

LOGCAP, an Army program first established in 1985, is an initiative for the use of civilian contractors in wartime and other contingencies. It includes all pre-planned logistics and engineering/construction-oriented contingency contracts. It does everything from fixing trucks to warehousing ammunition to doing the laundry, running mess halls and building whole bases abroad. When the Army announced the awarding of the fourth and latest LOGCAP contract back in April to DynCorp International LLC; Fluor Intercontinental Inc.; and Kellogg, Brown and Root Services, the total annual maximum value was $15 billion and the lifetime maximum value was $150 billion. That works out to $5 billion per contractor per year.

You don't need a Ph.D. to figure out which is the market segment with the greatest profit-making opportunities.

Obama Got Blackwater Protection in Iraq & Afghanistan; Says 'Blackwater Is Getting a Bad Rap'

Blackwater did indeed protect Senator Barack Obama in Afghanistan and Iraq last week, impressing the presidential candidate so much that he was overheard saying, "Blackwater is getting a bad rap."

This amazing piece of news is being reported by Paul Bedard in US News & World Report.

Bedard writes in his "Washington Whispers" column on July 25,

Sen. Barack Obama has not been a fan of private police like Blackwater in war zones, and some news outlets even reported that they were spurned for his trip last week to Afghanistan and Iraq. But Whispers confirms that Blackwater did handle the Democratic presidential candidate's security in Afghanistan and helped out in Iraq. What's more, Obama was overheard saying: "Blackwater is getting a bad rap." Since everything appeared to go swimmingly, maybe he will take firms like Blackwater out of his sights, the company's supporters hope.

I'm sure there's a lot more where this came from. Obama's conversion on this is a really big deal. Was he struck by seeing up-close the professionalism of the private volunteers who protected him? Or perhaps did Gen. David Petraeus, who has honored Blackwater security men for their work in Iraq, say something? Stay tuned.

New Video Shows How Blackwater Supports the Troops

A new video on YouTube shows one of the ways Blackwater Worldwide supports the troops.

No, it's not about putting little yellow ribbon magnets on the back of your cars, or grandstanding in front of television cameras. It's the real thing - parachuting ammunition to the US Army Special Forces to resupply our warfighters in hot combat areas. It's really helping the troops fight terrorists.

The remarkable video was just posted. It shows two Blackwater C-212 planes on resupply missions to Army forward operating bases in Afghanistan. The video does not give locations.

One of the neat things about this video is that, unlike other videos of Blackwater on the Internet, this one is annotated so that the viewer knows what's going on and in what context.

Credits at the end of the video say it was shot by Dr. Michael Waller of the Institute of World Politics. A check of the IWP website shows that Waller is also editor of Serviam, a magazine about the global stability industry. (For a higher resolution of the video, go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQyl_WnaJ1I and click the "Watch In High Quality" icon just below the right lower corner of the image box.) When visiting YouTube, be sure to give the video a great rating!

Did Blackwater Protect Obama? Slate Reports No

Did Blackwater protect Senator Barack Obama during his trip to Afghanistan and Iraq? I don't see why anyone would have a problem with it if they wanted to protect the life of a US senator and top presidential candidate. Blackwater has a PERFECT track record protecting American government officials in the world's nastiest war zones.

And Blackwater has protected almost every single US senator and congressman who has visited Afghanistan and Iraq over the past few years - even when Obama visited Iraq in 2006.

Neither the Obama campaign nor Blackwater is saying anything, though, and the Secret Service is implying strongly that the answer is no.

Blogger Christopher Beam saw my question on July 19 and, without attribution, reported on Slate:

But Obama isn't just any globetrotting senator. He's a presidential nominee, which means all his security arrangements at home and abroad are made not by the State Department but by the Secret Service. The Obama campaign refused to discuss his security detail, but a spokesman for the Secret Service told me that private contractors were not accompanying Obama in Iraq or Afghanistan. "We don't utilize contractors," said spokesman Ed Donovan. "We use military law enforcement and Secret Service."

On Video, Prince Explains Business Future

CEO Erik Prince talks to the Associated Press in this video shot recently at Blackwater Worldwide headquarters in North Carolina.

He gives reasons for why the security part of his business will decline, the main ones being the lack of growth potential, the markedly improved situation in Iraq which hopefully will reduce the need for Blackwater's protection services, and the higher potential of other sectors in which the company excels. Prince adds that the legal and congressional complexities relating to protecting US diplomats and VIPs in Iraq serves as a "disincentive" to any private provider and would put an entire company at risk.

In addition to the security work for which the company is famous, Prince mentions a few other programs, including on in Afghanistan to resupply US and coalition troops with food, water, supplies, ammunition, mail and other necessities in farflung forward operating bases.

He refers to the cost savings of contractors versus the traditional way of doing things in the military. For example, he says, Blackwater did 11,000 aviation missions in Afghanistan last year, hauling 9.5 million pounds and delivering another 1 million pounds by parachute for less than the cost of one Air Force C-27 cargo plane now being built for short-haul military missions.

"It's a pretty simple operational issue and a very simple math question, as to why it's of benefit to the US government to go to the outside to do that mission," Prince says.

Regardless of who becomes president next year, he says, the US "is still going to need a lot of this kind of work done, and companies like us are going to be necessary to do the work."

'As long as we're asked, we'll do it'

Despite all the reporting about reducing its security service profile, Blackwater's not going to run from tasks the US government says it needs.

“As long as we’re asked, we’ll do it,” says Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell.

Prince: Demand for Security has Peaked, but Blackwater Will Continue to Serve USA

"Blackwater officials stress that the company will honor its current security contracts and take on those sought by the US government," according to the Associated Press.

But company owner and CEO Erik Prince says that the need for his company's security services has peaked and he is focusing on growing other lines of business.

"'The security business is what it is," Prince tells AP. "I don't see that growing a lot. Iraq is getting progressively better. So, that total demand from the US government will probably stay the same or decrease slightly. We're just growing other parts of the business around it."

Analyst: Americans Abroad Will Die if Blackwater Retreats

If Blackwater winds down its diplomatic security operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, American officials might end up dead.

The company's record protecting US diplomats, aid workers, VIPs and others has been flawless. Blackwater has protected the lives of 100 percent of the people in its care.

"Industry observers say Blackwater's decision to scale back security work is not a ruse to cover up a decline in business. Loren Thompson, a military analyst with The Lexington Institute, said Blackwater's work would be dearly missed if the company left the industry," AP reports.

"There's a real possibility that if Blackwater exits the business, that some US officials will receive inferior protection in war zones — and deaths will result," Thompson tells AP.

"Blackwater officials stress that the company will honor its current security contracts and take on those sought by the U.S. government," according to the wire service.

Blackwater to Scale Back Security Work

The next president may have to change his calculus for the war in Iraq. Expensive government investigations have made Blackwater's cost of providing diplomatic security prohibitively high, and the company will no longer seek federal security contracts. If, that is, we are to believe the accuracy of what the Associated Press is reporting.

With its largest embassy in the world in Baghdad, the US depends almost completely on Blackwater to provide security for diplomats, aid workers, and visiting VIPs such as congressmen and senators. No government agency or military service can provide the scope of security that Blackwater is providing.

In the photo, General David Petraeus recognizes Blackwater diplomatic security men who rescued the Polish ambassador to Iraq last year after an assassination attempt.

Constant dogging by political opponents of the war in Congress, misleading media attacks, and endless government investigations that cost the company millions are reportedly blamed for prompting Blackwater to decide that providing security in a wartime environment just isn't worth it.

"The experience we've had would certainly be a disincentive to any other companies that want to step in and put their entire business at risk," says Blackwater founder and CEO Erik Prince.

The company will continue its current diplomatic security contract for the State Department in Iraq, but the report is unclear whether or not the company will seek to renew it upon its expiration in about ten months.

Blackwater did not begin as a security company, and providing security was never a part of the firm's master plan. "Our focus is away from security work. We're just not bidding on it," adds Blackwater President Gary Jackson.

Diplomatic security accounted for more than half of Blackwater's business in 2005 and 2006, and has wound down to about 30 percent now. "If I could get it down to 2% or 1%, I would go there," says Jackson. However, he held out the possibility of staying in the security business.

Says AP, "The decision to scale back future security business reflects not only the difficult year Blackwater has had but also the fact that there's probably not as much growth opportunity."

Blackwater Returns Focus to Training and Logistics

Blackwater founder and CEO Erik Prince told the Associated Press that the company will be returning to its original focus of training, aviation and logistics, moving away from security contracting operations.

However, for the time being the company will continue to protect US diplomats in Iraq; there are no plans to abandon existing contracts or leave American officials vulnerable.

"Security was not part of the master plan, ever," company president Gary Jackson said. Security peaked above 50 percent of the company's revenue, but is now down to about 30 percent and is expected go to much lower, Jackson said.

"If I could get it down to 2 percent or 1 percent, I would go there," Jackson said, adding that the media have falsely portrayed much about that aspect of the company. "If you could get it right, we might stay in the business."

While it often goes unreported, Blackwater does extensive work in training and logistics. The AP explains that the company's "7,000-acre compound offers unparalleled training facilities that attract swarms of US military, federal law enforcement and local officials each year."

"The company also has expanded its aviation division [pictured above], which provides airplane and helicopter maintenance and also drops supplies into hard-to-reach military bases. A 6,000-foot runway is under construction and a large map in the company's hanger shows units based across the world, from Africa to the Middle East to Australia."

Blackwater Airships Fill ISR Need

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has described the military's appetite for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) collection, including video from unmanned aerial vehicles, as “insatiable.”

But the Air Force Times reports that “the Army and Air Force can’t seem to keep up.... Gates described getting the military to provide more airborne ISR as 'pulling teeth,' even though the number of Predator orbits — or continuous 24-hour patrols — have doubled in theater since last year.”

And that's where Blackwater comes in. The company's new Polar 400 airships can fly twice as long as Air Force Predators and cost just a fifth as much. “In the past, airships have proven ineffective because they were susceptible to weather, especially high winds,” Air Force Times explains. “Blackwater designed a propulsion system so the pilot can control the airship on all three axes.”

True, the airships won't carry Hellfire missiles like some UAVs currently in use, but the airships are perfect for loitering over a dozen city blocks for up to 60 hours at a time, just the sort of coverage our men in uniform often need when they find themselves in difficult urban warfare.

Blackwater founder and CEO Erik Prince “also suggested his airships could replace Predators flying drug and alien interdiction missions over the US-Mexico border and the Caribbean. He proposed using one ship as a 'lily-pad' and launching three to four airships to form a chain.”


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In spite of the obvious advantages that Blackwater airships offer to the military - both in terms of filling the ISR gap and doing so at a lower cost - certain critics are not keen on the idea. Air Force Times quoted Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., as saying “Now we’re talking about a private, for-profit company having grandiose notions of replacing the Coast Guard and the Navy,” she said. “I think that’s very dangerous.”

Ms. Schakowsky, were you paying any attention at all? We're talking about ISR collection, not the complete functions of both the Navy and the Coast Guard.

Maybe Congresswoman Schakowsky is confusing ISR with the IRS, which busted her felon husband for bank fraud tax evasion.

Guess Who Protected Obama in Afghanistan?

It's funny how, with all the press coverage of Senator Barack Obama's trip to Afghanistan, nobody has mentioned who's working overtime to protect the presidential candidate and his Secret Service guards from harm.

Especially because he has been such a critic of private security contractors.

Who were all those armed civilians keeping a discreet distance from the politician and running the diplomatic security convoy that picked him up at Kabul airport? They weren't Secret Service!

News reports say that Obama's trip is being treated as a congressional delegation or codel. Standard practice for codels visiting Afghanistan and Iraq calls for the lawmakers to be protected under the Worldwide Personal Protection Services (WPPS) program of the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security. That program is carried out by private security contractors, of which Blackwater is the most important in both Kabul and Baghdad.

Obama has been such a critic of Blackwater (though he recognizes the need for the company's services) that it would be news for him to accept the company's protection in Afghanistan and Iraq. On the other hand, if someone broke with standard practice and had a private security contractor other than Blackwater guard the senator and his Secret Service detail, that would be news too.

So far, nobody's saying anything. And reporters aren't asking.

The Associated Press featured Afghan police wielding battered Kalashnikovs and frisking the locals, but had nothing to say about who was providing the unusually tight security for Obama and the Secret Service agents.

Let's see how long it takes the press to report this one.

Obama Calls for 'Civilian National Security Force' to Rival US Military in Size

Senator Barack Obama recently gave a speech in which he called for building a "civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded" as the US military.

Oddly, the policy proposal is missing from the written text that the Obama campaign handed to journalists who covered the July 2 event, the speech transcript is absent from the campaign's website, and the video has been pulled down from YouTube.

In the speech, which unveiled many new government spending programs to fund his call to greater public service, Obama stated, "We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

Obama has been a stickler for demanding accountability for private military contractors like Blackwater. He made no comment about how one would hold accountable a new, US military-sized "citizen national security force."

This is much more than the right to keep and bear arms, or meeting defense needs through outsourcing to private companies. Obama appears to be hinting at a vision worthy of Hugo Chavez and his "Bolivarian Circle" citizen-enforcers.

WorldNetDaily's Joe Farah discovered the anomaly by comparing the press coverage and the official written text with a video of Obmama's speech that appears on YouTube. The comment appears at about the 16-minute mark. But we just tested the link and found that the speech has been pulled down from YouTube.

The Obama campaign did not comment on the proposal, the missing sentences from the prepared text, or the missing speech from the campaign website. Questions?

Government Guards Cost 250% More than Blackwater Guards in Iraq

Here are some surprising figures: A State Department Diplomatic Security agent costs the taxpayer 250 percent more to be stationed in Iraq than does a private security contractor like Blackwater for the same job.

This, despite reports that the private contractors are paid more per day than the government agents.

State Department testimony before Congress shows that each Diplomatic Security agent based in Iraq cost the taxpayer about $1,000,000 a year, when accounting for salary, benefits, support gear, and support personnel. Blackwater CEO Erik Prince told the same congressional panel that his company charges the government $400,000 a year per person to do the exact same job. Built into that per-person cost is the contractor's wage (billed daily and only for days worked), training, gear, administrative support, vehicles, and helicopter and airplane support.

The figures are rendered on the above chart.

What accounts for this huge savings? Click here for the full story in Serviam, the magazine of the global stability industry.

Blackwater Rejected Chinese Training Inquiries

Blackwater CEO Erik Prince reveals that he rejected the Chinese government's requests that Blackwater train its police forces in preparation for the upcoming Olympic games.

Asked by Army Times editors if he's turned down requests from any countries for training, Prince says, "Sure. We had a lot of inquiries from China a couple years ago wanting police training before the Olympics, and that's just not something we wanted to do."

Citing the regime's human rights violations, Prince adds, "we didn't want any of our training to be used in another Tiananmen Square-type faceoff. Simple."