Feral Jundi

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Industry Talk: FedBiz Opps and Tracking the Industry

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk,Iraq — Tags: — Matt @ 3:14 PM

    FedBiz is a great tool to track the industry out there.  You can find out what contracts are popping up, and who is in line for them, based on this online resource.  The ones I posted below are just the security related contracts, and only the last 30 days.  Use the search feature of the site, and I am sure you will find more.  Enjoy.  –Head Jundi

—————————————————————— 

Welcome to FBO.gov, the US Government’s one-stop virtual marketplace.  Through this single point-of-entry, commercial vendors and government buyers are invited to post, search, monitor, and retrieve opportunities solicited by the entire Federal contracting community. 

Fed Biz Opps.gov

***** 

Afghanistan Stuff

Facility Protective Services

W91B4K-09-R-2001

R — Professional, administrative, and management support services

RC-South Armed Security Guard Services

W91B4L-09-R-0006

R — Professional, administrative, and management support services 

*****

Iraq Stuff 

Personal Security Detail Services at FOB Shield

W91GY0-09-C-0005

V — Transportation, travel, & relocation services 

Personal Security Detail Services

W91GY0-08-R-0076

R — Professional, administrative, and management support services 

Books: Shadow Force, by David Isenberg

Filed under: Books — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 2:05 PM

     Hey everyone, here is another cool book just in time for the holidays.  David has done a lot for this industry, and he is good people.  I have yet to read this book, and I am excited to get my hands on it.  Check it out.  –Head Jundi

Edit:  You can also get 50% off of the price of the book with this code.  Thanks to David for the tip!

Visit www.greenwood.com, search or browse for books, and use our secure Shopping Cart to place your order. All orders must be prepaid.

Enter Source Code E0866A at the bottom of the first Shopping Cart screen and click “Use Code.” Your discount will automatically be applied.

OR

Call our Customer Service Desk at 1-800-225-5800 (9am-5pm EDT, Mon.-Fri.), and mention Source Code E0866A when placing your order. All orders must be prepaid 

——————————————————————-

Editorial Reviews

Review

“David Isenberg has been a tireless chronicler of the birth, growth and rise of the private military phenomena. Shadow Force is a new addition to the “must have” list of books on the privatization of violence.”–Robert Young Pelton, author of Licensed to Kill

“David Isenberg was among the very first serious researchers to recognize a unique industry among the many firms providing services to governments in conflict in post-conflict environments. While others dismissed the phenomenon or soon departed into populist conjecture, David grasped the history and recognized both the long-term value and sober implications of this maturing sector. His research and articles in the mid 1990s helped stimulate a cottage industry of scholastic and journalistic research on the topic-often more absurd than serious. No one else considers this topic with the same breadth of knowledge or rational understanding, and few are as good at discerning genuine areas of concern from great gobs of absurd speculation.”–Doug Brooks, Founder and Director of the International Peace Operations Association

“They are not mercenaries and they are not soldiers. So what are they? That is the question increasing numbers of people, both government officials and the general public, have been asking since the United States invaded Iraq. In this book David Isenberg, one of the earliest and most perceptive observers of the private security contracting industry explains who is operating in Iraq, their benefits and liabilities, and their impact both nationally and globally. If you have to read just one book on the subject make it this one.”–Lawrence J. Korb, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress, Senior Advisor, Center for Defense Information

Product Description

From their limited use in China during World War II, for example, to their often clandestine use in Vietnam ferrying supplies before the war escalated in 1964 and 1965 when their role became more prominent-and public-private military contractors (PMCs) have played made essential contributions to the success and failures of the military and United States. Today, with an emphasis on force restructuring mandated by the Pentagon, the role of PMCs, and their impact on policy-making decisions is at an all time peak.

(more…)

News: More Than 160 US, NATO Vehicles Burned in Pakistan

Filed under: Afghanistan,News,Pakistan — Tags: , , — Matt @ 1:18 PM

     Pathetic.  Whomever the security company was, that was contracted to protect this depot, did a horrific job of protecting it.  When guards just stand by helplessly, and allow the attackers to come in and destroy everything, then something is severely screwed up.  That much is apparent.   You get what you pay for I guess, and we need to take a more assertive role in protecting our vital supplies out there.  

     Pakistan is doing a terrible job, Pakistani PSC’s are doing a terrible job, and 70 % of our logistics comes from Peshawar.  If we are serious about fighting the war in Afghanistan, then we need to get serious about protecting our logistics.  I say pay the money to hire competent security to protect these convoys and depots, or send the troops to protect this stuff. Or get out of the business of even dealing with Pakistan for our logistics. –Head Jundi

—————————————————————— 

 

More than 160 US, NATO vehicles burned in Pakistan

By RIAZ KHAN 

December 7, 2008

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Militants torched 160 vehicles, including dozens of Humvees destined for U.S. and allied forces fighting in Afghanistan, in the boldest attack so far on the critical military supply line through Pakistan.

The American military said Sunday’s raid on two transport terminals near the beleaguered Pakistani city of Peshawar would have “minimal” impact on anti-Taliban operations set to expand with the arrival of thousands more troops next year.

However, the attack feeds concern that insurgents are trying to choke the route through the famed Khyber Pass, which carries up to 70 percent of the supplies for Western forces in landlocked Afghanistan, and drive up the cost of the war.

(more…)

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Film: House of Saddam Trailer, HBO Series, Dec 7

Filed under: Film,Iraq — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 1:07 AM

Legal News: SOFA Discards Contractors and the Rule of Law

Filed under: Iraq,Legal News — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 12:53 AM

   I want to applaud Tara for writing this, and I agree with this assessment. Especially this part, which includes that crap that the New York Times wrote. –Head Jundi

 

“The New York Times editorial board has called the SOFA’s exclusions of protection for contractors “an acceptable price to pay to show this country’s commitment to the rule of law.” A diplomatic concession that blatantly and offensively treats one class of American citizen differently than others hardly demonstrates the U.S. commitment to the rule of law.” 

—————————————————————— 

SOFA Discards Contractors and the Rule of Law

December 04, 2008

JURIST Guest Columnist Tara Lee, a former Navy JAG now a partner at DLA Piper (US) LLP, says that having a Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq that abdicates the jurisdictional reach of the United States over contractors (not just security contractors) who are US citizens acting on its behalf is too high a price to pay for recognizing Iraq’s sovereignty….

Earlier this week the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq issued a report that is highly critical of the absence of due process in Iraq’s criminal justice system. The UN Report notes that “many detainees have been deprived of their liberty for months or even years, often under precarious physical conditions, without access to defence counsel, or without being formally charged with a crime or produced before a judge. Continuing allegations of widespread torture and ill-treatment of inmates are of particular concern.” The report is particularly timely, given that as of January 1, 2009, U.S. citizens who are contractors in Iraq will be subject to the jurisdiction of Iraqi criminal and civil courts, according to the terms of the Status of Forces Agreement signed on November 17, 2009.

(more…)

« Newer PostsOlder Posts »

Powered by WordPress