Afghanistan
12/17/08
Armed Contractor Oversight Directorate
W91B4N-09-T-5006
R — Professional, administrative, and management support services
12/17/08
W91B4N-09-R-5001
V — Transportation, travel, & relocation services
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Iraq
12/17/08
W91B4M-09-R-0004
S — Utilities and housekeeping services
I am sure Blackwater has been seeing the writing on the wall with this one. I would like to get a copy of this report as soon as it gets out, and do a further review. This could go one of two ways. Either the WPPS program gets abolished, and DoS makes a big push to fill the ranks with DSS folk. Think Border Patrol style recruitment, because there are a lot of diplomats out there that need protection.
The other way this goes, is Blackwater loses all of it’s privileges to submit bids on the WPPS, and the other big companies will take over. Triple Canopy and Dyncorp come to mind as a few of the other WPPS contenders.
The big one here, is capability. Blackwater has all the toys to play, to include helicopters. These other companies could get to that level of support, but it will take some time. It is also a risk for these companies, because they see how the DoS has treated Blackwater in this deal, and they probably can’t help but to think it could happen to them.
Finally, my view on this business side of this is that all the companies take turns at the top. If the WPPS program survives, a new service provider will rise to the top of the heap, and Blackwater will just stick with training or enter into new emerging markets like today’s piracy in the Gulf of Aden. In essence, the private industry will evolve and adapt, and Blackwater is a brand that won’t be going away anytime soon. –Matt
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Panel calls for dropping Blackwater guards in Iraq
12/17/2008
By MATTHEW LEE
WASHINGTON (AP) — A State Department advisory panel is recommending that Blackwater Worldwide be dropped as the main private security contractor for American diplomats in Iraq, The Associated Press has learned.
A senior official familiar with a report commissioned by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the AP on Wednesday that the panel has called for Blackwater’s contract not to be renewed when it expires next year. A decision on the recommendation will be left to the Obama administration, which will be in place when the contract comes up for renewal in the spring.
Good news and I am glad they moved quickly on this. And as I write this, 4 new ships were attacked today. –Matt
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UN gives OK to land, air attacks on Somali pirates
Tue Dec 16, 6:21 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS – On the same day Somali gunmen seized two more ships, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize nations to conduct land and air attacks on pirate bases on the coast of the Horn of Africa country.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was on hand to push through the resolution, one of President George W. Bush’s last major foreign policy initiatives.
Rice said the resolution will have a significant impact, especially since “pirates are adapting to the naval presence in the Gulf of Aden by traveling further” into sea lanes not guarded by warships sent by the U.S. and other countries.
The council authorized nations to use “all necessary measures that are appropriate in Somalia” to stop anyone using Somali territory to plan or carry out piracy in the nearby waters traversed each year by thousands of cargo ships sailing between Asia and the Suez Canal.
That includes the use of Somali airspace, even though the U.S. appeased Indonesia, a council member, by removing direct mention of it, U.S. officials said.
Somalia Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Jama, whose government asked for the help, said he was “heartened” by the council action. “These acts of piracy are categorically unacceptable and should be put to an end,” he said.
Boy, if you have some down time, this could fill it. You can sign up to be a ‘virtual deputy’ and watch various webcams of the border area in Texas. If you see anything suspicious, just use the email function of the site and let them know what’s up. Now could something like this be used in a war zone? Could you line an entire road with webcams, and ask the viewing public to watch it? Better yet, what if you mixed Mechanical Turk (Amazon.com crowd sourcing service) and virtual community or war zone watches? I guess it is too soon to tell, and it will be interesting to hear the feedback about this project, and it’s potential. –Head Jundi
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About BlueServo
The Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition (TBSC) has joined BlueServoSM in a public-private partnership to deploy the Virtual Community Watch, an innovative real-time surveillance program designed to empower the public to proactively participate in fighting border crime.
The TBSC BlueServoSM Virtual Community WatchSM is a network of cameras and sensors along the Texas-Mexico border that feeds live streaming video to www.BlueServo.net. Users will log in to the BlueServoSM website and directly monitor suspicious criminal activity along the border via this virtual fenceSM.
Citizens can sign up as Virtual Texas DeputiesSM to participate in border surveillance through this social network. Virtual Texas DeputiesSM from around the country will monitor the streaming video from these cameras 24/7 and report any suspicious activities directly to the Border Sheriffs via email. All emails regarding suspicious activity will be submitted anonymously.
Here are some more hints as to the overall strategy for dealing with the piracy off the coast of Somalia. Not only are we going to aggressively pursue these guys on sea, but go after them on land as well. And it sounds like we have the blessing from the Somali government to do so, if the UN Security Council approves. Secretary of Defense Gates mentions a few of his thoughts on the land game as well. –Head Jundi
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Gates Calls for Action Against Somali Pirates
December 13, 2008
By Camilla Hall
…….Land pursuit operations would carry a high risk of harming innocent civilians because of the difficulty of identifying those guilty of piracy, U.S. Fifth Fleet spokeswoman Lieutenant Stephanie Murdock said yesterday.
“This has become a very good business and the first thing we need is better intelligence on who’s behind it,” Gates said. More information is needed on the culprits to minimize any collateral damage from land pursuit, Gates said. “With the level of information that we have now we are not in the position to do that kind of land attack,” he said. With “adequate intelligence” only, land attacks may be carried out, he added.
Gates also advised nations to prepare standard operating procedures against seaborne threats including piracy, terrorism, narcotics trafficking and smuggling. He said taking basic steps like speeding up or raising the ladders of the boats would be a good first move.
Read the Rest of the Story Here
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Somalia backs U.S. plan to hunt pirates on land, water
12/12/2008
Reuters
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s government has welcomed a call by the United States for countries to have U.N. authority to hunt down Somali pirates on land as well as pursue them off its coast.
A surge in piracy this year in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean off Somalia has driven up insurance costs, brought the gangs tens of millions of dollars in ransoms and prompted foreign navies to rush to the area to protect shipping.
The U.S. delegation to the United Nations has circulated a draft resolution on piracy for the Security Council to vote on next week. A draft text seen by Reuters says countries with permission from Somalia’s government “may take all necessary measures ashore in Somalia, including in its airspace” to capture those using Somali territory for piracy.
“The government cordially welcomes the United Nations to fight pirates inland and (on) the Indian Ocean,” said Hussein Mohamed Mohamud, spokesman for President Abdullahi Yusuf.
“We’re also willing to give them a hand in case they need our assistance,” he said.
Somalia has seen continuous conflict since 1991 and its weak, Western-backed government is still fighting Islamist insurgents.
The chaos has helped fuel the explosion in piracy: There have been nearly 100 attacks in Somali waters this year, despite the presence of several foreign warships. Gunmen are holding about a dozen ships and nearly 300 crewmembers.
Among the captured vessels are a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million of crude oil and a Ukrainian cargo ship carrying about 30 Soviet-era tanks.
There already are several international naval operations off Somalia, including a NATO anti-piracy mission. The European Union agreed Monday to launch anti-piracy naval operations in the area.
The U.N. special envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, said Thursday that the pirates were “threatening the very freedom and safety of maritime trade routes, affecting not only Somalia and the region, but also a large percentage of world trade.”
Story Here
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U.S. Proposes Going Ashore to Hunt Pirates
December 11, 2008
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
UNITED NATIONS — In an effort to curb piracy off Somalia’s coast, the United States began circulating a Security Council resolution on Wednesday that would significantly beef up interdiction efforts by permitting foreign forces to attack pirate bases on land.
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