Feral Jundi

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Call to Action: E-petition to Create an Award to Recognize the Work of UK Private Security Contractors

     Pretty cool, and please pass this around to your friends and comrades in the UK.  I posted this on Facebook as well, and be sure to share it with friends across the pond.  This would be an excellent way to recognize the sacrifice of contractors in this war, and the symbolism of such a thing would be excellent.  I hope it goes well for you guys.  Cheers. –Matt

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We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Create an award to recognise the work of Private Security Contractors.

You must be a British citizen or resident to sign the petition. Please enter your name only; signatures containing other text may be removed by the petitions team.

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Submitted by Chris Jones of None – Deadline to sign up by: 04 December 2009 – Signatures: 116

More details from petition creator,

We would like the government to take the following action and to recogize the work of Private Security Contactors, In the form of a letter or award for those who have proof of service.

And to express our deepest sympathy for the four Close Protection Officers who were captured in 2007 in Iraq, which as the news emerges are all dead now.

We all know that we are not recognised as former Soldiers for the work we carry out as security officers worldwide and in hostile areas, such as Iraq and Afghanistan today.

Although the vast majority of all Security Contractors are long serving and with distinguished military carriers. I am sure you will agree it is high time that we should all be recognised for our services.

After all it is the government who require us to work in these areas for them, yet still it is the same government who do not recognize these services, without us the work would not go on.

The war in Iraq for example would not have been won without the security contractors.

God bless all the the men that have died serving there country and as private security officers, our deepest sympathies go out to their families.

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Introduction to e-petitions

Downing Street is working in partnership with the non-partisan charitable project mySociety to provide a service to allow citizens, charities and campaign groups to set up petitions that are hosted on the Downing Street website, enabling anyone to address and deliver a petition directly to the Prime Minister.

my Society is a charitable project that runs many of the UK’s best-known non-partisan political websites, like Hear From Your MP and They Work For You. mySociety is strictly neutral on party political issues, and the e-petition service is within its remit to build websites which give people simple, tangible benefits in the civic and community aspects of their lives. For more information about my Society and its work, visit its website.

The e-petition system has been designed to be transparent and trustworthy. For legal and anti-spam reasons this site cannot host every petition submitted, but the rule is to accept everything that meets the terms and conditions of use.

No petition will be rejected unless it violates these terms. And even when petitions cannot be hosted No10 will still publish as much of rejected petitions as is consistent with legal and anti-spam requirements, including the reason why it could not be hosted.

If you have any questions about the service, please contact number10@petitions.pm.gov.uk.

Follow this link for petition.

For cut and paste, put this in the address bar.

 

Iraq: Change of Guard in Baghdad’s Green Zone

Filed under: Iraq — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 12:10 AM

   Crazy.  I know we are supposed to hand this stuff over, but this transfer will definitely test everyone’s nerves here in the beginning.  Because as soon as a there is an incident, where some Iraqi soldier was not doing their job or was working for the bad guys, and allowed a VBIED or some other shenanigans, then there will be some pissed off and possibly dead Americans asking ‘why’? Steady as she goes, steady as she goes…..-Matt 

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Change of Guard in Baghdad’s Green Zone

A Haven for Westerners Transforms as Iraqis Take Over the Reins From U.S. Forces

By Ernesto LondoñoWashington Post Foreign ServiceThursday, August 6, 2009

BAGHDAD — Baghdad’s storied Green Zone, for six years a bunkered refuge for Westerners in this beleaguered capital, is America’s turf no more.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki recently ordered that U.S. troops stop manning the area’s entry points; they are now controlled solely by Iraqis.

Iraqi soldiers have set up roving checkpoints inside, and U.S. Embassy and military badges no longer exempt holders from inspection. Iraqi authorities have threatened to seize U.S. vehicles that do not have Iraqi license plates, sending hundreds of American government employees and contractors scrambling to Baghdad’s equivalent of the DMV.

In two months, the Iraqis will start issuing badges granting varying levels of access to the Green Zone, a process that until now had been the purview of the U.S. military and for years subjected Iraqis to second-class status in their own capital.

Citing a higher threat of kidnappings and other dangers, the U.S. Embassy, the U.S. military and private defense contractors have imposed strict rules and, in some cases, curfews to restrict nonessential travel outside the mammoth new embassy compound and other fortified compounds within the Green Zone.

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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Industry Talk: And the UN Working Group Speaks

Filed under: Industry Talk — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 12:38 AM

   First, I am glad they had a good time.  Word has it, they met up at Hooters after the press conference for hotwings and beers, and then they threw a party at the hotel. lol

   But seriously, it seems the typical mumbo jumbo was discussed, and nothing to radically new.  The one comment that kind of got me was the idea that there ‘was very little information accessible to the public on the scope and type of contracts’.  Oh really?  Obviously the UNWG doesn’t read Feral Jundi or Combat Operator or Eeben’s blog or Tim’s blog, because if they did, they would know that there is plenty of information available.  Or what about all the stories over the years that David Isenberg has written, or the numerous books written about the subject, or the countless forums that discuss the day to day activities of the various contracts and companies?  There is plenty of information out there, and all the public has to do is get their Google Fu on. Oh, and I forgot to mention FedBizOps, an excellent source of contract info.

   On the really cool side of things, the best quote in this whole thing is this one:

There is also a trend towards “an extensive privatization of the war,” she said, but added that the US Government has assured the UN experts that it does not relinquish its State authority of the legitimate use of force.

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Sunday, August 2, 2009

Military News: Remains of Captain Michael “Scott” Speicher Found, Missing 18 Years in Iraq

   I am floored on this.  Back during the first Gulf War, this was a very big deal, and it was always a bitter pill to swallow.  I am glad the family knows now, and they can finally say he is found.  Rest in peace. –Matt

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Remains of Captain Michael “Scott” Speicher found, missing 18 years in Iraq 

By PAULINE JELINEKThe Associated PressSunday, August 2, 2009 9:27 AM

WASHINGTON — The remains of the first American lost in the Persian Gulf War have been found in Iraq, the military said Sunday, after struggling for nearly two decades with the question of whether he was dead or alive.

The Pentagon said the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology on Saturday had positively identified the remains of Navy Capt. Michael “Scott” Speicher, whose disappearance has bedeviled investigators since his fighter jet was shot down over the Iraq desert on the first night of the 1991 war.

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Medical: Swine Flu–Reports in Iraq, Swine Flu Vaccination Campaign in the US

Filed under: Iraq,Medical — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 1:18 AM

   Interesting.  Notice the massive preparations the US is taking on, compared to some countries who do not have the resources or healthcare system to deal with this.  Will this become a problem this winter, who knows, but definitely keep tabs on this stuff.  Especially if you are working in those at risk countries. Although, it’s not like there aren’t enough things to worry about in these places, like bullets or IED’s or whatever. –Matt

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Iraq health ministry confirms 4 cases of swine flu among Iraqi students returning from US

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (CP) – 1 day ago

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s health ministry says four students returning to Baghdad from the U.S. have been diagnosed with swine flu.

Ministry spokesman, Dr. Ihssan Jaafar Ahmed, said Friday that the students have been quarantined at a hospital south of Baghdad. He says eight other students are under observation.

Ahmed says the youths had just returned to Iraq from the U.S. where they were invited to study.

The health ministry says there are now 52 confirmed cases of swine flu in Iraq.

Story here.

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