Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Funny Stuff: The UN Working Group On The Use Of Mercenaries Has A Libyan Member–Ooops!
This is one of those deals that I thought needed to be put out there. This UN Group on the Use of Mercenaries has been so busy in scrutinizing everyone else, that they forgot to take a hard look at their own membership. Gaddafi’s use of mercenary forces goes way back to his days with the Islamic Legion, and yet the working group still put a Libyan envoy on their board? That is one of those little details that the main stream media has forgotten to include in their stories about this group. So from here on out, I should hope that any future stories would have a quick mention that this group chose a ‘dog of war’ as one of their members, and they were ok with that at the time.
Did I mention she was also elected the President of the Human Rights Commission back in 2003? You can’t make this stuff up. lol
One more thing. Eeben Barlow has posted a great article about the UN that should get more attention than what it is currently getting. The UN’s mission in the Ivory Coast is the focus, and it isn’t pretty. –Matt
Group Calls for Libyan Envoy’s Removal From Post as U.N. Investigator of Human Rights Violations
By Diane Macedo
March 08, 2011
A watchdog group is asking the U.N. to immediately remove a Libyan envoy from her post as an investigator on human rights violations by mercenaries, saying that as a mouthpiece for a regime that’s “deploying hired guns to massacre its own people” it’s “outrageous” to have her in that position.
Najat Al-Hajjaji has been one of five members of “The Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the rights of peoples to self-determination” since its inception in 2005.
Among other things, the group was established to monitor mercenaries and mercenary-related activities around the world, study their impact on human rights, create proposals to further the protection of human rights against threats posed by mercenaries and draft international principles to encourage respect for human rights by companies offering mercenary services, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights website.
But U.N. Watch, an organization that monitors the performance of the United Nations, says Al-Hajjaji should be the “last person” charged with any of those duties – especially now.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Legal News: Welch And Jones Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Stop Afghanistan From Taxing US Aid
I like it, and I am sure many aid organizations and companies getting harassed by the Afghan government will like this as well.
If you support a bill like this, by all means communicate that to Reps. Welch or Rep. Jones. I have also provided the FAQ below from a website called Congress.org that spells out how you can best communicate electronically with Congress.(you can sign up with their service, or just do it on your own)
Also, if you want to ‘like’ a congressman on Facebook, and voice your opinion on the bill on their wall, that is another quick way of communications and voicing support. –Matt
Welch and Jones introduce bipartisan bill to stop Afghanistan from taxing US aid
Monday, 07 March 2011
Reps. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.) on Monday introduced bipartisan legislation to prevent the Afghan government from taxing American companies delivering US aid to Afghanistan.
The Stop Taxing American Assistance to Afghanistan Act (H.R. 936) would bar future assistance to Afghanistan unless US contractors and subcontractors delivering aid are exempt from taxation by the government of Afghanistan. According to the Washington Post, the Afghan government recently sent overdue tax bills to US contractors working in the country.
“It is absurd for the Aghan government to suggest taxing America’s effort to rebuild their country,” Welch said. “While that may make sense in Hamid Karzai’s world, it makes no sense to the American taxpayer. This legislation will make sure America is not taxed on the assistance it provides to Afghanistan.”
“It is outrageous for the Karzai government to tax U.S infrastructure spending for the reconstruction of their country,” Jones said.
The calls to tax US contractors come despite bilateral agreements that exempt US-based companies from such taxation. In recent months, the Afghan government has warned contractors in the country that failure to pay what it deems overdue tax bills could result in arrest or confiscation of goods.
H.R. 936 was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Story here.
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Communicating with Congress
E-mailing Your Elected Officials
Veteran Washington reporter Craig Crawford offers some tips on how to write an effective letter to Congress. (Transcription available here. )
Members of Congress prefer to hear from their constituents by e-mail. It’s faster, easier to sort and doesn’t present any security risks. (Read more here.) In order to avoid having their in boxes flooded with spam and letters from people in other states, Senators and Representatives require people e-mailing them to supply an address and other information before sending an e-mail. Because of these requirements, however, you cannot e-mail more than one of your elected officials at the same time through their Web sites.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Industry Talk: Ares Management Will Acquire Global Defense Technology And Systems
It paid nearly $27 million for the Fort Meade-based Zytel and almost $53 million for Signature Government Solutions in Herndon.
Those purchases “kind of tapped them out, so they really needed some dry powder to continue on the acquisition campaign . . . to maintain their growth and maintain their competitiveness,” Kipp said.
Hillen said Ares’ backing could potentially accelerate GTEC’s plans to buy more companies as it seeks to grow organically and through acquisitions.
The company is focusing on high-end technology companies that work in areas like cybersecurity and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Boy, if you owned any GTEC stock you probably experienced a little bump as a result from this acquisition news. I also included the stock screener for GTEC so you can see for yourself what Ares Management is seeing in Global.
This company is doing well, and the infusion of private-equity will help them to continue to do well. Who knows what companies will be in Global’s sights for future purchase, but if you look at their past purchases dealing with cyber security, we probably can deduct that we will see more of the same in the future. Cyber security is huge business, and companies are all jockeying for position in this evolving market.
Of course the reason I put this up on the blog is because GTEC is also related to Global Strategies Group.(From website: Our former wholly-owned North American subsidiary, Global Defense Technology & Systems, Inc. GTEC, recently completed an initial public offering. GLOBAL continues to be a significant shareholder of GTEC.) Although I don’t think this news will really impact you guys out there too much, unless you owned stock in GTEC. Thanks to a reader for giving me the heads up. –Matt
Private equity firm will acquire GTEC of McLean
By Marjorie CenserMonday, March 7, 2011
McLean-based Global Defense Technology & Systems, a growing contractor primarily focused on intelligence systems and services, announced last week it will be acquired by an affiliate of private-equity firm Ares Management.
The company is the latest to be picked up by private equity, which has played an increasingly large role in the defense industry as it adjusts to anticipated reduced budgets and new Pentagon guidelines on conflicts of interest.
The buy “highlights the capital market renaissance that’s occurred over the last 12 months,” said Bob Kipps, managing director of the McLean-based investment firm KippsDeSanto.
The definitive agreement reached by GTEC, as the company is known, and Ares, based the deal on a share price of $24.25, a nearly 51 percent increase over the company’s $16.08 close the day before the agreement was announced. The total deal value is approximately $315 million, including the assumption of debt and prior to expenses, GTEC said.