Friday, June 18, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Industry Talk: DoS Wants To Form A Mini-army For Iraq Security
Well duh! It all makes sense now. CNAS comes out with a report on contractors, fully supporting our use and the future use of contractors in our wars, and now DoS wants to form a ‘mini-army’?(well…. they’ve always had a mini-contractor army)
And the ‘monopoly of force’ argument gets another challenge by none other than…… the US Department of State? Max Weber is rolling in his grave as we speak. lol (I had to stick that one in there…)
I am also reminded of the scenes of Air America rescuing South Vietnamese and American civilians off of the roof top during the last days of the Vietnam War. That was a contractor air force that did that, and not a military one. The idea here is that contractors are the filler during the dangerous stages of a draw down or build up of a war. We can fill those gaps of operational need, and as fast as they come up. Private industry is flexible enough to do this, and account for the surprises or worse yet, poor planning of the war.
Even with natural disasters like the BP spill in the gulf, you must have a partnership between private and public forces in order to meet the operational requirements of the disaster. When the feds run out of a specific resource, or let’s say a disaster has done something completely unexpected, private industry can instantly address the problem. Or in some cases, the federal government can jump in and take over where private industry is faltering. The key to me is to find some kind of equilibrium within that war or disaster, where we reach the sweet spot of private and public partnership. –Matt
Edit: 6/14/2010- I would like to correct one of the things I mentioned in this post that one of my readers brought to my attention as partially wrong. During the draw down stage of the Vietnam war, this was largely a military effort. So I want to emphasize that the military did most of the heavy lifting, and Air America ‘assisted’ in that process. Or in other words, it was a team effort, with the military taking the lead. Here is a run down of Operation Frequent Wind, as just one example of that process.
Also, check this out. The author of this article changed the title of the thing. The content is the same. I will bet that he got some heat for putting together this original title below. The new one says “State Dept Wants Combat Gear For Security In Iraq”. Just a tad bit less flowery or sensationalistic than the original. lol
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This BAE Caiman is what the DoS is requesting for their security force. They want 50. They also want 24 Blackhawk Helicopters.
State wants to form a mini-army for Iraq security
By RICHARD LARDNER
June 14, 2010
WASHINGTON — The State Department is quietly forming a small army to protect diplomatic personnel in Iraq after U.S. military forces leave the country at the end of 2011, taking their firepower with them.
Department officials are asking the Pentagon to provide heavy military gear, including Black Hawk helicopters, and say they will also need substantial support from private contractors.
The shopping list demonstrates the department’s reluctance to count on Iraq’s army and police forces for security despite the billions of dollars the U.S. invested to equip and train them. And it shows that President Barack Obama is having a hard time keeping his pledge to reduce U.S. reliance on contractors, a practice that flourished under the Bush administration.
In an early April request to the Pentagon, Patrick Kennedy, the State Department’s under secretary for management, is seeking 24 Black Hawks, 50 bomb-resistant vehicles, heavy cargo trucks, fuel trailers, and high-tech surveillance systems. Kennedy asks that the equipment, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, be transferred at “no cost” from military stocks.
Contractors will be needed to maintain the gear and provide other support to diplomatic staff, according to the State Department, a potential financial boon for companies such as the Houston-based KBR Inc. that still have a sizable presence in Iraq.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Call To Action: Help iCasualties.org Update Their Statistics On Contractors
Ok, this pisses me off. I totally respect what Michael White has done over the years as far as counting the deaths in this war. But to depend on a hobbyist to keep this record as to whom has died is not right, and his list is not complete. This should be a function of the US government and every death should be counted in my opinion.
I say every death, because the icasualties.org list is missing a ton of contractor deaths, and especially in Afghanistan. It counts US deaths, and Coalition deaths, but it is lacking in contractor deaths. Especially this year. I have listed several deaths that were sourced in the media on this blog, and there has been no mention at icasualties about it. This supports the idea that depending on just one lone hobbyist to count these deaths does not work.
We are basically counting on the poor guy to keep up, and for him to fund his own little show. Meanwhile the entire world links to his website for their stories and studies, and holds his website as the top source for casualties. Even governments link to iCasualties.org, and it pisses me off that this is what we have for accountability. Contractor deaths count for something, as do all deaths in this war, and there must be a better effort to do this.
My suggestion is for the US government to take it upon themselves and start a casualty count website of their own. It should be an organization that strives to be current, complete, and staffed with the appropriate amount of people and funds to keep it running properly. This crew’s job is to count every single death coming out of the war. I say count the civilian deaths too and there should be no question what so ever as to how much blood has been spilled. But for the sake of this conversation, at the very least, contractor deaths should be counted.
I also believe that this contractor death count should include expats, third country nationals, and local nationals. Local nationals are never counted, yet they died in that convoy operation supporting our war effort and the least we can do is recognize their sacrifice. Why do we ignore the sacrifices of an Afghan or Iraqi contractor?
The other thing that gets me is that I know why we are not counted. Politically speaking, the less numbers of deaths on ‘the list’, the better.
As for the compensation factor for those deaths, if no one knows about the death, then a company can say that it never existed, and thus not pay any compensation. Now of course contractors are smart enough to know, that if the company does not have a life insurance policy for them, or that they know that DBA is not afforded to them (for local nationals, etc.), then obviously the family of that dead contractor will receive nothing. That is the contractors choice when they sign the contract. I would like to think that we could compensate the families of these men in some way, but that is the way things are at this point. Private industry in those countries is not forced to provide this kind of compensation or insurance, and many industries in the global economy operate with this kind of dynamic.
But at the least, a contractor’s death(expat, third country national, local national) should be counted and we should not be depending on some hobbyist who might be able to put up a contractor’s death on his website, if he catches it or decides to put the effort into it. I commend Mike for doing as much as he has, but if there was ever anything that should be a function of government, this is it.
Another idea is for the government to issue a grant to this guy. Help him do the job that government should be doing anyways. Hell, contract him out and put him on the payroll to do what he is already doing. Or if the IPOA or similar association wanted to do something cool, they could kick some money into Mike’s fund, just so he gets the hint to count ‘contractors’. Also, if folks wanted to individually give iCasualties.org a hint to count our dead, just send Mike an email with a link to the media source that lists the death. What I will try to do in the future, is list Mike’s email under each death I find, and I will ask the readership to send the link of contractors deaths to him to make sure these deaths are counted. I am sure if he gets a couple emails from several guys that he will add it. If you find stuff that has not been posted here, feel free to send it to him first. –Matt
Emails for Michael White and icasuatlies.org here:
michaelw@icasualties.org
michaelw@speedfactory.net
or try this one.
icasualties@bellsouth.net
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As a hobby, he counts the war dead
By Moni Basu, CNN
Stone Mountain, Georgia (CNN) — Fall leaves blanket Michael White’s deck at his suburban Atlanta, Georgia, home. In the cluttered attic study, the software engineer slouches over his Hewlett-Packard laptop.
A full-length floor lamp stands on top of his desk — the overhead light went out a while back. Next to him is his 1960s Stratocaster, a reminder of the rock-star career that never blossomed.
Jillian, his Vivaldi-loving, violin-playing 10-year-old, has gone off to school. Wife Ashley is at work. The house is quiet except for the occasional mew from Izzy, the atypically friendly Tonkinese cat.
And yet, from the humdrum of this ordinary subdivision home comes an arresting daily statement.
For six years, White has faithfully produced a number that is critical to shaping the legacy of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: the death toll.
Every day, White, 51, updates a Web site he launched in 2003, icasualties.org, to keep count of the dead: American troops, coalition troops, contractors and Iraqi civilians. He eventually began documenting deaths in Afghanistan as well.
He knew the wars would carry on, but he did not anticipate casualties continuing at this pace. October proved to be the deadliest for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the beginning of that conflict in 2001.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Industry Talk: Erik Prince Plans Sale Of Xe Services LLC
This will be interesting to watch. I would be very curious as to who would be interested in purchasing the whole nut, or the various companies within Xe? Undoubtedly, the training and aviation stuff would be profitable. It’s just the name and history that comes with all of it. So who will bite? Who is this ‘mystery buyer’ that Mr. Prince is talking about?
Also, check out Danger Room’s poll of who should buy Xe. It is actually pretty funny, and Blackfive as well as Steve Jobs are top contenders. –Matt
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Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Plans Sale of Security Company
June 07, 2010
By Gopal Ratnam and Timothy R. Homan
Blackwater Worldwide founder Erik Prince is pursuing the sale of the private security company whose guards once faced charges in the fatal shootings of 14 Iraqis.
Xe Services LLC, as the closely held company is now known, said in a statement it has undergone “significant” changes in the past 15 months that will make it more valuable to a buyer. It didn’t specify the changes.
The company, whose customers include the U.S. government, is in talks with possible buyers, said a person familiar with the matter. Prince briefed employees on his plan today at Xe’s headquarters in Moyock, North Carolina, said the person, who declined to be identified because the details are private.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Bolivia: Drug Cartels Using The Serbian Company ‘Combat Team Security Solutions’
Man, I don’t like to read about this stuff, but this is the reality of our industry. The money these drug cartels are offering is just too much of a draw to some of these unscrupulous companies operating out there. Obviously Combat Team Security Solutions could care less if they are protecting a scum bag narco boss. For that, I put them right up there with the Los Zetas or the Somali pirates.
Now I do not want to fall into the trap of labeling all Serbian’s as criminal with this post, because they are not. There are plenty of Serbian contractors out there who are doing good things and it is companies like this that give them a bad name. Also, I have a lot of Serbian readers and fans of the blog, and I know this kind of thing probably makes them wince.
Finally, if you want a good chuckle, check out the website below and the youtube videos this company produced. I am still trying to figure out why anyone would pay for their services other than to get a good laugh. –Matt
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Serb Mercenaries See Prospects in Latin America
Vesna Peric Zimonjic
May 26, 2010
For most Serbs, Latin America is a distant continent held in regard by the older generation as a part of the non-aligned movement.
But when three Serb bodyguards of alleged narcotics boss William Rosales Suarez were killed in Bolivia, near the eastern town of Santa Cruz earlier this month, it put Latin America into the spotlight.
Sasa Turcinovic, 40, Predrag Cankovic, 38, and Bojan Bakula, 29, arrived in Bolivia on May 13 only to be killed the next day along with three locals deployed to protect Suarez’s convoy of vehicles. Suarez was kidnapped and is still missing.
For days Serbian media was teeming with items on the three. It turned out that Bakula and Turcinovic were the owners of a security agency called Combat Team Security Solution, based in Ruma, 50 km west of Belgrade.
Turcinovic was once a member of the Red Berets, the notorious special Serbian police unit in the 90s which carried out atrocities during the wars with neighbouring Croatia and Bosnia.