Feral Jundi

Friday, November 27, 2009

India: India’s Private Security Metamorphosis, by Jody Ray Bennett

Filed under: India,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 6:42 AM

   Another great post from Jody.  This story puts a little more light on to a subject we briefly covered here and here.  India is massive, and if Mumbai is India’s 9/11, then it totally makes sense that the security industry growth would match the U.S. growth after our tragedy.

   Now one of the thoughts I had, is if the arms race between Pakistan and India will come to be reflected in a sort of PMC and PSC race?  I mean Pakistan seems to have a huge problem with PMC’s and PSC’s right now, but what happens when they start figuring out that their sworn enemy is actually embracing them and has a thriving security market to prove it? Will there come a point where Pakistan actually looks at the Blackwaters and Dyncorps and thinks, hmmm, maybe we should have a couple of those?  And on a broader question, will countries start looking at their local PMC’s and PSC’s as tools of national security?  Are we the new tank or jet fighter in the defense industry?   Interesting thought, and I would like to know what you think.  –Matt

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India’s Private Security Metamorphosis

27 Nov 2009

India’s newest private security personnel are rapidly transforming from static security guards to anti-terrorism forces, Jody Ray Bennett writes for ISN Security Watch.

By Jody Ray Bennett for ISN Security Watch

Thousands of young men throughout India begin each day in blue uniforms that closely resemble that of official police officers, and often armed with little more than batons and radios, they patrol, survey, search and check guests and clients of some of the largest multinational firms in the country.

These young men are escorting VIPs, checking luggage and bags with bomb-sniffing canines, surveying landscapes with binoculars and night-vision goggles and even using hi-tech electronic equipment to scan for cyberinvasions and other network threats for a multitude of private clients.

The company they work for is busy assessing security risks for elite multinationals doing business in India while providing them with personal, private security. In the event of an emergency, the company claims it will deploy a “quick response team” dispatched through a 24-hour manned security control room.

In an increased blurring of the lines between security guard services and the private security personnel of companies that often raise eyebrows in western media, several Indian firms are preparing to earn their spot in the global private security industry.

Meet TerraForce Security Services, India’s newest private security company. Set apart from many of the other private security firms throughout India, TerraForce was recently formed by Indian billionaire Kushal Pal Singh to protect the assets of DLF Group, India’s largest real estate company. DLF states that it is by far the “largest” in terms of “revenues, earnings, market capitalization and developable areas in India,” so it is hardly difficult to identify the company’s vested interest in protecting its businesses, projects and assets in a country that even the US Department of State has said is “ranked among the world’s most terrorism-afflicted countries.”

According to the New York Times, TerraForce is hiring “as many experts as it can,” some of which include “former National Security Guards, the black-clad commandos who reclaimed the Mumbai hotels” in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and in a statement from TerraForce president and chief executive Harsh Wardhan, the company is “importing instructors from the Israeli army and the United States Marine Corps.”

Anti-terrorism is big business

Much like the private security industry boom that was experienced throughout North America and Europe in the aftermath of 9/11, India also experienced a rapid increase in demand for security in the period following the Mumbai attacks.

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Call to Action: ISS Call for Abstracts for a Monograph–The Involvement of the Private Security and Military Companies in Peacekeeping Missions

Filed under: Africa,Call To Action,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 5:35 AM

   Hey guys and gals, this is pretty cool.  I know a few reading this are pretty up on their Africa/PMC history, and this is a great way to show your knowledge of said subject by helping these guys out. The reason I have made this a Call to Action, is because these guys are wishing to enhance the understanding of what it is we do, and can do in Africa. It is just another way to fill that void of information that I keep talking about. –Matt

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Call for Abstracts

ISS Monograph

The Involvement of the Private Security and Military Companies in Peacekeeping Missions

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) through the Security Sector Governance (SSG) Programme initiated a project on 3 November 2008 on “The Involvement of the Private Security Sector in African Conflicts, Peacekeeping Missions and Humanitarian Assistance Operations”. The project seeks to investigate the involvement of the private security sector in African conflicts, peacekeeping missions and humanitarian assistance operations to inform the development and application of appropriate norms and standards, including the revision of the 1977 OAU Convention on the Elimination of Mercenaries in Africa.

This is a call for abstracts for a Monograph titled The Involvement of the Private Security and Military Companies in Peacekeeping Missions. The main objective for this monograph is to enhance an informed understanding of the role of the private military and security companies in Africa’s peacekeeping missions. Its main focus is to critically explore the trend(s) in the outsourcing of core and non-core military functions as well as the increased role of the private sector particularly in UN and AU peacekeeping missions in Africa.

Abstracts for the Monograph chapters may be submitted to Mr Sabelo Gumedze at sgumedze@issafrica.org by December 11, 2009.  They must include the following details:

1. Title of the proposed paper.

2. Name of the author, organization to which he or she belongs and email address.

3. If there are several authors, please give the particulars of each of them.

Abstracts should average between 500 and 1,000 words.

Authors of accepted abstracts will be notified by December 18, 2009 regarding acceptance of abstracts and will have to submit the definite text of paper. Accepted papers should average between 5, 000 and 10, 000 words and must be submitted by March 31, 2010. Early submission of articles is strongly encouraged. Authors should as far as possible adopt the ISS style guideline.

If you have any queries regarding the submission of abstracts and papers, please contact Mr Sabelo Gumedze at sgumedze@issafrica.org

Link to add here.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Podcasts: Private Contracts Drive Afghan Economy, by Steve Henn

Filed under: Afghanistan,Industry Talk,Logistics,Podcasts — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 12:31 AM

   An interesting show about the economics of the coming surge, and where all the money is going over there.  It especially covers the whole paying off the enemy for safe passage, something that I am totally opposed to and I absolutely think we should not be allowing such a thing.

   I mentioned in another article where a Capt. was begging for a fight with the enemy, and using trash talk to get them out in the open.  Well Capt., if you want a fight, then put some men on these convoys so they don’t have to pay off the enemy for survival.  Better yet, use these convoys as a way to get close to the enemy and kill him. If protection money is the top source of income of the enemy, then we must attack this income source and shut it down.

   Also, give these convoy teams (Afghan or Expat) the tools to protect themselves.  It’s just like the piracy issue with the Somalis. The enemy looks at these convoys as easy pickings, as well as a source of income, and that needs to change. Matter of fact, if we started implementing a Q-Boat style strategy, and lure in attackers with really juicy yet lethal convoys, then I guarantee you will change the dynamics of the enemies profit machine.  Right now, the Taliban does not fear the convoy or logistics train.  That needs to change, if in fact we want the Taliban to stop attacking them. Especially now that we plan on surging in thousands of troops with thousands of contractors and tons of supplies flowing in along with. –Matt

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 Private contracts drive Afghan economy

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Private contractors outnumber U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Steve Henn reports these contracts play an important role in the Afghan economy.

TEXT OF STORY

TESS VIGELAND: Next Tuesday President Barack Obama will give a nationally televised address to announce his decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan. Early word is that he will do so. A surge could ultimately mean more than 100,000 soldiers and Marines on the ground. But that’s just a fraction of the U.S. military commitment.

As Marketplace’s Steve Henn reports, private contractors outnumber U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and those contracts are now the driving force behind the Afghan economy.

Listen here.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Industry Talk: Somalia Jumps on Private Security Bandwagon

Filed under: Industry Talk,Somalia — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 3:01 AM

    This is cool.  Jody has written a deal on CSS Global, and put up a few FJ quotes. So for any readers coming over from this article, feel free to ask away in the comments section.  Or if you have some commentary on the subject, feel free to put it here as well.

    On my older post on CSS Global, my readership had some interesting things to say. Like the Somali government reaction to this whole deal is to say that it never happened.  That Gulaid was operating on his own, and they had no idea about a contract with CSS Global.  How convenient?

   My feelings is that the Somali government is already allowing Bancroft Global Development to perform services in their country or even DynCorp’s activities, so there is precedent for relationships with American companies.  Maybe what has happened is that they have re-evaluated contracting with CSS Global and decided to go shopping again?  Who knows, and the only way for the real deal to come out, is for someone at CSS Global to set the record straight, or for the Somali government to set the record straight. I personally want to see the Somali government get the best service and contract possible, if in fact they want to go down this path.

   Another idea is that maybe some war planners and strategists were listening, and played some diplomatic kung fu to get the Somali government on the right track with a better company or forces donor.  The EU has just committed forces for training Somali police and military, and for working with Amisom. There might be an agreement to provide services to directly protect and/or train a protective detail for the Somalis? Or not. I guess where ever the money comes from, will decide what will be done with it.

   I should also remind the readership that private companies protecting government officials of other countries is not new.  The Steele Foundation was made famous for protecting Haiti’s Aristide. PSC’s and PMC’s have been tasked with protecting Iraqi and Afghani government officials in the past as well, so this privatized protection is nothing new.

   And for the record, my intention with CSS Global and this Somalia deal, is to just get the story straight and try to protect the industry from any more embarrassments. I mean no harm to CSS Global and their reputation, but the reputation of the industry, and the overall strategy in this war takes priority in my view. The US and this industry does not need any more incidents that hurt the war effort, and we need our varsity teams playing ball, if you know what I mean. I look forward to any input from the readership, company, or Somalis, and please correct the record if you feel so inclined. –Matt

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Somalia Jumps on Private Security Bandwagon

23 Nov 2009

By Jody Ray Bennett for ISN Security Watch

An American private military and security company deploys to Somalia as the first US presence in the country since the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, Jody Ray Bennett writes for ISN Security Watch.

Tensions rose in Somalia in the final weeks of October 2009 as the president of the country’s UN-backed transitional government, Sharif Sheik Ahmed, became the target of an insurgent attack while attempting to depart from an airport to Uganda to attend an African Union (AU) summit on refugees and internally displaced people.

According to news reports, al-Shabaab militants “lobbed mortars at the airport, prompting peacekeepers of the AU mission in Somalia known as AMISOM, to fire back.”

At least 24 people were killed and as many as 60 wounded when peacekeepers returned fire in the direction of the crowded Bakara marketplace, causing many to question AMISOM’s effectiveness in Somalia, according to Voice of America.

One Bakara storekeeper told VOA that while “Islamist insurgents cause problems by attacking the peacekeepers, AMISOM’s harsh response is doing far more harm than good [and that] people may no longer tolerate [AMISOM’s] presence in Somalia if it continues shelling residential areas.”

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Saturday, November 21, 2009

Maritime Security: ‘Duncan Falconer’ and the Company FSI Maritime

Filed under: Industry Talk,Kidnap And Ransom,Maritime Security — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 12:38 AM

“In Somalia, you know what the threat is: they sees ya, they chases ya, they shoots at ya and they climbs on board. That’s their technique. How do you mitigate that? Well, we’ve got intelligence sources from many recent incidents in the area; after that, it’s training the crew, preparation and reaction. Preparation is all the things you do before leaving port – training the crew, putting bars on windows, locks on the strongroom, mesh up to stop people climbing and so on.” But, he says, non-lethal force can only accomplish so much.

“At the end of the day, if you have 40 guys with RPGs and machine guns, they’re going to take your boat. And so your other option is lethal. This is where you have four or five men, with AK47s, and shoot anyone that comes near.” -Duncan Falconer

***** 

   What a background, and ‘Duncan’ has certainly been busy over the years.  What I found interesting about this article, is that if you track the history of guys like Duncan, you can see the trend lines for the industry as a whole.  Guys go where the money is, and as you can see from this story, kidnap and ransom, along with maritime security are the two big gigs that Duncan has been involved with. Obviously Iraq and Afghanistan have been big as well.

   The focus here though is on FSI Maritime, and Duncan’s quote up top.  It is the voice of reason coming from a professional.  For those of you that continue to tell shipping companies not to defend self or use armed guards, doom on you.  Force is the only thing these thugs understand. –Matt

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Fighting words

November 20, 2009

By Nick Ryan

Duncan Falconer has drawn upon his former life as a special forces soldier to become a best-selling author. Warren van Rensburg

After 10 years as an elite soldier, Duncan Falconer left the British Armed Forces to use his expertise to combat and negotiate with pirates and terrorists around the world. In his downtime he writes bestselling books. Nick Ryan meets the multi-talented man of action.”Kidnapping is the big business,” says Duncan Falconer. “You’ve got to understand that 86 per cent of the planet is below the poverty line. All these poor countries with a high criminal element – most of Africa, South America, etc – the Colombians taught us many years ago there was a lot of money to be made in kidnapping. Iraq – there were kidnapping rings set up all over the place: they weren’t kidnapping westerners, they were kidnapping rich Iraqis.”

Welcome to the sometimes deadly world of the private military contractor. PMCs, sometimes also known as private security contractors (PSCs), are modern-day mercenaries, earning vast sums protecting corporate interests in all the war-torn corners of the world. There are, or have been, tens of thousands of PMCs operating in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, sometimes with controversial results – such as the slaying of 14 innocent Iraqis by the American outfit Blackwater, in Baghdad in 2007 (for which five men are facing charges in the USA); or the infamous video available on YouTube, showing PMCs from one British contractor shooting at passing cars from the back window of their vehicle.

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