http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5376064
Orwellian_Ghost (1000+ posts) Thu Apr-02-09 09:33 AM
Original message
Obama's Blackwater? Chicago Mercenary Firm Gets Millions for Private "Security" in Israel and Iraq
Obama's Blackwater? Chicago Mercenary Firm Gets Millions for Private "Security" in Israel and Iraq
By Jeremy Scahill, AlterNet. Posted April 2, 2009.
Federal records obtained by AlterNet reveal a multi-million dollar contract for a private U.S. paramilitary force operating out of Jerusalem.
On the campaign trail, Barack Obama's advisers said he "can't rule out won't rule out" using mercenary forces, like Blackwater. Now, it appears that the Obama administration has decided on its hired guns of choice: Triple Canopy, a Chicago company now based in Virginia. It may not have Blackwater's thuggish reputation, but Triple Canopy has its own bloody history in Iraq and a record of hiring mercenaries from countries with atrocious human rights records. What's more, Obama is not just using the company in Iraq, but also as a U.S.-government funded private security force in Israel/Palestine, operating out of Jerusalem.
Beginning May 7th, Triple Canopy will officially take over Xe/Blackwater's mega-contract with the U.S. State Department for guarding occupation officials in Iraq. It's sure to be a lucrative deal: Obama's Iraq plan will inevitably rely on an increased use of private contractors, including an army of mercenaries to protect his surge of diplomats operating out of the monstrous U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
The Iraq contract may come as no surprise. But according to federal contract records obtained by AlterNet, the Obama administration has also paid Triple Canopy millions of dollars to provide "security services" in Israel. In February and March, the Obama administration awarded a "delivery order" to Triple Canopy worth $5.5 million under State Department contract SAQMPD05F5528, which is labeled "PROTECTIVE SERVICES--ISRAEL." According to one government document, the contract is scheduled to run until September 2012. (Another document says September 2009.) The contract is classified as "SECURITY GUARDS AND PATROL SERVICES" in Israel. The total value of the contract was listed at $41,556,969.72. According to a January 2009 State Department document obtained by AlterNet labeled "Sensitive But Unclassified," the Triple Canopy contract is based out of Jerusalem.
According to federal records, the original arrangement with Triple Canopy in Israel appears to date back to at least September 2005 and has been renewed every year since. The company is operating under the State Department's Worldwide Personal Protection Program (WPPS), which provides for private security/military companies to operate on the U.S. government payroll in countries such as Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq, and Israel. Triple Canopy, according to an internal State Department report, also worked under the program in Haiti, though that task order is now listed as "closed." In State Department documents the WPPS program is described as a government initiative to protect U.S. officials as well as "certain foreign government high level officials whenever the need arises." The State Department spent some $2 billion on the WPPS program from 2005-2008.
Ooooooooo...
derby378 (1000+ posts) Thu Apr-02-09 09:37 AM
Response to Original message
1. What. The. HELL?!?
What's so bad about reversing the trend in privatizing our military forces? Swapping Xe for Triple Canopy is like putting a fresh coat of paint on a badly rusted car - you never dealt with the rust in the first place, so it's going to keep spreading under the paint, and you're just wasting your time.
Bluenorthwest (1000+ posts) Thu Apr-02-09 10:24 AM
Response to Original message
3. The whole problem with Blackwater
was a lack of Chicago ties apparently.
tritsofme (1000+ posts) Thu Apr-02-09 10:32 AM
Response to Original message
4. Was the contract with this firm negotiated and finalized within the last 60 days?
Because if it wasn't, you are just blowing smoke out your ass.
And this repeated RW "Chicago" meme was used by Karl Rove in an op-ed piece just the other day.
Politics sure makes for strange bedfellows, huh?
Ahhh... So previously negotiated contracts need to be HONORED! *coughAIGcough*
Orwellian_Ghost (1000+ posts) Thu Apr-02-09 05:24 PM
Response to Reply #4
7. No distractions or straw men
Listen to this interview:
And this company has been around, you know, for five or six years. The Obama administration has hired them in Iraq, and many of the Blackwater guys are believed to be jumping over to Triple Canopy to continue working on in Iraq. Obama, though, is keeping Blackwater on, and the State Department has not ruled out that they’re going to stay on for much longer, the aviation division of Blackwater in Iraq, and also Blackwater is on the US government payroll in Afghanistan, also working for the Drug Enforcement Agency.
The news that I’m breaking on Triple Canopy, though, is that I obtained federal contracts that were signed in February and March by the Obama administration with Triple Canopy to act as a private paramilitary force operating out of Jerusalem. And this is also part of a very secretive State Department program called the Worldwide Personal Protective Service, which was started under the Clinton administration as a privatized wing of the State Department’s Diplomatic Security division. Triple Canopy was paid $5 million in February, March by the Obama administration to provide, quote, "security services†in Israel.
<snip>
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/4/2/obamas_blackwater_...
aikoaiko (1000+ posts) Thu Apr-02-09 07:14 PM
Response to Original message
10. With regard to security contractors, it was more about rules/laws about accountability
Edited on Thu Apr-02-09 07:17 PM by aikoaiko
than the company for me. I understand that they are useful, but they needed to be roped in more and held accountable for violations of rules of engagement.
Its easy to hate Blackwater with their cryptic name, a-hole owner, and hubris, but really most American Blackwater security contractors were merely former military looking to earn enough to pay off credit cards, buy house, set up their kids college funds, etc. I know a few people, and they are just average folks who, if you put them in a scenario with virtually no accountability, will make bad decisions just like most people.
Some of my best friends are Mercenaries...
blindpig (1000+ posts) Thu Apr-02-09 08:47 PM
Response to Reply #10
14. Half the purpose of these cowboys not having accountability.
It ain't just a manpower thing and it sure as hell ain't cheap. Part of their attraction is that they can do and get away with shit that the armed forces would frown upon.
When you take a job like that you are no longer regular folks, you are part of the problem.
ProgressIn2008 (384 posts) Thu Apr-02-09 08:24 PM
Response to Original message
13. There's a name for a political system treats a politician like a celeb and then ignores THIS
A name for it, indeed.
Obaaaaama! Ju got some 'splanin ta do!
