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Blackwater USA is a private military company founded in 1997 by Erik Prince and Al Clark. It has alternatively been referred to as a security contractor or a MERCENARY ORGANIZATION by numerous reports in the international media. Blackwater is based in the U.S. state of North Carolina, where it operates a tactical training facility that it claims is the world's largest. The company trains more than 40,000 people a year, from all the military services (including countries that are non friendly to USA) and a variety of other agencies. The company markets itself as being "the most responsive, cost-effective means of affecting the strategic balance in support of security and peace, and freedom and democracy everywhere."
PROFIT ON WAR
Blackwater is currently the largest of the U.S. State Department's three private security contractors, providing a total of 987 contractors. Of the 987 provided, 744 are American citizens, 243 are "???". At least 90 percent of its revenue comes from government contracts, two-thirds of which are no-bid contracts.
Missions conducted by Blackwater Security Consulting have raised significant controversy both through casualties suffered and inflicted by their employees. Blackwater USA is currently contracted by the United States government to provide security services in the Iraq War. The cost for each Blackwater guard in Iraq ($445,000 per year) has come under fire. Blackwater is all about money. Blackwater personel make more money than US Generals ($180.000 per year) in Iraq. All Blackwater personnel make more than the common US military soldier ($40.000 per year) and they are not on the Front.
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Don't buy Blackwater related items on ebay until you have researched the truth!
UPDATES
Wednesday, 13 August 2008Iraq contractors 'cost US $85bn'
Helicopter operated by Blackwater flying over Iraq in 2007
The private contractor business employs thousands
The US government spent $85bn between 2003 and 2007 on contractors for services in support of the Iraq war and reconstruction, a report says.
And by the end of 2008, spending is likely to top $100bn, a review by the Congressional Budget Office found.
Supporters say their use is cost-effective but there have also been documented cases of overcharging.
Concern over security contractors also grew following the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis in September 2007.
The US is relying on contractors in Iraq at a greater rate than in any other major conflict, the CBO said.
According to CBO estimates, the US currently employs 190,000 contractors in Iraq and neighbouring countries, a ratio of one contractor per member of the US armed forces.
About 20% are American, 40% are citizens from the country where they are employed; and the rest are foreign workers.
They provide services ranging from security, logistics support, construction, petroleum products and food.
Security
The majority of the $85bn was spent on contracts within Iraq, with the remainder being awarded for contracts in countries including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The use of security contractors has been the focus of particular attention, especially after an incident in September 2007 involving employees of the Blackwater firm which resulted in the deaths of 17 Iraqis.
The US justice department is due to decide soon whether to bring charges, the Associated Press reports.
The company, which said at the time that its staff acted in self-defence, is not expected to be prosecuted.
The CBO report says its analysis shows:
* the US spent between $6bn and $19bn on security work in Iraq
* about 25,000 to 30,000 people work for security firms in Iraq - of these, 10,000 work directly for the US government and up to 25,000 for the Iraqi government
* the costs of a private security contract are similar to those of a US military unit performing a similar job, although during peacetime the private contract would not have to be renewed.
Last December, the US government said it had tightened procedures to give US military commanders a greater role in co-ordinating the movements of private security staff.
But the CBO notes that the legal status of contractor staff, particularly for those who are armed, remains uncertain.
The scale of the private contract business and the sums involved have prompted calls for greater scrutiny.
"I believe we need to create a special committee in the US Senate to exercise oversight over contracting abuses related to reconstruction and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Senator Byron Dorgan recently.
He wants a panel similar to one set up by Senator Harry Truman in 1941 during the build-up to WWII.
"The Truman Committee held 60 hearings on waste, fraud and abuse," Mr Dorgan said. "It's unfathomable to me that we don't have a bipartisan investigative committee on contracting in Iraq."
Official: U.S. will not renew Iraq contract with Blackwater 2009
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The State Department will not renew the contract of security contractor Blackwater Worldwide when it expires in May, a senior State Department official said Friday.
Heavily armed Blackwater guards scan downtown Baghdad, Iraq, from a helicopter in 2003.
The decision was made after the Iraqi government refused last week to renew the firm's operating license because of a 2007 incident in which the Iraqi government says security guards -- then employed by Blackwater -- fired on and killed 17 Iraqis.
Blackwater's latest "task order" expires in May, and the senior official said that "one of the conditions is that you have to have a license" to continue working in the country.
"No license, no renewal," the official said. "If they don't have a license to operate, we would certainly not renew the task order."
The official said the decision would not affect other contracts Blackwater has with the State Department to protect American diplomats around the world.
As part of a contract to protect American diplomats and other employees worldwide, the State Department hired Blackwater for a multiyear assignment in Iraq, renewable each year. Blackwater, one of three security firms working for the United States in Iraq, has one of the biggest security contracts there.
Officials said the State Department is talking with security firms DynCorp International and Triple Canopy, which share the Iraq contract with Blackwater, about picking up Blackwater's duties.
The Iraqi government has been unclear about when Blackwater will have to cease operations. But the official said, "We are working to make sure our people are protected."
Losing the contract will be a huge blow to Blackwater. It has been estimated that the Iraq contract makes up one-third to one-half of the privately held company's business. Blackwater has about two dozen aircraft in Iraq and 1,000 personnel.
Earlier this month, five former Blackwater security guards pleaded not guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and other serious crimes stemming from their involvement in the September 16, 2007, shootings in a Baghdad square. A sixth former security guard has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and attempted manslaughter. Video Watch why Blackwater is notorious among Iraqis »
Blackwater says its employees were returning fire after they were attacked by armed insurgents. An Iraqi investigation concluded that the guards randomly fired at civilians without provocation.
The company does not face charges. But the Baghdad incident exacerbated the feelings of many Iraqis that private American security contractors have operated since 2003 with little regard for Iraqi law or life.
The indictment of the five men represents the first prosecution of non-Defense Department contractors under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act. The act was amended in 2004 to allow the Justice Department to prosecute such personnel providing services "in support of the mission of the Department of Defense overseas."
The recently approved U.S.-Iraqi security agreement specifies that U.S. civilian contractors will no longer be immune from Iraqi prosecution for crimes committed in that country.
Iraq has required the licensing of private security companies since 2004, but the provision was not strictly enforced.
Last year, the State Department renewed Blackwater's contract over strong objections from the Iraqi government.
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Starting January 1, the Iraqi government has mandated that all contractors obtain licenses to operate.
As of Wednesday, Blackwater said it had not been officially notified of any Iraqi decision not to renew its license.
CIA-Blackwater Deal Highlights Ties (Los Angeles Times) August 2009
GREG MILLER Reporting from Washington A CIA decision to hire contractors from Blackwater USA for a covert assassination program was part of a broader constellation of connections between the agency and the widely criticized security firm. The 2004 contract cemented what was then a burgeoning relationship with Blackwater, setting the stage for a series of departures by senior CIA officials who took high-level positions with the North Carolina company. The revolving door helped fuel a backlash against what many inside the agency and on Capitol Hill came to regard as an overuse of outside firms, many of which made millions of dollars after filling their staffs with former CIA employees. "I have believed for a long time that the intelligence community is over-reliant on contractors to carry out its work," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "This is especially a problem when contractors are used to carry out activities that are inherently governmental." Feinstein's comment underscored how the disclosure of the Blackwater contract has renewed questions about the nature of the work the CIA has been willing to outsource since the Sept. 11 attacks. In recent years, the agency has also faced criticism for its use of contractors in interrogating prisoners. Experts said there may not be any legal barrier against using contractors to kill terrorism suspects or subject them to brutal interrogation methods. Still, they said, there tends to be deep public discomfort with the idea of delegating certain activities – whether issuing pardons, making arrests, or pulling triggers – people who are not direct employees of the government. "The use of force has been traditionally thought of as inherently governmental," said Jeffrey Smith, the former general counsel at the CIA. "The use of a contractor actually employing lethal force is clearly troublesome, but I'm not sure it's necessarily illegal." U.S. officials familiar with the targeted killing program said that Blackwater's involvement was limited in scope and duration, and that the arrangement was ended several years before CIA Director Leon E. Panetta killed the program two months ago. The program had been kept secret from Congress for nearly eight years before Panetta informed lawmakers of its existence in June. CIA officials have stressed that the program was never operational, and that it did not lead to the capture or killing of a single terrorism suspect before it was discontinued. "It was never successful, so he ended it," CIA Spokesman Paul Gimigliano said. Panetta "never suggested to Congress that anyone at the CIA misled the intelligence committees or otherwise broke the law." The CIA delivered a report to Congress earlier this month after conducting an internal probe of the program, which was first launched in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks but was cancelled and restarted several times under different regimes at the agency. Officials familiar with the report said that the agency did not have a formal contract with Blackwater in connection with the targeted killing program. Instead, the agency hired the company's founder, Erik D. Prince, a former Navy SEAL team member, and other Blackwater executives to help turn an idea for forming Al Qaeda hit squads into an operational program. The effort ranged from consulting with top executives to carrying out training exercises at Blackwater's headquarters in North Carolina. Company officials did not respond to requests for comment. Blackwater changed its name to Xe Services LLC to escape the notoriety that followed a series of bloody incidents in Iraq, where the firm was accused of employing excessive force in its work providing protection for State Department employees. In one case, Blackwater guards were accused of opening fire in a crowded Baghdad square and killing 17 civilians. Blackwater had been hired in a similar capacity with the CIA in 2002, providing security at agency facilities in Afghanistan. Two years later the CIA turned to Blackwater executives for help with the assassination program largely because the company – which has hired dozens of former U.S. special operations soldiers – was seen as having deeper expertise than the agency itself on clandestine lethal operations. The use of contractors for the task was not considered an issue under the secret authorities the agency had been granted by then President George W. Bush. "If there's a covert action finding that says go hunt down Osama Bin Laden – which there was – the agency can use whatever means necessary," said a former senior CIA official. Over the next several years, the ties between the CIA and Blackwater deepened considerably as a series of CIA executives took senior roles at the company. Among them were Cofer Black, the former head of the CIA's counter-terrorism center; Robert Richer, the former No. 2 for operations; Alvin "Buzzy" Krongard, the former executive director; and Enrique "Ric" Prado, who was the military chief of the Counter-terrorism Center. Former CIA Director Michael V. Hayden sought to reverse that trend by refusing to grant security clearances to contractors until at least 12 months after they had resigned their positions at the agency. But Hayden defended the use of contractors during a panel discussion on the issue Thursday. "We go to contractors because they possess certain experience or certain knowledge that we don't have inherently inside our workforce," Hayden said. "We generally use the best athlete available in the draft." Greg.Miller@latimes.com
Guide created: 10/19/07 (updated 10/20/09)
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