tagged w/ Iraq war news
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After thousands of Iraqis took to the streets this summer to protest a chronic lack of government services, Iraqi authorities are cracking down on demonstrations. In the past few months, the government has refused to authorize numerous requests for public demonstrations, with no explanation. Authorities have also arrested and intimidated organizers and protesters, and policing actions have led to deaths and injuries.After thousands of Iraqis took to the streets this summer to protest a chronic lack of... more
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Over the past several years, entities closely linked to the private security firm Blackwater have provided intelligence, training and security services to US and foreign governments as well as several multinational corporations, including Monsanto, Chevron, the Walt Disney Company, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and banking giants Deutsche Bank and Barclays, according to documents obtained by The Nation. Blackwater's work for corporations and government agencies was contracted using two companies owned by Blackwater's owner and founder, Erik Prince: Total Intelligence Solutions and the Terrorism Research Center (TRC). Prince is listed as the chairman of both companies in internal company documents, which show how the web of companies functions as a highly coordinated operation. Officials from Total Intelligence, TRC and Blackwater (which now calls itself Xe Services) did not respond to numerous requests for comment for this article.
One of the most incendiary details in the documents is that Blackwater, through Total Intelligence, sought to become the "intel arm" of Monsanto, offering to provide operatives to infiltrate activist groups organizing against the multinational biotech firm.
Governmental recipients of intelligence services and counterterrorism training from Prince's companies include the Kingdom of Jordan, the Canadian military and the Netherlands police, as well as several US military bases, including Fort Bragg, home of the elite Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), and Fort Huachuca, where military interrogators are trained, according to the documents. In addition, Blackwater worked through the companies for the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the US European Command.
On September 3 the New York Times reported that Blackwater had "created a web of more than 30 shell companies or subsidiaries in part to obtain millions of dollars in American government contracts after the security company came under intense criticism for reckless conduct in Iraq." The documents obtained by The Nation reveal previously unreported details of several such companies and open a rare window into the sensitive intelligence and security operations Blackwater performs for a range of powerful corporations and government agencies. The new evidence also sheds light on the key roles of several former top CIA officials who went on to work for Blackwater.
The coordinator of Blackwater's covert CIA business, former CIA paramilitary officer Enrique "Ric" Prado, set up a global network of foreign operatives, offering their "deniability" as a "big plus" for potential Blackwater customers, according to company documents. The CIA has long used proxy forces to carry out extralegal actions or to shield US government involvement in unsavory operations from scrutiny. In some cases, these "deniable" foreign forces don't even know who they are working for. Prado and Prince built up a network of such foreigners while Blackwater was at the center of the CIA's assassination program, beginning in 2004. They trained special missions units at one of Prince's properties in Virginia with the intent of hunting terrorism suspects globally, often working with foreign operatives. A former senior CIA official said the benefit of using Blackwater's foreign operatives in CIA operations was that "you wouldn't want to have American fingerprints on it."
While the network was originally established for use in CIA operations, documents show that Prado viewed it as potentially valuable to other government agencies. In an e-mail in October 2007 with the subject line "Possible Opportunity in DEA—Read and Delete," Prado wrote to a Total Intelligence executive with a pitch for the Drug Enforcement Administration. That executive was an eighteen-year DEA veteran with extensive government connections who had recently joined the firm. Prado explained that Blackwater had developed "a rapidly growing, worldwide network of folks that can do everything from surveillance to ground truth to disruption operations." He added, "These are all foreign nationals (except for a few cases where US persons are the conduit but no longer 'play' on the street), so deniability is built in and should be a big plus."
The executive wrote back and suggested there "may be an interest" in those services. The executive suggested that "one of the best places to start may be the Special Operations Division, (SOD) which is located in Chantilly, VA," telling Prado the name of the special agent in charge. The SOD is a secretive joint command within the Justice Department, run by the DEA. It serves as the command-and-control center for some of the most sensitive counternarcotics and law enforcement operations conducted by federal forces. The executive also told Prado that US attachés in Mexico; Bogotá, Colombia; and Bangkok, Thailand, would potentially be interested in Prado's network. Whether this network was activated, and for what customers, cannot be confirmed. A former Blackwater employee who worked on the company's CIA program declined to comment on Prado's work for the company, citing its classified status.
In November 2007 officials from Prince's companies developed a pricing structure for security and intelligence services for private companies and wealthy individuals. One official wrote that Prado had the capacity to "develop infrastructures" and "conduct ground-truth and security activities." According to the pricing chart, potential customers could hire Prado and other Blackwater officials to operate in the United States and globally: in Latin America, North Africa, francophone countries, the Middle East, Europe, China, Russia, Japan, and Central and Southeast Asia. A four-man team headed by Prado for countersurveillance in the United States cost $33,600 weekly, while "safehouses" could be established for $250,000, plus operational costs. Identical services were offered globally. For $5,000 a day, clients could hire Prado or former senior CIA officials Cofer Black and Robert Richer for "representation" to national "decision-makers." Before joining Blackwater, Black, a twenty-eight-year CIA veteran, ran the agency's counterterrorism center, while Richer was the agency's deputy director of operations. (Neither Black nor Richer currently works for the company.)
As Blackwater became embroiled in controversy following the Nisour Square massacre, Prado set up his own company, Constellation Consulting Group (CCG), apparently taking some of Blackwater's covert CIA work with him, though he maintained close ties to his former employer. In an e-mail to a Total Intelligence executive in February 2008, Prado wrote that he "recently had major success in developing capabilities in Mali [Africa] that are of extreme interest to our major sponsor and which will soon launch a substantial effort via my small shop." He requested Total Intelligence's help in analyzing the "North Mali/Niger terrorist problem."
ARTICLE CONTINUES AT LINK: http://www.thenation.com/article/154739/blackwaters-black-opsOver the past several years, entities closely linked to the private security firm... more
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According to Iraqi officials, hundreds of Sunni men disappeared for months into a secret Baghdad prison under the jurisdiction of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's military office, where many were routinely tortured.According to Iraqi officials, hundreds of Sunni men disappeared for months into a... more
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For Iraqis, Friday, April 9th marked the seventh anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of their country. Members of Iraq's freedom conference gathered in Tahrir square in central Baghdad to mark the war anniversary, chanted anti-U.S. slogans and called April 9th 2003 a day of occupation, not liberation.For Iraqis, Friday, April 9th marked the seventh anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion... more
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Josh Stieber, who is a former soldier of the so-called “Collateral Murder” Company, says that the acts of brutality caught on film and recently released via Wikileaks are not isolated instances, but were commonplace during his tour of duty.Josh Stieber, who is a former soldier of the so-called “Collateral Murder”... more
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Journalist advocacy groups are calling for the reopening of an investigation into the killing of a Reuters photographer and his driver after the website WikiLeaks released classified video footage of a 2007 helicopter attack in Baghdad in 2007 which killed 12 people.Journalist advocacy groups are calling for the reopening of an investigation into the... more
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Brutal beatings, electric shocks and sexual humiliation will be the cornerstones of a case brought by Mamdouh Habib, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee from Australia who is suing his government over his alleged torture in captivity.Brutal beatings, electric shocks and sexual humiliation will be the cornerstones of a... more
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Jonathon Hafetz of the ACLU said: “Salahi's illegal detention for more than eight years without charge or trial embodies the most egregious abuses of Guantánamo.”Jonathon Hafetz of the ACLU said: “Salahi's illegal detention for more than... more
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According to a new document obtained by The London Times, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld covered up that hundreds of innocent men were sent to the Guantánamo Bay prison camp because they feared that releasing them would harm the push for war in Iraq and the broader War on Terror.According to a new document obtained by The London Times, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney... more
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More than 800 complaints have been filed by families of civilians killed in US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.More than 800 complaints have been filed by families of civilians killed in US... more
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US military leaders have announced that the number of U.S. Special Forces in Iraq will remain at their current troop strength following an August drawdown date for combat troops.US military leaders have announced that the number of U.S. Special Forces in Iraq will... more
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Recent elections in Iraq saw strong returns for ex-prime minister Ayad Allawi whose Iraqi National Accord party gained 91 seats, two seats better than current prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.
Though who ultimately won Iraq’s elections still remains in dispute, Allawi’s return to prominence has dredged up controversial questions about his past, including his history with the US Central Intelligence Agency and stories suggesting Allawi personally executed people at whim.Recent elections in Iraq saw strong returns for ex-prime minister Ayad Allawi whose... more
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At least four Sunni Muslim candidates who appear to have won parliamentary seats on the winning ticket of secular leader Ayad Allawi have become targets of investigation by security forces reporting to the narrowly defeated Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.At least four Sunni Muslim candidates who appear to have won parliamentary seats on... more
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According to a new piece in Mother Jones magazine, military contractor KBR squandered $4.6 million of a $5 million contract in Iraq. The Department of Defense handed the contract to the company to repair tactical vehicles at Joint Base Balad, a large airfield and supply center north of Baghdad. Yet according to a new Pentagon report, what the military got was a glut of civilian mechanics, each doing as little as 43 minutes of work a month, with virtually no oversight.According to a new piece in Mother Jones magazine, military contractor KBR squandered... more
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Iraqi police are saying U.S. troops opened fire on a car in western Baghdad, killing an Iraqi journalist and her husband.Iraqi police are saying U.S. troops opened fire on a car in western Baghdad, killing... more
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A high-level Iraqi report details election violations across the country and includes evidence of Iraq’s army and police interfering directly with voting on March 7th. Based on testimony compiled by three non-governmental agencies, the report says that in some Iraqi provinces “security forces were urging people to vote for a specific list.”A high-level Iraqi report details election violations across the country and includes... more
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The London Guardian reports that a senior Iraqi spy is accusing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of handing out thousands of guns to tribal leaders in a bid to win votes. The claim was made by Iraqi National Intelligence Service former spokesman, Saad al-Alusi, a week before Iraq's general election, in which allegations of vote buying and exorbitant handouts have become widespread.The London Guardian reports that a senior Iraqi spy is accusing Prime Minister Nouri... more
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The US military in Iraq freed an Iraqi freelance journalist working for Reuters news agency last week after he had been held without charges for 17 months.The US military in Iraq freed an Iraqi freelance journalist working for Reuters news... more
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki last week called in the Iraqi Army to cordon off the provincial council building in Tikrit. It was the latest in a series of actions by Iraq’s prime minister that have infuriated his political opponents while raising doubts about the strength of the country’s laws and democratic institutions.Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki last week called in the Iraqi Army to cordon off... more
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Appeals by prominent Sunni politicians against a move to ban them from next month’s election have failed, which could lead to sectarian conflict that might tarnish the vote.Appeals by prominent Sunni politicians against a move to ban them from next... more
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