NIGHTLINE Guns for Hire - tonight

[seemslikeadream]

Tuesday, April 6
The second largest army in Iraq isn't from a well-known country in Europe or even a lesser-known—rather it is group of private security guards. Some estimates say as many as 15,000 civilians are working as private security in Iraq. Many of these former soldiers from around the world act as body guards, guard facilities, and escort convoys.

[IkeWarnedUs]

1. Kick

You beat me to it - I wanna see this.

[aquart]

2. Just started. "Are they above the law?"

[seemslikeadream]

3. a little entertainment while we wait

[IkeWarnedUs]

4. Record this - show it to your friends

They are giving more news than I have seen anywhere.

[IkeWarnedUs]

5. Second largest army in Iraq

If the US is first, that means the US bought more soliers than any of the "coalition of the willing" has provided.

[IkeWarnedUs]

6. Thank God Ted Kopple is back

Last night with Stephanopoulos was a fluff piece.


Edit - Btw, has Stephie ever hosted Nightline before? If so, I haven't seen it.

[milkyway]

7. Wow...ABC Baghdad correspondent: bush* says we will finish the job, and

these families know that the soldiers will not die in vain. "But they are dying, more and more every day."

[IkeWarnedUs]

8. Question - If there are approx. 10,000 soldiers for hire in Iraq now,

would adding 10,000 more American soldiers mean they wouldn't be needed (supply and demand) and go home?

No.

Why?

The answer to that question is coming after this commercial break.

[ToTellTheTruth]

9. will watch

[seemslikeadream]

10. Come to Blackwater, where the professionals train

The use of private military forces raises tricky questions for the U.S. government. The most important one is why is the Bush administration is recruiting civilians to work there when our government can't possibly guarantee the security of the area. Another question: Why aren't these jobs in combat zones being carried out by American military forces, instead of mercenaries?

Building up a surrogate military force, along the lines of the French Foreign Legion or the Gurkhas, has been the ambition of conservatives for many years. The thinking is that future wars will be characterized by "low-intensity," or guerrilla, warfare. If the fighting is done by a force of irregular surrogates, people won't question their casualties as they would those of regular military personnel. The contras in Nicaragua were an example of what a surrogate fighting force might look like, and special ops types from South Africa’s former apartheid regime have long been involved in fighting in southern Africa.

http://www.theexperiment.org/articles.php?news_id=2020

[IkeWarnedUs]

15. Get it straight from the horse's mouth

May be the horse's ass - hard to tell, but it stinks.

Blackwater Training Center was founded in 1996 to fulfill the anticipated demand for government outsourcing of firearms and related security training. Located on over 6000 acres in Moyock, North Carolina (just south of the Virginia border), Blackwater has the finest private firearms training facility in the U.S. Blackwater has set a new standard for firearms and security training and is recognized as the industry leader in providing government outsource solutions in training, security, canine services, aviation support services, range construction and steel target equipment. Since its inception, Blackwater has trained over 50,000 military and law enforcement personnel and provided solutions to hundreds of satisfied customers.

http://www.blackwaterusa.com/history.html

[seemslikeadream]

17. When the Pentagon decided to send Colombia military

"FAIR USE"

Military aid . . . from the private sector
When the Pentagon decided to send Colombia military
help for the war on drugs, it chose to outsource it.

By Paul De La Garza and David Adams
December 3, 2000
© St. Petersburg Times



WASHINGTON -- As U.S. assistance to war-fatigued Colombia escalates, the Clinton administration portrays American military involvement there as nothing more than basic anti-drug fighting aid.
Haunted by the shadows of Vietnam and El Salvador, administration officials vow to avoid managing another war by proxy in a foreign land.

The truth, however, isn't that clear cut.

Enlisted U.S. military personnel in Colombia, which average 250 on any given day, are under orders to stick to anti-drug efforts, including training of three anti-drug battalions.

But the Clinton administration quietly has hired a high-level group of former U.S. military personnel whose job far exceeds the narrow focus of the drug war and is intended to turn the Colombian military into a first-class war machine capable of winning a decades-old leftist insurgency.

These military consultants keep in close contact with Pentagon officials while advising Colombians on efforts to improve the Colombian army and even advise on the passage of new laws to help make the Colombian military more professional and effective. In addition, the consultants are helping to revamp the National Police, traditionally charged with fighting the drug war in Colombia.

The hiring of military experts -- in this case, Military Professional Resources Inc., an Alexandria, Va.-based company run mostly by retired U.S. military brass -- is a relatively new development in American foreign military assistance programs.

Critics say the practice, known as outsourcing, is intended to bypass congressional oversight and provide political cover to the White House if something goes wrong. MPRI has done other work for Washington around the world, including in the Balkans.

"We're outsourcing the war in a way that is not accountable," says Robin Kirk of Human Rights Watch. She argues that because the 130,000-strong Colombian military is notorious for human rights violations, it is essential for the United States to provide assistance "in accordance with international law and in a transparent manner -- not in secret."

Supporters of private military companies, however, argue that not only are they more cost-efficient than the U.S. military but that they ease the pressure on American troops, burdened by foreign assignments, including peacekeeping missions.

MPRI is working full time in Colombia under a $6-million contract. The company has dispatched 14 employees to Bogota under the direction of a retired Army major general.

Administration officials say MPRI personnel are doing precisely what uniformed American soldiers have traditionally done. They say MPRI was hired not because it has any special expertise, but because U.S. Southern Command in Miami, which oversees American military operations in Latin America, cannot spare 14 men to send to Colombia.

"What are we doing with MPRI that Southern Command or someone else can't do? In theory, nothing," Brian Sheridan, the senior Pentagon official who oversees the work of MPRI, said in congressional testimony in March.

"It's a manpower issue," he said.

Nevertheless, U.S.-Colombia policy experts say the use of firms like MPRI is intended primarily to limit the risk of American military casualties there.

"It's very handy to have an outfit not part of the U.S. armed forces, obviously," said former U.S. ambassador to Colombia Myles Frechette. "If somebody gets killed or whatever, you can say it's not a member of the armed forces. Nobody wants to see American military men killed."

Although the hiring of MPRI was approved by Congress, it raises serious questions about the propriety of U.S. intervention in the affairs of a sovereign state, of American civilians participating in a foreign war, and whether the United States can guarantee the Colombian military will not misuse the assistance it receives from MPRI.

It also raises the question of the privatization of American foreign policy.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, is the author of human rights requirements in the $1.3-billion aid package Congress approved in June under Plan Colombia, a $7.5-billion internationally funded program with a strong U.S. military component designed to brace Colombia against collapse.

He, too, is critical of using companies like MPRI.

"(It) is fraught with dangers, especially when human rights are at stake," Leahy said.

"The Congress has little choice but to rely on the Pentagon to supervise the contractors, but the Pentagon too often does not pay close attention.

"We have no way of knowing if the contractors are training these Colombian soldiers in ways that are fully consistent with U.S. policy, laws and procedures."

MPRI and the Pentagon both denied requests by the Times to review the MPRI contract, which is renewable each year. MPRI spokesman Ed Soyster, a retired Army lieutenant general and former director of the Defense Department's Defense Intelligence Agency, compared the need for secrecy in Colombia with the need for secrecy in Vietnam.

"When I was in Vietnam, I wouldn't want to tell you about my operation," he said. "If the enemy knows about it, he can counter it."

Analytical problem solvers

In congressional testimony and in interviews, Pentagon and Colombian officials -- including Sheridan; the retired Southcom commander, Gen. Charles Wilhelm; and the Colombian ambassador to the United States, Luis Alberto Moreno -- have characterized MPRI staff as "men in business suits" who assess problems within the Colombian Ministry of Defense and provide solutions through detailed analysis that Colombia can either accept or reject.

In this view, they aren't any different than the other 50 or so private U.S. contractors providing equipment or services paid for by U.S. foreign aid in Colombia.

MPRI employees can "from time-to-time go out on a field trip to see something," the Pentagon says, including Colombian military operations, but they don't participate in battles against the rebel forces.

Its mission, according to MPRI internal documents, is to provide advice to the Ministry of Defense "with continued development and implementation of military reform measures."

Specifically, MPRI is working with the armed forces and the National Police in the areas of planning; operations, including psychological operations; training; logistics; intelligence; and personnel management.

Soyster, the MPRI spokesman, compares his company with other U.S. companies operating overseas -- "Like Coca-Cola," he said.

But, for the most part, MPRI officials operate out of public view, and neither Pentagon nor MPRI officials will talk in great detail about the company's activities.

MPRI's stated mission in Colombia is strikingly similar to its stated mission in the Balkans.

In January 1996, according to European-based Jane's Intelligence Review, Croatia and MPRI signed the Long Range Management Program designed to assist the Croats "in establishing the architecture, structure, organization and system for planning, programming and budgeting functions for the Croatian Ministry of Defense."

MPRI insisted that its work in Croatia was limited to classroom teachings and never involved any training in tactics or use of weaponry.

But suspicions were aroused after two successful military operations launched by Croatia in 1995, just months after MPRI's contracts began.

The operations "demonstrated that the Croatian army was now able to coordinate armor and infantry attacks supported by large artillery forces and master new communications techniques," Jane's reported. "Most importantly, the Croatian performance did not resemble the usual outmoded Warsaw Pact military tactics."

Officially, U.S. aid to Colombia is directed at the drug war, not the rebel war that has plagued the country for nearly 40 years.

But even senior administration officials, including drug czar Barry McCaffrey, acknowledge that the line between the drug war and the guerrilla war has become increasingly blurred because of rebel involvement in the drug trade.

Indeed, U.S. military officials familiar with the 18-week training program of anti-drug battalions in Colombia say that skills being taught by the Special Forces, including sniper training, are transferable to the fight against the Marxist rebels.

Farther-reaching influence

Among the most provocative parts of the MPRI mission are plans for MPRI to recommend legislation, statutes and decrees to Colombia regarding a military draft, a professional soldier statute, officer entitlements and health law reforms.

"They are using us to carry out American foreign policy," Soyster, the MPRI spokesman, said. "We certainly don't determine foreign policy, but we can be part of the U.S. government executing its foreign policy."

So delicate is MPRI's work in Colombia that State Department officials say there is an ongoing internal debate within the Clinton administration about for whom MPRI works -- the United States or Colombia?

Moreno, the Colombian ambassador, said he saw no problem in the contract. The United States was paying MPRI, but Colombia was the recipient of its military expertise, he said. "Colombia tells MPRI that we need help or we need advice in this area."

Moreno said he has met with MPRI personnel and that his country welcomed its help.

A country of 41-million people, Colombia has been at war with the rebels, a powerful force of 20,000 men, women and children, since 1964. Once fueled by Marxist ideology, the insurgency is now fueled by the drug trade, critics say.

Complicating peace efforts even further for the government are roving bands of right-wing paramilitary death squads, funded by wealthy landowners as well as the drug trade. Totaling between 5,000 and 10,000 strong, the paramilitaries often have been linked to the Colombian military.

"The military in Colombia has to be very professional and very modern if you are going to have peace," Moreno said. "Any time you spend on modernizing the Colombian military is time well-spent."

Washington has pumped more money into Colombia because it has grown increasingly concerned about the rebel war spilling over into its neighbors. Fighting already threatens stability on the border with Venezuela, a main U.S. supplier of oil, as well as Ecuador and Panama. Only Egypt and Israel get more U.S. foreign aid than Colombia.

U.S. and Colombian officials say one of the strategies in the drug war is to cut off funding to the rebels, who earn hundreds of millions of dollars by selling protection to the drug traffickers. Colombia provides as much as 85 percent of the cocaine sold on U.S. streets and an increasing amount of heroin.

In explaining the impetus for the use of MPRI, Pentagon officials say they have become frustrated over the past 40 years with trying to help reform the Colombian military piecemeal, doing exchange programs, for instance, that yielded poor results.

State Department officials say Washington is not using MPRI to ram military reform down the throats of the Colombians. Colombia can reject MPRI suggestions.

Moreno agreed.

When MPRI began operations in Colombia, the Pentagon said the ministry of defense already had begun a reform program.

It was Sheridan, the assistant secretary of defense for the Special Operations Low-Intensity Conflict, or SOLIC, section of the Pentagon, who recommended MPRI to Minister of Defense Luis Fernando Ramirez.

The Pentagon said that every quarter MPRI reports directly to a senior steering committee in Washington, including Sheridan, representatives of Southcom and Randy Beers, the assistant secretary of state for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

Congress, meanwhile, gets no updates about the MPRI mission.

And that makes critics, even within the military, queasy.

In 1998, Col. Bruce D. Grant wrote a strategy research project at the U.S. Army War College questioning companies like MPRI.

Not only did he conclude that what they do is illegal, because they circumvent congressional oversight, but he also wondered how military men and women could sell their expertise to the highest foreign bidder.

"This dangerous trend removes military expertise from public accountability and corrupts our military," Grant wrote.

"The unintended consequences of profit-motivated military assistance could detract from U.S. foreign policy objectives, result in tragedy when misused by recipients and leave a dispirited military."

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/Columbia/PentagonWM.html

[IkeWarnedUs]

11. "I'm not talking about those doing the cooking or laundry."

Thank you Ted!!!!!

[IkeWarnedUs]

12. They protect Bremer and Karzai

Not sure I can spell it, but God, I loved hearing it on Network TV.

[seemslikeadream]

13. The U.S. government assumes no responsibility

Security Companies Doing Business in Iraq

The U.S. government assumes no responsibility for the professional ability or integrity of the persons or firms whose names appear on the list.


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AD Consultancy

Headquarters:
ADC House
P.O. Box 153
Sutton, Surrey SM3 9WF
United Kingdom
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Website: www.adconsultancy.com
Email: [email protected]

Contact in Iraq:
Ian Grealey
Tel: [phone]
Email: [email protected]

Description of Services:
Risk and threat assessment, close protection teams/bodyguards, asset protection, secure commodity escort, travel and escort security, residential and premises security, aviation security, maritime security, oil and gas industry security, surveillance and counter surveillance.


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AKE Limited

Headquarters:
Mortimer House
Holmer Road
Hereford HR4 9TA
UK
Tel: <44> (0) 1432 267111
Fax: <44> (0) 1432 350227
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.akegroup.com

Contact in Iraq:
Peter Hornett
Tel: <44> (0) 7739 094598
Email: [email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]

Description of Services:
Hostile regions training, reduced personal insurance rates, the services of security risk specialists, location security audits, personal security reviews, body armor, medical audits, equipment, assistance and evacuation; political, security, intelligence and cultural briefings, subscription-based online secure database of security, risk and intelligence information, including twice-weekly Iraq security briefings.


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ArmorGroup

Headquarters:
25 Buckingham Gate
London
SW1E 6LD
Tel: <44> (20) 7808-5800
Fax: <44> (20) 7233-7434
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Contact in Iraq:
John Farr, MBE
Country Manager
Tel: [phone]
Email: [email protected]

Description of services:
ArmorGroup operates in 40 countries worldwide and is a leading international risk management, security services, mine action, and information service provider. In Iraq we currently have offices in Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra, and on-going operations throughout the country. They provide major corporate and government clients in Iraq with risk assessment and management, close protection, manned guarding, technical security systems, and mine action services (mine clearing and unexploded ordnance disposal). ArmorGroup supports the Joint US/UK Government’s Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, and subscribes to the Code of Conduct of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. ArmorGroup is a United Nations approved provider, and is ISO 9001:2000 certified. ArmorGroup's Baghdad office is not able to deal with job applications. All applications must be accompanied by a current CV/resume and sent to: [email protected] (US residents), or [email protected] (UK residents and other nationalities).



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Control Risks Group

Headquarters:
83 Victoria Street
London SW1H OHW
United Kingdom
Tel: <44> (20) 722 1552
Fax: <44> (20) 7222 2296
Website: www.crg.com
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Contact in Iraq:
James Blount, Country Manager
Tel: [phone] (NY number but person is located in Iraq)
Thuraya: [phone]
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Description of Services:
Control risk is a leading international business risk consultancy with 28 years experience of supporting more than 5,300 clients in over 130 countries. They currently have an office in Baghdad providing major governmental and corporate clients with a range of services, including security management, discreet armed protection, and information support.


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Custer Battles

Headquarters:
3959 Pender Drive
Suite 109
Fairfax, VA 22050
Tel: <1> 703-385-1121
Fax: <1> 703-385-2177
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.custerbattles.com

Contact in Iraq:
Brig. General Charles Baumann, Director
Tel: <1> 914-360-9223
Email: [email protected]

Description of Services:
Security services, life supports, construction, logistics, transportation, and personal security details.


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Diligence Middle East

Headquarters:
1275 Eye Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: <1> 202-659-6210
Fax: <1> 202-659-6210
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.diligencellc.com

Contact in Iraq:
Ken Josey, Country Manager
Tel: <1> 914-822-9746 (NY number rings in Baghdad)
Email: [email protected]

Description of Services:
Diligence Middle East is the Middle East subsidiary of Diligence LLC, a global information and security services firm. In Iraq, Diligence provides risk advisory consulting, competitive due diligence, close protection, site security, and security escort services for multiple international clients and CPA contractors.


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Erinys Iraq Limited

Headquarters:
16 Zukak 18
601 Emerat Mahla
Al-Mansour
Baghdad, Iraq
Tel: [phone]
Email: [email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]
Website: www.erinysinternationa.com

Contact in Iraq:
Michael Hutchings
Tel: [phone] or [phone]
Email: [email protected]

Description of Services:
Expatriate and Iraqi security services supported by nationwide radio and voice/data satellite communications. Services include managed guard forces, personal protection services, convoy protection, key point, and area security. Company is structured in 3 regions and 12 sectors with expatriate managed offices in each sector.


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Genric

Headquarters:
Hereford House
East Street
Hereford, UK HR1 2LU
Tel: <44> 1432 379083
Fax: <44> 1432 370786
Website: www.genric.co.uk
Email: [email protected]

Contact in Iraq:
Nick Duggan
Tel: <44> 7919 478484 or <965> 904-8217/8257
Email: [email protected]

Description of Services:
Genric provides global security solutions to corporations in the form of risk assessments, plans and policies for kidnapping, evacuation, crisis management and general security guidelines, physical provision of armed escort teams for personnel and convoys, security managers, occupational health, Technical Surveillance Counter Measures (TSCM), defensive driving, personal, asset and property protection. Offices in the UK, Slovakia, Serbia and the Philippines. A secure facility has been established outside Basra, which provides: armed site security 24/7, air con accommodation, air con offices, 4x4 armored and non-armored vehicle hire or purchase, service and parts center, generation hire or purchase, communications.



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Global Risk Strategies
Headquarters:
6 Stratton Street
London W1J 8LD
United Kingdom
Tel: <44> (20) 7491 7492
Fax: <44> (20) 7491
Website: www.globalrsl.com
Email: [email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]

Contact in Iraq:
Damian Perl, Charlie Andrews, Nick Arnold
Tel: [phone] (NY number but person is located in Iraq)
Email: [email protected]

Description of Services:
Working together with the U.S. government, United Nations, and key commercial clients to provide significant security, logistics and facilitation services in post conflict Iraq. A country wide network of specialist teams, communications and logistics assets have been established, headquarted in Baghdad, to assist with immediate humanitarian aid and reconstruction projects in the Aviation, Oil, Banking and Infrastructure sectors. Further to this, there are now GLOBAL Close Protection Teams working in support of the Ministries of the Coalition Provisional Authority.


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Group 4 Falck A/S
Headquarters:
Panchwati
82-A, Sector 18
Gurgaon 122016 (Haryana)
India
Tel: <91> 124-2398888
Fax: <91> 124-2397131
Website: www.group4falck.com
Email: [email protected]

Contact in Iraq:
Abrahem Ghazarian
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]

Description of Services:
Guarding services including static guards, patrol guards, close protection, control room guards, and air marshals (armed and unarmed). Technical and security systems solutions. Physical security and design. Cash services (armed vehicles) with trained crew to transfer cash and valuables. Provide ATM services, wage packaging and distribution. Cashing sorting. Ambulance services (vehicles and professional staff). Firefighting services (vehicles, products and professional staff). Prisons and prison management. Global solutions. Facility management and training services.


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Hill and Associates, Ltd.

Headquarters:
2604-9 Harbour Center
No. 25 Harbour Road
Wanchai, Hong King
Tel: <852> 2802-2123
Fax: <852> 2802-2133
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.hill-assoc.com

Contact in Iraq:
Richard Hancock, Director
Operations - Middle East
Tel: <971> (4) 211-5447 (Dubai) or (65) 6322-2558
Thuraya: 882-162-1100-133
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Description of Services:
Hill and Associates are a risk management consultancy company with ten years of experience supporting Fortune 500 companies in Asia Pacific and the Middle East. They currently have offices in Kuwait City, Dubai and Baghdad focused on providing clients in Iraq with a range of services, including: executive protection, information services and security audits.


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ICP Group Ltd

Headquarters:
2 Old Brompton Road
London SW7 3DQ
United Kingdom
Tel: <44> (0) 207-591-4411
Fax: <44> (0) 207-584-1460
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.icpgroup.ltd.uk

Contact in Iraq:
Will Geddes or Andy King
Tel: <44> [phone] (UK number that rings in Baghdad)
Email: [email protected]

Description of Services:
ICP Group Ltd is an international threat management company servicing many international organizations including the corporate, industrial, financial, telecoms and pharmaceutical industries. With representation country-wide since Desert Storm (1991), ICP Group Ltd have provided security support and services to many major multi-national companies, NGO and government agencies. Providers of high-quality and competitively-priced protection services, security equipment, logistics management and liaison services, ICP Group Ltd can ensure that you are provided with an effective and efficiently managed security solution for short, mid and long-term engagements. Services include: close protection/bodyguards (static and mobile), secure accommodation, armored vehicles, personal protection equipment, field operations supplies, due diligence, risk assessment, audits and project evaluation/analysis, medical services, hostile environment training, specialist insurance coverage (through Lloyds of London), crisis management, and business continuity services and evacuation support and services. ICP Group Ltd protection employees are only either former British and US Special Forces or Elite Forces personnel.


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ISI

Headquarters:
Baghdad Conference Palace
Mansour, Baghdad
Tel: <1> 914-360-2492
Email: [email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]

Contact in Iraq:
Omar Hadi
Tel: <1> 914-360-2492 or <1> 914-822-7707
Email: [email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]

Description of Services:
ISI Iraq is a part of the ISI Group and is the only security company to provide 24 hour Iraqi security guards to the CPA "Green Zone". All guards are trained by the U.S. army, vetted through "local knowledge" and have been a valuable asset to the American troops at the convention center in Baghdad. ISI also provides guards for residences, offices, and also do low key protection work for foreign nationals. All guards provided to foreign nationals have proficient English, and invaluable local knowledge, military or police backgrounds as well as British and American training. ISI has also been involved in due diligence, providing information for foreign and domestic companies through a network of personalities, companies, and families throughout Iraq. ISI's senior management includes experienced military personnel mostly ex-special forces from both the US and UK. ISI provides turnkey accommodation solution for foreign companies and press, in low key locations around Baghdad, providing and vetting all members of staff, 24 hour security as well as other complimentary support. Security services include: manned guarding, close protection work, site surveys, turnkey accommodation, and provision of commercial intelligence and due diligence, translators and drivers. Commercial services include: representation, construction, turn key 'camps', transportation within and in and out of Iraq. ISI has existing joint venture agreements with both US and UK established security firms.


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Meteoric Tactical Solutions


Headquarters:
6 Meteor Road
Valhalla
Pretoria, South Africa
Tel: <27> 12 651 3402
Fax: <27> 12 651 3402
Email: [email protected]

Contact in Iraq:
Lourens Horn (Louwtjie)
Tel: [phone]
Email: [email protected]

Description of Services:
Specialized training programs, VIP protection, asset protection, risk management and analysis, even management, asset recovery.


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Meyer & Associates

Headquarters:
P.O. Box 1800
Joshua (DFW), TX 76058
Tel: <11> 817-426-1199
Fax: <11> 817-558-4868
Website: www.meyerglobalforce.com
Email: [email protected]

Contact in Iraq:
Tim Meyer or Gary DeSmith
Tel: [phone] or 1-817-821-8820
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Description of Services:
Security consulting and problem resolution, executive protection/bodyguards, advance work, intelligence, transportation and drivers, security guards, threat assessment, kidnap negotiations, investigations, reporting, analysis, liaisons with government, diplomatic, military, local and guerilla leaders. Aggressive security including specialized ex-military personnel utilizing state of the art equipment and tactics. Armed Patrol Vessels.


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Olive Security (UK) Limited
Headquarters:
2 Charles Street
Mayfair, London
W1J 5DB
England, UK
Tel: <44> (0) 207307 0540
Fax: <44> (0) 207307 0542
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.olivesecurity.com

Contact in Iraq:
John Yourston and Douglas Dick
Tel: [phone] or <965> 914-0169 (Kuwait office)

Description of Services:
Armed VIP protection, armed convoy escort, threat and risk analysis, security site survey, key point security, manned guards, technological security including: TSCM, debugging/sweeps, IT security implementation.


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Optimal Solution Services
Headquarters:
4/35 Spencer Street
Fairfield NSW
Australia
Tel: <61> (2) 97555840
Fax: <61> (2) 97559835
Email: [email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]

Contact in Iraq:
Zahir F. Hameed
Tel: [phone]
Email: [email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]

Description of Services:
The infrastructure is streamlined to ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness in vigilance and security alert response. Our emphasis is on maintaining the highest industry standards with our security personnel adhering to safety and health regulation and best work practices.


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Overseas Security & Strategic Information, Inc/Safenet - Iraq

Headquarters:
Post Office Box 52067
Atlanta, GA 30355
USA
Tel: <1> 404-307-4072
Fax: <1> 413-208-6069
Email: [email protected]

Contact in Iraq:
John H. Walbridge, Jr. or Mauritz Le Roux
Tel: <964> 7901915494 or <88> 216 5201 4591/4592

Description of Services:
We provide in-country "hands on" management of highly trained and experienced South African security personnel by former American intelligence officers with paramilitary backgrounds. Services include close protection of VIPs, general personal security of employees, convoy escorts of personnel and equipment, training of local security personnel, provision of armored and unarmored vehicles, threat and intelligence reporting, and provision of combat medics with proper equipment. Our approach is responsive, personalized and cost-effective.


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RamOPS Risk Management Group

Headquarters:
7312 Suite 8 Hihenge Court
Raleigh, NC 27615
Tel: <1> 919-740-4597
Website: www.ramops.com
Email: [email protected]

Contact in Iraq:
Andy Potts or John Autenreith
Email: [email protected]
Tel: <1> 919-740-4597 (US)

Description of Services:
Security consulting that includes threat assessments, recommended precautions, and contingency planning for personnel, sites, and equipment. Site security including area patrols, point security, and barricade design. Executive and VIP protection, convoy escort, 24/7 coverage available throughout Iraq. Communications, information technology, and logistic services available in support of any NGO or commercial operation. Their entire organization is comprised of US special operations and military intelligence professionals. Security consulting and training available in the US for NGO or corporate personnel prior to deployment.


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Sumer International Security

Headquarters:
Almasbah - Dis Babilon
Sec. 929, St. 10, Building 10(54/356)
Baghdad, Iraq
Tel: <1> 312-869-7336 (VOIP)
Fax: <1> 202-438-9710
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.thesandigroup.com

Contact in Iraq:
Janna Lipman
Tel: <1> 312-869-8336 (VOIP) or <964> 7901-916-338 or <1> 202-483-5900
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Description of Services:
SIS security guards, body guards, and private police armed and uniformed are trained by DynCorp International. Our clients are protected by a 365 days, 24/7 basis and we maintain a 24 hours dispatch operation with field supervision.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Triple Canopy Inc.

Headquarters:
200 W. Adams Street
29th Floor
Chicago, IL 60606
USA
Tel: <1> 312-895-5000 ext. 7070
Fax: <1> 312-895-5001
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.triplecanopy.com

Contact in Iraq:
Ron Boline or Tony Nichlson
Tel: <1> 914-360-6961 (NY number rings in Baghdad) or <44> 208-792-629 (UK number rings in Baghdad)
Email: [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected]

Description of Services:
Triple Canopy excels in executive protection, site security, and convoy security. Our operators have an average of more than 20 years in the most elite military Special Operations units and are the highest quality personnel in the industry. Our services range from discreet travel companions to heavily armored, high profile convoy escort. From security assessments to tactical training to direct security work, Triple Canopy has the solution.


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Wade-Boyd and Associates LLC

Headquarters:
Suite 116
Main Street
Lawler, IA 52154
Tel: <1> 641-330-4581 or 931-302-7822
Fax: <1> 270-518-5780
Email: [email protected]

Contact in Iraq:
Malek (Ali) Mehanna or V. Brooke Phillips
Tel: <1> 641-330-4581 (US)
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Description of Services:
Owned and operated by honorably retired U.S. army military police investigator, who currently is the command investigator lieutenant for the U.S. DOD federal police. And, an honorably retired (twice) U.S. DOD federal police investigator sergeant/chief of police. With over 40 years of combined experience, we provide: professional, experienced, former military/federal law enforcement, armed close protection teams, K-9 dogs for explosive detection and protection, security officers both standing and roving, investigations, under-cover investigations, armed escorts, vehicle and transportation convoy security, armed patrol in vehicle and water craft, air craft protection teams both on land and in the air, translators, armed money/valuables escorts, surveillance, global vehicle tracking, home and business protection both uniformed and plan clothes, armored vehicles, and more.

http://travel.state.gov/iraq_securitycompanies.html

[Beaker]

14. How can it be cheaper to use paid mercs than U.S. Marines-

or special forces, to protect people like Paul Bremer, and other U.S. officials???

it don't make no sense...unless you happen to be a war profiteer.

but for us taxpayers, who are supposedly paying the bills, couldn't we do better by keeping security detachments and the like "in-house" ?

[IkeWarnedUs]

18. It isn't cheaper - it is more PC

How do you sell a war when your soldiers are going down left and right? Disguise them as "civilian contractors".

Plus, you thank your good friends in the mercinary business with steady, generous contracts and they thank you by supporting your agenda (or, as you much more sucinctly said, war profiteering).

And yes, apparently this war could be fought more economically without the mercinaries.

On edit - Beaker, any feeling of sarcasm from my message is just me venting my frustration, not directed at you.

[Beaker]

16. How many american mercs have died in Iraq?

does anyone keep track in any kind of public arena? were the 4 killed in fallujah the first, or an anomoly, or what?

for that matter-
it would be nice to know the exact and total number of americans dead due to the War of American Agression in Iraq...?

btw- this number would include the suicides, the fraggings, the ones who later died from wounds sustained(although some of the DU deaths won't be known for awhile), deaths due to illnesses contracted there, etc...

[IkeWarnedUs]

19. Release of that information would compromise national security

Just how many wild cards are there in that deck the neo-cons are playing with?

How many times can they play the "National Security" card before people realize they are being played?

Of course, the ratio of people who will continue to buy the National Security card is directly proportional to the number of people who are scared to death by the threat of TERROR!!!