Blackwater/ CIA a rose by any other name

[Jeffersons Ghost]

Blackwater's Owner Has Spies for Hire

Ex-U.S. Operatives Dot Firm's Roster

By Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 3, 2007; A01

First it became a brand name in security for its work in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now it's taking on intelligence.

The Prince Group, the holding company that owns Blackwater Worldwide, has been building an operation that will sniff out intelligence about natural disasters, business-friendly governments, overseas regulations and global political developments for clients in industry and government.

The operation, Total Intelligence Solutions, has assembled a roster of former spooks -- high-ranking figures from agencies such as the CIA and defense intelligence -- that mirrors the slate of former military officials who run Blackwater. Its chairman is Cofer Black, the former head of counterterrorism at CIA known for his leading role in many of the agency's more controversial programs, including the rendition and interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects and the detention of some of them in secret prisons overseas.

Its chief executive is Robert Richer, a former CIA associate deputy director of operations who was heavily involved in running the agency's role in the Iraq war.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110202165_pf.html

"They have the skills and background to do anything anyone wants," said RJ Hillhouse, who writes a national security blog called The Spy Who Billed Me. "There's no oversight. They're an independent company offering freelance espionage services. They're rent-a-spies."

[Jeffersons Ghost]

1. instead of blaming operatives on the ground, like Lt. Calley...

I'd like some discussion focusing on those at the top that create or approve sinister operations and interrogation techniques.


here's a song for unsung CIA heroes risking their lives to protect what's left of our freedom:

Waiting On The World To Change lyrics

by John Mayer

Me and all my friends
We're all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
There's no way we ever could
Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it

So we keep waiting
(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

It's hard to beat the system
When we're standing at attention
So we keep waiting
(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
Now if we had the power
To bring our neighbors home from war
They would have never missed a Christmas
No more ribbons on their door
And when you trust your television

What you get is what you got
Cause when they own the information, oh
They can bend it all they want


That's why we're waiting
(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

It's not that we don't care,
We just know that the fight ain't fair
So we keep on waiting
(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

And we're still waiting
(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
One day our generation
Is gonna rule the population
So we keep on waiting
(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

Now we keep on waiting
(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

Waiting on the world to change

[warren pease]

2. Just another place to rent economic hit men...

See John Perkins' books "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" and "The Secret History of the American Empire" for all the disgusting details.


wp

[Jeffersons Ghost]

3. thanks for the info... I'll check those books out

Just what Cooperate America needs - a gigantic hit-man pool!

[Arctic Dave]

4. What do you think?

This reminds me of that Lawrence Fishborne movie back in 90's (can't think of the name of it right now) about former agency people starting their own private business. I didn't think about it too much at the time but apparently someone thought it was a great business model. It fits Blackwater to a tee.
I wouldn't have even remembered the movie other that it was on TV a couple of weeks ago.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

5. much of the dialog on this OP reminds me of music from the 90s

Here's some poignant lyrics I first heard on my way to an anti-war rally with Code Pink in DC:

The Black Parade
by: My Chemical Romance

When I was, a young boy,
My father, took me into the city To see a marching band
He said "son when, you grow up, would you be, the savior of the broken, the beaten and the damned."
He said "will you defeat them, your demons, and all the non-believers, the plans that they have made, Because one day, I'll leave you, a phantom, to lead you in the summer, to join the black parade."

When I was, A young boy
My father, took me into the city To see a marching band
He said "son when, you grow up, would you be, the savior of the broken, the beaten and the damned."

Sometimes I get the feeling, she's watching over me
And other times I feel like I should go
When through it all, the rise and fall
The bodies in the street
And when you're gone we want you all to know

We'll carry on, We'll carry on
And though you say you don't believe me
Your memory will carry on
We'll carry on
Until my heart I can’t contain it
The anthem won't explain it

And we will send you reeling from decimated dreams
You're misery and hate will kill us all
So paint it black and take it back
Lets shout it loud and clear
To fight it to the end we hear the call
To carry on

We'll carry on,
And though your still and gone believe me
Your memory will carry on
We'll carry on
And though your broken and defeated
Your weary widow marches

And on we carry through the fears
Oh oh oh
Disappointed faces of your piers
Oh oh oh
Take a look at me 'cause I could not care at all
Do or die
You'll never make me
‘Cause the world, will never take my (heart)
You can try; you'll never break me
You want it all, I'm gonna play this (part)
Won't explain, or say I'm sorry
I'm unashamed, I'm gonna show my (scar)
You're the chair, for all the broken
Lose it here, because it's too me
I'm just a man; I'm not a hero
Just a boy, whose meant to sing this (song)
I'm just a man; I'm not a hero
I Don't Care

We'll carry on
We'll carry on
And though you're still and gone believe me
Your memory will carry on
We'll carry on
And though your broken and defeated
Your weary widow marches on
(Do or die)
You'll never make me
‘Cause the world, will never take my (heart)
You can try; you'll never break me
You want it all, I'm gonna play this (part)
(Do or die)
You'll never make me
‘Cause the world, will never take my (heart)
You can try; you'll never break me
You want it all, I'm gonna play this (part)
We'll carry on

[L. Coyote]

6. It is AS IF the Iran-Contra "Enterprise" decided to come out of hiding ...

and go public.

I'll believe this isn't a CIA front when they have an IPO.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

7. Here's an article supporting your position Coyote

Blackwater brass forms intelligence company

Cofer Black, vice chairman of Blackwater USA, announced Tuesday the formation of a new CIA-type private company to provide intelligence services to commercial clients.

The executive roster for the new venture, Total Intelligence Solutions, is loaded with veterans of U.S. intelligence agencies, including two other Blackwater officials...

Blackwater's primary specialties are tactical training and security, but it is no stranger to the intelligence world. The 10-year-old company's first security contract, awarded in 2002, was for a classified operation. In his book "Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror," author Robert Young Pelton identified the company's client as the CIA.

http://hamptonroads.com/node/226371