The New York Times
February 1, 2010
BLACKWATER WORLDWIDEFounded in 1998 by former Navy Seals, Blackwater Worldwide says it has prepared tens of thousands of security personnel to work in hot spots around the world. Blackwater, now known as Xe Services, has come under intense criticism for what Iraqis have described as reckless conduct by its security guards. In 2009, the company lost its lucrative State Department contract to provide diplomatic security for the United States Embassy in Baghdad due to a 2007 shooting that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.
In December 2009, The New York Times reported that private security guards from Blackwater participated in some of the C.I.A.'s most sensitive activities -- clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and the transporting of detainees, according to former company employees and intelligence officials.
The raids against suspects occurred on an almost nightly basis during the height of the Iraqi insurgency from 2004 to 2006, with Blackwater personnel playing central roles in what company insiders called "snatch and grab" operations, the former employees and current and former intelligence officers said.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/blackwater_usa/index.html
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