Black water is in Pakistan, and what it stands for was first divulged by TPS back in October 2008. It is world’s biggest, richest, deadliest and most powerful mercenary army, which operates from United States of America and even the world’s sole super power hasn’t got any tangible control over this army, though Black Water always acts as sidekick for the US armies around the globe.
Black Water hires retired army-men and villains and criminals from around the world. Especially they target the poor countries in Asia and Africa for the fodder. They act as NGOs and welfare organization in poor countries and recruit people in the name of sending them to the land of dreams; the USA. They also reach first to the areas where earthquakes and floods strike, and pickup the strong helpless men and give them “jobs.”
Black Water now operates under the name of “Xe”. After Black Water name became so notorious with respect to the Iraq war, the company president Gary Jackson changed the name. Black Water or Xe is based in the U.S. state of North Carolina, Xe operates a tactical training facility which the company claims is the world’s largest, and at which the company trains more than 40,000 people a year, mostly from U.S. or foreign military and police services. The training consists of military offensive and defensive operations, as well as smaller scale personal security. That’s only a cover, and the workings of this covert organization comprises of all the dirty and murderous acts.
Iraq is just one example. Black Water recruited the Iraqi men and used them against the Iraqi people. Iraqis are very well of this evil outfit and in Fluja city they killed the Black Water personnel who were working in the garb of food contractors and hung their corpses along with the banks of Euphrates. Now the media in Pakistan is reporting that Black Water has well established itself in the country, especially in the Peshawar and Islamabad.
Orya Maqbool Jan of Express News wrote in is column that University Town in Peshawar is the headquarter of Black Water in Pakistan. He also claims that Black Water people can been frequently seen in the area guarding vehicles and people, clad in black suits and black glasses. He also says that the biggest embassy of America in Islamabad having thousands of employees is just another Black Water plan. He also says that Black Water is operating in Pakistan under the cover of a NGO Creative Associates.
If that is true, then what exactly is the purpose and objective of Black Water in Pakistan? What they are guarding or are they planning some kind of offensive? Our politicos are dead silent over that. Our parliament is a rubber stamp, and our president is as usual on foreign trips and our premier is all-time-confused. Our opposition is luke-warm and rest of the parties are plain hopeless. The only hope against any Black Water is our security forces and the people of this country, who are ready to shed every last drop of their blood for the motherland.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Blackwater guards linked to CIA raids in Iraq, Afghanistan
Private security guards working for Blackwater USA participated in clandestine CIA raids against suspected insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Blackwater's role points to a much deeper connection between the company and the spy agency than has been previously disclosed and raises concerns over the legalities of involving contractors in the most sensitive operations conducted by the U.S. government.
A U.S. official confirmed to The Associated Press that Blackwater provided security and moved around with CIA teams on missions in war zones, but he denied they performed CIA missions. CIA Director Leon Panetta ordered a review several months ago of the company's contracts to be sure its guards only perform security-related work, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity becsause he was not authorized to comment publicly.
CIA spokesman George Little said, "This agency, like many others, uses contractors in roles that complement and enhance the skills of our own work force, just as American law permits."
"Agency staff officers have the decision-making authority and bear responsibility for results," Little said.
Blackwater, based in Moyock, N.C. , changed its corporate name to Xe Services after a series of use-of-force controversies, including a September 2007 shooting in Baghdad by five company security guards that left 17 civilians dead.
The Times also reported that former Blackwater employees said they helped provide security on CIA flights that transported detainees.
The CIA has been reducing its reliance on the use of contractors over the past few years.
The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks occurred after a contraction of the CIA in the post-Cold War period and which compelled the agency to hire contractors to rapidly fill its ranks for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Blackwater Worldwide was employed to assist the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts on the Gulf Coast. According to a company press release, it provided airlift, security, logistics, and transportation services, as well as humanitarian support. It was reported that the company also acted as law enforcement in the disaster-stricken areas, for example securing neighborhoods and confronting criminals. Blackwater moved about 200 personnel into the area hit by Hurricane Katrina, most of whom (164 employees) were working under a contract with the Department of Homeland Security to protect government facilities, but the company held contracts with private clients as well. Overall, Blackwater had a "visible, and financially lucrative, presence in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as the use of the company contractors cost U.S. taxpayers $240,000 a day. There has been much dispute surrounding governmental contracts in post-Katrina New Orleans, especially no-bid contracts such as the one Xe was awarded. Xe's heavily-armed presence in the city was also the subject of much confusion and criticism.
Xe is one of five companies picked by the Department of Defence Counter-Narcotics Technology Program Office in a five-year contract for equipment, material and services in support of counter-narcotics activities. The contract is worth up to $15 billion. The other companies picked are Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Gurmman and Arinc Inc. Blackwater USA has also been contracted by various foreign governments. The DEA and DoD counternarcotics program is supported by Blackwater Worldwide in Afghanistan as well.“Blackwater is involved on DoD side” of the counter-narcotics program in Afghanistan says Jeff Gibson, vice president for international training at Blackwater. “We interdict. The NIU surgically goes after shipments going to Iran or Pakistan. We provide training to set up roadblocks, identify where drug lords are, and act so as not to impact the community. About 16 Blackwater personnel are in Afghanistan at any given time to support DoD and DEA efforts at training facilities around the country. Blackwater is also involved in mentoring Afghan officials in drug interdiction and counter narcotics. As Richard Douglas, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, explained, "The fact is, we use Blackwater to do a lot of our training of counternarcotics police in Afghanistan. I have to say that Blackwater has done a very good job.
In 2005, it worked to train the Naval Sea Commando regiment of Azerbaijan, enhancing their interdiction capabilities on the Caspian Sea. In Asia, Blackwater has contracts in Japan guarding AN/TP-2 radar systems.
Blackwater Baghdad Shootings Case
On October 11, 2007, the Center of Constitutional Rights filed suit against Blackwater under the Alien Tort Claims Act on behalf of an injured Iraqi and the families of three of the 17 Iraqis killed by Blackwater employees during the September 16, 2007, Blackwater Baghdad shooting.
In June 2009, an amended lawsuit was filed in US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, alleging that Blackwater employees shot and killed three members of an Iraqi family, including a nine-year-old boy, who were traveling from the Baghdad airport to Baghdad on July 1, 2007. The suit also alleges that Blackwater employees used three company aircraft to kidnap Iraqi citizens from Iraq and further accuses the company of engaging in weapons smuggling, money laundering, tax evasion, child prostitution, illegal drug use and destruction of evidence. The child prostitution charge refers to young Iraqi girls allegedly being brought to the Blackwater compound in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, identified in the lawsuit as the "Blackwater Man Camp," to provide oral sex to contractors for $1. If the court rules against Xe on the racketeering account, it could dissolve the company.
The Justice Department was originally not expected to bring criminal charges against any employees of the corporation, however in December 2008, the Justice Department announced they were charging five Blackwater employees. On December 31, 2009 Judge Ricardo Urbina threw out the criminal case against the five guards under indictment. In announcing the dismissal, Urbina said that the prosecutors violated the guards' Fith Amendment rights by using the statements they gave to the State Department as evidence. Urbina said that the guards would have lost their jobs had they not given the statements, thus making the statements inadmissible. The Iraqi government has asked the US Justice Department to appeal the decision, and also plans to sue the five guards accused of killing civilians.
In June 2009, an amended lawsuit was filed in US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, alleging that Blackwater employees shot and killed three members of an Iraqi family, including a nine-year-old boy, who were traveling from the Baghdad airport to Baghdad on July 1, 2007. The suit also alleges that Blackwater employees used three company aircraft to kidnap Iraqi citizens from Iraq and further accuses the company of engaging in weapons smuggling, money laundering, tax evasion, child prostitution, illegal drug use and destruction of evidence. The child prostitution charge refers to young Iraqi girls allegedly being brought to the Blackwater compound in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, identified in the lawsuit as the "Blackwater Man Camp," to provide oral sex to contractors for $1. If the court rules against Xe on the racketeering account, it could dissolve the company.
The Justice Department was originally not expected to bring criminal charges against any employees of the corporation, however in December 2008, the Justice Department announced they were charging five Blackwater employees. On December 31, 2009 Judge Ricardo Urbina threw out the criminal case against the five guards under indictment. In announcing the dismissal, Urbina said that the prosecutors violated the guards' Fith Amendment rights by using the statements they gave to the State Department as evidence. Urbina said that the guards would have lost their jobs had they not given the statements, thus making the statements inadmissible. The Iraqi government has asked the US Justice Department to appeal the decision, and also plans to sue the five guards accused of killing civilians.
Iraqi courts and legal action
On September 23, 2007, the Iraqi government said that it expects to refer criminal charges to its courts in connection with a shooting involving Blackwater guards. However, on October 29, 2007, immunity from prosecution was granted by the U.S. State Department, delaying a criminal inquiry into the September 16 shootings of 17 Iraqi civilians. Immediately afterwards, the Iraqi government approved a draft law to end any and all immunity for foreign military contractors in Iraq, to overturn Order 17. The U.S. Department of Justice also said any immunity deals offered to Blackwater employees were invalid, as the department that issued them had no authority to do so. It is unclear what legal status Blackwater Worldwide operates under in the U.S. and other countries, or what protection the U.S. extends to Blackwater Worldwide's operations globally.
Legal specialists say that the U.S. government is unlikely to allow a trial in the Iraqi courts, because there is little confidence that trials would be fair. Contractors accused of crimes abroad could be tried in the United States under either military or civilian law; however, the applicable military law, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, was changed in 2006, and appears to now exempt State Department contractors that provide security escorts for a civilian agency. Prosecution under civilian law would be through the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which allows the extension of federal law to civilians supporting military operations; however, according to the deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's criminal division, Robert Litt, trying a criminal case in federal court would require a secure chain of evidence, with police securing the crime scene immediately, while evidence gathered by Iraqi investigators would be regarded as suspect.
A number of Iraqi families with killed relatives are taking Blackwater to court over alleged "random killings committed by private Blackwater guards".
On January 31, 2010, three current and former U.S. government officials confirmed the Justice Department is investigating whether officials of Blackwater Worldwide tried to bribe Iraqi government officials in hopes of retaining the firm’s security work in Iraq after the shooting in Nisour Square in Baghdad, which left 17 Iraqis dead and stoked bitter resentment against the United States. The officials said that the Justice Department’s fraud section opened the inquiry late in 2009 to determine whether Blackwater employees violated a federal law banning American corporations from paying bribes to foreign officials.
Legal specialists say that the U.S. government is unlikely to allow a trial in the Iraqi courts, because there is little confidence that trials would be fair. Contractors accused of crimes abroad could be tried in the United States under either military or civilian law; however, the applicable military law, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, was changed in 2006, and appears to now exempt State Department contractors that provide security escorts for a civilian agency. Prosecution under civilian law would be through the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which allows the extension of federal law to civilians supporting military operations; however, according to the deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's criminal division, Robert Litt, trying a criminal case in federal court would require a secure chain of evidence, with police securing the crime scene immediately, while evidence gathered by Iraqi investigators would be regarded as suspect.
A number of Iraqi families with killed relatives are taking Blackwater to court over alleged "random killings committed by private Blackwater guards".
On January 31, 2010, three current and former U.S. government officials confirmed the Justice Department is investigating whether officials of Blackwater Worldwide tried to bribe Iraqi government officials in hopes of retaining the firm’s security work in Iraq after the shooting in Nisour Square in Baghdad, which left 17 Iraqis dead and stoked bitter resentment against the United States. The officials said that the Justice Department’s fraud section opened the inquiry late in 2009 to determine whether Blackwater employees violated a federal law banning American corporations from paying bribes to foreign officials.
Legal status of Blackwater Worldwide
Blackwater's license to operate in Iraq was revoked by the Iraqi Government on September 17, 2007, resulting from a highly contentious incident that occurred the previous day during which seventeen (initially reported as eleven) Iraqis were killed. The fatalities occurred while a Blackwater Private Security Detail (PSD) was escorting a convoy of U.S. State Department vehicles en route to a meeting in western Baghdad with United States Agency for International Development officials. The U.S. State Department has said that "innocent life was lost. An anonymous U.S. military official was quoted as saying that Blackwater's guards opened fire without provocation and used excessive force. The incident sparked at least five investigations, and an FBI probe found that Blackwater Employees used lethal force recklessly. Blackwater helicopters were dispatched to evacuate the Polish ambassador following an insurgent assassination attempt on October 3, 2007. The license was reinstated by the American government in April 2007, but the Iraqis announced that they have refused to extend that license in early 2009.
Blackwater in Baghdad
On February 16, 2005, four Blackwater guards escorting a U.S. State Department convoy fired 70 rounds into an Iraqi's car. The guards stated that they felt threatened by the car's approach. The fate of the car's driver was unknown because the convoy did not stop after the shooting. An investigation by the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service concluded that the shooting was not justified and that the Blackwater employees provided false statements to investigators. The false statements claimed that the one of the Blackwater vehicles had been hit by insurgent gunfire, but the investigation found that one of the Blackwater guards had actually fired into his own vehicle. John Frese, the U.S. embassy in Iraq's top security official, declined to punish Blackwater or the security guards, stating that "any disciplinary actions would be deemed as lowering the morale" of the Blackwater contractors.
On Christmas Eve 2006, a security guard of the Iraqi vice president, Adel Abdul Mahdi, was shot and killed while on duty outside the Iraqi prime minister's compound. The Iraqi government has accused Andrew J. Moonen, at the time an employee of Blackwater USA, of murdering him while drunk. Moonen was subsequently fired by Blackwater for "violating alcohol and firearm policy", and travelled from Iraq to the United States days after the incident. United States Attorneys are currently investigating. The United States Department and Blackwater USA had attempted to keep his identity secret. Despite the Blackwater incident, Moonen found subsequent employment. From February to August 2007, he was employed by U.S. Defense Department contractor Combat Support Associates (CSA) in Kuwait. In April 2007, the U.S. Department of Defense tried to call him back to active duty, but cancelled the request because Moonen was overseas.
Five Blackwater contractors were killed on January 23, 2007, in Iraq when their Huges H-6 helicopter was shot down on Baghdad's Haifa Street. The crash site was secured by a personal security detail, callsign "Jester" from 1/26 Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Three insurgencies claimed to be responsible for shooting down the helicopter, although such has not been confirmed by the United States. A U.S. defense official has confirmed that four of the five killed were shot execution style in the back of the head, but did not know whether the four had survived the crash.
In late May 2007, Blackwater contractors opened fire on the streets of Baghdad twice in two days, one of the incidents provoking a standoff between the security contractors and Iraqi Interior Ministry commandos, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials. On May 30, 2007, Blackwater employees shot an Iraqi civilian deemed to have been "driving too close" to a State Department convoy that was being escorted by Blackwater contractors. Other private security contractors, such as Aegis Defence Services have been accused of similar actions. Doug Brooks, the president of the International Peace Operations Association ("IPOA"), a trade group representing Blackwater and other military contractors, said that in his view military would not apply to Blackwater employees working for the State Department. In October 2007, Blackwater USA announced that the company was taking a "hiatus" from membership in IPOA.
A sniper employed by Blackwater Worldwide opened fire from the roof of the Iraqi Justice Ministry, killing three guards working for the state-funded Iraqi Media Network on February 6, 2006. According to the 13 witnesses who were present, the guards had not fired on the Justice Ministry. An Iraqi police report described the shootings as "an act of terrorism" and said Blackwater "caused the incident. Iraqi Media Network concluded that the guards were killed "without any provocation. The U.S. State Department, based on information obtained from Blackwater guards, who said they were fired upon, concluded that the team's murderous actions "fell within approved rules governing the use of force.
Fallujah and Al Najaf
On March 31, 2004, Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah attacked a convoy containing four American Private military contractors from Blackwater USA who were conducting delivery for food caterers. The four contractors, Scott Helvenston, Jerry Zovko, Wesley Batalona and Michael Teague, were attacked and killed with grenades and small arms fire. Their bodies were hung from a bridge crossing the Eurphrates. This event was one of the causes of the U.S. military attack on the city in the First Battle of Fallujah. In the fall of 2007, a congressional report by the House Oversight Committee found that Blackwater intentionally "delayed and impeded" investigations into the contractors' deaths.
In April 2004, a few days after the Fallujah bridge hanging, a small team of Blackwater employees, along with a fire team of U.S. Marines, held off over 400 insurgents outside the Coalition Provisional Authority headquarters in Al Najaf, Iraq, waiting for U.S. troops to arrive. The headquarters was surrounded and it was the last area in the city that remained in coalition control. During the siege, as supplies and ammunition ran low, a team of Blackwater contractors 70 miles (113 km) away flew to the compound to resupply and bring an injured U.S. Marine back to safety outside of the city. In April 2005 six Blackwater independent contractors were killed in Iraq when their Mi-8 helicopter was shot down. Also killed were three Bulgarian crewmembers and two Fijian gunners. Initial reports indicate the helicopter was shot down by rocket propelled grenades. In 2006 a car accident occurred in the Baghdad Green Zone when an SUV driven by Blackwater operatives crashed into a U.S. Army Humvee. Blackwater guards allegedly disarmed the Army soldiers and forced them to lie on the ground at gunpoint until they could disentangle their SUV from the wreck.
In April 2004, a few days after the Fallujah bridge hanging, a small team of Blackwater employees, along with a fire team of U.S. Marines, held off over 400 insurgents outside the Coalition Provisional Authority headquarters in Al Najaf, Iraq, waiting for U.S. troops to arrive. The headquarters was surrounded and it was the last area in the city that remained in coalition control. During the siege, as supplies and ammunition ran low, a team of Blackwater contractors 70 miles (113 km) away flew to the compound to resupply and bring an injured U.S. Marine back to safety outside of the city. In April 2005 six Blackwater independent contractors were killed in Iraq when their Mi-8 helicopter was shot down. Also killed were three Bulgarian crewmembers and two Fijian gunners. Initial reports indicate the helicopter was shot down by rocket propelled grenades. In 2006 a car accident occurred in the Baghdad Green Zone when an SUV driven by Blackwater operatives crashed into a U.S. Army Humvee. Blackwater guards allegedly disarmed the Army soldiers and forced them to lie on the ground at gunpoint until they could disentangle their SUV from the wreck.
Blackwater involve in Iraq War
Blackwater Worldwide has played a substantial role during the Iraq War as a contractor for the United States government. In 2003, Blackwater attained its first high-profile contract when it received a $21 million no-bic contract for guarding the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, L. Paul Bremer.
On March 31, 2004, four Blackwater Security Consulting (BSC) employees were ambushed and killed in Fallujah, and their bodies were hung on bridges.
Since June 2004, Blackwater has been paid more than $320 million out of a $1 billion, five-year State Department budget for the Worldwide Personal Protective Service, which protects U.S. officials and some foreign officials in conflict zones.
In 2006, Blackwater won the remunerative contract to protect diplomats for the U.S. embassy in Iraq, the largest American embassy in the world. It is estimated by the Pentagon and company representatives that there are 20,000 to 30,000 armed security contractors working in Iraq, and some estimates are as high as 100,000, though no official figures exist. Of the State Department's dependence on private contractors like Blackwater for security purposes, U.S. embassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker told the U.S. Senate: "There is simply no way at all that the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security could ever have enough full-time personnel to staff the security function in Iraq. There is no alternative except through contracts.
In November 2008, the U.S. State Department prepared to issue a multi-million-dollar fine to Blackwater for shipping hundreds of automatic firearms to Iraq without the necessary permits and without paying the proper tariffs. Some of the weapons were believed to have ended up on the country’s black market.
For work in Iraq, Xe has drawn contractors from their international pool of professionals, a database containing "21,000 former Special Forces operatives, soldiers, and retired law enforcement agents," overall. For instance, Gary Jackson, the firm's president, has confirmed that Bosnians, Filipinos, and Chileans "have been hired for tasks ranging from airport security to protecting Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority." Between 2005 and September 2007, Blackwater security staff were involved in 195 shooting incidents; in 163 of those cases, Blackwater personnel fired first. 25 members of staff have been fired for violations of Xe's drug and alcohol policy and 28 more for weapons-related incidents.
Blackwater Maritime Solutions
Blackwater Maritime Security Services offers tactical training for maritime force protection units. In the past it has trained Greek security forces for the 2004 Olympics, Azerbaijan Naval Sea Commandos, and Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior. Blackwater's facilities include a manmade lake, with stacked containers simulating the hull and deck of a ship for maritime assaults. Blackwater received a contract to train United States Navy sailors following the attack on the USS Cole.
It also purchased a 183-foot vessel, McArthur, which has been outfitted for disaster response and training. According to Blackwater USA, it features "state of the art navigation systems, full GMDSS communications, SEATEL Broadband, dedicated command and control bays, helicopter decks, hospital and multiple support vessel capabilities. McArthur was built in 1966 by the Norfolk Shipbuilding Drydock Company and served as the survey ship USC&GS McArthur (MSS 22) for the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1966 to 1970 and as Noaas McArthur for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 1970 until her decommissioning in 2003. The ship is home-ported in Norfolk, Virginia.
It also purchased a 183-foot vessel, McArthur, which has been outfitted for disaster response and training. According to Blackwater USA, it features "state of the art navigation systems, full GMDSS communications, SEATEL Broadband, dedicated command and control bays, helicopter decks, hospital and multiple support vessel capabilities. McArthur was built in 1966 by the Norfolk Shipbuilding Drydock Company and served as the survey ship USC&GS McArthur (MSS 22) for the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1966 to 1970 and as Noaas McArthur for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 1970 until her decommissioning in 2003. The ship is home-ported in Norfolk, Virginia.
Blackwater Security Consulting
Blackwater Security Consulting (BSC) was formed in 2001, and based in Moyock, North Carolina. BSC is one of the private security firms employed during the Iraq War to guard officials and installations, train Iraq's new Army and Police, and provide other support for Coalition Forces.
Its primary public contract is from the U.S. State Department under the Bureau of Diplomatic Secutity's Worldwide Personal Protective Services (WPPS) and WPPS II umbrella contracts, along with DynCrop International and Triple Canopy, inc. for protective services in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Israel.Blackwater's responsibilities include the United States embassy in Iraq.
Blackwater Security is also now pursuing domestic work as disaster relief workers, following their Katrina response. Blackwater officials have met with Arnold Schwarzenegger to discuss earthquake response services.
Its primary public contract is from the U.S. State Department under the Bureau of Diplomatic Secutity's Worldwide Personal Protective Services (WPPS) and WPPS II umbrella contracts, along with DynCrop International and Triple Canopy, inc. for protective services in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Israel.Blackwater's responsibilities include the United States embassy in Iraq.
Blackwater Security is also now pursuing domestic work as disaster relief workers, following their Katrina response. Blackwater officials have met with Arnold Schwarzenegger to discuss earthquake response services.
United States Training Center
United States Training Center (USTC, formerly Blackwater Training Center) offers tactics and weapons training to military, government, and law enforcement agencies. USTC also offers several open-enrollment courses periodically throughout the year, from hand to hand combat (executive course) to precision rifle marksmanship. They also offer courses in tactical and off road driving.
USTC's primary training facility, located on 7,000 acres (28 km2) in northeastern North Carolina, comprises several ranges, indoor, outdoor, urban reproductions, a man-made lake, and a driving track in Camden and Currituck counties. Company literature says that it is the largest training facility in the country. In November 2006 Blackwater USA announced it acquired an 80-Acer (30 ha) facility 150 miles (240 km) west of Chicago, in Mount Carroll lllinois to be called Blackwater North. That facility has been operational since April 2007 and serves law enforcement agencies throughout the Midwest.
Corporate History
In the late 1990s, Erik Prince spent part of his inherited wealth to purchase about 6,000 acres (24 km2) of the Great Dismal Swap, a vast swamp on the North Carolina/Virginia border, now mostly a National Wildlife Refuge. Here he created his state-of-the-art private training facility, and his contracting company, Blackwater, which he named for the peat-colored water of the swap.Blackwater USA was formed in 1990 to provide training support to military and law enforcement organizations. In 2002 Blackwater Security Consulting (BSC) was formed. It was one of several private security firms employed following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. BSC is one of over 60 private security firms employed during the Iraq War to guard officials and installations, train Iraq's new army and police, and provide other support for occupation forces.Blackwater was also hired during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by the United State Department of Homeland Security, as well as by private clients, including communications, petrochemical and insurance companies.Overall, the company has received over $1 billion USD in U.S. government contracts.Blackwater consists of nine divisions, and a subsidiary, Blackwater Vehicles.
Erik Prince, Blackwater founder
Xe is a privately held company and does not publish much information about internal affairs. Xe's founder and former CEO Erik Prince, a former Navy Seal, attended the Naval Academy, graduated from Hillsdale College, and was an intern in George H. W. Bush's White House. Prince is a major financial supporter of Republican Party causes and candidates.Xe's president, Gray Jackson, is also a former Navy SEAL.
Cofer Black, the company's vice-chairman from 2006 through 2008, was director of the CIA's Counterterrorist Center (CTC) at the time of the September 11attacks in 2001. He was the Unitied States Department of State coordinator for Counterterrorism with the rank of ambassador at large from December 2002 to November 2004. After leaving public service, Black became chairman of the privately owned intelligence gathering company Total Intelligence Solutions, Inc., as well as vice chairman for Xe.Robert Richer was vice president of intelligence until January 2007, when he formed Total Intelligence Solutions. He was formerly the head of the CIA's Near East Division.Black was senior advisor for counterterrorism and national security issues for the 2008 Presidential election bic of Mitt Romney.
Xe's primary training facility, located on 7,000 acres (28 km2) in northeastern North Carolina, comprises several ranges: indoor, outdoor, urban reproductions; an artificial lake; and a driving track in Camden and Currituck counties. Company literature claims that it is the largest training facility in the country. In November 2006 Blackwater USA announced it recently acquired an 80-acre (30 ha) facility 150 miles (240 km) west of Chicago in Mount Carroll, lllinois to be called Blackwater North. This facility is also known as "The Site". This Xe facility has been operational since April 2007 and serves law enforcement agencies throughout the Midwest. Xe is also trying to open an 824-acre (3.33 km2) training facility three miles north of Potrero a small town in rural east San Diego, located 45 miles (72 km) east of San Diego, for military and law enforcement training.The opening has faced heavy opposition from local residents, residents of nearby San Diego, local Congressmember Bob Filner, and environmentalist and anti-war organizations. Opposition focused on a potential for widfire increases, the proposed facility's proximity to the Cleveland National Forest, noise pollution and opposition to the actions of Blackwater in Iraq. In response, Brian Bonfiglio, project manager for Blackwater West, said "There will be no explosives training and no tracer ammunition.Lead bullets don't start fires." In October 2007, when wildfires swept through the area, Xe made at least three deliveries of food, water, personal hygiene products and generator fuel to 300 residents near the proposed training site, many of whom had been trapped for days without supplies. They also set up a "tent city" for evacuees.On March 7, 2008, Blackwater withdrew its application to set up a facility in San Diego County.
In October 2007, Blackwater USA began a process of altering its name to Blackwater Worldwide, and unveiled a new logo. A Blackwater representative stated that the decision to change the logo was made before the September 16, 2007, Nisoor Square shootings, but was not changed officially until after.Many referred to the change as having eliminated the previous "cross hair" theme, replaced by a reticle instead.
On July 21, 2008, Blackwater Worldwide stated that they would shift resources away from security contracting because of extensive risk in that sector. "The experience we've had would certainly be a disincentive to any other companies that want to step in and put their entire business at risk," company founder and CEO Erik Prince told The Associated Press during a daylong visit to the company's North Carolina compound.
Prince announced his resignation as CEO on March 2, 2009. Prince will remain as chairman of the board but will no longer be involved in day-to-day operations. Joseph Yorio was named as the new president and CEO, replacing Gary Jackson as president and Prince as CEO.Danielle Esposito was named the new chief operating officer and executive vice president.
In December 2009, Prince announced that he is severing his ties with Xe and is considering becoming a teacher.
Blackwater Worldwide
Still usually referred to as "Blackwater", is a private military company founded as Blackwater USA in 1997 by Erik Prince and Al Clark Blackwater has a wide array of business divisions, subsidiaries, and spin-off corporations but the organization as a whole has aroused significant controversy.
Based in north carolina, Xe operates a tactical training facility which the company claims is the world's largest, and at which it trains more than 40,000 people a year, mostly from U.S. and other military and police services. The training consists of military offensive and defensive operations, as well as smaller scale personal security.
Xe is currently the largest of the U.S State Department's three private security contractors. Of the 987 contractors Xe provides, 744 are U.S. citizens. At least 90 percent of the company's revenue comes from government contracts, of which two-thirds are no-bid contracts. Xe provided security services in Iraq to the United States federal government, particularly the Central Intelligence Agency on a contractual basis. They no longer have a license to operate in Iraq: the new Iraqi government made multiple attempts to expel them from their country,and denied their application for an operating license in January 2009.However, the company is still under contract with the State Department and some Xe personnel were working legally in Iraq at least until September 2009.
In October 2007, the company, Blackwater USA, was renamed Blackwater Worldwide. It announced on February 13, 2009, that it would operate under the new name "Xe." In a memo sent to employees, President Gary Jackson wrote that the new name "reflects the change in company focus away from the business of providing private security." A spokesman for the company stated that it feels the Blackwater name is too closely associated with the company's work in the occupation of iraq.Spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said there was no meaning in the new name, which the company took over a year to arrive at in an internal search.
Based in north carolina, Xe operates a tactical training facility which the company claims is the world's largest, and at which it trains more than 40,000 people a year, mostly from U.S. and other military and police services. The training consists of military offensive and defensive operations, as well as smaller scale personal security.
Xe is currently the largest of the U.S State Department's three private security contractors. Of the 987 contractors Xe provides, 744 are U.S. citizens. At least 90 percent of the company's revenue comes from government contracts, of which two-thirds are no-bid contracts. Xe provided security services in Iraq to the United States federal government, particularly the Central Intelligence Agency on a contractual basis. They no longer have a license to operate in Iraq: the new Iraqi government made multiple attempts to expel them from their country,and denied their application for an operating license in January 2009.However, the company is still under contract with the State Department and some Xe personnel were working legally in Iraq at least until September 2009.
In October 2007, the company, Blackwater USA, was renamed Blackwater Worldwide. It announced on February 13, 2009, that it would operate under the new name "Xe." In a memo sent to employees, President Gary Jackson wrote that the new name "reflects the change in company focus away from the business of providing private security." A spokesman for the company stated that it feels the Blackwater name is too closely associated with the company's work in the occupation of iraq.Spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said there was no meaning in the new name, which the company took over a year to arrive at in an internal search.
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