U.S. hires contractor to back Somalis (DynCorp)

[sabra]

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/breaking_news/16853136.htm

U.S. hires contractor to back Somalis
Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya - The State Department has hired a major military contractor to help equip and provide logistical support to international peacekeepers in Somalia, giving the United States a significant role in the critical mission without assigning combat forces.

DynCorp International, which also has U.S. contracts in Iraq, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, will be paid $10 million to help the first peacekeeping mission in Somalia in more than 10 years.

It's a potentially dangerous assignment. When the first 1,500 Ugandans peacekeepers arrived in Somalia's capital Tuesday, they were greeted with a mortar attack and a major firefight. And on Wednesday, attackers ambushed the peacekeepers in Mogadishu, setting off another gunfight.

The support for the Ugandans is part of a larger goal to improve African forces across the continent and promote peace and stability in a region that's often lawless and a haven for terrorists, including some tied to al-Qaida. The U.S. has also begun to depend more on African nations for oil and minerals, and wants to expand its influence.

[maddezmom]

1. Mercenaries are the Future

:eyes:

Vanity Fair: Iraq's Mercenary King (Tim Spicer)
As a former C.I.A. agent, the author knows how mercenaries work: in the shadows. But how did a notorious former British officer, Tim Spicer, come to coordinate the second-largest army in Iraq—the tens of thousands of private security contractors?
by Robert Baer April 2007

~snip~

I knew who Spicer was. He'd popped up on the C.I.A.'s radar after he retired from the British Army and went to work, in 1996, as the C.E.O. of Sandline International, a private military company offering "operational support" to "legitimate governments." A year later Spicer was in Papua New Guinea, where he fielded a mercenary army for the government in order to protect a multi-national copper-mining company. After Spicer was expelled, he moved on to Sierra Leone, this time helping to ship arms to coup plotters. Spicer's name resurfaced in 2004 in connection with a putsch aimed at Equatorial Guinea, allegedly led by Simon Mann, his friend, former army colleague, and onetime business associate. Though questioned by British officials, Spicer was not implicated in the incident.

But then, somehow, two months later, Spicer's company, known as Aegis Defence Services, landed a $293 million Pentagon contract to coordinate security for reconstruction projects, as well as support for other private military companies, in Iraq. This effectively put him in command of the second-largest foreign armed force in the country—behind America's but ahead of Britain's. These men aren't officially part of the Coalition of the Willing, because they're all paid contractors—the Coalition of the Billing, you might call it—but they're a crucial part of the coalition's forces nonetheless.

~snip~

In November of 2005 a disgruntled Aegis ex-employee posted a so-called "trophy video" on the Internet depicting Aegis contractors—Tim Spicer's men—shooting at Iraqis in civilian cars. In one sequence, the Aegis team opens fire with an automatic weapon at an approaching silver Mercedes. The Mercedes rams a taxi, sending the taxi's occupants running. In another sequence, an Aegis employee fires at a white sedan, running it off the road. Elvis Presley's "Mystery Train" provides the soundtrack. Aegis subsequently conducted an investigation and concluded that the actions represented "legitimate operations" undertaken in compliance with the rules of engagement. Aegis argued further that the video was "taken out of context" and noted that there was no evidence that civilians had been killed. The Pentagon looked into the video and declined to take further steps.

According to a February 2006 Government Accountability Office report, there were approximately 48,000 private military contractors in Iraq, employed by 181 different companies. There may now be many more. These are the kinds of people Tim Spicer and Aegis are supposed to coordinate. The bulk of the military contractors are American and British, with a sprinkling of other nationalities. Formal oversight is lax, to put it mildly. Many are retired from elite units such as the British Special Air Service or the U.S. Special Forces. According to a report in The Economist, a former British official who now heads a trade association for private military companies estimates that mercenaries are Britain's largest export to Iraq. Not food, medicine, or construction material—mercenaries.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=267093&mesg_id=267093

edited for spelling :hide:

[bemildred]

2. Then the future is going to be very expensive.

We look to be going the way Rome went.

[Megahurtz]

3. And they Don't Care Who they Kill

as long as they get big $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

Sick. :puke:

[Dhalgren]

4. So that would put "Coalition" forces at well over 200,000, maybe close to 250.

Even with that number the occupiers can't control the security? Time to get the hell out of Iraq...

[Javaman]

6. Got to remember, mercs are only bound to the dollar not to the U.S. Government...

and those same mercs work for the corps, not the U.S.

The last thing they want is peace. They get big bucks to protect their corporate lords. As long as the violence lasts they are happy.

[Javaman]

5. Took the words right out of my mouth. Blackwater is not far behind. nt

[cyberpj]

7. Because they are not held accountable like the military - Bush laws made this true.

They can literally get away with murder.

[leveymg]

8. Actually, they are covered by the UCMJ - recent revisoin in law.

But, no one seems to be keeping track of how many mercs are actually tried by U.S. military courts. Not many, I'm sure.

[cyberpj]

9. Thanks. I didn't realize it was slipped into the spending bill. Now check this part out:

Christopher Anders, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said he understands the desire to hold contractors accountable but feels the legislation was crafted so broadly that it could have negative consequences.

"Soldiers subject themselves to a different system of criminal justice. That's a decision that's made by everyone who enlists," Anders said. "There may be some logic in applying military standards to civilian military contractors who are taking up arms. But it's a whole different thing when others are swept up."

snip...

"...attempting to hold civilians to the same standards as U.S. troops could be a messy process. It is also likely to raise constitutional challenges: Civilians prosecuted in military court don't receive a grand jury hearing and are ultimately tried by members of the military, rather than by a jury of their peers. The Supreme Court has struck down civilian convictions under military law, and no conviction of a civilian under the UCMJ has been upheld in more than half a century."

(I wonder: Could this be used to support Bush's military trials of prisoners?)

another snip...

"This looks good on the surface, but it creates far more problems than it solves," said Stan Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council, a trade group that represents contractors. "This is a provision that has dramatic impact and deserved far more discussion than it got."

In fact, the provision sparked virtually no debate last year when Graham had it written into the defense spending bill for 2007. The change was easy to miss: It involved adding just five words to a massive bill. The bill was signed into law by President Bush.

more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400906_pf.html

[cosmicdot]

10. another bonus for Pug Winokur

DynCorp = Pug Winokur (on Board of Directors when enron was exposed)

~various snips~

Herbert "Pug" Winokur, a longtime member of the Council on Foreign Relations, is a veteran Washington and Wall Street insider, intimately tied to military and intelligence hawks, wealthy elites and the Bush oligarchy. In addition to his key facilitator/enforcer role at Enron, Winokur is the CEO of the private Capricorn Holdings. Capricorn is the lead investor of DynCorp, and Winokur (who was the chairman of DynCorp's board of directors from 1987 to 1997) remains a DynCorp board member and chair of its compensation committee.

http://www.apfn.org/enron/tracking_winokur.htm

Since the late 1990s, Winokur has been on the Board of Directors of the Harvard Endowment Fund. Harvard, the alma mater of George W. Bush, has long been connected to Republicans and the agenda of the Bush family. (Harken Energy investment)

Few people in America understand the history and role of Pug Winokur better than Catherine Austin Fitts, former Assistant Secretary of Housing under the first Bush administration and former Republican fundraiser. Fitts butted heads with Winokur and other members of the Bush elite over her attempts to clean up the massive fraud associated with the savings and loan, BCCI, Iran-Contra and HUD pirating.

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it would be cheaper to pay back Pug by cutting him a direct check ... lives might be saved, too

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Winokur was also on the Board of Directors of Harvard Endowment Fund,
which purchased 50 percent of NHP, making the prestigious Harvard a
prototypical, but very low-profile, slum landlord. (See Bushwhacked:
HUD Fraud, Spooks and the Slumlords of Harvard")

It should also be noted that George Bush Jr. attended Harvard Business
School. Later, after Bush joined Harken Energy Corp and became a director,
the largest stock position and seat on the board was acquired by Harvard
Management Co.

Ironically, from 1988 to 1997, Winokur was also the Chairman and CEO of
DynCorp, one of the government's largest contractors in data acquisition
and management.

Since DynCorp had a contract from the Department of Justice, Winokur
would have profited from the DoJ Asset Seizure Program, as well as HUD's
Operation Safe Home seizures which targeted low-income tenants and
mortgage holders in the inner cities.

http://www.apfn.org/enron/winokur2.htm

http://www.newsmakingnews.com/catharvardpugdd.htm


the corruption just keeps on rolling