Blackwater Eyes Afghan Contractor Surge

[unhappycamper]

Blackwater Eyes Afghan Contractor Surge
December 21, 2009
Virginian-Pilot

As the United States builds up its military presence in Afghanistan, private contractors are flocking there in even greater numbers. And Xe, the company formerly known as Blackwater, is in the hunt to get a share of the new work.

According to a report last week from the Congressional Research Service, there were about 64,000 uniformed U.S. troops in Afghanistan in September and 104,101 military contractors -- 62 percent of the Defense Department work force there.

The Obama administration's planned deployment of 30,000 more troops in the coming months could require as many as 56,000 more contractors, the report estimated.

Xe, the Moyock, N.C.-based private military company, is already on the ground in Afghanistan despite its controversial history in Iraq, and is in the running for additional contracts.

A company executive faced skeptical questioning Friday at a hearing of the Commission on Wartime Contracting, a bipartisan fact-finding panel created by Congress.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/blackwater-eyes-afghan-contractor-surge.html?wh=news

[dkf]

1. This is all turning my stomach

My disgust know no bounds.

[InvisibleFront]

2. numbers game

I understand the argument. Here is some clarity on the situation.

* There were 64,000 uniformed U.S. troops......this does not include the NATO ISAF (International Special Assistance Force) that includes tens of thousands more multi-national troops.

* 104,101 military contractors.......don't assume that Xe (formerly Blackwater) has that many employees there. The majority of military contractors are in the O&M (Operations and Maintenance) trades for companies like Kellogg, Brown, & Root, Dyncorp International, and Fluor construction with logistic and property management support from sub-contractors such as Agility, GCC, and Honeywell. These companies provide infrastructure support services for military personnel, meaning they build and maintain the military installations in order to free-up military personnel to fight the wars. There is also construction and engineering support from companies like CH2MHill and Red Sea who do preliminary site surveys for new installations, civil engineering, and construction management, up to and including mine-sweeping with D-8 bulldozers. And, these are not all American-owned companies.

* Also included in the military contractor numbers are technical consultants and support staff for operations such as the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) missions. Further, there are contractors who provide training of the new ANP (Afghan National Police) and INP (Iraqi National Police)personnel to integrate them into an organized police force as per the UN procedure of DDR (Disarm, Demobilize, Reintegrate) begun in 2003.

* You also have food and retail service contractors such as AAFES who provides the PX/BX for service members to purchase supplies like soap, toothpaste, socks, and dvds; and, Supreme (who doubles as an O&M company in some circumstances) but manages the DFACs (Dining Facilities) to feed the soldiers.

* And, you have Pizza Hut, Burger King, Subway, KFC, Tim Horton's Coffee, Green Beans Coffee, and others.

* And, of course, there are the Department of State, Department of Defense, the Defense Contract Management Agency, the American Red Cross AFES unit, and still others. To clarify the Red Cross involvement, the AFES (Armed Forces Emergency Services) unit is assigned to implement emergency evacuation of military personnel back to the U.S. in the event of injury or family emergency.

* XE (formerly Blackwater) performs PSD (Private Security Detail) missions for high-profile individuals. Think of it as a bodyguard service. Being a security company, I'm sure they dabble in other things as well.

* Parsons Security provides escorting details as well and they also function as a security force along the oil pipeline in Iraq.

* Triple Canopy is another security detail.

* These security companies DO operate in Afghanistan, but they DO NOT number in the multiple thousands that some folks might think. And, their PRIMARY functions are to support the U.S. military in performing security details that are not justified under their own rules of engagement. In other words, they are the security forces escorting the DOD, DOS, CIA, and Afghan and Iraqi politicians and delegates around so that they do not get killed.

* Before anyone condemns for the sake of condemning, understand the information you receive. I spoke with a Blackwater employee in 2005 who had been in Iraq for 6 months at the time. He entered Iraq from a training class of 25. After 6 months, 18 of the 25 were dead. They are security detail teams protecting diplomats and high-profile targets, and the struggle for stability over here would be much more without them. Because of the way they can operate and although we lose many of them, we lose less soldiers and important members of the new governments because of them.

* Of course contractors make good money to work in war-time environments. They are typically one-year contracts, 99% of them are UN-ARMED, and a percentage of the salary is tax-free. And, because of the support-operations provided by the civilian contractors in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, it has kept the American Government from initiating a Draft. So, anyone from age 18 - 35 who is anti-war might consider this point before quickly condemning civilian service in these environments.

*This is the new world of warfare, and it won't change. It's called the Military Industrial Complex, and authors like Noam Chomsky have covered it for years.

* The new phase of major O&M contracts titled LOGCAP IV is no minor thing, and you can easily anticipate it lasting a minimum of 10 years from 2009. If you think any politician, including the new presidential administration, has the clout to back out of that much money, you are mistaken.