Terrorism Inc.
Government Inc. just loves this URL: Terrorism.com.
Those in the know, uh, know that's the link to the Terrorism Research Center, a part of the universe of companies owned by Blackwater founder Erik Prince.
The address is so stark. Elegant. No question what the business is, at least broadly speaking.
Anyway, Government Inc. was sifting through new contracts and saw that Canada had given the Arlington company a sole source contract worth about $848,000. Terrorism Research will be working to help counter insurgency forces perform better in Afghanistan.
This according to Canada's Globe And Mail:
"The move was announced yesterday, after weeks of mounting attacks by the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, including Kandahar province, where Canadian soldiers are fighting, and the security situation has markedly worsened.
"'Traditionally, cultural awareness training was a brief introduction to the language, culture, customs and food. This training, while providing basic instruction in these areas, did not provide the operational relevance required to conduct [counterinsurgency warfare],' a Canadian government contract notice posted yesterday says."
By Robert O'Harrow |
August 27, 2008; 11:18 AM ET
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Posted by: CarmanK | August 28, 2008 12:08 PM
Many years ago, a President who had been a WW II Supreme Allied Commander said "Beware the military-industrial complex", this was one of the things he was referring to. This is replacing DOD/USG employees with contractors whose loyalty oath is not to "Protect and defend the Constitution of the United States", at least not anymore. I am not saying contractors are bad people in any way, what I am saying is that it is the duty and responsibility of the government to do its own work-not farm it out, especially when it cost taxpayers more. Many of these contractors are former USG employees who were forced or allowed to retire and then are re-hired for the same job. In my agency retirement is mandatory at 57 for a large portion of the workforce-who are then rehired as contractors, and as a taxpayer I then get to pay them twice, retirement and now a new salary. Not a smart way to do business.
Posted by: Jim | August 28, 2008 12:28 PM
CarmanK and Jim...take a deep breath and let it out slowly. You are getting upset over nothing. Looks like the TRC is providing cultural training to Canadian forces sent to Afghanistan. What is the big deal? The U.S. government and plenty of others outsource training like this all the time. I've been a recipient of training from contractors, and it was better (most of the time) than what the government provided (if they provided anything!). We aren't talking about the collapse of the empire or any conspiracies here, just a U.S. firm earning honest money providing a training service--nice to see foreign money coming to the U.S. instead of the other way around. This is "much ado about nothing". By the way, I love the URL: Terrorism.com!
Posted by: Pono | August 28, 2008 3:21 PM
This is an interesting article that may shed some light on allegations made about drug use by Blackwater shooters in Iraq and their erratic behavior. This was their "head guy".
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/09/exblackwater-trainer-jail-canada-cocaine-charges
Posted by: marc | September 3, 2008 5:02 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
National Defense is the "sole" responsibility of government. No private contractor should be involved in the "delivery of military services". Everytime I read about Blackwater's activities, I think about Goldfinger/Spector. It is a dangerous precedent to put into private hands: the intelligence, weaponry and trained mercenaries that could have the capacity to overtake an established government.