Congressman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., as Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, is charged with investigating the adequacy of security at the Benghazi compound prior to the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack.
His wife, Kristi Clemens Rogers was the president and the CEO of the company [Aegis LLC] that was contracted by the State Department to provide that security. ...
#2
Appears to be getting dirtier by the hour. Aegis LLC has, shall we say, a rather coloured history as a Private Military Company [PMC] in Africa and elsewhere. They also have decades long, deeply rooted contacts in the UK defense establishment and yes, you guesse it, Blue Mountain Security.
And yes, we did recently have billions of USD turn up missing at the State Department. Something tells me the Benghazi investigation may soon be slowing to a crawl.
The controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) just passed the U.S. House, and will now head to the upper Senate chamber for further deliberation.
CISPA will allow private sector firms to search personal and sensitive user data of ordinary U.S. residents to identify "threat information," which can then be shared with other opt-in firms and the U.S. government without the need for a court-ordered warrant.
#5
You know, if I was a cynical person, I might be inclined to suspect that our entire government is a cesspool of corruption and thievery. Sort of like a criminal syndicate.
But, can't be, too many checks and balances. Right?
#10
Blue Mountain did not have experience in protecting diplomatic facilities. Based on info provided by the foreign diplo community in Benghazi, there was surprise at Blue Mountain getting the contract; normally it's awarded more experienced firms, especially given the situation on the ground.
Personal conjecture:
The Benghazi consulate contract was short term, too 'small', a stand-alone contract (i.e., separate from the large contract Aegis had,) or a combination thereof. It could have been awarded directly to Blue Mountain (based on any or some the above factors.)
Or - and more likely, the contract was awarded to Aegis LLC and then sub-contracted, something that is done frequently. The reason for subcontracting could also have been any or some of the above factors.
In any case, Blue Mountain got the job, either by contract or sub-contract. Although not having experience in diplomatic facility security, it's not unheard of for a firm to bid on a contract or subcontract(breaking even or at a slight loss,) hoping to build a "record of performance" if it's awarded. Connections could have played a part.
Apparently Blue Mountain pulled its employee(s) prior to the attack. If a contractor breaks off a contract, it's because the contracting body (State Department in this case) did not hold up its end of the work-performance statement/contract, Aegis did not hold up its end as contractor administrator, a combination of the two, or Blue Mountain concluded that the risk to its personnel or that performing the work the contract itself required was untenable and was willing to deal with the legal after-effects.
The other possibility was that Blue Mountain was ordered off. The possibles for that are contract non-performance, contract dispute, cancellation of the contract, or being told to go on hiatus.
It's likely we won't know, especially if Blue Mountain signed an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) for whatever reason.
#11
Your "conjecture" is probably closer to the facts than may be realized. Having a major player like Aegis on the ground in Benghazi would have instantly created a flag. Better a small, little know footprint like Blue Mountain.
My curiosity peaked when the Blue Mountain Program Manager was reported to have rather abruptly departed Benghazi and returned to London. As we have noted here on several occasions, little interest was paid to the Blue Mountain piece by investigators or committees. We may now know why.
Contributing factors to the Blue Mountain Program Manger's departure might have been a pending arms deal cock-up, and a need to clear the drop zone prior to everything going seriously to hell. Ambassador Steven's hapless appearance in Benghazi may have been a last ditch attempt at saving the project.
The involvement of dodgy characters like old Sandline International CEO Lt. Col. Tim Spicer and Aegis Defense Services, should provide an alert whenever they appear. It has been said in some circles, that "where Tim goes, trouble generally follows."
A complete laying of Benghazi cards on the table may have rather inconvenient consequences for not only the current regime, but our Albion cousins as well.
#13
Better a small, little know footprint like Blue Mountain.
I thought about that, especially given that the Benghazi consulate was officially designated in the Congressional report as a "temporary consulate". That in itself is interesting - the ambassador was ostensibly in town to dedicate a new computer/media area at that consulate for use by Libyan nationals. Not exactly something that's usually added to a temporary facility. Then again, it is "government."
My curiosity peaked when the Blue Mountain Program Manager was reported to have rather abruptly departed Benghazi and returned to London
Also interesting are reports that the program manager had no experience with facility security; his background was in the personal-protection/bodyguard field.
As I said, we might not ever know, especially if Blue Mountain signed an NDA with the UK-based Aegis.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
