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| Afghanistan |
| Xe Tied to Secret Raids by the C.I.A. - New York Times |
| 2009-12-11 |
| WASHINGTON -- Private security guards from Blackwater Worldwide participated in some of the C.I.A.'s most sensitive activities -- clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and the transporting of detainees, according to former company employees and intelligence officials. The raids against suspects occurred on an almost nightly basis during the height of the Iraqi insurgency from 2004 to 2006, with Blackwater personnel playing central roles in what company insiders called "snatch and grab" operations, the former employees and current and former intelligence officers said. Several former Blackwater guards said that their involvement in the operations became so routine that the lines supposedly dividing the Central Intelligence Agency, the military and Blackwater became blurred. Instead of simply providing security for C.I.A. officers, they say, Blackwater personnel at times became partners in missions to capture or kill militants in Iraq and Afghanistan, a practice that raises questions about the use of guns for hire on the battlefield. Separately, former Blackwater employees said they helped provide security on some C.I.A. flights transporting detainees in the years after the 2001 terror attacks in the United States. The secret missions illuminate a far deeper relationship between the spy agency and the private security company than government officials had acknowledged. Blackwater's partnership with the C.I.A. has been enormously profitable for the North Carolina-based company, and became even closer after several top agency officials joined Blackwater. "It became a very brotherly relationship," said one former top C.I.A. officer. "There was a feeling that Blackwater eventually became an extension of the agency." Of course the Times paints this with the 'bad brush' when actually it continues to be one of the few success stories of our involvement in the region. More at the link. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #14 Seems they want "Illegal Combatants" out, (If they're American) |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2009-12-11 08:46 |
| #13 And the ANTHRAX WEST NILE SWINE FLU PRE-TEST at PENN STATE? the slaughter of US Students at VIRGINIA TECH? MUMBAI? TOKYO?............@etc. *** cough *** But I digress *** cough ***... |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-12-11 07:03 |
| #12 And the ANTHRAX WEST NILE SWINE FLU PRE-TEST at PENN STATE? the slaughter of US Students at VIRGINIA TECH? MUMBAI? TOKYO?............@etc. *** cough *** But I digress *** cough ***... |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-12-11 07:03 |
| #11 So that sniper A could back up sniper B? Wouldn't have to be terribly accurate, just enough to get sniper A's scope on target. All you would need would be something like a Bluetooth connection and something to do a little math in between to account for the differences in position. Wouldn't want the information to be picked up by the bad guys, though, so maybe a cable would be better in some cases. |
| Posted by: gorb 2009-12-11 05:58 |
| #10 Wouldn't it be useful to show which way the other sniper teams are pointing at? A modern digital compass and tilt sensor (found in new mobiles) could be read and projected over the other sight. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2009-12-11 12:44 |
| #9 The problem with posting videos like this is that every kid on the planet sees these cool-looking armed professionals wearing cool-looking shades shooting cool-looking guns at bad guys, it winds up being more a recruitment tool for special forces than an indictment of Blackwater. |
| Posted by: badanov 2009-12-11 12:41 |
| #8 By George, I found it! |
| Posted by: gorb 2009-12-11 12:14 |
| #7 I don't know if it was Blackwater or not, but there is a video out there that has been posted here before of a bunch of Mahdi Militia folks trying to take over an American facility with some civilians inside. Are you familiar with this? In any case, just a few of these private security guys held off the entire assault through good marksmanship, and I assume the deaths of quite a few bad guys. I am aware that this is highly unusual, if not the only case of something like this happening. But my point was that I didn't hear any whining from anybody or any political party in this case. Now all of a sudden it's boo-hoo-hoo now that the heat is off. How quickly and thoroughly they forget. |
| Posted by: gorb 2009-12-11 12:10 |
| #6 The very few times I have really slapped down someone for their ignorance re Iraq etc have involved Blackwater. Having had my rear protected for 2 years in Iraq by their excellent services, I figured I couldn't stay silent, as I generally do when the jaw-dropping ignorance and moral imbecility that are standard among "educated" coastal types is barfed up by those around me. A bit annoying though, in that I have had to correct several of the better informed people that the security agencies were not "mercenaries", and had the mission of avoiding action or shooting, not engaging in it - which of course is and was correct for most of them. This "blurs the lines" on my distinction, even though I remain correct about the majority of Blackwater teams, I'm sure. And gorb, I know you are right-minded and making a good point here, but it's important to note that there was not a lot of killing involved in Blackwater's protective operations - a slander typically tossed around by the usual suspects (and Iraqis, of course). Sure, there were problems, and incidents, and failures, and problem personnel - but as a percentage of missions run, in the outlandishly difficult circumstances, I think any fair-minded observer would rate the whole thing a great success. Remember, the only "profits" that aren't inherently evil are for making empty-calorie Hollywood entertainment, or make-believe "green" jobs, or participating in the liability |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2009-12-11 11:48 |
| #5 Hope they didn't get this information from an email leak. They wouldn't want to show how hypocritical they are so soon, would they? |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2009-12-11 10:39 |
| #4 It's the NYT's--mouthpiece of the anti-military, anti-sense Progressives and do not reflect most of the country between the leftist coasts. I know kids lining up to join Special Forces with the hope of long-term employment with Xe and their parents are as proud as can be. Most of them assumed this was being done wherever bad guys could be found and are dismayed they didn't get UBL. |
| Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 2009-12-11 09:35 |
| #3 All of those guys are former SF anyway. There's talent there, so why not tap it? I didn't see anyone complaining when some of these folks were killing bad guys by the dozens to protect some US civilian personnel over there. |
| Posted by: gorb 2009-12-11 08:44 |
| #2 I keep saying, Xe needs to go offshore, and they should have done so years ago. In the US, they are as big a target for the Democrats as they were a target for al-Qaeda and the Mehdis in Iraq. They can still keep administrative offices in the US, but their operations should be on their own Caribbean island. The advantages are numerous. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-12-11 08:14 |
| #1 When you want to flush the toilet its nice to have plumbing and knowing WHERE to push the handle. AND A corpse NEVER asks how it got so cold. Do you LIKE that al-Qaeda is DEAD in Iraq and we can sit around the barracks and shine our boots and eat ice cream? Zarquawi IS DEAD, and isnt that nice? How do you suppose people GET to be dead? You arent dead are you.? Good. Good. Thank the nice men and quit complaining that the nice men got a little blood in your sink. It had to be done. You want to do it yourself ?? Here, let me hold the baby and YOU go do it next time. |
| Posted by: Angleton9 2009-12-11 07:36 |