Brian Ross at ABC has aired the results of his investigation into the use of alleged mercenaries by the United States. I was interviewed on the story, though I was obviously not at liberty to discuss it before it aired yesterday. Ross found evidence that private contractors were being used in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq for combat missions — a role that raises very disturbing legal and policy questions.
The ABC storyis based on four current and former U.S. military and intelligence officers. The New York Times has also reported that raids against Iraqi insurgents were conducted “almost nightly” between 2004 and 2006, and “the operations became so routine that the lines supposedly dividing the Central Intelligence Agency, the military and Blackwater became blurred.”
Congress has historically moved against the use of private contractors for such purposes. The Defense Department bars the use of private security contractors (PSCs) for combat operations. In the FY2008 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congress required full reporting on the use and weaponry of PSCs. Such contractors have been involved in controversial shootings such as the shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians at a Baghdad traffic circle in Nisoor Square by Blackwater employees.
The debate over PSCs has been over their use in combat areas, not just their use in combat — a role restricted for our regular forces. However, even their use in combat areas is viewed as inimical by military professionals. The executive summary for the U.S. Naval Academy’s 9th Annual McCain Conference on Ethics and Military Leadership stated this position recently:
We therefore conclude that contractors should not be deployed as security guards, sentries, or even prison guards within combat areas. APSCs should be restricted to appropriate support functions and those geographic areas where the rule of law prevails. In irregular warfare (IW) environments, where civilian cooperation is crucial, this restriction is both ethically and
strategically necessary.
This, however, is not a new position. Congress moved against the use of the Pinkerton Detective Agency after abuses found in crackdown against union organizers. The Anti-Pinkerton Act of 1893 (5 U.S.C. § 3108) barred the government from using private police companies and courts in cases like United States ex rel. Weinberger v. Equifax, 557 F.2d 456, 462 (5th Cir. 1977,) have interpreted this law as barring mercenary contracts. However, the government has blurred the line in Iraq and Afghanistan by defining companies like Blackwater as “guards” and security staff who are allowed to use lethal force in self-defense. See 71 Fed. Reg. 34826.
The CIA has always worked on the principle that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. However, this may have gone too far. As I stated to ABC, the descriptions given by its sources indicate the use of private contractors in clear combat operations. That would, in my opinion, raise serious legal questions.
The New York Times is also reporting that contracts with Blackwater have been cancelled and that there has been significant complaints about the work of a company called Xe Services, which was run by a division of the company called Blackwater Select.
The Pentagon has denied the use of contractors in combat missions despite the ABC sources. It, however, has refused to discuss the use of such private soldiers in the Vibrant Fury operation in 2006.
The use of mercenaries by the United States could have terrible consequences. Such soldiers are not covered by such things as the Geneva conventions and would have little protection if captured. Moreover, regular soldiers could be treated as mercenaries when captured if we blur the distinction. Finally, there was once a robust market for mercenaries that the United States played a major role in shutting down. If we are seen as now employing mercenaries, it could encourage other nations to expand their own use of such private soldiers.
For the video of the segment, click here.
For the Xe story, click here.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8437092.stm
Yep.
Letting Xe/Blackwater off the hook is also absolutely moronic from a foreign policy/repairing Iraq standpoint. I’m betting the Diplomatic Corps professionals – what few are left after they jumped ship rather than obey the Traitor Bush – are spitting nails over this.
Dr. Gerson Moreno-Riano on Regent University’s
Government Camp 2009’s visit to Xe:
“But we are all impressed with their desire for excellence, effectiveness, and respect for law.”
“We hear gun fire everywhere and see military and law enforcement personnel throughout.”
http://govcamp.blogspot.com/2009/07/our-arrival-to-xe-blackwater.html
And then we have some of the others: Crescent Security, Triple Canopy, DynCorp, Tiger Swan, Armor Group (a British Co.?)
And I’m wondering where they do their “field training”…
We’re all in trouble and I’ll just keep saying it, but enough for today.
Parts 1 (and 2) of Jeremy Scahill’s debates “on Al Jazeera’s Riz Kahn Show with Dov Zakheim, former Bush Vulcan, and top executive at military and intelligence contractor giant Booz Allen.”
http://rebelreports.com/
What follows is an old article and a cheery one at that.
Published on Sunday, June 3, 2007 by the Philadelphia Inquirer
What If Our Mercenaries Turn On Us?
by Chris Hedges
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/03/1638
” ‘It cannot happen here’ is always wrong,” the philosopher Karl Popper wrote. “A dictatorship can happen anywhere.” (from the article)
So I’ll head out to an evening caroling party, eat “finger foods”, make small-talk, smile and try to pretend that we’re not headed where it seems we’re headed as a country.
And once again:
“It isn’t the rebels
who cause the troubles of the world,
it’s the troubles
that cause the rebels.”
— Carl Oglesby, Students for a Democratic Society
I guess that I’d better be careful about quoting Oglesby, lest someone mistake what is merely an exercise in free speech for some something more sinister, which it isn’t.
And also, once again, thank you to the bloggers here who continue to offer up hope and a sense that all-may-yet-be-well.
This is the latest info. I am unable to cut and paste text, but here is the link:
http://rebelreports.com/
Stunning Statistics About the War Every American Should Know
Contrary to popular belief, the US actually has 189,000 personnel on the ground in Afghanistan right now—and that number is quickly rising.
by Jeremy Scahill (Posted on his blog Rebel Reports, 12/17/2009)
Excerpt:
A hearing in Sen. Claire McCaskill’s Contract Oversight subcommittee on contracting in Afghanistan has highlighted some important statistics that provide a window into the extent to which the Obama administration has picked up the Bush-era war privatization baton and sprinted with it. Overall, contractors now comprise a whopping 69% of the Department of Defense’s total workforce, “the highest ratio of contractors to military personnel in US history.” That’s not in one war zone—that’s the Pentagon in its entirety.
In Afghanistan, the Obama administration blows the Bush administration out of the privatized water. According to a memo [PDF] released by McCaskill’s staff, “From June 2009 to September 2009, there was a 40% increase in Defense Department contractors in Afghanistan. During the same period, the number of armed private security contractors working for the Defense Department in Afghanistan doubled, increasing from approximately 5,000 to more than 10,000.”
At present, there are 104,000 Department of Defense contractors in Afghanistan. According to a report this week from the Congressional Research Service, as a result of the coming surge of 30,000 troops in Afghanistan, there may be up to 56,000 additional contractors deployed. But here is another group of contractors that often goes unmentioned: 3,600 State Department contractors and 14,000 USAID contractors. That means that the current total US force in Afghanistan is approximately 189,000 personnel (68,000 US troops and 121,000 contractors). And remember, that’s right now. And that, according to McCaskill, is a conservative estimate. A year from now, we will likely see more than 220,000 US-funded personnel on the ground in Afghanistan.
http://rebelreports.com/post/287929742/stunning-statistics-about-the-war-every-american-should
BIL–
If only we could get laws passed to legalize drugs that are now illegal, we could open a chain of opium dens for the politically alienated. The world could be going to “pot”–but we wouldn’t care anymore.
Elaine,
Might I suggest Frangelico or Tuaca. Although based on some news days (especially as of late), perhaps vodka or opium might be more effective as additives.
For the Record–
Sorry I missed that comment of yours. I did read the comment you left at 7:45 am.
This was the part of the article that made me shudder and consider slapping myself upside the head:
“The potential drone vulnerability lies in an unencrypted downlink between the unmanned craft and ground control. The U.S. government has known about the flaw since the U.S. campaign in Bosnia in the 1990s, current and former officials said. But the Pentagon assumed local adversaries wouldn’t know how to exploit it, the officials said.”
So much for military intelligence. Is that an assumption that should have been made by the Pentagon? Sometimes I think I need to put something other than cream and sugar in my coffee in the morning before I read the news.
Elaine, the early bird gets the worm.
For the Record
1, December 17, 2009 at 7:40 am
MORE ON DRONES
From the Wall Street Journal (12/17/2009)
Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones
$26 Software Is Used to Breach Key Weapons in Iraq; Iranian Backing Suspected
By SIOBHAN GORMAN, YOCHI J. DREAZEN and AUGUST COLE
Excerpt:
WASHINGTON — Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations.
Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes’ systems. Shiite fighters in Iraq used software programs such as SkyGrabber — available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet — to regularly capture drone video feeds, according to a person familiar with reports on the matter.
U.S. officials say there is no evidence that militants were able to take control of the drones or otherwise interfere with their flights. Still, the intercepts could give America’s enemies battlefield advantages by removing the element of surprise from certain missions and making it easier for insurgents to determine which roads and buildings are under U.S. surveillance.
The drone intercepts mark the emergence of a shadow cyber war within the U.S.-led conflicts overseas. They also point to a potentially serious vulnerability in Washington’s growing network of unmanned drones, which have become the American weapon of choice in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
**********
Another excerpt:
The potential drone vulnerability lies in an unencrypted downlink between the unmanned craft and ground control. The U.S. government has known about the flaw since the U.S. campaign in Bosnia in the 1990s, current and former officials said. But the Pentagon assumed local adversaries wouldn’t know how to exploit it, the officials said.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126102247889095011.html?mod=yhoofront
On Wednesday 16 December 2009, many milblogs are going silent for the day. Some are choosing to go silent for a longer period of time.
The reason for this is two-fold. First, milblogs are facing an increasingly hostile environment from within the military. While senior leadership has embraced blogging and social media, many field grade officers and senior NCOs do not embrace the concept. From general apathy in not wanting to deal with the issue to outright hositility to it, many commands are not only failing to support such activities, but are aggressively acting against active duty milbloggers, milspouses, and others. The number of such incidents appears to be growing, with milbloggers receiving reprimands, verbal and written, not only for their activities but those of spouses and supporters.
The catalyst has been the treatment of milblogger C.J. Grisham of A Soldier’s Perspective . C.J. has earned accolades and respect, from the White House on down for his honest, and sometimes blunt, discussion of issues — particularly PTSD. In the last few months, C.J. has seen an issue with a local school taken to his command who failed to back him, and has even seen his effort to deal with PTSD, and lead his men in same by example, used against him as a part of this. Ultimately, C.J. has had to sell his blog to help raise funds for his defense in this matter.
An excellent story on the situation with C.J. can be found at Military Times.
http://www.armytimes.com/offduty/technology/offduty_blogger_120809/
Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones
$26 Software Is Used to Breach Key Weapons in Iraq; Iranian Backing Suspected
WASHINGTON — Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations.
Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes’ systems. Shiite fighters in Iraq used software programs such as SkyGrabber — available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet — to regularly capture drone video feeds, according to a person familiar with reports on the matter.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126102247889095011.html
Here’s the NCIS website.
http://www.ncis.navy.mil/
(That took a lot of firefox crashes to get to this post!)
http://www.ncis.navy.mil/linx/steps.html
This is an official U.S. Navy website. You are entering an official U.S. Government system, which may be used only for authorized purposes. Unauthorized modification of any information stored on this system may result in criminal prosecution. The Government may monitor and audit usage of this system, and all persons are hereby notified that use of this system constitutes consent to such monitoring and auditing.
Here’s the link to a video of Scahill’s appearance on MSNBC earlier today:
Afghanistan Escalation Ramps Up Contractor Presence (12/16/2009)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091221/scahill_video2
************
Also from Scahill: Contractors Watching Contractors (The Nation, 12/10/2009)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091221/scahill3
One brief excerpt from Scahill’s article: “Now we have contractors overseeing the oversight of contractors,” said a government oversight official. “It’s like a bad ’80s movie.”
Here’s the NCIS website.
http://www.ncis.navy.mil/
(That took a lot of firefox crashes to get to this post!)
NCIS is the primary law enforcement and counterintelligence arm of the United States Department of the Navy. It works closely with other local, state, federal, and foreign agencies to counter and investigate the most serious crimes: terrorism, espionage, computer intrusion, homicide, rape, child abuse, arson, procurement fraud, and more.
NCIS is the Navy’s primary source of security for the men, women, ships, planes, and resources of America’s seagoing expeditionary forces worldwide.
NCIS’ three strategic priorities are to:
Prevent Terrorism,
Protect Secrets, and
Reduce Crime.
To “For the Record”: I can’t seem to find/access the article “MILITARY POLICE OPERATING AS LOCAL COMMUNITY POLICE OFFICERS…”
For the Record,
NCIS is not part of the military. They are a civilian agency that reports to SECNAV. The Secretary of the Navy is also a civilian. No Posse Comitatus problem here.