Blackwater tapped foreigners on secret CIA program

WASHINGTON (AP) - When the CIA revived a plan to kill or capture terrorists in 2004, the agency turned to the well-connected security company then known as Blackwater USA.

With Blackwater’s lucrative government security work and contacts arrayed in hot spots around the world, company officials offered the services of foreigners supposedly skilled at tracking terrorists in lawless regions and countries where the CIA had no working relationships with the government.

Blackwater told the CIA that it “could put people on the ground to provide the surveillance and support - all of the things you need to conduct an operation,” a former senior CIA official familiar with the secret program told The Associated Press.

But the CIA’s use of the private contractor as part of its now-abandoned plan to dispatch death squads skirted concerns now re-emerging with recent disclosures about Blackwater’s role.

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Blackwater tapped foreigners on secret CIA program

Do any of you remember the old Mission Impossible television series staring Peter Graves? How about the Mission Impossible movies with Tom Cruise? Surely some of you remember that!

Do you remember what a well trained team of specialists they were? They could speak any language, had intimate knowledge of all the intricacies of ANY area, the clothing, the language, the habits, the culture and every little detailed nuance required to infiltrate enemy territory, up to, and including, masquerading as an official of that enemy, rubber masks and voice patterns done to the point that the guys own family couldn’t even recognize him as being an impostor. You DO remember all that from TV and Hollywood, right?

Well, guess what? Very little, if ANY of that stuff is real. It only exists in the movies. The CIA uses any and every resource at hand in an effort to protect this nation, and Blackwater was one of those valuable resources.

These Super Spies, or, Spooks, just aren’t real. James Bond is a character. ALL Intel agencies use as many local assets as possible. Why? Because local asset blend in to the local terrain. They speak the language. They know the customs. They know who’s who and where it’s all taking place, and if they play their cards right, they can infiltrate the area that OUR Intel guys are needing to take a look at. Then the electronic surveillance takes over.

The former senior CIA official who had knowledge of the program explained that “you wouldn’t want to have American fingerprints on it.”

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Blackwater radio logs contend incoming gunfire

WASHINGTON - Radio logs from a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad contradict U.S. government claims that Blackwater Worldwide security guards were unprovoked when they killed 14 Iraqi civilians.

Five guards face manslaughter and weapons charges for their roles in the shootings. A sixth has pleaded guilty. Prosecutors said the men unleashed a gruesome attack on unarmed Iraqis, including women, children and people trying to escape.

Blackwater communication logs from the Sept. 16, 2007, shooting suggest otherwise. The logs, turned over to prosecutors, describe a hectic eight minutes in which the guards repeatedly reported incoming gunfire from insurgents and Iraqi police. Copies of the documents were obtained by The Associated Press.

Because Blackwater guards were authorized to fire in self-defense, any evidence their convoy was attacked will make it harder for the Justice Department to prove they acted unlawfully.

The logs, which document radio traffic heard by the company’s dispatch center inside the U.S.-controlled Green Zone, show that the Blackwater convoy known as Raven 23 reported taking small arms fire from insurgents within one minute of shutting down traffic in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square.

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Blackwater radio logs contend incoming gunfire

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would bet everything I have on what I believe to be a truth and a fact. These Blackwater contractors did NOT go crazy, they did NOT open fire on *innocent* civilians and they did NOT commit acts of murder upon innocent Iraqis.

These contractors, and our troops face an enemy that is NOT easily identifiable. We are basically fighting a *civilian* army, an insurgency, and they are NOT uniformed. It is damned near impossible to tell who is who, and at the risk of once again being labeled a racist by those that have NEVER been there, in the heat of combat, ALL of these people look the same!

Evidence of fire fight
It’s unclear why Iraqi police would fire on the Blackwater convoy. Prosecutors could argue the police fired because they believed Blackwater was attacking civilians. It also is common for insurgents to dress as Iraqi police or military officials.

And for those that may not know, not only do insurgents dress as Iraqi police, REAL Iraqi police are seriously infiltrated with radical insurgents.

One other fact that has been mentioned in previous stories that bears repeating here is this, the insurgents have, and WILL, hide behind innocent men, women and children when they open fire on OUR troops. It’s called using *human shields*, and it is THE most cowardly act that any cretin could employ.

But if you look at it from the insurgents side, it’s a great PR ploy. If civilians, non-combatants, get killed, and our guys, military or contractors are the ones that did the killing while engaged in a gunfight WITH the insurgents, WE come out looking like the bad guys, and the *innocent freedom fighters* win the PR battle in the Arab world.

There will always be *collateral damage* in combat, it’s the nature of the beast. It is my sincere belief that the Blackwater guys were being fired upon, from this very crowd of *civilians* and supposed Iraqi police. It is my sincere belief that these guys acted in exactly the correct manner with an almost perfect response.

Anyone that would argue otherwise has, as I said, NEVER been there. Never worn the uniform, never led in command and never put their ass on the line for this nation!

IG report says Blackwater may lose license in Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) - An internal State Department report says Blackwater Worldwide may lose its license to work in Iraq and recommends that the agency prepare alternative means to protect its diplomats there.

The 42-page draft report by the State Department’s Inspector General says the department faces “numerous challenges” in dealing with the security situation in Iraq, including the prospect that Blackwater may be barred from the country. The department would have turn to other security arrangements to replace Blackwater, officials said.

The State Department had no immediate comment on the report itself, but deputy spokesman Robert Wood said that after the probe is done, officials would look at “whether the continued use of Blackwater in Iraq is consistent with the U.S. government’s goals and objectives.”

It is not clear how the State Department would replace Blackwater. It relies heavily on private contractors to protect its diplomats in Iraq, as its own security service does not have the manpower or equipment to do so. The report suggests that one way to fill the void would be for the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service to beef up its presence in Iraq.

“The department faces the real possibility that one of its primary Worldwide Personal Protective Services contractors in Iraq - Blackwater (Worldwide) - will not receive a license to continue operating in Iraq,” says the recently completely report.

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IG report says Blackwater may lose license in Iraq

Anyone that has been reading here for ANY length of time knows that I am a HUGE fan of Blackwater Worldwide and their fine organization.

I am laughing my ass off, this is rocket science at it’s very best, al-Maliki and the Iraqis are going to force State to replace Blackwater with another security firm?? Genius, sheer genius I tell you, why didn’t anyone else think of that?? Well, I’ll tell you why.

Every one of those guys that works for Blackwater already has a new job waiting for them with the new company, whoever it may be that will be brought in to replace Blackwater. High speed, low drag, 1st class operators are at a premium on todays market, and make no mistake about it, they are a high value item. There are only so many to go around, really competent and trustworthy ones that is.

You can get hired cannons all day, for a dime a dozen, wannabes that can’t think their way through an episode of ‘Are you Smarter than a 5th grader?’, yeah, those guys, literally, a dime a dozen, the ones you wouldn’t want guarding a bank in your home town. But 1st class professionals are a rare and beautiful thing and worth their weight in gold if they really are good enough to keep you alive.

And again I ask, how many diplomats has Blackwater lost under their watch?? Anyone?? That’s right, NONE!!

It will be quite easy for these guys to slip back in under the noses of the Iraqis and go right back to work after a week or 2 off. They can afford to take that week or 2, but can our diplomats and other officials afford to be without them for that long?? Can they afford to have their personal security compromised over some petty BS like this??

I think not, but that’s something the guys at State will have to decide for themselves the 1st time a diplomatic procession that’s NOT being protected by Blackwater comes under enemy attack.

I can’t wait to hear the survivors screaming about lack of firepower or the operators inability to take effective action.

If there ARE any survivors.