A
allgrownup
Guest
Top Story: The Drug War Is Politics By Other Means: Blackwater Gets Billions to Fight Narco-Terorism.
(Contractors take on expanded role in drug war) that the Pentagon has given five defense contractors a contract worth up to $15 billion over the next five years to provide support in global counter-narcotics operations. Govexec says that the contract illustrates the extent to which the Defense Department is relying on contractors to perform critical missions while combat forces are stretched thin by operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yes, it does that, but it does something else which the blindness of the prohibitionist paradigm keeps even the anti-war movement from seeing.
I just loved this sentence: In response to specific task orders issued under the indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract, companies will develop and deploy new surveillance technologies, train and equip foreign security forces and provide key administrative, logistical and operational support to Defense and other agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration.
According to Govexec the report also says, The contractor shall provide security and related services in support of [counter-narcoterrorism and] related missions to include, but not limited to, intelligence, medical, logistics, canine services, surveillance, counter-surveillance, aerial over-watch, security advisory, etc. The services may be incidental to other activities (i.e., training programs, construction, etc.) or the primary purpose of the [task order] "
Now isnt it nice to know that private companies have greater expertise in these areas than the government agencies that have supposedly been doing this sort of thing for decades??
It is somewhat reassuring that According to the work statement provided to bidders, the vast majority of the drive will be conducted overseas.
However, heavily armed mercenaries from one of the contractors, Blackwater, were hired by the Bush Administration to police New Orleans in the post-Katrina chaos. (Well, at least he did something!)
Oddly, while the report mentions the obvious situation in Afghanistan, it also requires the contractor to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support in Trans-Saharan Africa by identifying the best platform and sensor suite; designing, building, operating and maintaining a base of operations; and providing various analytical reports.
Trans-Saharan Africa??
It may be that the already desperate situation in Sub-Saharan Africa is about to get much worse if that is possible as the routes from South America to Europe move through these kleptocracies. They have inevitably fallen prey to the joys of bribery and coercion offered by the DEA and the UN narks.
Space Narks?
Govexec says, While contractors have long supported federal counternarcotics programs, the scope of requirements in the contract issued last month is new. In late February 2006, Space and Missile Defense Command issued a "sources sought" document seeking information from industry about the support that contractors could provide for the counter-drug mission.
Just last year the contracts were believed to be limited to $500 million to $750 million per year over five years
As the work statement in the request noted: "Due to the rapid adaptability of the counter-narcoterrorist threat, special federal government spending authorities are available to the [deputy assistant secretary of Defense for counter-narcoterrorism]."
As noted, one of the contractors is the privately owned Blackwater, which is a major provider of contract services in Iraq. The SourceWatch website from the Center for Media and Democracy describes Blackwater in rather ominous terms. However, even they do not mention its role in the drug war.
According to the Baltimore Sun, another lucky recipient of these billions is the Annapolis-based ARINC, which is being acquired by the Carlyle Group, a Washington-based private equity firm with close ties to the Bush family.
For Source Watch on Carlyle
In 2001, the Guardian reported, Last year, George Bush Sr and John Major travelled to Riyadh to talk with senior Saudi businessmen. In September 2000, Carlyle hired speakers including Colin Powell and AOL Time Warner chair Steve Case to address an extravagant party at Washington's Monarch Hotel. Months later, Major joined James Baker for a function at the Lanesborough Hotel in London, to explain the Florida election controversy to the wealthy attendees.
Since then, Carlyle has grown enormously in wealth and power, but the real concern here is the privatization of the military and militarization of law enforcement.
I suspect that this report will be largely ignored by the anti-war left, but what is happening here is much more dangerous to our freedom than what is happening in Iraq.
This $15 billion is just one more example of the government buying very powerful constituencies for the Drug War.
(Contractors take on expanded role in drug war) that the Pentagon has given five defense contractors a contract worth up to $15 billion over the next five years to provide support in global counter-narcotics operations. Govexec says that the contract illustrates the extent to which the Defense Department is relying on contractors to perform critical missions while combat forces are stretched thin by operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yes, it does that, but it does something else which the blindness of the prohibitionist paradigm keeps even the anti-war movement from seeing.
I just loved this sentence: In response to specific task orders issued under the indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract, companies will develop and deploy new surveillance technologies, train and equip foreign security forces and provide key administrative, logistical and operational support to Defense and other agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration.
According to Govexec the report also says, The contractor shall provide security and related services in support of [counter-narcoterrorism and] related missions to include, but not limited to, intelligence, medical, logistics, canine services, surveillance, counter-surveillance, aerial over-watch, security advisory, etc. The services may be incidental to other activities (i.e., training programs, construction, etc.) or the primary purpose of the [task order] "
Now isnt it nice to know that private companies have greater expertise in these areas than the government agencies that have supposedly been doing this sort of thing for decades??
It is somewhat reassuring that According to the work statement provided to bidders, the vast majority of the drive will be conducted overseas.
However, heavily armed mercenaries from one of the contractors, Blackwater, were hired by the Bush Administration to police New Orleans in the post-Katrina chaos. (Well, at least he did something!)
Oddly, while the report mentions the obvious situation in Afghanistan, it also requires the contractor to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support in Trans-Saharan Africa by identifying the best platform and sensor suite; designing, building, operating and maintaining a base of operations; and providing various analytical reports.
Trans-Saharan Africa??
It may be that the already desperate situation in Sub-Saharan Africa is about to get much worse if that is possible as the routes from South America to Europe move through these kleptocracies. They have inevitably fallen prey to the joys of bribery and coercion offered by the DEA and the UN narks.
Space Narks?
Govexec says, While contractors have long supported federal counternarcotics programs, the scope of requirements in the contract issued last month is new. In late February 2006, Space and Missile Defense Command issued a "sources sought" document seeking information from industry about the support that contractors could provide for the counter-drug mission.
Just last year the contracts were believed to be limited to $500 million to $750 million per year over five years
As the work statement in the request noted: "Due to the rapid adaptability of the counter-narcoterrorist threat, special federal government spending authorities are available to the [deputy assistant secretary of Defense for counter-narcoterrorism]."
As noted, one of the contractors is the privately owned Blackwater, which is a major provider of contract services in Iraq. The SourceWatch website from the Center for Media and Democracy describes Blackwater in rather ominous terms. However, even they do not mention its role in the drug war.
According to the Baltimore Sun, another lucky recipient of these billions is the Annapolis-based ARINC, which is being acquired by the Carlyle Group, a Washington-based private equity firm with close ties to the Bush family.
For Source Watch on Carlyle
In 2001, the Guardian reported, Last year, George Bush Sr and John Major travelled to Riyadh to talk with senior Saudi businessmen. In September 2000, Carlyle hired speakers including Colin Powell and AOL Time Warner chair Steve Case to address an extravagant party at Washington's Monarch Hotel. Months later, Major joined James Baker for a function at the Lanesborough Hotel in London, to explain the Florida election controversy to the wealthy attendees.
Since then, Carlyle has grown enormously in wealth and power, but the real concern here is the privatization of the military and militarization of law enforcement.
I suspect that this report will be largely ignored by the anti-war left, but what is happening here is much more dangerous to our freedom than what is happening in Iraq.
This $15 billion is just one more example of the government buying very powerful constituencies for the Drug War.
