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Mercenaries for Darfur
July 29, 2008; Page A15
When Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg announced a new antismoking campaign the other day, they put their money in line with their mouths. The former Microsoft chairman and the mayor of New York together pledged $500 million to target what Mr. Gates called "one of the greatest health challenges facing developing countries."
The same day they were announcing their campaign, the president of Sudan was on a visit to Darfur. Presumably it was his way of responding to news that the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court is seeking an arrest warrant against him on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Yet Omar al-Bashir did not appear to be a troubled man.
At one rally, the AP reports, he broke into a little dance -- and state television ran footage of supporters "waving banners reading 'No! No! to the prosecutor!' and 'We are with you, al-Bashir!'"
Mr. Bashir's visit to Darfur is a good reminder that for much of the developing world, and especially for the people of Africa, the gravest health threat does not come from Philip Morris. As the headlines from the Sudan and Zimbabwe illustrate, the gravest health threat typically comes from a combination of murderous government and Western powers unwilling to use their force to stop them.
Oh, Darfur gets plenty of news coverage from sympathetic reporters sickened by the carnage and devastation they have seen. What the people of Darfur do not get is an armed force capable of taking on the Janjaweed -- a horse-mounted militia. The Janjaweed has murdered men, gang-raped women, beaten children to death, and left poisoned wells and burnt-down villages in its wake. All this Mr. Bashir encourages and supports to help maintain his grip over Darfur.
Enter Erik Prince, the chairman and CEO of Blackwater Worldwide. Yes, that Blackwater. Most of the attention the company has attracted has been for its security work in protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq. But much more of their work is training: from border and narcotics police in Afghanistan to police and maritime forces in countries ranging from the United States and Japan, to nations in Africa and South America.
Mr. Prince says that the 9,000 or so African Union soldiers in Darfur, as part of the United Nations peacekeeping force, are a good start. But he says that to be effective they need better training, communications and equipment. That is more or less the same message from a report released yesterday by the Darfur Consortium, a coalition of 50 African-based and Africa-focused NGOs. "One year ago the U.N. Security Council stood unanimous and promised Darfurians the strongest and largest protection force ever," says a coalition spokesman. "Today that force is just over a third deployed, lacks even the most basic equipment and is unable to protect itself let alone civilians."
Mr. Prince has a remedy. He believes that with 250 or so professionals, Blackwater can transform about a thousand of the African Union soldiers into an elite and highly mobile force. This force would also be equipped with helicopters and the kind of small planes that missionaries use in this part of the world. It would be cheaper than the hundreds of millions we are spending to set up a larger AU/U.N. force. And he says he'd do it at cost.
Blackwater would not do the fighting. Its people would serve as advisers, mechanics and pilots. Aid workers and villagers would be equipped with satellite telephones that include Global Positioning Systems. When they call in, the troops would respond.
"I'm so sick of hearing that nothing can be done," he says. "The Janjaweed is a truly unfettered bully. No one has stood up to them. If they were met by a mobile quick reaction force of African Union soldiers, the Janjaweed would quickly learn their habits were not sustainable." And to ensure accountability, he says, the U.S. could send 25 military officers to observe how Blackwater is doing and serve as liaisons.
At this moment, the U.N. is again debating a resolution on Darfur. Others are still hoping for a boycott of next month's Summer Olympics, hoping to pressure Beijing to pressure Mr. Bashir, who supplies the Chinese with a healthy percentage of their oil. Still others are working to tighten sanctions.
But nothing appears to have had much of an effect on Mr. Bashir's behavior. And if we are honest with ourselves, nobody really expects any of this activity ever will.
Then again, that's the point: Strongly worded resolutions, sanctions and boycotts are generally what you do in place of decisive action. I understand that the whole idea of Blackwater helicopters flying over Darfur probably horrifies many of the same people frustrated by Mr. Bashir's ability to game the system. But it's at least worth wondering what that same Blackwater helo might look like to a defenseless Darfur mother and her daughters lying in fear of a Janjaweed attack.
Algo que deberian tener en cuenta en nuestro Ministerio de Defensa, no sería nada raro ver helicópteros de INAER trabajando en apoyo de nuestras unidades, quizás así las QRF no tardarían seis horas en llegar donde les haga falta, ya que habría al menos un par de helicópteros para transportar un equipo FAC y tiradores.Forces may have to rent helicopters
By Kim Sengupta
Thursday, 31 July 2008
British forces are so short of helicopters in Afghanistan and Iraq that they are considering renting them from other countries, or even from the controversial US security contractor Blackwater.
As a roadside bomb in Afghanistan's Helmand province claimed the life of another UK paratrooper, The Independent has learnt that the Ministry of Defence will hold a crisis meeting at 5pm today to discuss leasing helicopters from former Warsaw Pact countries as well as commercial companies.
Chaired by the Defence Secretary Des Browne, the summit will be attended by senior military and government personnel who will be expected to solve the acute helicopter shortage.
Nato, but not Britain directly, is believed to be negotiating with Blackwater, which has come under fierce criticism from the Iraqi government and the US Congress after 17 civilians were shot dead in Baghdad last year. Another option being explored by the MoD is leasing Cougar helicopters from oil companies involved in offshore production.
Two more soldiers were killed this week in Helmand, bringing the British death toll in Afghanistan to 114, with 340 injured. The vast majority of casualties in a recent sharp rise have been caused by roadside bombs and suicide bombers. Soldiers are forced to travel by road because of the lack of helicopters.
Analysts point out that in South Armagh in the early 1980s the prevalence of IRA roadside bombs caused all movements by the British military to be undertaken by helicopter – 70 aircraft were supplied. Helmand, which is six times bigger than Northern Ireland, has just 16 passenger helicopters.
The British force in Helmand is supported by eight Chinooks (up to 40 passengers) and four Royal Navy Sea Kings (up to 10). Four Army Air Corps Lynx helicopters are also based in Helmand, but cannot fly between 11am and 11pm in the summer, the traditional fighting season, because of the effect the heat has on their engines. There are also eight Apache gunships, but they cannot carry passengers. When the USSR occupied Afghanistan it had 1,000 helicopters to support and supply its troops.
Today's summit was ordered by Mr Browne, who is said to be "very aware" of the problem and wants answers before the summer holidays. He has also said he wants urgent action. A senior military officer said: "The problem with helicopters is something we need to address and we are grateful the Secretary of State is taking it seriously. We can say it is not purely a UK problem and other Nato countries in Afghanistan should contribute more. But in the meantime it is British soldiers who are dying."
Tony Blair promised two years ago that commanders on the ground would be given any "equipment, armoured vehicles for example, more helicopters" that they wanted. Yet cost-cutting has forced the Army Air Corps to plan the closure of a Territorial Army regiment, grounding 22 Gazelle helicopters and 78 pilots. Meanwhile, eight Chinook helicopters ordered from Boeing and destined for special forces lie idle in hangars in south-east England after the RAF found that they were airworthy only above 500ft and in clear conditions. It has taken Boeing and the MoD five years to come up with a solution. The Chinooks will enter service in 2011 at an additional cost of £250m.
Today's MoD meeting takes place as the 3 Commando Brigade, led by the Royal Navy's Marines, took part in their final exercise before departing for Helmand. The troops will raise the total of British forces in Afghanistan to more than 8,000, the highest ever number in the country, and almost double the size of the force now in Iraq.
Brigadier Buster Howes, Commander of the 3 Commando, said: "If they offer me more helicopters would I take them, of course I would." However, he said that the resources available at present would be adequate for him to carry out his mission.
Brigadier Howes said: "Is Helmand a dangerous place? Of course it is, the fatalities prove that is the case. Are we aware of that? Yes of course we are. Are the people going out in this brigade deterred by this? No they are not."
Lawmakers question State’s reliance on private security firms
By ELISE CASTELLI
July 30, 2008
Senators are raising new questions about the State Department’s reliance on private security contractors in Iraq following a decision by Blackwater to move away from security contracting.
“Blackwater’s decision highlights longstanding concerns about the wisdom of relying so heavily on security contractors to perform overseas personnel protection missions,” Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and John Kerry, D-Mass., wrote in a July 30 letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
State officials have previously said the department’s Diplomatic Security Service isn’t large enough to meet all of the department’s needs without contractors.
Last week, Blackwater officials told the Associated Press that security contracting, once half the company’s business, currently accounts for 30 percent of its revenue. Gary Jackson, Blackwater president, told AP he wouldn’t mind seeing security contracting account for less than 2 percent of revenue in the long term, as the company works to grow its aviation, training and logistics business.
Given these intentions, the senators want to know whether State has been assured Blackwater will fulfill its recently renewed multimillion-dollar security contract. They also want to know what the department plans to do to shore up its Diplomatic Security Service and lessen its reliance on private security contractors.
They cite recent news reports that quote State officials as saying the other two private security contractors providing services under State’s Worldwide Personnel Protective Services contract would be unable to take on Blackwater’s work if the company pulled out.
Blackwater doesn’t plan to abolish any services the company is providing, company spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said.
Fuente: El Confidencial DigitalObama contrató a mercenarios de BlackWater, empresa a la que ha criticado públicamente, para que se encargaran de su seguridad en su gira por Afganistán e Irak
El gabinete del candidato a la Casa Blanca, Barak Obama, echó mano de BlackWater, la polémica empresa estadounidense de seguridad, para que garantizase la seguridad del demócrata durante su gira por Oriente Medio.
Barak Obama se ha manifestado en muchas ocasiones en contra de los contratistas de seguridad, a los que calificó de “mercenarios”. Sin embargo, el demócrata decidió poner su seguridad en manos de BlackWater durante su gira por Irak y Afganistán.
El primer candidato afroamericano a la Casa Blanca aseguraba hace meses en una entrevista que la estancia de Estados Unidos en Irak y Afganistán no puede depender de una empresa privada, ya que ese papel le pertenece exclusivamente al Ejército. Sino –aseguraba Obama- “estaríamos ante la privatización de nuestro aparato militar, uno de los pilares de nuestra nación”.
Esta empresa, según algunos estudios realizados por periodistas norteamericanos, cuenta con 20.000 soldados a sueldo y miles de millones de dólares en material militar. Dispone en total de cerca de medio centenar de aviones y helicópteros.
Hoy en día están presentes en las principales zonas ‘calientes’ del planeta, como Afganistán, Irak, Israel o Pakistán. Allí ofrecen servicios de escolta, intervención rápida u otras operaciones como logística o comunicaciones.
En BlackWater trabajan e xmilitares estadounidenses, así como agentes del servicio de inteligencia –CIA, Agencia de Seguridad Nacional- y antiguos funcionarios del Pentágono.
En 2007, la compañía se vio involucrada en un grave incidente en Irak, cuando un grupo de soldados de BlackWater abrió fuego contra un grupo de civiles matando a dieciséis de ellos, entre los que se encontraba un niño de ocho años.
Obama ha sido claro en sus referencias a la compañía de soldados a sueldo: si llega a presidente, prohibirá cualquier operación armada de este tipo de empresas tanto en el interior como en el exterior de Estados Unidos.
BlackWater y la administración Bush han sellado muchos acuerdos desde que comenzase la operación denominada ‘Libertad Duradera’, la primera de las guerras contra las redes del terrorismo islamista.
De hecho, una de las últimas decisiones que tomó Paul Bremer como administrador provisional de Irak tras la guerra fue firmar la orden 17, que libraba a empresas como BlackWater de responder ante las leyes iraquíes por cualquier delito, incluyendo el homicidio.
