Blackwater / Xe / IDS / Academi - R2

[Loopster]

Otro helo por aquí...

[Choco]

La caza de burjas continua:

Fuente: Associated Press http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... gD9EKEJCO0

AP Exclusive: Charges eyed for ex-Blackwater boss

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are considering weapons charges against former executives at Blackwater Worldwide over allegations the private security company illegally stockpiled automatic rifles at its North Carolina headquarters, The Associated Press has learned.

Senior Justice Department officials are reviewing a draft indictment against former president Gary Jackson, former Blackwater general counsel Andrew Howell, and a third man who used to work at the firm's armory, people close to the case told the AP. A decision is not expected until at least next month.

Blackwater has repeatedly been under federal scrutiny — from the FBI to Congress to agencies that have hired the firm. While some of the company's guards have faced charges for their actions overseas, Blackwater's executives have managed to weather a range of investigations.

Any indictment would be unwelcome news at a business trying to rehabilitate its image since a 2007 shooting involving Blackwater guards in Baghdad left 17 people dead. Under a new name, Xe, the company is trying to win Defense Department approval to train police in Afghanistan. The contract could be worth up to $1 billion but has drawn the ire of some in Congress.

The potential charges stem from a raid conducted by federal agents in 2008 that seized 22 weapons, among them 17 AK-47s.

Multiple law enforcement officials familiar with the case said investigators are trying to determine if Blackwater obtained the official letterhead of a local sheriff to create a false justification for buying the guns. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.

Federal law prohibits private parties from buying fully automatic weapons registered after 1986, but does let law enforcement agencies have them.

Xe spokesman Mark Corallo said the company has "fully cooperated with this investigation and we will have no further comment."

Jackson, who left Blackwater along with other executives during a management shake-up last year, said during a brief phone conversation Monday that he wouldn't be able to talk about federal charges and didn't know anything about any that might be looming.

"I haven't heard a single, solitary word," Jackson said before ending the phone call. Attempts to reach Howell for comment Monday were not successful.

In a 2008 interview with the AP, Jackson and other Blackwater executives said the company provided the local Camden County sheriff's office a place to store weapons, calling the gesture a "professional courtesy."

"We gave them a big safe so that they can store their own guns," Jackson said at the time.

Company officials, including both Jackson and Howell, downplayed the raid during the interview. Jackson said some of the 16 uniformed officers who came to serve the warrant were embarrassed by the event and said agents had to stop at Blackwater's front gate to get passes to come onto the company's sprawling campus in northeastern North Carolina.

"As a hypothetical, one would think that, if you were going on a raid, you'd take your Kevlar and your weapon," Howell said to laughter from other executives.

Blackwater, headquartered in Moyock, N.C., changed its name to Xe Services after its security guards were accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians more than two years ago. Those charges were later thrown out of court after a judge found prosecutors mishandled evidence.

In the 2008 North Carolina raid, agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched the armory and seized 22 guns from a vault dedicated to county authorities.

The company signed agreements in 2005 in which Blackwater financed the purchase of 34 automatic weapons for the Camden County sheriff's office. Sheriff Tony Perry became the official owner of the weapons, but Blackwater was allowed to keep most of the guns at its armory.

One of the 2005 agreements viewed later by the AP says the weapons will be kept under "lock and key" and doesn't describe whether Blackwater would use the guns.

At the time of the raid, Blackwater said federal authorities knew about the weapons for years and said investigators got a complete look at the company's cache in 2005 after two employees were fired.

The company also said it was not unusual to store automatic weapons because the company is licensed to sell, provide training on or even manufacture firearms.(El recalcado es mio)

The 2005 agreements give the sheriff's office unlimited access to the weapons, including 17 Romanian AK-47s. Perry said at the time that his department only used the AK-47s in shooting practice at Blackwater and that none of his 19 deputies were qualified to use them.

Baker reported from Raleigh, N.C. Associated Press Writer Matt Apuzzo in Washington contributed to this report.

Esto ya roza el ridículo...

[Endovelicus]

Loopster, por Dios, debes ser la persona que más sabe en España sobre Blackwater/Xe

[Loopster]

Salieron hace unos días en MilitaryPhotos y acto seguido en el Foro FAS...




Por cierto que en MilitaryPhotos alguien comentaba lo ya dicho aquí, que son ya 4 los SuperTucano realizando ejercicios para la Navy

[Loopster]

Conferencia de Erik Prince en Holland, Michigan

Blackwater founder slams big gov't in Mich. speech

HOLLAND, Mich. — Blackwater Worldwide founder Erik Prince said Wednesday his values of hard work and personal responsibility "have gotten me a few detractors along the way, and I'm OK with that."

Prince returned to his hometown of Holland to give a speech criticizing government spending and regulation that drew a standing ovation from more than 700 people. The event, part of the town's annual Tulip Time Festival, had to be moved to Hope College's basketball arena because of the high demand for tickets.

Holland, about 30 miles west of Grand Rapids, is in Michigan's most reliably Republican county. Home to many residents of Dutch descent, the area is known for its strong Dutch Reformed faith and conservative values.

Although 60 people outside held signs protesting Blackwater's actions in Iraq, many inside said Prince's speech inspired them. They said they were glad to hear his side of unflattering news reports about the North Carolina-based company, now called Xe Services.

Earlier this year, it was reported that the U.S. Justice Department was investigating whether Blackwater tried to bribe Iraqi officials to allow the company to keep working there after a fatal shooting of 17 Iraqis involving Blackwater guards.

GOP state Sen. Wayne Kuipers, who's running for the 2nd Congressional District seat now held by gubernatorial candidate Pete Hoekstra, attended the speech and afterward called the federal investigation "politically motivated."

Several federal investigations of Blackwater began during President George W. Bush's administration. Several former company executives, including its president, were indicted last month on weapons charges in North Carolina's eastern district, which is overseen by a prosecutor appointed during the Bush administration.

Prince stepped away last year from daily operations at the private security company, but still ardently defends it.

"We're an easy target" for liberal critics, he said, dismissing them as "tapeworms."

"Some of the noisiest have based their entire careers on criticizing us," he added.

Prince bashed big government in ways that would have easily roused the crowd at any recent tea party rally.

"The greatest threat to our freedom and prosperity is not al-Qaida, the Taliban, Iran or even China," he said. "It's an idea, the idea that we can spend our way out of our problems without tightening our belt and paring down the very bloated government."

Real estate agent Ken Baron, 67, called the speech "dynamic" and "American."

"It was so well-rooted and a challenge to all," he said.

The protesters, however, criticized Blackwater's role in the war in Iraq and its actions there. One protester was dressed as the Grim Reaper.

Last week, Prince had requested no reporters attend the speech, but festival organizers allowed them to cover the event.

Prince is the son of the late Edgar Prince, who built a fortune in auto supplies and was a longtime benefactor in this small community perched near Lake Michigan.

Y un breve ejemplo de lo pequeño que es el mundo, de los hombres de Blackwater que estuvieron en Najaf (el equipo que protegía a Kosnett y los que llegaron como refuerzos los días 4 y 9), uno de ellos es ahora reclutador del programa XPG, otros dos trabajan en los equipos NIU antinarcóticos en Afganistán, otro es jefe de seguridad del equipo del WPPS en el RC(West) -el nuestro- y el propio Kosnett es Counselor for Political-Military Affairs en Afganistán.

Por no nombrar a los que ahora trabajan como contratistas, instructores e incluso CEOs de varias empresas de formación y PMCs

[tarraco218]

Por no nombrar a los que ahora trabajan como contratistas, instructores e incluso CEOs de varias empresas de formación y PMCs

Sobre las acusaciones de depósito de armas y etc. es muy oportunista en época de crisis. .. además de adversarios políticos. De todas formas la estructura "Holding" de BW diluye mucho responsabilidades y no es presa fácil

[Loopster]

Entrenando en Moyock... curioso que estos tampoco tienen ni idea y enseñan lo de ir al contacto











No llevan el habitual "Intelpage.info" puesto que las ha publicado uno de los instructores de US Training Center.

[GROBER]

PRIMERO UN SALUDO A TODOS

EL QUE ESCRIBE ES UN BOLIVIANO NUEVO EN ESTE SITIO Y ESTOY MUY INTERESADO EN LLENAR MIS CONOCIMIENTOS EN SUGURIDAD,PUESTO QUE TRABAJO EN ESTE CAMPO EN BOLIVIA, NO TENGO UN NIVEL MUY AVANZADO COMO EL DE USTEDES PERO ESTOY DISPUESTO A RECIBIR TODO TIPO DE INFORMACION PARA ELEVAR MIS CONOCIMIENTO YA QUE EN BOLIVIA NO EXISTE O NO TENGO CONOCIMIENTO QUE HAYA UN CENTRO DE ENTRENAMIENTO EN OPERACIONES DE SEGURIDAD YO HE PARTICIPADO EN VARIOS GRUPOS ESPECIALES PERO EN ESTOS NO TE FORMAN SI NO QUE BUSCAN PERSONAS CON FORMACION MILITAR. SI EN LO POSIBLE SE ME DA LA OPORTUNIDAD VIAJAR DONDE SEA NECESARIO MUCHO AGRADECEARIA ME COMUNIQUEN ACERCA DE LOS CURSOS.
ME SUSCRIBI A ESTE SITIO AL INGRESAR A TRABAJAR CON G4S BOLIVIA Y BUSQUE INFORMACION DE ESTA COMPAÑIA Y ENCONTRE EL TEMA ESTE DE BLACKWATER EN IRAK Y BUENO.
UN SALUDO A TODOS

[BRISTOW]

Muy buenas fotos Loopster sobre todo las primeras, en el aire se huele "el savoir faire" de Kyle.

[Loopster]

Pues sí, se nota "el poso" que dejó Kyle, aunque los instructores actuales no son precisamente novatos, de hecho uno de ellos es uno de los instructores originales del curso de Protección en Zonas de Alto Riesgo del USMC, y uno tiradores de competición más premiados de la zona de Carolina del Norte y Virginia.

¿Nadie se ha fijado en que hay una tía en el curso? Y no es una simple aficionada a las armas, su empresa la mandó a Moyock a formarse