Blackwater / Xe / IDS / Academi - R2

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Entrevista a Erik Prince mañana en la MSNBC, ¿alguna idea de como verla en directo?

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Algunos datos sueltos más:

· El nombre Blackwater USA cambia oficialmente por Blackwater Worlwide, cambio de logo por la garra de oso estilizada incluido.

· La cifra de personal a tiempo completo (empleados) actualmente supera los 550.

· La cifra de contratistas entre las diversas operaciones supera los 1400.

· El contrato más reciente con el DoS es el "Plan México" del que ya hablé con anterioridad, los famosos 15.000.000.000 de $

· El SOCOM ha destinado una célula de coordinación permanente con Blackwater en Afganistán.

· Contratistas asignados al contrato WPPS-II están actualmente en Iraq (+940), Afganistán (+100), Jordania (+50) y Burkina Faso (+50).

· La Task Order 10, el contrato de helicópteros para el DoS que citó Esteban tiempo atrás y que ganó Blackwater, implicará a más de 260 hombres y 40 aeronaves, entre Little Birds, AB412, Blackhawks, S92 y "varias aeronaves de ala fija".

· Un equipo de Blackwater en Afganistán, ajeno al WPPS y al contrato de la DEA *, ha asaltado un centro de otra PMC y ha capturado a un equipo de contratistas de esa compañia (no diremos el nombre por ahora) que el DoS y el Pentágono habían puesto en la lista negra por estafa al Gobierno Federal e implicación en acciones ilegales. La misión la llevaron a cabo con apoyo de la policía afgana y vigilancia de la USAF.

· El monumento a los caídos en Moyock incorpora una pequeña piedra-lápida con el nombre y el callsign de cada contratisto muerto. Son ya 30.




* En Afganistán Blackwater tiene personal del WPPS y del programa de adiestramiento y dirección de una unidad antinarcóticos del Ministerio de Interior. El equipo participante en el asalto ha debido ser uno de los Mobile Security Team.


Editado en el nombre del contrato para aviación del DoS, es Task Order 10, no 100.

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Se me iba olvidando...

Una de las filiales de Blackwater, Greystone Limited, permanece como miembro de IPOA. Esto a priori descartaría una separación "a las malas".

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Blackwater West, instalaciones de Potrero:



Algunos datos sobre las instalaciones que acogerá:

- Instalación de entrenamiento militar de 824 acres (333 Hectáreas), capacidad para 300 estudiantes y 60 instructores.

- 9 campos de tiro para rifles, 90x68m

- 1 campo de tiro para rifles, 180x68m

- 5 campos de tiro para pistolas, 45x45m

- 2 Shoot-houses para munición real, uno de dos y otro de tres plantas, 430m2 cada una

- 15 Shoot-houses para munición real de un único nivel, 18x6m (para practicar entradas)

- Circuito de conducción de 3,2km

- 1 EVOC de 105m de diámetro

- 1 Helipuerto de 120m de diámetro

- 1 Área de entrenamiento urbano de más de 3000m2, con edificios, calles, alcantarillado,...

- 1 Torre de entrenamiento de 5 niveles, 12x6m cada nivel

- 1 Torre de entrenamiento de 6 niveles, 15x7m cada nivel

- 4 simuladores de abordaje a buques de 3 niveles

- 1 Armería para almacenamiento de armas y municiones, 1670m2

- 2 Barracones para alojamiento, 1670m2 cada uno

- 2 Aulas de enseñanza, 1670m2 cada una

- 1 Centro de adiestramiento en funciones defensivas, 930m2

- 1 Comedor, 930m2

- 1 Taller de reparación de vehículos, 1670m2

- Otros edificios hasta un total de 1234m2


Y añadimos al menos un hangar para aeronaves de aproximadamente 1860m2, torre de control y varias pistas de aviación.

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Hoy a las 07:30PM EST (hora de la costa este estadounidense) lo que equivale a la 1:30 de la madrugada aquí, entrevista a Erik Prince por Lara Logan (vaya pibón por cierto).

Un pequeño adelanto:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/ ... 4195.shtml


"We absolutely want more oversight. We welcome the accountability. We want a good name for this industry," "I'm glad the FBI's investigating. I'm glad they can be a neutral party. And if there's further investigation or prosecution even needed, if someone really did wrong and meant badly, I'm all supportive," "And the fact is three of our vehicles had pockmarks in them from incident reports that I saw. So, clearly, our guys were not shooting at each other," "Sure, you know, mistakes can be made. I'm not saying anyone, our guys, no one's perfect," "But bad things don't generally happen by themselves. And, you know, this whole incident started with a very large car bomb [that] blew up right outside a venue where one of our teams was there with an American,"

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Buena entrevista la de anoche, ya está disponible en el enlace que dejé ayer. Aunque Erik Prince sigue dando la impresión de que se queda con ganas de arreglar las cosas mano a mano.

Imágenes interesantes sacadas de la entrevista (de ahí el logo CBS):


Marcas de bala en el Lenco Bearcat R23, el vehículo de mando del Tactical Support Team 23. Este mismo vehículo aparece en el próximo Fuerza Terrestre liderando al TST 23 en las calles de Bagdad unos meses antes.


Hangares de aviación en Moyock, algunos AB412 empiezan a incorporar modificaciones como radar meteorológico y de seguimiento del terreno


Grizzlys, con protección para los tiradores y durante la cadena de montaje

Y esta de regalo, la marca de la casa de los Ass Monkeys haciendo el burro en Bagdad (pero cuando hay que echarle huevos para rescatar a alguien no se lo piensan dos veces)





Corregido el dato del radar gracias a Jota

[Esteban]

El último vuelo de Blackwater 61, CASA 212 que se estrelló en Afganistán en 2004. Se han filtrado las conversaciones en cabina...

October 09, 2007
The joyride of Blackwater 61

The recent spotlight on Blackwater and contractor accountability led Der Spiegel to print the transcript of a 2004 Blackwater transport flight in Afghanistan. The crew diverted their mission into a joyride through a canyon which ended badly. It gives a sense of the rules and beliefs some of these guys are operating under. It's morbid -- and completely transfixing -- reading.

The Transcript of the Deadly Flight Der Spiegel 10/06/2007: A newly released transcript shows how Blackwater pilots in Afghanistan took their plane on a joyride and died in a crash. On November 27, 2004, transport flight Blackwater 61, a turboprop CASA 212-CC, crashed in the mountains of Afghanistan. The plane was operated by Presidential Airways, a subsidiary of the private security company Blackwater, also operating as Blackwater Aviation under contract for the United States Department of Defense. The crew had left their regular flight route for "fun" to fly through a canyon, at the end of which they crashed into a rock wall. The words of the pilots reveal in stunning detail the cynicism of a war between audacity and folly, where men reach the edge of reason.

What follows are excerpts from the cockpit voice recorder transcript, as provided by the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB), with the voices of pilot Noel English, co-pilot Loren Hammer and flight mechanic Melvin Rowe. Also on board were US Army soldiers Lieutenant Colonel Michael McMahon, Chief Warrant Officer Travis Grogan and Specialist Harley Miller. Miller -- who had almost missed the flight -- was the only one to survive the crash, but he froze to death before the search teams could find him.

The transcript and recording start at 0318:37 (7:18:37 a.m. local time)

PILOT: I hope I'm goin' in the right valley.

CO-PILOT: That one or this one?

PILOT: I'm just gunna go up this one.

CO-PILOT: Well, we, we've never or at least I've never done this Farah.

PILOT: We'll just see where this leads.

CO-PILOT: Twenty seven million people in this country, boy, you wouldn't wouldn't guess that cause there just everybody's scattered out.

PILOT: Yeah.

PILOT: But I'm now I mean I was really surprised at how you can almost always look down and see somebody or somethin' er.

CO-PILOT: Yeah, yeah, there's seem to be dwellings just about every where you go.

CO-PILOT: Yeah this is fun!

PILOT: We're not suppose to be havin' fun though.

CO-PILOT: Exactly.

PILOT: No fun allowed god-(expletive).

CO-PILOT: It's supposed to be all work we can't enjoy any of it.

PILOT: Exactly.

CO-PILOT: Cause we're getting' paid too much to be havin' fun.

PILOT: You're god-(unintelligible) right.

...

MECHANIC: I don't know what we're gonna see, we don't normally go this route.

MALE PASSENGER: (expletive).

MECHANIC: Let me get out of the way.

MALE PASSENGER: Naw I'm alright.

MECHANIC: Get yourself a drink.

PILOT: All we want is to avoid seeing rock at twelve o'clock.

PILOT: (unintelligible).

CO-PILOT: Yeah you're an x-wing fighter Star Wars man!

PILOT: You're (expletive) right.

PILOT: This is fun!

...

PILOT: Okay, it's about time we're gunna start climbin' I do believe.

PILOT: Okay we're comin up to a box up here.

PILOT: Yeah I think this valley might peter out right up here.

CO-PILOT: Yeah it shows us ah you got about twelve I don't know thirty miles of ah higher altitude, then there's another valley in the general direction that we're going.

PILOT: Yeah, peters right on out.

PILOT: It was good while it lasted.

...

PILOT: Yeah. It'd be nice to get a real good through my MP3 player in here.

CO-PILOT: (expletive) yeah.

CO-PILOT: That'll be great.

PILOT: Phillip Glass or somethin' suitable new age'y.

CO-PILOT: No, we gotta have butt rock that's the only way to go. Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister.

...

PILOT: I swear to God they wouldn't pay me if they knew how much fun this was.

...

PILOT: Well let's kind of look and see if we've got any where we can pick our way thru. Doesn't really matter it's gunna spit us out down at the bottom anyway.

PILOT: Let's see find a notch over here.

PILOT: Yeah, if we have to go to fourteen for just a second it won't be too bad.

CO-PILOT: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: Whoa, whoa!

UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: There you go.

CO-PILOT: Boy, it's a good thing we're not too heavy today I guess.

PILOT: Yeah, oh, I wouldn't have done this if we were at gross.

PILOT: We can always turn around up in here.

CO-PILOT: Yeah we could we could do a one eighty here if we had to.

PILOT: Come on baby, come on baby, you can make it.

MECHANIC: Okay, you guys are gunna make this right?

PILOT: Yeah h-h-I'm hopin'.

MECHANIC: Hope we don't have a downdraft comin' over that, dude.

(Sound similar to stall warning tone single beep)

MECHANIC: Got a way out?

PILOT: Yeah.

PILOT: We we can do a one eighty up in here.

MECHANIC: Yeah, I'd pick one side or the other to... ah.

PILOT: Drop a drop a quarter flaps.

PILOT: (expletive).

MECHANIC: Okay, yeah, you're... ah.

CO-PILOT: Yeah let's turn around.

PILOT: Yeah, drop a quarter flaps.

MECHANIC: Yeah you need to--ah--make a decision.

(Sound of heavy breathing starts)

PILOT: God (expletive)!

MECHANIC: Hundred, ninety knots, call off his airspeed for him (unintelligible).

(sound similar to stall warning starts and continues until end)

PILOT: Ah (expletive, expletive)!

MECHANIC: Call it off, help him out, call off his airspeed for him (unintelligible) butch.

CO-PILOT: You got ninety-five.

CO-PILOT: Ninety-five.

PILOT: Oh God!

PILOT: Oh (expletive)!

MECHANIC: We're goin' down.

UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: God!

UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: God!

(End of recording: 0350:00, 7.50 a.m. local time)

Source: National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB)

http://www.afghanistanwatch.org/2007/10 ... e-of-.html

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http://www.blackwaterusa.com/images/pdf ... er%201.pdf

Primer comunicado de la Blackwater Alumni Association (ojo, 8,50Mb), centrado en la comparecencia de Prince ante el Congreso y los helicópteros y aviones de la empresa.





Tengo que ponerme a buscar la página, pero había un ex-oficial de OEs del US Army, al que acusaban de traficar junto con Viktor Bout, que acusó al Pentágono de haber "provocado" el accidente del BW61, y haber paralizado el rescate el tiempo suficiente para que murieran congelados los posibles supervivientes. El tipo incluyó fotografias de los cuerpos en la nieve con la ropa abierta y gente del equipo de rescate registrandolos en busca de algo

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Un post de RJ Hillhouse (con referencia al NYT) explicando lo que llevamos diciendo aquí desde el 17 de Septiembre, que lo que hay de fondo en el tema de Blackwater en Bagdad es que el Pentágono quiere controlar a las unidades de contratistas que trabajan para la CIA.

Blackwater Caught in Pentagon-CIA Turf Wars

The New York Times is reporting that Secretary of Defense Bob Gates is now pushing for all armed security contractors in Iraq, including Blackwater, to come under a single authority, the Pentagon. The Pentagon first telegraphed that they might make a play for contractor control when the Army quickly leaked its initial report on the incident, faulting Blackwater although Army soldiers didn't arrive on the scene of the shooting until over a half hour after the incident. Ever since this, I've been waiting for the official turf grab and it's here.

On the surface a single entity overseeing all contractors might seem like a good idea, but, as they say in the spy business, nothing is what it seems. Department of Defense security contractors are already coordinated through a single, DoD entity, the US Regional Cooperation Offices, which are outsourced through a recently renewed $475 million contract to the British firm Aegis which is run by the infamous mercenary, Tim Spicer. (It also includes intelligence services and security services for the Army Corps of Engineers.) So most contractors working for the US government in Iraq fall under DoD purview. The key here is most contractors. Contractors working for the State Department do not participate in the program, however it's unlikely that the Pentagon cares about authority over Blackwater's State Department missions which are primarily over the same routes between the International Zone and Iraqi government ministries. Of much greater interest is the other government agency not under the Regional Cooperation Offices' oversight: the CIA.

Pentagon officials have long been unhappy about the Agency acting independently, running around war zones without coordinating their actions with local commanders. This is a longstanding turf issue between the CIA and Pentagon that predates the Iraq war or as one senior member of the Intelligence Community once told me, it's been a problem "since Christ was a corporal."

The Blackwater shooting incident has provided the Pentagon an opening in the turf wars because the CIA's paramilitary arm, the Special Activities Division is heavily outsourced, particularly in Iraq. If all security contractors fell under the DoD, the Pentagon could not only monitor the Agency, but could control their operations by denying them ground and particularly air assets. In one simple move, putting all security contracting under the control of the Department of Defense would effectively hand over control of most CIA paramilitary activities to the DoD, ending CIA unilateral offensive paramilitary capabilities in Iraq.

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Un post de RJ Hillhouse (con referencia al NYT) explicando lo que llevamos diciendo aquí desde el 17 de Septiembre, que lo que hay de fondo en el tema de Blackwater en Bagdad es que el Pentágono quiere controlar a las unidades de contratistas que trabajan para la CIA.

Es que en el edificio geométrico aún se acuerdan de los dolores de cabeza que provocaron los efectivos del proyecto Phoenix durante la guerra de Vietnam.

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Pues esos fueron militares

En acciones de guerra no convencional y espionaje, el mejor resultado en el Sudeste Asiático en los 60-70 lo dieron la mezcla de unidades de mercenarios, milicias locales y unidades "civiles".