Foro de Inteligencia, Espionaje y Servicios Secretos

Executive Outcomes = Madre de todas las PMCs sudafricanas

Ronin ZA (no confundir con Ronin a secas) = Mejor escuela sudafricana de acceso libre


EO ya no existe, y no se puede decir que haya un "heredero", ya que el fundador de la misma trabaja por libre como asesor para diferentes empresas. Ronin ZA tiene instructores que han pasado por EO y que trabajaron con ella en sitios como Colombia, Angola, Sierra Leona,... pero formarse allí no garantiza un puesto en "la nueva EO" porque sencillamente no la hay.

Eso sí, para que te conozcan en el circuito británico-afrikaneer y tener un título reconocido por cualquier empresa, cojonudos.

El departamento de defensa de los EEUU ha enviado una peticion de informacion a diversas PMC para la seguridad en 50 FOB y diversos puestos de menor tamaño por todo afganistan, donde hay unos 5600 civiles como contratistas y lo que se quiere es reunirlas en un solo contrato no 72 como hay ahora mismo.

Esto es lo que dige hace unos dias que lei en el war heat que lo habian copiado del washington post.Perdón por el error de decir 56.

Vale, entonces lo que quieren hacer es un único "contrato marco" en lugar del batiburrillo de servicios de seguridad que tienen ahora. Es algo así como el WPPS (Dyncorp, Triple Canopy y Xe Services), los WIT (NEK, Select,...) o más concretamente los TWISS (EODT, SOC, Sabre) que son la seguridad de bases e instalaciones en Iraq.

No sabía donde colocar esta noticia, y como por aquí últimamente se habla de Afganistán.
Si es necesario moverlo a otro lugar más concreto adelante.

Helicóptero con contratistas desaparecido en Afganistán.

FUENTE: FOX NEWS.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,577045,00.html

KABUL — A helicopter belonging to an international military contractor has disappeared in Afghanistan, officials said Thursday.

The Supreme Global Service Solutions helicopter has been missing since late Tuesday, said NATO spokesman Maj. Steven Coll.

Supreme provides food and logistics services to military bases across Afghanistan. A Kabul representative for the Virginia-based company declined to comment and press officers elsewhere could not be immediately reached.

Police and international military forces were searching for the craft in eastern Logar province's Kharwar district, provincial government spokesman Din Mohammad Darwirsh said. He said they did not have any confirmation of a crash and no wreckage had been located.

"It's missing, but that's all we know right now," Coll said. He confirmed that NATO forces are helping in the search, but said he could not provide information about how many people were aboard the helicopter or their nationalities.

Kharwar is in a remote area of Logar province south of the capital, Kabul. Until a few months ago, there was virtually no government or military presence there.

An American unit — the 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, New York — is there now with Afghan army and police forces.

Separately, authorities increased security in Kabul ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid, which starts Friday.

The Interior Ministry said 10,000 police were providing security around mosques, family gathering places and elevated areas overlooking the city, and it called on residents to report suspicious activity.

No se sabe cuántos iban dentro, ni si el heli ha sido derribado o ha tenido un accidente.

A saber que ha sido, por supuesto los talibanes se han adjudicado de inmediato no uno, sino dos derribos de helicópteros en la zona, diciendo además que eran de Blackwater.



En fin, un update de fotos que se me acumulan...

Se veía venir tras el escándalo de las megafiestas

Armor Group (AGNA) pierde el contrato de la embajada de Kabul.

FUENTE: POGO
http://www.politico.com/blogs/lauraroze ... tract.html

POGO: ArmorGroup loses Kabul embassy contract
A government watchdog group says it has obtained an email indicating that the State Department plans to phase out the use of security contractor ArmorGroup North America at its US embassy in Kabul.

The Project on Government Oversight previously exposed allegations of contract deficiencies, understaffing, false statements, misrepresentation and bad behavior by some employees with the security contractor.

"The State Department seems to be holding this Embassy security contractor accountable,” said POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian. “But State will need a real culture change before it can provide adequate oversight of these complex and challenging contracts.”

POGO obtained an email (see below the jump) from a senior ArmorGroup employee in Afghanistan that said the State Department's decision not to renew its Kabul contract was “based on the unfortunate and embarrassing events that occurred here several months ago; there are serious consequences when things like that happen.”

POGO said ArmorGroup had cleaned up its act following its revelations, which it also sent in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in September.

It's not clear which company might be hired to provide security at the US embassy in Kabul.

A report released by the Government Accountability Office yesterday revealed the State Department Diplomatic Security bureau faces considerable problems fulfilling its embassy security requirements.

En un mail personal que viene adjunto a la noticia original se comenta que la amyoría de los trabajadores actuales de AGNA (Armor Group Norht America) tendrán opciones de continuar en su puesto si pasan el proceso de selección, o con otras palabras un cambio de uniforme y largamos a los elementos indeseables.
Una buena criba al canto y AG pierde un suculento contrato.

La pregunta es, ¿quién se lo lleva? ¿EODT para compensar la pérdida del contrato en Iraq? ¿SOC en pleno acelerón de contratos para proporcionar seguridad en instalaciones?

Es una lástima que el grupo de AGNA en Kabul haya quedado marcado así, han sido una minoría (o más bien, homo-minoría) que se creían sus propias batallitas en plan grupo de élite, cuando solo uno venía de una unidad SOF y nunca entró en combate. De hecho y aunque la investigación sobre sus actividades vino por las fiestas "rarunas" que hacían, el clavo se lo ha metido el DSS por esas operaciones clandestinas montando puntos de observación y equipos de respuesta en Kabul sin que nadie se lo pidiera ni les diera permiso para ello.

Sacar armas, vehículos, equipos de visión nocturna y personal de la embajada para ir a jugar a los espías por ahí es algo gravísimo, y a un par de ex-jefes de AGNA en Kabul les pueden caer cargos muy graves.

Enlazado con el tema actual... a los dos jefes del AGNA que dieron permiso y alentaron que la gente saliera a hacer el capullo en "operaciones clandestinas" sin necesidad ni nadie que se lo pidiera, la mitad de los bufetes estadounidenses no les cogen el teléfono. Alguno va a pasar tiempo a la sombra.

Y ya que este es el sitio más parecido a "PMCs en Afganistán" que tenemos en el foro, una noticia importante para los españoles puesto que afecta a las dos empresas con más presencia en el RC(West), Compass y Watan han sido cerradas (ya veremos hasta cuando) por el gobierno afgano, después de que haya habido incidentes sonados con personal suyo disparando indiscriminadamente.

Compass trabaja mucho en Herat y recientemente han estado implicados en varios tiroteos en Lithium, puesto que mueven muchos suministros con el RC(North). Watan es un peso pesado de la seguridad privada en Afganistán, propiedad del tío con más poder allí después de Karzai, pero involucrada en ciertos temas con los jefazos del RC(West), incluido cierto "león".

El problema es que no se ha tratado solo de policías afganos fuera de servicio y sacándose un extra los que han disparado a todo lo que se movía a su alrededor presas del pánico, había occidentales con ellos, y cuando la oficina de ISAF dedicada a controlar todos los asuntos de contratistas ha comprobado quienes eran esos occidentales con los currículos que tenían de ellos... los han dejado en manos de la justicia afgana.

Todos menos uno han podido salir a golpe de fajo de dólares, un británico se encuentra ya en la cárcel a la espera de juicio.

Lo dije en mayo y se cumple ahora, aunque bueno, no hace falta ser un genio para saber que les iban a pegar muy duro.

Malo, muy malo para ArmorGroup NorthArmerica:

Federal Judge Denies Defendants ArmorGroup's and Wackenhut's Motions to Dismiss False Claims Act Whistleblower Lawsuit Involving Fraudulent Practices at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Judge James Cacheris of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has denied Defendants ArmorGroup North America ("AGNA"), ArmorGroup International, Wackenhut Services, Inc., and Cornelius Medley's motions to dismiss whistleblower James Gordon's lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act.

On September 9, 2009, Mr. Gordon, former Director of Operations of AGNA, filed a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit under the False Claims Act in United States District Court for the District of Columbia, charging that ArmorGroup management retaliated against him for whistleblowing, internally and to the United States Department of State ("DoS"), about illegalities committed by ArmorGroup in the performance of AGNA's contracts with the United States to provide security services at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan and at the U.S. Naval base in Bahrain.

The Complaint charges that during Mr. Gordon's seven-month tenure as Director of Operations, he investigated, attempted to stop, and reported to DoS a myriad of serious violations committed by ArmorGroup, including:

Severely understaffing the guard force necessary to protect the U.S. Embassy;
Allowing AGNA managers and employees to frequent brothels notorious for housing trafficked women in violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act;
Endangering the safety of the guard force during transport to and from the Embassy by attempting to substitute company-owned subpar, refurbished vehicles from Iraq rather than purchasing armored escort vehicles as promised to DoS;
Knowingly using funds to procure cheap counterfeit goods from a company in Lebanon owned by the wife of AGNA's Logistics Manager; and
Engaging in practices to maximize profit from the contract with reckless disregard for the safety and security of the guard force, the U.S. Embassy, and its personnel


In his Memorandum Opinion (August 27, 2010), Judge Cacheris noted that "Plaintiff alleges and Defendants offer no facts to dispute that Defendants ... began to try to constructively discharge [Mr. Gordon] by 'making [his] working conditions intolerable.'" Judge Cacheris further noted that "Plaintiff alleges, and Defendants have not offered any evidence refuting the fact, that [Defendant] Medley excluded Plaintiff from management meetings, shunned him, and relegated him to a position of persona non grata in the office" and that "Medley made clear to Plaintiff by his behavior, and to other staff members by his direct boasts, that his priority was to force Gordon to quit." In denying Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, Judge Cacheris concluded that "there is a genuine issue of material fact regarding the continued nature and duration of the allegedly illegal acts Plaintiff was requested and required to participate in." The parties will now proceed into the discovery phase of the litigation.

According to Debra S. Katz, counsel for Mr. Gordon, "this is an important victory for conscientious employees, like Mr. Gordon, who blow the whistle on fraudulent practices by defense contractors and wind up then paying the ultimate price. The court's decision today makes clear that such employees can bring federal claims under the False Claims Act to obtain redress."

Debra S. Katz and Lisa Banks, attorneys at Katz, Marshall & Banks, LLP, along with Janet Goldstein and Robert Vogel at Vogel, Slade & Goldstein, LLP, represent James Gordon.

Uyyyyyyyyy, tema malo para AGI

[quote]A damning report into the role of private security companies in Afghanistan, including the multimillion-pound British ArmorGroup, was issued tonight by the US Senate armed services committee.

Much of the focus of the report is on ArmorGroup's contract to provide security at an airbase. The report claims that the company hired Afghan warlords to provide security and that at least one was alleged to have close ties to the Taliban.

According to the report, the company referred to the warlords as Mr Pink and Mr White, characters in the 1992 Quentin Tarantino film Reservoir Dogs.

The report offers a detailed account of a murderous rivalry between the two warlords and how this almost led to guards abandoning their duties at one point.

One of the most alarming incidents occurred when US troops stormed a meeting attended by a local Taliban leader and found another of the warlords responsible for security, nicknamed Mr White2, present. Both the Taliban leader and the warlord were killed.

This is the second time that ArmorGroup has been in trouble over its activities in Afghanistan. A contract to supply security for the US embassy in Kabul was terminated in December after a US watchdog found security staff had been engaged in bacchanalian parties.

The chairman of the committee, Carl Levin, speaking today about the role of private security in general in Afghanistan, criticised the companies for lack of vetting of security staff and lack of training and equipment.

He was also scathing about the Pentagon giving US dollars to security firms to pay staff who then allegedly gave money to the Taliban to buy weapons for use against US troops.

"Our reliance on private security contractors in Afghanistan has too often empowered local warlords and powerbrokers who operate outside the Afghan government's control and act against coalition interests," Levin said. "This situation threatens the security of our troops and puts the success of our mission at risk."

He added: "We need to shut off the spigot of US dollars flowing into the pockets of warlords and powerbrokers who act contrary to our interests and contribute to the corruption that weakens the support of the Afghan people for their government."

The report identifies the two warlords hired in 2007 by ArmorGroup to protect the Shindand airbase in Herat province as Timor Shah – Mr White – and Nadir Khan – Mr Pink. The two were initially recommended to ArmorGroup by the US military, though they later described Mr Pink as a mid-level Taliban operator.

As part of an apparent local power struggle, Shah was ambushed and killed by Khan, who was then alleged to have holed up with Taliban fighters. Scouting around for another local strongman, ArmorGroup hired Khan's brother, Reza, whom it named Mr White2, paying him $12,000 a month.

When US forces attacked Reza Khan's house in Azizabad in August 2008, they found Mullah Sadeq, a Taliban commander and his colleagues, the report says. Both Sadeq and Khan were killed.

US forces, according to the report, found landmines and fuses at the house.

The report also expresses concern that security staff may have been passing on sensitive information about the airport base to the Taliban.

In an anticipation of publication of the report, the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has promised to reduce the number of private security organisations in Afghanistan. The US defence secretary, Robert Gates, said the US commander, General David Petraeus, had issued a memorandum warning officers of the negative impact on operations of contracting local powerbrokers and emphasised the need to be aware of who they are contracting.

An ArmorGroup spokesman in London declined to comment until the company had read the report.
[/quote]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oc ... taliban-us