Archive for the 'Outsourced' Category
Were American Mercenaries Fighting Against the Russians in Georgia?
August 29th, 2008UPDATE: U.S. Military and Mercenaries Trained Georgian Commandos Via: Washington Post: Earlier in the day, a senior Russian military official said at a news briefing that Russian troops had recovered an American passport in the rubble of a village near the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, where a Georgian special forces unit had been based […]
Blackwater Now in the Private Intelligence Business
August 1st, 2008Via: Raw Story: Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army, is worried about the giant mercenary firm’s latest foray into private intelligence. “They’re marketing their services to not only foreign governments, but to Fortune 500 corporations,” he recently told an interviewer. The forthcoming paperback edition of Scahill’s book […]
China’s Expansion Into Africa
July 20th, 2008I wasn’t aware of the extent of China’s interest in Africa. I thought it was much more piecemeal. Their grand strategy makes perfect sense, given the dire problems China is facing. There are some howlers in this article, though, such as, “Despite Britain’s commendable colonial legacy of a network of roads, railways and schools, the […]
MI5 Officers ‘Outsourced the Torture of British Nationals to Pakistani Agencies’
July 16th, 2008Via: Telegraph: MPs have called for an investigation into allegations that MI5 officers “outsourced” the torture of British citizens to Pakistani security agencies. John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, and Andrew Tyrie, Conservative member for Chichester, have said that the reports of abuse must be examined by the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), […]
U.S. Army Contract for “Internet Awareness Services”
July 10th, 2008Via: Federal Business Opportunities: STATEMENT OF WORK The contractor shall conduct internet awareness services in support of the Governments activities to include Indications and Warning, Force Protection, and situational awareness. The purpose of the services will be to identify and assess stated and implied threat, antipathy, unrest, and other contextual data relating to selected internet […]
Telecom Amnesty Flip-Floppers Got More Telecom Dollars
June 27th, 2008People wonder, “What’s a good investment?” Corporations buy off elected representatives for bum change. It’s not quite something for nothing, but owning an elected representative for a few grand seems pretty close to it. Via: Wired: Democrats who switched from opposing to supporting legal amnesty to telecoms that aided the government’s warrantless wiretapping program received […]
ATF Raids Blackwater Armory, Seizes Automatic Weapons
June 27th, 2008Via: AP: Federal agents have raided an armory owned by security contractor Blackwater Worldwide. The North Carolina-based company said the raid was part of an investigation into a deal that allowed a local sheriff’s office to store high-powered assault rifles at the company’s armory at its headquarters in Moyock. Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell says that […]
Giant Oil Companies to Return to Iraq Under No Bid Contracts
June 19th, 2008Imagine my complete and total shock. Via: IHT: Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power. Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in […]
British Mercenary to Stand Trial for Attempted Coup in Equatorial Guinea
June 13th, 2008Via: Reuters: British mercenary Simon Mann will go on trial on Tuesday for leading a failed 2004 coup in Equatorial Guinea, the West African state’s public prosecutor said on Friday. Jose Olo Obono said that Mann, arrested in 2004 in Zimbabwe with 70 mercenaries en route for oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, will face three main charges: […]
Food Is Gold, and Investors Pour Billions Into Farming
June 5th, 2008One of two things is about to happen to people who can’t or won’t take responsibility for the food that crosses their own lips: 1) They’re going to be ripped off; or 2) They’re going to be killed off. Hmm. Why not both? Via: New York Times: “Farmland can be a bubble just like Florida […]
