Senator warns against $1B deal with Blackwater

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer Anne Flaherty, Associated Press Writer – Thu Mar 4, 10:30 pm ET

WASHINGTON – A senior Senate Democrat said Thursday the Pentagon should consider barring Blackwater, now called Xe Services, from a new $1 billion deal to train Afghan police because of "serious questions" about the contractor's conduct.

The comments by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin suggests thinning patience in Congress for the Pentagon's heavy reliance on contractors on the battlefield.

U.S. efforts to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan using independent contractors has been a boon for companies like Blackwater and saved money and time for the Defense Department, whose forces are busy in combat.

But the outsourcing has made it more difficult for military commanders to control what happens on the battlefield.

In one recent incident in Afghanistan, two contractors tied to Blackwater allegedly killed two Afghan civilians and injured a third. U.S. officials say the May 2009 shooting damaged relations with the local population

"The inadequacies in Blackwater's performance appear to have contributed to a shooting incident that has undermined our mission in Afghanistan," Levin, D-Mich., wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Blackwater, headquartered in Myock, N.C., changed its name to Xe Services after its security guards were accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians more than two years ago.

Mark Corallo, a company spokesman, said Xe Services agrees with Levin that the Pentagon should carefully review its past performance when deciding future contracts.

"We are confident that Xe's record of service in training thousands of security personnel in Afghanistan demonstrates the company's strong record of supporting critical U.S. government initiatives in Afghanistan, which are essential to advancing the United States national interest," he said in an e-mailed statement.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Thursday he knew of no effort under way to ban Xe Services from contracting with the military. Until then, the company would be legally allowed to submit a bid, he said.

In a separate letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Levin called for a Justice Department investigation into whether Blackwater officials duped the Army into awarding a separate $25 million contract to train Afghan police by creating a shell subcontractor called Paravant.

Levin alleges that company officials boasted to the Army of its large presence overseas and several years of experience without mention of the Blackwater name or that the State Department had dumped the contractor in 2009 after saying it had lost confidence in its management.

Corallo said the contracting officials were aware that Paravant was a Blackwater subsidiary.

Xe is among five companies eligible to compete for a $1 billion contract to train Afghanistan's national police force. DynCorp International of Falls Church, Va., had held a large contract for such training since 2003.

But a decision to transfer control of the program from the State Department to the military is ending DynCorp's run and opening a major opportunity for Xe.

DynCorp has filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office, alleging that the approach is "procedurally and legally flawed," according to company vice president Donald Ryder.

Xe has been shifting its work to training, aviation and logistics after the September 2007 incident at Nisoor Square in Baghdad. Its security guards were accused of killing 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians.

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US court reinstates Blackwater Iraq shooting case22 Apr 2011 16:05

Source: reuters // Reuters


* At issue shooting that killed 14 Iraqis in 2007

* Appeals court rules judge wrongly interpreted the law

* U.S. Justice Department pleased by ruling

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge erred in dismissing all charges against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards accused of killing 14 Iraqi civilians in 2007, an appeals court ruled on Friday.

The unanimous three-judge panel reinstated the charges and sent the case back to the judge for more proceedings, handing a victory to the U.S. Justice Department in a high-profile prosecution dating to 2008.

The five guards were charged with 14 counts of manslaughter, 20 counts of attempt to commit manslaughter and one weapons violation count over a Baghdad shooting that outraged Iraqis and strained ties between the two countries.

The shooting occurred as the private security firm's guards escorted a heavily armed four-truck convoy of U.S. diplomats through the Iraqi capital on Sept. 16, 2007. The guards, U.S. military veterans, were responding to a car bombing when gunfire erupted at a crowded intersection.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina ruled in December 2009 that prosecutors violated the defendants's constitutional rights and the case was tainted by use of statement the guards made to State Department investigators under a threat of job loss.

The appeals court reversed that ruling that the indictment of the guards had been improperly obtained through the use of their compelled statements. It ruled Urbina wrongly interpreted the law.
The appeals court sent the case back to Urbina to determine what evidence, if any, the government presented had been tainted and whether it was harmless.

The defendants -- Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard, Donald Ball and Nicholas Slatten -- were employed by Blackwater Worldwide, which is now known as Xe Services.

Prosecutors have dismissed the charges against Slatten.

Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said, "We're pleased with the ruling and are assessing the next steps."

The government had argued that whatever knowledge prosecutors and investigators may have had of the defendants' statements to the State Department, they did not make improper use of them in building their case.

A sixth Blackwater guard pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter, and has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. (editing by Bill Trott)

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Blackwater founder builds foreign force in UAE -NYT

15 May 2011 12:02

Source: reuters // Reuters

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - The crown prince of Abu Dhabi has hired the founder of private security firm Blackwater Worldwide to set up an 800-member battalion of foreign troops for the United Arab Emirates, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

The Times said it obtained documents that showed the unit being formed by Erik Prince's new company Reflex Responses with $529 million from the UAE would be used to thwart internal revolt, conduct special operations and defend oil pipelines and skyscrapers from attack.

The newspaper said the decision to hire the contingent of foreign troops was taken before a wave of popular unrest spread across the Arab world in recent months, including to the UAE's Gulf neighbours Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

The UAE itself has seen no serious unrest. Most of its population is made up of foreign workers.

Blackwater, which once had lucrative contracts to protect U.S. officials in Iraq, became notorious in the region in 2007 when its guards opened fire in Baghdad traffic, killing at least 14 people in what the Iraqi government called a "massacre".

One former Blackwater guard pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges in those killings, and a U.S. court reinstated charges against five others last month. Prince has since sold the firm, which changed its name to Xe. The firm denies wrongdoing.

The newspaper said the Emirates, a close ally of the United States, had some support in Washington for Prince's new project, although it was not clear if it had official U.S. approval.

Two UAE government officials contacted by Reuters declined immediate comment on the New York Times report, and the U.S. embassy in the UAE also had no immediate comment. It was not possible to locate Prince for comment.

The Times quoted a U.S. official who was aware of the programme as saying: "The Gulf countries, and the U.A.E. in particular, don't have a lot of military experience. It would make sense if they looked outside their borders for help."

State Department spokesman Mark Toner told The Times the department was investigating to see if the project broke any U.S. laws. U.S. law requires a licence for American citizens to train foreign troops.

Toner also pointed out that Blackwater, now known as Xe Services, had paid $42 million in fines in 2010 for training foreign forces in Jordan without a licence, the Times said.

According to former employees of the project and U.S. officials cited by the Times, the troops were brought to a training camp in the UAE from Colombia, South Africa and other countries, starting in the summer of 2010.

They were being trained by retired U.S. military, and former members of German and British special operations units and the French Foreign Legion, the Times said.

Prince had insisted the force hire no Muslims, because they "could not be counted on to kill fellow Muslims", the paper said.

Former employees also told the newspaper the Emirates hoped the force could be used to counter any threat from Iran, which the Arab states in the Gulf consider a foe.

Although The Times said the documents it obtained did not mention Erik Prince, former employees had told the newspaper he had negotiated the contract with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

Emiriati officials had proposed expanding the force to a brigade of several thousand if the first battalion was successful, the newspaper said. (Additional reporting is by Mahmoud Habboush)

(World Desk, Americas +1 202 898 8457)

====

Pakistan expels British counter-terrorism trainers

27 Jun 2011 11:18

Source: reuters // Reuters

(Changes sourcing of some information)

By Chris Allbritton

ISLAMABAD, June 27 (Reuters) - Pakistan has told Britain to pull out some of its military trainers, in what appears to be the latest sign of strained relations with the West after last month's killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. troops.

Pakistan's military faces its most severe crisis in decades following the May 2 raid in which the al Qaeda leader was killed on Pakistani soil by foreign soldiers.

"The UK has been asked to withdraw some of its training support teams on a temporary basis by the Pakistani government in response to security concerns," British High Commission spokesman in Islamabad, George Sheriff, told Reuters on Monday.

He said the Pakistan authorities had warned about "security concerns" but he did not elaborate.

The British-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism quoted the British Defence Ministry as confirming the withdrawal of at least 18 military advisers who were helping train a poorly equipped paramilitary force, the Frontier Corps, in counter-terrorism.

Since the May 2 raid, Pakistan has been keen to demonstrate its independence from its Western sponsors and has also drastically scaled back the number of military trainers from its main backer, the United States.

The number of U.S. trainers has been reduced to less than 50 from about 120, Pakistani and American officials have said.

The reductions are a sign of a strained alliance that Washington still sees as critical to its success in the war in neighbouring Afghanistan as well as the fight against al Qaeda and its affiliates.

The raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, 30 miles (50 km) northwest of Islamabad, intensified U.S. questions about Pakistan's possible role in sheltering militants.

The army still enjoys high approval ratings in Pakistan, but its critics blame it for cultivating Islamist militants in the past for use against arch-rival India, who are now increasingly slipping out of its control and turning on Pakistani authorities.

Human rights groups have accused the Frontier Corps of abuses in Baluchistan province, where a decades-long separatist insurgency is simmering.

Pakistani newspapers have reported at least 170 Baluch nationalists have disappeared and five unarmed Chechens were shot to death in May at a checkpost in the provincial capital, Quetta. The government says it is investigating.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported that the British trainers had been based near Quetta in Baluchistan at a British-funded base, working alongside six American advisers training batches of 360 recruits in 12-week courses. == Mercenaries used by Bush, now fighting Obama’s secret wars Blackwater (Xe): The Secret US War in Pakistan by Andrew Hobbs, Brittney Gates, Kelsea Arnold According to a bipartisan commission report released to the U.S. Congress in February 2011, the heavy reliance on private security companies in current contingency operations, begun during the Bush Administration, has effectively surged under President Barack Obama, raising use-of-force issues and creating a gap in legal accountability. Private contractors flying under the radar are being used on an unprecedented scale to perform the dirty work for the U.S. military involving a myriad of human rights violations, as described in this article addressing the situation in Pakistan. Voltaire Network | 24 July 2012 Español U.S. mercenaries of the Blackwater private security company, today rebaptized as Xe to escape its dirty past of massacring civilians during the occupation of Iraq to bolster U.S. military operations. The mercenaries then embedded by George W. Bush within the U.S. military state apparatus are still deployed today by the Obama administration to wage its secret wars, meaning that nothing has changed. At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the center of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda operatives inside and outside Pakistan. The Blackwater operatives also gather intelligence and help direct a secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs parallel to the well-documented CIA predator strikes, according to a well-placed source within the US military intelligence apparatus. Captain John Kirby, the spokesperson for Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Nation, “We do not discuss current operations one way or the other, regardless of their nature.” Meanwhile a defense official specifically denied that Blackwater performs work on drone strikes or intelligence for JSOC in Pakistan. “We don’t have any contracts to do that work for us. We don’t contract that kind of work out, period,” the official said. “There has not been, and are not now, contracts between JSOC and that organization for these types of services.” The Pentagon has stated bluntly, “There are no US military strike operations being conducted in Pakistan.” Blackwater’s founder Erik Prince contradicted this statement in an interview, telling Vanity Fair that Blackwater works with US Special Forces in identifying targets and planning missions, citing an operation in Syria. The magazine also published a photo of a Blackwater base near the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. Jeremy Scahill’s military intelligence source said that the previously unreported program is distinct from the CIA assassination program, which the agency’s director, Leon Panetta, announced he had canceled in June 2009. “This is a parallel operation to the CIA,” said the source. “They are two separate beasts.” The program puts Blackwater at the epicenter of a US military operation within the borders of a nation against which the US has not declared war—knowledge that could further strain the already tense relations between the US and Pakistan. In 2006, the two countries struck a deal that authorized JSOC to enter Pakistan to hunt Osama bin Laden with the understanding that Pakistan would deny it had given permission. Officially, the US is not supposed to have any active military operations in that country. Blackwater, which also goes by the names Xe Services and US Training Center, has denied that the company operates in Pakistan. “Xe Services has only one employee in Pakistan performing construction oversight for the US government,” Blackwater spokesperson Mark Corallo said in a statement to the Nation, adding that the company has “no other operations of any kind in Pakistan.” A former senior executive at Blackwater confirmed the military intelligence source’s claim that the company is working in Pakistan for the CIA and JSOC. He said that Blackwater is also working for the Pakistani government on a subcontract with an Islamabad-based security firm that puts US Blackwater operatives on the ground with Pakistani forces in “counterterrorism” operations, including house raids and border interdictions, in the North-West Frontier Province and elsewhere in Pakistan. This arrangement allows the Pakistani government to utilize former US Special Operations forces that now work for Blackwater while denying an official US military presence in the country. He also confirmed that Blackwater has a facility in Karachi and has personnel deployed elsewhere in Pakistan. The covert program in Pakistan dates back to at least 2007. The current head of JSOC is Vice Admiral William McRaven, who took over the post from General Stanley McChrystal, who headed JSOC from 2003 to 2008 before being named the top US commander in Afghanistan. Blackwater’s presence in Pakistan is “not really visible, and that’s why nobody has cracked down on it,” said Scahill’s military source. Blackwater’s operations in Pakistan, he adds, are not done through State Department contracts or publicly identified defense contracts. “It’s Blackwater via JSOC, and it’s a classified no-bid [contract] approved on a rolling basis.” Blackwater’s first known contract with the CIA for operations in Afghanistan was awarded in 2002 and was for work along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. According to Scahill’s source, Blackwater has effectively marketed itself as a company whose operatives have “conducted lethal direct action missions and now, for a price, you can have your own planning cell. JSOC just ate that up.” Blackwater’s Pakistan JSOC contracts are secret and are therefore shielded from public oversight, he said. In addition to planning drone strikes and operations against suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in Pakistan for both JSOC and the CIA, the Blackwater team in Karachi also helps plan missions for JSOC inside Uzbekistan against the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Since President Barack Obama was inaugurated, the United States has expanded drone-bombing raids in Pakistan. Obama first ordered a drone strike against targets in North and South Waziristan on January 23, 2009, and the strikes have been conducted consistently ever since. The number of strike orders by the Obama administration has now surpassed the number during the Bush era in Pakistan, inciting fierce criticism from Pakistan and some US lawmakers over civilian deaths. The military intelligence source also confirmed that Blackwater continues to work for the CIA on its drone-bombing program in Pakistan, as previously reported in the New York Times, but added that Blackwater is working on JSOC’s drone bombings as well. “It’s Blackwater running the program for both CIA and JSOC,” said the source. When civilians are killed, “people go, ‘Oh, it’s the CIA doing crazy shit again unchecked.’ Well, at least 50 percent of the time, that’s JSOC [hitting] somebody they’ve identified through HUMINT [human intelligence] or they’ve culled the intelligence themselves or it’s been shared with them and they take that person out and that’s how it works.” In addition to working on covert action planning and drone strikes, Blackwater SELECT also provides private guards to perform the sensitive task of security for secret US drone bases, JSOC camps, and Defense Intelligence Agency camps inside Pakistan. Blackwater’s ability to survive against odds by reinventing and rebranding itself is most evident in Afghanistan, where the company continues to work for the US military, the CIA, and the State Department despite intense criticism and almost weekly scandals. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Second interim report to Congress: At What Risk? Correcting Over-reliance on Contractors in Contingency Operations" [Pdf]; Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, February 24, 2011. Andrew Hobbs Brittney Gates Kelsea Arnold #5 on the 2011 list of Top Censured Stories, this article was first published on 2 October 2010. Faculty Evaluators: Elaine Wellin and Peter Phillips (Sonoma State University) Sources: Jeremy Scahill, “The Secret US War in Pakistan,” Nation, November 23, 2009, . Jeremy Scahill, “Blackwater Wants to Surge Its Armed Force in Afghanistan,” Antiwar.com, January 20, 2010, David Edwards and Muriel Kane, “Ex-employees Claim Blackwater Pimped Out Young Iraqi Girls,” Raw Story, August 7, 2009. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- USA: The Hyperreality of a failing corporate media system Project Censored 2010 Selection This author's articles This author's articles This author's articles Voltaire, international edition Focus News in Brief Controversies Diplomatic Wire

IG report says Blackwater may lose license in Iraq

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee, Associated Press Writer – Thu Dec 18, 12:23 am ET

WASHINGTON – An internal State Department report says Blackwater Worldwide may lose its license to work in Iraq and recommends that the agency prepare alternative means to protect its diplomats there.

The 42-page draft report by the State Department's Inspector General says the department faces "numerous challenges" in dealing with the security situation in Iraq, including the prospect that Blackwater may be barred from the country. The department would have turn to other security arrangements to replace Blackwater, officials said.

The State Department had no immediate comment on the report itself, but deputy spokesman Robert Wood said that after the probe is done, officials would look at "whether the continued use of Blackwater in Iraq is consistent with the U.S. government's goals and objectives."

It is not clear how the State Department would replace Blackwater. It relies heavily on private contractors to protect its diplomats in Iraq, as its own security service does not have the manpower or equipment to do so. The report suggests that one way to fill the void would be for the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service to beef up its presence in Iraq.

"The department faces the real possibility that one of its primary Worldwide Personal Protective Services contractors in Iraq — Blackwater (Worldwide) — will not receive a license to continue operating in Iraq," says the recently completely report.

The report is labeled "sensitive but unclassified."

An official familiar with the report said initially that it would recommend that department not renew Blackwater's contract when it expires next year. But that specific language is not included in the document, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

The official said later that such a recommendation would not be made until after an investigation of last September's incident in Baghdad's Nisoor Square in which Blackwater guards killed 17 Iraqis is complete. Five guards have been indicted on manslaughter and other charges stemming from that incident. The company was not implicated.

A decision on how U.S. diplomats in Iraq are to be protected will be left to the Obama administration, which will be in place when Blackwater's contract comes up for renewal in the spring.

Terminating the North Carolina-based company's Iraq contract will be difficult for incoming Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton because no other private security contractor has its range of resources, particularly its fleet of helicopters and planes.

Current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ordered a review of the department's use of private security firms after the Nisoor Square incident. The Inspector General's report is an analysis of how recommendations in that review have been implemented and includes several key findings, including that the department plan for the possibility that it may no longer be able to rely on private contractors like Blackwater.

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrell declined to comment, saying the company has not yet seen the report. The company has said in the past, though, that it plans to largely get out of the security contracting business to concentrate on training and other projects.

Blackwater has won more than $1 billion in government contracts under the Bush administration, a large portion of which has been for work in Iraq, where among its duties is protecting diplomats based at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

State Department officials have praised Blackwater's work in Iraq, noting that no personnel under the company's protection has been killed. However, after Nisoor Square incident, the firm came under heavy criticism for the actions of its employees, which were immune from Iraqi law under legal protections dating from the U.S.-led occupation of the country.

Immediately after that incident, the State Department stepped up its supervision of Blackwater employees in Iraq, including posting a Diplomatic Security agent in every convoy the company escorts and installing video cameras in its vehicles.

And, the immunity enjoyed by Blackwater employees and other private security guards who protect civilians in Iraq will soon come to an end under a new U.S.-Iraqi security pact that will take effect on Jan. 1.

U.S. investigators have linked Blackwater guards to 70 shooting incidents involving civilians before Nisoor Square and only two since then.

___

Associated Press writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report. ==================== بلیک واٹر کو بھی پاکستان سے نکالیں by Mumtaz Ahmad Bhatti on 5 hours ago // No Comment 4 بلیک واٹر کو کوئی نام دے دیا جائے لیکن یہ جانی پہچانی بلیک واٹر کے نام سے ہی جانی جا تی ہے۔ آج سب یہی جانتے ہیں کہ بلیک واٹر کا خالق ایرک پرنس ہے۔ دنیا بھر کے میڈیا پر چھائی ہو ئی بلیک واٹر بہت چھوٹے پیمانے پر شروع ہوئی اور اسکی اولین صورت گری بھی پرنس نے خود نہیں کی وہ تو ایک ربوٹ کی طرح ملنے والی ہدایات پر عمل کر رہا تھا جب کہ اس نئی کمپنی کے لئے جگہ کا تعین، اسکی منصوبہ بندی اور تقریباً سارے ہی معا ملات بحریہ کے شعبے SEAL میں اسکے استاد، الکارک (Alclark) نے طے کیئے تھے جو گذشتہ گیارہ برس سے خصوصی مہارت والے اس یونٹ میں آتشیں اسلحے کی تربیت دینے والا بہترین تربیت کار تھا۔ کلارک نے ایک انٹرویو کے دوران بتایا کہ جب 1993ء میں پرنس نے اپنا ملٹری کیرئر شروع کیا تو وہ (کلارک) پہلے ہی بلیک واٹر کے خاکے اور نقشے بنا چکا تھا۔اسے یہ خیال آتشین اسلحے کی تربیت دینے کے تجربے سے سوجھا۔ اس نے دیکھا کی امریکی فوجی نظام کے اس اہم ترین شعبے میں تربیت کے لئے دستیاب بنیادی ڈھانچہ ناکافی ہے۔بلکہ سہولیات تھیں ہی نہیں، ہمارے پاس کچھ بھی نہیں تھا۔ بحریہ کے پاس نشانہ بازی کی مشق کے لئے میدان تک نہیں تھے”اسے میرین کور یا آرمی کے میدان استعمال کرناپڑتے تھے۔ درکار سہولیات متفرق طور پر نجی شعبے سے دستیاب تھیں۔ مگر سب کی سب کسی ایک جگہ سے نہیں مل پاتی تھیں۔ ” ” اس وقت زی ورلڈ وائڈ کا سربراہ گیری جیکسن ہے اور یہ بھی سابق یو ایس نیول تھا۔ بلیک واٹرکی مزید 9ذیلی تنظیمیں ہیں۔ ۱۔ یونائیٹڈ اسٹیٹس ٹرینگ سنٹر ۲۔ بلیک واٹر ٹارگٹ سسٹمز ۳۔ بلیک واٹر سیکیورٹی کنسلٹنگ ۴۔ بلیک واٹر K-9 ۵۔ بلیک واٹر ایئر شپLLC ؐ۶۔ بلیک واٹر آرمڈ وہیکلز ۷۔ بلیک واٹرمیری ٹائم سلوشنز ۸۔ ریوین ڈویلپمنٹ گروپ ۹۔ ایوی ایشن ورلڈ وائڈ سروسز یہ ذیلی تنظیمیں بلیک واٹر کو مزید موثر بنانے میں معاون ثابت ہوتی ہیں۔ بلیک واٹر اپنے اہلکاروں کوایک دن کے حساب سے ہزار ڈالر یا اس سے زیادہ بھی اجرت ادا کرتی ہے۔ اتنی رقم کمانے کا عام فوجی سوچ بھی نہیں سکتا۔ بلیک واٹر میں امریکا کے علاوہ بیرونی ممالک سے سابق فوجی بھرتی کیے جاتے ہیں مثال کے طور پر بوسنیا، فلپائن، اسرائیل اور چلی کے فوجی شامل ہیں۔ ان افراد کا تعلق اپنے اپنے ممالک کی سپیشل فورسز، آرمی یا خفیہ ایجنسیوں سے ہے۔ بہت سے ایسے آرمی کے لوگ مستعفی ہونے کے بعد بلیک واٹر کا حصہ بنے جس کی بڑی وجہ زیادہ سے زیادہ پیسے کا حصول تھا۔ بلیک واٹر کو سابق امریکی صدر جارج بش کی خصوصی سرپرستی حاصل رہی۔ ان دنوں ایرک پرنس کے وائٹ ہاؤس کے ساتھ گہرے مراسم تھے۔ایرک پرنس امریکی ریپبلکن پارٹی کے اراکین کو مالی امداد بھی فراہم کرتا رہا، جس کے نتیجے میں اس کی کمپنی کو یو ایس سٹیٹ ڈیپارٹمنٹ سے کمپنی کی جملہ آمدنی کا تقریباً نوے فیصد حاصل ہوتا ہے۔ بلیک واٹر پہلے تو اتنی مشہور نہیں تھی مگر اس وقت دنیا بھر میں میڈیا کی توجہ حاصل کی جب عراق کے شہر فلوجہ میں 31مار چ 2004کو صبح ساڑھے نو بجے بلیک واٹر کے چار لوگ دو پجارو جیپوں میں سوارتھے جیسے ہی فلوجہ میں داخل ہوئے تو عقبی جیپ پر ایک گرنیڈ پھینکا گیا اور ساتھ ہی حملہ آوروں نے مشین گنوں سے اندھا دھند فائر کھول دیا۔ بلیک وا ٹرکے ایک اہلکار نے گاڑی تیز کر دی اور کوشش کی کہ اپنے ساتھیوں کو بچائے یا پھر وہاں سے نکل بھاگے۔ ایک سابق نجی فوج کے کارکن کے مطابق بلیک واٹر اپنے آدمیوں کی اس طرح تربیت کر تی ہے کہ اگر کسی گاڑی پرگھات لگا کر حملہ کر دیا جائے تو اس کی مدد مت کرو۔ انہیں سکھایا جاتا ہے کہ ایسی جگہ سے نکل جاؤ کہ تمہار اپنا بچ جانا ہی دانش مندی ہے۔ کچھ ہی لمحوں میں جیسے ہی ان کی جیپ دوسری گاڑی سے ٹکرائی انہوں نے اپنے آپ کو گولیوں کی بوچھاڑ میں پایا۔ایک کی کھوپڑی اُڑ گئی۔ دوسرے کی قمیض گولیوں سے چھلنی ہو چکی تھی اور سر ایک طرف کو ڈھلک گیا ۔ ہجوم اکٹھا ہو گیااور جیب کے ٹکڑے کر رہا تھا۔ اسلحہ اور دیگر سامان لوٹا جا چکا تھا۔ کوئی پٹرول لے آیا اور اسے گاڑی اور مردہ جسموں پر چھڑک کر ماچس سے آگ لگا دی چاروں جلد ہی شعلوں میں گھر گئے۔ جونہی اصل حملہ آور فلوجہ کی بغلی گلیوں میں غائب ہوئے تو وہاں موجود مجمع بڑھتا ہی چلا گیا اور اس کی تعدا تین سو نفوس سے تجاوز کر گئی ۔ چاروں کے جسموں سے بُری طرح خون ابل کر باہر آ رہا تھا۔لوگوں کا ایک ہجوم پیجارو کے ہڈ پر چڑھ گیا اور فائرنگ کرتے ہوئے ونڈ شیلڈ کی طرف بڑھا۔ اللہ اکبر کے نعرے فضا میں گونج رہی تھی۔ حملہ آور تیزی سے حرکت کر رہے تھے۔ جلد ہی ایک درجن سے زائد نوجوان جو ایک مقامی کباب ہاؤس کے گرد منڈلا رہے تھے اس شدید خون ریزی میں شریک ہو گئے۔ ایک عینی شاہد کے مطابق بلیک واٹر کا ایک آدمی ابتدائی حملے میں بچ گیا تھاگولیاں اس کی چھاتی میں لگیں بس ہجوم اسے ہی گاڑی سے نکال سکا وہ ان سے زندگی کی بھیک مانگ رہا تھا۔ انہوں نے اس کا بازو، ٹانگ اور سر کاٹ ڈالے۔ وہ خوش ہو رہے تھے اور ناچ رہے تھے۔ جلی ہوئی جیپ سے جھلسی ہوئی لاشیں نکال لی گئیں اور آدمیوں اور لڑکوں نے ان کی ٹانگیں اور بازو الگ الگ کر کے انہیں واقعی ٹکڑے ٹکڑے کر دیا۔ کچھ آدمی اپنے جوتے لاشوں پر برسا رہے تھے۔ جبکہ دوسرے دھاتی پائیپوں اور بیلچوں سے لا شوں کے حصوں کو ٹکڑے ٹکڑے کر رہے تھے۔ ایک نوجوان ایک لاش کے سر پر اس وقت تک ٹھوکریں مارتا رہا جب تک کہ وہ دھڑ سے الگ نہیں ہو گیا۔ ایک نوجوان کیمرے کے سامنے ایک چھوٹا سا بینر اُٹھائے ہوئے تھا جس پہ ایک کھوپڑی اور اس کے نیچے دو ہڈیاں انگریزی حرف Xکی شکل میں بنی ہوئی تھیں اور جو اعلان تھا کہ”فلوجہ امریکیوں کا قبرستان ہے”۔ نعرے لگنے شروع ہو گئے ہم اپنے خون اور جانوں کو اسلام پر قربان کر دیں گے۔عراقیوں نے ان کی لاشوں کی با قیات دریا ئے فرات کے پل پر لٹکا دیں جسے پوری دنیا کی ٹی وی سکرینوں پر دکھا یا گیا۔ بلیک واٹر جسے جیریمی سکاہل نے اپنی کتاب میں “جنگ کی طوائیں”کا نام دیا ہے، کافی عرصہ سے پاکستان میں بھی اپنے پنجے گاڑہے ہوئے ہے۔ پشاور بم دھماکے کے بعد امریکی سیکورٹی ایجنسی بلیک واٹر کی پاکستان میں مبینہ موجودگی پر تشویش میں اضافہ ہوا۔ کالعدم تحریک طالبان نے دعویٰ کیاکہ پشاور دھماکے میں بلیک واٹرملوث ہے ۔ پاکستان میں بہت سے واقعات ایسے ہوئے ہیں جن کا براہ راست تعلق بلیک واٹر جوڑا گیاہے ۔ مذہبی اور سیاسی جماعتوں نے بلیک واٹرکے خلاف بہت سے بیانات دیئے ا حتجاج کیاریلیاں نکالیں،جلسے جلوس ہوئے۔پاکستان پر امداد روکنے کا دباؤ ڈال کر سینکڑوں ویزے لیئے گئے ۔ اسی لیے ایبٹ آباد کمیشن نے امریکا میں پاکستانی سفیر حسین حقانی کو طلب کیا ہے۔ ۱۔ امریکا کا تقریباً ایک ارب امریکی ڈالر کی لاگت سے اسلام آباد میں دنیا کا سب سے بڑا سفارتخانہ بنانا بھی خطے میں امریکی دائرہ اثر کے پھیلاؤ کا واضح ثبوت ہے۔ پاکستانی وزارت خارجہ کے ترجمان عبدالباسط نے 5اگست2004ء کو کراچی پریس کلب کی ایک پریس کانفرس میں یہ عندیہ دیا تھاکہ 1000امریکی کرائے کے فوجی (بلیک واٹر) اسلام آباد میں امریکی مشن میں تعیناتی کے لئے آئیں گے۔ سی آئی اے اور ممکنہ بلیک واٹر نے قبائلی بیلٹ اور بلوچستان میں خفیہ معلومات کی ترسیل کا ایک نیٹ ورک قائم کیا ایسی رپورٹیں بھی ملی ہیں، جن کے مطابق کچھ غیر ملکی افراد پاکستان کے حساس فوجی مقامات کے قریب دیکھے گئے ہیں گذشتہ چار سالوں میں دہشت گردی کے واقعات کے بے پناہ اضافہ اور ان کارروائیوں کے بلیک وا ٹر کے ساتھ تعلق کے امکان کو رد نہیں کیا جا سکتا۔سلالہ چیک پوسٹ واقع کے بعد حکومت نے درست اور بر وقت فیصلہ کیا۔نیٹو سپلائی روکنے اور شمسی دائر بیس خالی کرانے اور امریکا کے ساتھ تعلقات کا از سر نو جائزہ لینے کا فیصلہ کیا تو پوری قوم نے اس حکومتی فیصلے کی حمایت کی۔پاکستان میں بلیک واٹر کی خفیہ سر گرمیوں کوروکنے کے لیے حکومت پاکستان کو بلیک واٹر کو پاکستان سے نکالنے کافیصلہ کر نا ہو گا اس فیصلے میں بھی پوری پاکستانی قوم حکومت کے ساتھ کھڑی ہو گی۔اور یہ فیصلہ پاکستان کے وقار اور امن کے لیے انتہائی ضروری ہے۔ ================= ackwater settles Iraq killings lawsuit 07 Jan 2012 02:14 Source: Reuters // Reuters (Reuters) - The U.S. private security company formerly known as Blackwater has agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit with the families of four contractors killed in a gruesome 2004 ambush that was a defining moment of the Iraq war for the American public. The families reached a confidential settlement with Academi, as Blackwater is now known, agreeing to the dismissal of their case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit based in Richmond, Virginia. An administrator for the estates of Stephen Helvenston, Mike Teague, Jerko Zovko and Wesley Batalona sued Blackwater in 2005 after the security contractors were killed by Iraqi insurgents while escorting a supply convoy in Fallujah. They were beaten, burned and executed. Two of the charred bodies were strung from a bridge over the Euphrates River. Images of the events disturbed Americans at one of the low points for the United States during the Iraqi occupation. Blackwater, which changed its name to Xe Services and then to Academi, came to symbolize the U.S. policy of hiring private contractors to perform work previously handled by the military. The lawsuit accused the company of sending the contractors into a high-risk environment without armored vehicles, automatic weapons and the required number of personnel. A federal judge in North Carolina dismissed the lawsuit in January 2011 after court-ordered arbitration efforts failed. The administrator of the dead contractors' estates appealed to the 4th Circuit to revive the lawsuit. Details of the settlement were not immediately available. John Procter, a spokesman for the company, declined to comment, under the terms of the agreement. Lawyers for the administrator did not respond to requests for comment. (Editing by John O'Callaghan)