The Pentagon has announced that it is hiring US Training Center Inc. (USTC), a subsidiary of Blackwater International (which renamed itself Xe Services after being humiliated by multiple Iraq lawsuits), to a major contractor for “counter-narcoterrorism activities in Afghanistan.”
The deal to bring USTC to bear in the Afghan drug war comes despite probes by both the Defense and State Departments of misconduct by Blackwater officials within Afghanistan, including reports that they misled officials and misappropriated government weaponry.
The new contract would have them providing “intelligence analyst support and material procurement” for NATO in the ongoing Afghan drug war, with Blackwater CEO Ted Wright said underscored their ability to provide “all-source intelligence expertise.”
The company’s constant efforts to “rebrand” seem to be aimed primarily at hiding from the public scorn Blackwater earned in Iraq, but don’t appear to be necessary from administration perspectives, as the US continues to eagerly hire them for multi-million dollar deals.
Its like a twisted old episode of Miami Vice.
Ummm, how does America excise itself from the Blackwater cancer?
Just don't come crying when the Taliban picks you up and summarily executes you for being a spy or mercenary or a terrorist, or locks you up indefinitely without trial as an enemy combatant.
Note that the opium trade was reduced when the Taliban was in full swing in Afghanistan, and it picked up dramatically once the US appeared on the scene and reduced the Taliban's influence. Coincidence?
Jhon exactly what I wanted to point out it was under the Taliban about 5 persent of the worlds heroin now its about 90 to 95 persent.Its late or I would look at facts I 've wrote and included them.
Dost thou not REMEMBER,
A Certain George Walker Bush GIVING the Taliban 160 million dollars in early 2001 for the fantastic job they were doing in getting rid of Opium Poppy plantations, the Opium Plantations planted to fund the Northern Alliance War Lords.
These are the very same warlords that grow Opium Poppies now, but they are in fact so called American Allies.
Then the US uses Blackwater!
One bunch of Criminals policing another bunch of Criminals for another bunch of Criminals ad infinitum, A Daisy chain in the making!
That should be interesting – Blackwater which has been involved in the 'killing trade' now jumping into the 'drug trade' with American govt. support. Doesn't the CIA provide us with enough drugs already?
Former diplomat and acclaimed author, Peter Dale Scott alledges that the CIA, the U.S. Military and Blackwater, XE or whoever or whatever their moniker these days, are up to their respective ears in opium trafficking. Given that the Taliban had virtually eliminated opium production prior to our involvement, and since the U.S. has occupied Afghanistan, the country now leads the world in opium production. Doesn't anyone think this more than coincidence or strange?
Peter Dale Scott in his exhaustively researched "The American War Machine" claims that leading U.S. banks have profited to the tune of about 60-billion in drug laundering profits.
Recently. "Russia Today" quoted a former Soviet General Gareyev who said "the U.S. is paying for its military occupation from drug profits.
I'm betting that the number of growers and the quantity of opium will increase drastically. Blackwater/XE/USTC figures they might as well be in position to control the movement of the drugs. There's more money in opium than government contracting- any street dealer will tell you that.
And the tasks of “intelligence analyst support and material procurement” is nebulous enough to cover any "extracurricular activities" Blackwater/XE/USTC might find eventually themselves accused of. And working in the hinterlands of Afghanistan is so much better for hiding atrocities possibly committed than in downtown Baghdad, eh?
Look, Blackwater is an organized bunch of mercenaries: Period. Good for the government because when a blackwater guy gets killed it doesn't have to add him on the body count. Guns for hire? by the United States government? How far we've come but I guess this is normal when a countries on the road to empire. Department of Defense? The least they can do is call it the Department of Offense. I don't morn for the death of a hired gun. Comes with territory Blackwater. Now that I think of it, what's the difference between Blackwater and DoD?
Is Blackwater going to become America's Waffen-SS?
When a Blackwater trigger man gets killed I do NOT want to hear how he 'died for our freedom'. I'll be the first to stand up and call BS on that- if he dies for anything it's a stinkin' paycheck, nothing more.
Britain and Russia were forced to leave because, a country can only squander its treasury's for so long and this tells us we are on the same tract. The drug trade will continue in spite of prohibition more bullets will only get us into WWIII, We need to rethink how we approach these conflict. For example if we were to of face the facts that Afghanistan has always grown Cannabis and Opium. Lets for instance, develop bio-fuels proven by Henry Fords Hemp car built and fueled with hemp ethanol. Those tree high Cannabis plants that now become a cash crop that now provides value added product from Ethanol and high value foods and oil, fiber for manufacturing and building and fiber for textiles not to mention safe medicine. This could be done for very little money. And it would of Won the Hearts and Minds And they would of handed over Bin Laden.