Seguridad privada (Continuación)

MundoOriente Próximo,

The federal manslaughter indictment of five Blackwater Worldwide security guards in the horrific massacre of more than a dozen Iraqi civilians in Baghdad may look like an exercise in accountability, but it's probably the exact opposite -- a whitewash that absolves the government and corporate officials who should bear ultimate responsibility.

If what Justice Department prosecutors allege is true, the five guards -- Donald Ball, Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten and Paul Slough -- should have to answer for what happened on Sept. 16, 2007. The men, working under Blackwater's contract to protect State Department personnel in Iraq, are charged with spraying a busy intersection with machine-gun fire and grenades, killing at least 14 unarmed civilians and wounding 20 others.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

Una serie de incidentes protagonizados por la empresa privada de seguridad Blackwater han costado la vida a cerca de 20 personas en los últimos meses en Iraq. El Gobierno iraquí desea suspender las actividades de esta empresa, contratada por el Pentágono, y abrir una causa criminal. Pero el Gobierno de Estados Unidos quiere que Blackwater y otras empresas similares que operan en Iraq, y que ocupan aproximadamente a 50.000 profesionales de la seguridad, continúen sus operaciones sin constricciones legales, especialmente ahora que necesita disminuir el número de tropas debido a la presión del Partido Demócrata.

Las posibilidades de que el débil Gobierno iraquí pueda abrir una causa contra Blackwater son escasas.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica,

A month after voters last year gave Democrats the control that would elevate Nancy Pelosi to speaker of the House, Pelosi received a letter from a trial lawyer in Santa Ana, Calif., named Daniel J. Callahan. "We look forward," he wrote, "to the New Direction of America, and to your dedication to putting an end to the fleecing of the American taxpayers and death to its citizens in the name of war profiteers such as Blackwater." That plea was answered last week with House hearings.

Callahan did not disguise his political orientation, requesting a full-scale investigation of an "extremely Republican" company: Blackwater Security Consulting, which provides security guards in Iraq.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

Erik Prince, the secretive 38-year-old owner of the leading US mercenary firm Blackwater, has seldom appeared in public. But on Tuesday he found himself in front of a Congressional committee, TV cameras trained on his boyish face. The official focus of the hearing, convened by Henry Waxman's committee on oversight and government reform, was two questions that should have been asked long ago: whether the government's heavy reliance on private security is serving US interests in Iraq, and whether the specific conduct of Blackwater has advanced or impeded US efforts.

What put Prince in the hot seat were the infamous Nisour Square shootings in Baghdad on September 16, in which as many as 28 Iraqi civilians may have been killed.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

Gordon Brown was in Iraq yesterday on a "fact-finding mission". It needn't all have looked gloomy for the next prime minister, however - not if he did some fact-finding about Blackwater, a North Carolina company that is now one of the most profitable military contractors operating in Iraq, and proves just what a land of opportunity Iraq really is. Blackwater's president, Gary Jackson, acclaimed a "staggering" 600% growth in 2004: "This is a billion-dollar industry," he said, "and Blackwater has only scratched the surface of it." So if Gordon, or any of us, wants to get on this Iraqi gravy train, we could do worse than see how Blackwater goes about it.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica, ,

By Rafael Marques, an Angolan journalist, is the recipient of the 2006 Civil Courage Prize, awarded annually by the trustees of the Northcote Parkinson Fund. He is the author of a human rights report, "Diamonds of Humiliation and Misery" (THE WASHINGTON POST, 06/11/06):

The upcoming Hollywood feature movie "Blood Diamond," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, promises to cast a spotlight on the role of so-called conflict diamonds in fueling brutal warfare in parts of Africa. In my own country, Angola, funds obtained through the trade in such diamonds helped finance a 27-year civil war, which ended four years ago. And even though Angola's mining areas are technically at peace, diamonds are once again the force behind a different kind of violence that is no less sinister.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

By Max Hastings (THE GUARDIAN, 02/08/06):

A recession is looming in a sector of the economy you may be barely conscious of, PSCs. Since 2003 private security companies have been a great British success story. Worldwide, but notably in Iraq, businesses founded by and employing ex-soldiers have coined it by providing armed protection.

An established company, Control Risks, saw its turnover soar fifteenfold after 2003 amid the huge demand for bodyguards. A host of new entrants, often set up overnight by a handful of old army mates, joined the market. Contractors charged around £600 per man per day, paid each SAS or Para veteran £400, and pocketed the difference.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente PróximoInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional, ,

Marwan Bishara, profesor de la Universidad Norteamericana de París (LA VANGUARDIA, 19/12/05).

El nuevo plan de la victoria del presidente Bush para Iraq se fundamenta, sobre todo, en la subcontratación de su guerra contra el terrorismo. Como un directivo empresarial cualquiera, ha tomado nota de que el coste de la guerra supera los 6.000 millones de dólares y 60 soldados muertos al mes de promedio, mientras 6 de cada 10 estadounidenses consideran que la cuestión no merece tal esfuerzo: en consecuencia, adopta la decisión de transferir la carga a los subcontratistas locales; dicho de otra forma, la iraquización. Aparte de la metedura de pata de Iraq, el terrorismo en auge y la inestabilidad en la región incitan actualmente a una crecientemente desacreditada e impopular Administración estadounidense a subcontratar su guerra contra el terrorismo amplia y global en favor de agentes de rango y nivel local.…  Seguir leyendo »