From The Editor                        May 8 2006
   
  Change can be good...
Over the next several weeks you may start to notice some small changes in the Blackwater Tactical Weekly. For one, the name of the newsletter will become the Blackwater Tactical and Intelligence Weekly. Our partnership and personal relationships with the Terrorism Research Center have brought us to the conclusion that the information that we can disseminate as a team will be better than ever. So stand-by and let us know what you think.
Gary Jackson
President
Blackwater

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
   
  The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight.
* Theodore Roosevelt

PROFESSIONAL ARTICLES, EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS
   
 

Far-right leader decries "Islamisation of France"

From our partners at the Terrorism Research Center

A far-right French politician launched his 2007 presidential campaign on Sunday denouncing what he called the Islamisation of the country and declaring Islam incompatible with France's secular values. Philippe de Villiers, head of the anti-immigrant Movement for France (MPF) party, also charged that Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport was endangered by Islamist radicals who he said had infiltrated the ground staff there. http://www.terrorism.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=WarReports&file=index&view=1147

The Failed States Index

Democracy may be spreading, but is the world more stable? In the second-annual Failed States Index, FOREIGN POLICY and the Fund for Peace track the countries on the edge of collapse.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3420

I have seen the enemy ...

By Franklin Raff
An Iraqi officer of significant rank approached my translator as I quietly took notes near the banks of the Euphrates River, at a combat observation post named COP Dunlop. He knew I was an embedded American. He had a sense, perhaps, that I was a sympathetic soul, and he wanted to pass along an urgent message.
We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. I learned he was an educated and successful man, an accomplished soldier, and quite knowledgeable about the affairs of the world. He had served under Saddam. He openly spoke about the likelihood of corruption in the new Iraqi Ministry of Defense. We spoke about black-market arms trading, ancient smuggling routes, and the problem of porous borders.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49739
BREAKING NEWS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
   
 

'Katrina effect' blamed for rise in homicides

Violence among Hurricane Katrina evacuees, much of it occurring in southwest Houston neighborhoods targeted in a new anti-crime campaign, accounted for nearly a quarter of homicides in the city so far this year, police officials said Friday.
http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/3844488.html

Rumors fly as feds deny immig raids

Rumors are rampant in the city's immigrant communities that federal agents are swooping down into neighborhoods and plucking undocumented workers from restaurants, car washes and even soccer fields. "My employees are nervous to come to work now," said Ana, a Woodhaven, Queens, hair salon owner who called the Daily News to report an unsubstantiated raid of a Latino food restaurant on Jamaica Ave. and 104th St. "I really don't know what to tell them."
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/415624p-351089c.html

House Intel Panel Chief Opposes Hayden

A leading Republican came out against the front-runner for CIA director, Gen. Michael Hayden, saying Sunday the spy agency should not have military leadership during a turbulent time among intelligence agencies.
Members of the Senate committee that would consider President Bush's nominee also expressed reservations, saying the CIA is a civilian agency and putting Hayden atop it would concentrate too much power in the military for intelligence matters.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060507/D8HF00R00.html

Polygamy Sect Leader on FBI Wanted List

Polygamist church leader Warren Jeffs has been placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in hopes that the additional exposure and reward money will lead to his arrest.
Jeffs, 50, is accused of arranging marriages between underage girls and older men. He is wanted in Arizona on criminal charges of sexual conduct with a minor. He also was charged in Utah with rape as an accomplice.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060507/D8HF6CK82.html

JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
   
  TO FILL OUT AN APPLICATION AND SUBMIT YOUR RESUME AND DD-214 CLICK HERE

SECURITY FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
   
 

Rescuers Retrieve Bodies of 10 U.S. Troops

Rescuers recovered the bodies of 10 soldiers who perished in a helicopter crash while scouring remote Afghan mountains along the Pakistan border for al-Qaida and Taliban militants, the U.S. military said Sunday.
The military said Friday's crash into an inaccessible ravine - the deadliest for U.S. forces here in a year - was not caused by hostile fire.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060507/D8HF79200.html

Bombs Kill 16, Injure Dozens in Baghdad

Car bombs killed at least 16 people and injured dozens Sunday in Baghdad and a Shiite holy city, casting doubt on U.S. hopes that formation of a new government alone would provide a quick end to the country's violence.
At least 26 others were killed or found dead Sunday, including a U.S. Marine mortally wounded in the insurgent bastion of Anbar province in western Iraq, police and the U.S. military said.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060507/D8HF6H780.html

Iran Threatens to Quit Nuclear Treaty

Iran's hard-line parliament Sunday threatened to pass legislation that would force the government to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
The move, which would put Iran in company with North Korea, came as Washington and its allies pressed for a U.N. Security Council vote to outlaw Tehran's uranium enrichment program.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060507/D8HF7PQ00.html

Flier Circulates Seeking Musharraf's Death

A pamphlet purportedly from Osama bin Laden circulated among border tribesmen Sunday, saying the al-Qaida chief was praying for the assassination of Pakistan's president and calling him a "slave" of President Bush.
Some doubts were cast on the statement's authenticity, but it follows a spurt of high-profile militant messages and highlights simmering tensions between Pakistani forces and the insurgents they are battling along the Pakistan-Afghan border.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060507/D8HF6DP00.html

FRANKS REVIEW
   
 

Service Equipment Review:

Crimson Trace Laser Grips for Glock

At SHOT Show '05, I talked to the good folks at Crimson Trace (CT) about their upcoming laser grips for the Glock. Prior to the development of this new product, the Crimson Trace laser aiming device for a Glock involved a small nub that was installed on the front of the trigger guard. That was changing. At SHOT Show this year I saw several of the units installed on various Glocks and it looked much handier, and more important for me, it would work with most (if not all) holsters. Shortly thereafter, I received my test and evaluation unit from Crimson Trace for my Glock 19 - and the testing began. Installation was quite easy. It helps that I'm a Glock certified armorer and that I've taken the trigger group pin out of my Glock 19 more times than I can remember (or care to). To install the Crimson Trace Laser Grips for your Glock, that's the only pin you need to mess with.

The rest of the story: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/evals/other/ctglock.htm



Recreational Equipment Review:

“Cold Service” by Robert B. Parker: A Spenser Novel

Many years ago I enjoyed watching a television show called "Spenser For Hire" starring Robert Urich as Spenser, "spelled with an S like the poet". Spenser was a tough, fair and tenacious private investigator who, along with the love of his life, Dr. Susan Silverman, and his sometimes-on-the-other-side-of-the-law best friend, Hawk, took on and solved cases that most folks wanted to see buried rather than investigated. I miss the television show, but Spenser's creator, Robert B. Parker, keeps providing books for our enjoyment. The book "Cold Service" could have the subtitle of "I O U A Bullet". It's a story about a Ukrainian crime syndicate that is working in conjunction with Afghani warlords to import heroin into the United States. Spenser gets pulled into the case when Hawk is shot while trying to protect a Boston crime employee.

The rest of the story: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/recevals/recreading/coldservice.htm
CHAPLAINS CORNER
   
 

Compassion

THINK ABOUT IT...

Life is like a ten-speed bike.
Most of us have gears we never use.
-Charles M. Schultz

Is this statement really true?  When I first received it I thought on it and realized that
for me... no matter how much I do... or have done... it is still true for me.  I know that
there are things yet for me to do and they are in my future plans if the will of my
Commander-in-Chief gets accomplished.  This is truth that I know!  Now, how about
you?... How does the statement apply to you?

I have had a long and very satisfying career.  No two days have ever been the same.
Occasionally I make the statement that if there is anything that I need to learn or
experience I am willing to receive the education... and education is still taking place.

On Thursday of this week I was the only chaplain on call and the pager sounded.
Response brought a request to respond to assist officers at a death scene in a
residence way across town... for me to prepare and travel it would take an hour.
The message was, "Come as soon as you are able"... and I did.

For the rest of the story go here: http://www.blackwaterusa.com/btw2006/article/050806chaplain.html
BUMPER STICKER
   
 

Rock is Dead
Long Live Paper and Scissors
LEGAL NOTICE
   
  Blackwater USA (the "Company"), provides this Newsletter as a source of diverse information to its readers. The Company does not warrant or endorse the products or services advertised in or reviewed in the Newsletter. The views and statements of the reviewers and commentators presented in the Newsletter are entirely their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Company or its affiliates. The Company does not monitor or warrant the accuracy or reliability of the material provided in this Newsletter or presented at any of the third-party websites to which links are provided in this Newsletter. WARNING: Use of certain of the products and services discussed or reviewed in this Newsletter can lead to personal injury or death. It is critical to follow manufacturers' instructions in using such products or services. The Company will not accept any liability for damages, injuries, or death resulting from the use or misuse of any such products or services.

 

  












      
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