| From The Editor September 25, 2006 |
The War of the HacksIt's amazing what a few days away from this politics-obsessed town can do for one's perspective. Seen from afar, the congressional debate over the war and terrorism comes across as a Washington event designed to show that Democrats are wimps on national security and to boost Republicans as true defenders of the homeland. Or Republicans are portrayed as clueless warmongers hell-bent on sending other people's sons and daughters into battle. Gary Jackson |
| QUOTE OF THE WEEK |
| Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote! Benjamin Franklin |
| PROFESSIONAL ARTICLES, EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS |
You can hardly read a story about Iraq these days without seeing an Army or Marine officer say he doesn't have enough troops to accomplish his mission. Senior officers respond that this is what junior commanders always say. That's not quite true. Commanders in charge of secondary missions often ask for more resources than they need, not recognizing their missions are less vital. But the calls for more troops in Iraq come from soldiers training Iraqis, from soldiers trying to secure Baghdad, from soldiers in Anbar. If all of these are secondary missions, where's the main effort? The truth is there are not enough ground forces in Iraq, and military officers are finally saying so in public. |
| BREAKING NEWS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
Security costs threaten oil contractors in NigeriaOil servicing companies in Nigeria's violent delta region are having to shoulder rising security costs or consider walking away from essential engineering and drilling work with oil and gas multinationals. Executives say the extra costs for companies that undertake exploration, drilling and engineering operations in the oil and gas industry could slow the completion of projects and affect oil and gas production targets. Security analysts say militant attacks on facilities in the world's eighth largest oil exporter this year - which have shut down a quarter of Nigeria's output - followed by a wave of kidnappings of expatriate oil workers, have intensified efforts by multinationals to shift the burden of risk on to their service contractors.Full Story Safe Driving? Is Your Lap Strapped In?If you think this article doesn't pertain to you, your firm, or your clients-either because your business is too small, too big, or because it's the perfect size for guarding against IT security threats-think again. Security woes even hit computer security software company McAfee, which in February had to warn some 9,000 current and former employees that their names and Social Security numbers were on an unencrypted CD that was lost after being left on a plane by an employee of auditor, Deloitte & Touche.Full Story US cautions Europe on Iran investmentAmerican attempts to persuade Europe to think again about financial involvement in Iran may be starting to bear fruit, according to European banking officials. Whether such "back-door sanctions" will work is far less apparent, experts say. Troubled by a lack of speedy progress in the UN toward imposing economic sanctions on Iran over its suspect nuclear program, the US has stepped up efforts this month to persuade allies to shun Iran's financial system, claiming that Iran may tap banks to illicitly finance terror operations or the purchase of materials for nuclear weapons.Full Story Study: Prisons Used to Recruit TerroristsU.S. prisons are becoming major breeding grounds for Islamic terrorists, but state and local authorities are too cash-strapped to prevent or track recruiting, a new report concludes. The report, to be released Tuesday, found there aren't enough legitimately trained Muslim religious leaders to counsel an estimated 9,000 U.S. prison inmates who want Islamic services. That allows Islamist extremists to target their vulnerable prison-mates with distorted versions of the Quran and other Muslim readings that urge radicalization and violence.Full Story Bin Laden death report doubtedA leaked French intelligence document raises the possibility Osama bin Laden died of typhoid, but President Jacques Chirac said yesterday the report was "in no way whatsoever confirmed" and officials from Kabul to Washington expressed skepticism about its accuracy. There have been numerous reports over the years that bin Laden had been killed or that he was dangerously ill, but the al Qaeda leader has periodically released audiotapes appealing to followers and commenting on current news events. The regional French newspaper L'Est Republicain printed what it described as a copy of a confidential document from the DGSE intelligence service citing an uncorroborated report from a "usually reliable source" who said Saudi secret services were convinced that bin Laden had died.Full Story |
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TO FILL OUT AN APPLICATION AND SUBMIT YOUR RESUME AND DD-214 CLICK HERE Questions regarding Security Consulting or Training at Blackwater (252) 435-2488 |
| SECURITY FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
Bid to Stockpile Bioterror Drugs Stymied by SetbacksThe last of the anthrax-laced letters was still making its way through the mail in late 2001 when top Bush administration officials reached an obvious conclusion: the nation desperately needed to expand its medical stockpile to prepare for another biological attack. The result was Project BioShield, a $5.6 billion effort to exploit the country's top medical and scientific brains and fill an emergency medical cabinet with new drugs and vaccines for a host of threats. "We will rally the great promise of American science and innovation to confront the greatest danger of our time," President Bush said in starting the program.Full Story Air marshals ousted over job injuriesThe size of the federal air marshal force has been cut in half by on-the-job injuries that have sidelined nearly 2,100 marshals, while squabbling prevents health and safety policies from being implemented, government officials say. Marshals say medical staffers are quitting the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) out of frustration as hundreds develop illnesses related to their heavy flying schedules such as barotrauma, decompression sickness that causes ruptured eardrums and sinus conditions often requiring surgery. They are also developing deep vein thrombosis, a disease attributed to long periods of sitting that causes blood clots, usually in the legs, that could lead to cardiac arrest.Full Story The Associated (With Terrorists) PressThe Associated Press proudly calls itself the "essential global news network" and a "bastion of the people's right to know around the world." But when it comes to the "people's right to know" whether Associated Press employees are cooperating with terrorists overseas, the "essential global news network's" motto is: Bug off. On April 12, I learned from military sources that an Associated Press photographer in Iraq, Fallujah native Bilal Hussein, had been captured in Ramadi in an apartment with insurgents and a cache of weapons. This was news. I asked the AP for confirmation. Corporate spokesman Jack Stokes informed me that company officials were "looking into reports that Mr. Hussein was detained by the U.S. military in Iraq but have no further details at this time." After reporting the alleged detention on my blog (michellemalkin.com/archives/005941.htm), I followed up several more times with AP over the past five months for status updates on Hussein. No reply.Full Story Anger at U.S. Policies More Strident at U.N.Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad grabbed headlines last week by blasting U.S. policies from the dais of the U.N. General Assembly. But while their words were harsh, in many ways they merely expressed in bolder terms what a number of other world leaders and foreign diplomats believe. Anti-Americanism never really left the United Nations, but this year's gathering of world leaders demonstrated an unusually strident disrespect for the United States. The United States is perceived as weakened by a draining war in Iraq, while many of its adversaries feel emboldened with newfound oil wealth.Full Story Pakistan SurrendersINTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS woke up on September 5 to unsettling news. The government of Pakistan, they learned, had entered into a peace agreement with the Taliban insurgency that essentially cedes authority in North Waziristan, the mountainous tribal region bordering Afghanistan, to the Taliban and al Qaeda. Just ten days later, the blow was compounded when the government of Pakistan released a large number of jihadists from prison. Together, these events may constitute the most significant development in the global war on terror in the past year--yet the media have taken little notice. For four years, the Pakistani military engaged in a campaign to assert governmental control over Wazir istan. The cost to Pakistan has been considerable; some intelligence sources believe this fighting has exacted a higher death toll on the Pakistani military than U.S. forces have sustained in Iraq. It is in this context that Pakistan gave up on South Waziristan last spring, abandoning its effort to control that area. Thereafter, sharia law was declared in South Waziristan, and the Taliban began to rule openly.Full Story |
| TRAINING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
Mirror Image Training: Training to Combat TerrorismMirror Image is a tactical and strategic training course developed and owned by the Terrorism Research Center. TRC instructors have trained hundreds of military personnel that are subsequently deployed to active combat operations, as well as large numbers of first responders, law enforcement, and security professionals. Mirror Image is an intensive one-week classroom and field-training program, designed to realistically simulate terrorist recruiting, training techniques, and operational tactics. During the course, participants will receive insight into the mindset and rationale of the terrorist through hands-on experience with the methods and means terrorist employ, education about terrorist ideologies and the cultural dimensions that influence their decision making process. Military, law enforcement, intelligence, and security professionals will, in turn, be able to see themselves as the terrorists see them and understand the weaknesses in their own environment that the terrorists will seek to exploit, and which all too often they miss. Armed with these insights participants will leave the course better able to anticipate, prevent and respond to multiple terrorist threats. November 12-17, 2006: Blackwater Training Center, Moyock, NC A detailed brochure may be downloaded at: www.terrorism.com A Registration Form/Information may be downloaded at: www.terrorism.com Questions on TRC training, please contact Betty O'Hearns-Hines, Training Coordinator for the Terrorism Research Center. Email: betty@terrorism.com Phone: (727)360-4302 voice or (727)409-1754 |
| FRANKS REVIEW |
Service Equipment ReviewBeretta PX4 PistolSometimes it takes a company a few years to evolve a new design. Beretta's M9 / 92F 9mm handgun - and the subsequent .40S&W caliber versions - was, and still is, an excellent design. That said, is there always room for improvement? Yes. Otherwise the firearms industry would be stuck with flintlock rifles and handguns. There are several notable design evolutions incorporated in the Beretta PX9 and PX4 pistols. The closed side, the rotating barrel and the polymer frame with interchangeable backstraps all help the handgun bring Beretta into the new millennium.Full Story Can Be Viewed At: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/evals/guns/berettapx4.htm Recreational Equipment Review5.11 Tactical Pants & ShortsI have always found it humorous that the 5.11 Tactical pants and shorts are SO well known in the military and law enforcement industries, but not as popular amongst the recreational outdoor crowd (at least in my area). Why? Because, as I understand it, the 5.11 Tactical Pants were originally designed for rock climbing. The expanding waist, the hidden internal kneepad pockets and the strap on the rear pocket for D-rings... all design features to make the pants more comfortable and of greater utility value for the climber. This week we're going to take a look at the pants, and both lengths of shorts and how they perform out their in the elements.
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The Blackwater Tactical Weekly is a free weekly e-publication. The BTW provides readers valuable information from diverse sources regarding tactical and strategic security issues. Editor-in-Chief – Gary Jackson (btw@blackwaterusa.com) Questions regarding Security Consulting or Training
at Blackwater (252) 435-2488 Editorial Calendar: The weekly theme may change at the discretion of
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