| August 27, 2007 Edition |
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In response to the increase in active shooter and terrorist incidents, Blackwater has developed the “Active Threat Response” as Law Enforcement’s response to an Active Shooter. This course will place students in scenarios where the traditional method (waiting for SWAT) is outweighed by the potential for loss of life. The focus is on single officer and two officer response. Although not exclusively aimed to school shooting incidents, this is obviously a major scenario. The initial offering of this course will be November 5-9. The student will experience live fire on the ranges with pistol, shotgun, and carbine to hone their tactical firearms skills. The principles of Active Threat response will be covered in detail in the classroom and then with practical exercises in Blackwater’s Urban Training Area, R.U. Ready High School, and 5,000 square foot, multi-level tactical house using Simunition® FX® cartridges. Students will learn to control adrenaline response through intensive force-on-force scenarios conducted with live role players as aggressors. Participants will leave with a better understanding of the Active Threat and have confidence in their ability to handle the situation. The complete course description is available at: http://www.blackwaterusa.com/images/pdf/active
threat.pdf. A New Sheriff's in TownBuilding the rule of law in Baghdad and beyond.Ilya ShapiroWeekly Standard JUST ACROSS THE Tigris from the Green Zone, the surge has established what may be its most important non-military beachhead: the Rule of Law Complex (ROLC). Based in Baghdad's Rusafa District, the traditional home of the Baghdad Police, the ROLC brings together the three legs of the criminal justice stool: courts, police, and corrections. Inside a heavily fortified compound not far from Sadr City, the ROLC houses a branch of the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI), the Baghdad Police College, and a detention facility for 5,000 detainees (soon to be expanded to 7,000), as well as secure accommodations for key judicial personnel and their families. The project has moved quickly from PowerPoint slides in February to the start of operations in April and its first trial in June, all of which required significant cooperation among the Ministries of Interior, Justice, and Finance, as well as the Higher Judicial Council. Last month the Iraqi government approved $49 million for the effort and, as of August 1, ROLC's full operating budget--including security expenses--comes out of state funds. What Coalition forces have provided, meanwhile--in addition to advice on the ROLC's design, construction, and implementation--is the Law and Order Task Force (LAOTF). LAOTF is a key part of Multi-National Force-Iraq's (MNFI) renewed emphasis on building up the rule of law and combines the expertise of attorneys and investigators, both military and civilian. Full Story |
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| QUOTE OF THE WEEK |
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Leaders must pick causes they won't abandon easily, remain committed despite setbacks, and communicate their big ideas over and over again in every encounter. Rosabeth Moss Kanter |
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| PROFESSIONAL ARTICLES, EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS |
No More VietnamsThis time, let's finish the job.Weekly StandardDavid Gelernter NOT LONG AGO RICHARD COHEN of the Washington Post wrote a column about Iraq headlined "As in Vietnam, dereliction of duty all over again." The Vietnam analogy has been part of the Iraq war story since the fighting started (in fact, since before it started). The Bush administration often deals with its critics by ignoring them. This time it can't. Too much rides on the president looking these critics in the eye and telling them: Damned right this is Vietnam all over again. Only this time we will not get scared and walk out in the middle. This time we will stand fast, and repair a piece of the American psyche that has been damaged and hurting ever since we ran from Vietnam in disgrace way back in April 1975. Of course any citizen is welcome to criticize the conduct of any war--tactfully, without giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Maybe we are doing things all wrong in Iraq. But those who launch the Vietnam analogy at the administration are lobbing heavy artillery for a different reason. They are predicting (with obnoxious schadenfreude) that Iraq will turn out like Vietnam in the end: We will proclaim ourselves beaten, give up, and go home. The sooner we understand this, the sooner we will do the intelligent and humane thing and surrender. These critics ought to be told firmly that Iraq is indeed another Vietnam. Once again we are in the middle of cleaning out one of the world's ugliest abscesses, which turns out (again) to be infected and putrefying. Full Story Why Study War?Military history teaches us about honor, sacrifice, and the inevitability of conflict.City JournalVictor Davis Hanson Try explaining to a college student that Tet was an American military victory. You’ll provoke not a counterargument—let alone an assent—but a blank stare: Who or what was Tet? Doing interviews about the recent hit movie 300, I encountered similar bewilderment from listeners and hosts. Not only did most of them not know who the 300 were or what Thermopylae was; they seemed clueless about the Persian Wars altogether. It’s no surprise that civilian Americans tend to lack a basic understanding of military matters. Even when I was a graduate student, 30-some years ago, military history—understood broadly as the investigation of why one side wins and another loses a war, and encompassing reflections on magisterial or foolish generalship, technological stagnation or breakthrough, and the roles of discipline, bravery, national will, and culture in determining a conflict’s outcome and its consequences—had already become unfashionable on campus. Today, universities are even less receptive to the subject. This state of affairs is profoundly troubling, for democratic citizenship requires knowledge of war—and now, in the age of weapons of mass annihilation, more than ever. Iraq Vets Respond...to the New York Times seven.Weekly StandardDavid Bellavia, Pete Hegseth, Michael Baumann, Carl Hartmann, David Thul, Knox Nunnally, Joe Worley ON SUNDAY, seven soldiers from the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division stationed in Iraq penned a passionate opinion piece in the New York Times that further illustrates the complexity of what is "really" happening in Iraq. Of the almost 3,000 soldiers from the Army's storied 82nd Airborne Division currently serving in the hottest of Iraqi neighborhoods, seven felt confident enough in their misgivings to sign an opinion piece. They should not be surprised that many of their comrades--including the seven undersigned here--find their work to be misguided. The 2nd Brigade is responsible for two dangerous areas of Baghdad: Adihamiyah and Sadr City. Airborne troopers there have seen the worst al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army can throw at them and the Iraqi people. But the whole story is that the Iraqis and soldiers in their sector have not yet been fully affected by the surge of troops and operations, which have barely been in place two months. Currently, American and Iraqi Forces are clearing sections of southern Baghdad before turning north to the 82nd Airborne's neighborhoods. As such, the portrait these soldiers painted, while surely accurate and honest, is more representative of pre-surge Baghdad: sectarian strife, lawlessness, and indiscriminate slaughter. Full Story |
| BREAKING NEWS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
Our Epidemic of IgnoranceReal Clear PoliticsVictor Davis Hanson Last week I went shopping in our small rural hometown, where my family has attended the same public schools since 1896. Without exception, all six generations of us -- whether farmers, housewives, day laborers, business people, writers, lawyers or educators -- were given a good, competitive K-12 education. But after a haircut, I noticed that the 20-something cashier could not count out change. The next day, at the electronic outlet store, another young clerk could not read -- much less explain -- the basic English of the buyer's warranty. At the food market, I listened as a young couple argued over the price of a cut of tri-tip -- unable to calculate the meat's real value from its price per pound. As another school year is set to get under way, it's worth pondering where this epidemic of ignorance came from. Our presidential candidates sense the danger of this dumbing down of American society and are arguing over the dismal status of contemporary education: poor graduation rates, weak test scores and suspect literacy among the general population. Politicians warn that America's edge in global research and productivity will disappear, and with it our high standard of living. Full Story What September Won't SettleWashington PostGeorge F. Will Come September, America might slip closer toward a Weimar moment. It would be milder than the original but significantly disagreeable. After the First World War, politics in Germany's new Weimar Republic were poisoned by the belief that the army had been poised for victory in 1918 and that one more surge could have turned the tide. Many Germans bitterly concluded that the political class, having lost its nerve and will to win, capitulated. The fact that fanciful analysis fed this rancor did not diminish its power. The Weimar Republic was fragile; America's domestic tranquility is not. Still, remember the bitterness stirred by the accusatory question "Who lost China?" and corrosive suspicions that the fruits of victory in Europe had been squandered by Americans of bad character or bad motives at Yalta. Full Story A surge of war supportWashington TimesWith positive military news continuing from Iraq, President Bush yesterday seized the moment. In a speech to the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Kansas City, Mr. Bush recalled the naysayers of the previous century who questioned Japan's suitability for democracy. He recalled others who regarded the setbacks in the fight against Communist aggression in Korea as evidence that that the war was a blunder. The first dissenters were wrong. The second were myopic. "In the aftermath of Japan's surrender, many thought it naive to help the Japanese transform themselves into a democracy," the president told the old soldiers, some of them veterans of those foreign wars. "Then as now, the critics argued that some people were simply not fit for freedom... Critics also complained when America intervened to save South Korea from Communist invasion. Full Story Iraq's Re-LiberationNew York PostRalph Peters GEN. David Petraeus' Baghdad office reflects the man: It's spartan. There are no giant flat-screen TVs or I- love-me photos on the walls. There's no spectacular view, just no-nonsense wall maps of the city and the country. It may be the least ostentatious four-star general's office in history. There's a representational office elsewhere, but this is where the general runs his war - when he's in an office: He often makes two or three grueling "battlefield circulation" trips around the country in a week. In a session with The Post yesterday, Petraeus stressed that he wasn't going to offer any premature declarations of victory. Far from it. Despite meaningful and measurable progress since he assumed command earlier this year, Iraq remains a brutally difficult place. Full Story Debates that say somethingIn the aftermath of a militia attack against unarmed civilians.Los Angeles TimesNewt Gingrich Achallenge arrived at the office of every presidential candidate about two weeks ago. It was a letter, signed by journalist Marvin Kalb and me, challenging each one, Republican and Democrat, to sign on for "Nine Nineties in Nine." That is, if nominated, they would pledge to take part in nine 90-minute debates in the nine weeks leading up to election day. How is this different? We are asking the candidates to throw out the rule book that has stifled political debate. Each party's nominee would be expected to present and defend solutions in a one-on-one dialogue with his or her opponent. The moderator would only keep time and introduce topics. Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has informally agreed to "Nine Nineties in Nine," but so far, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is the only candidate to officially accept the challenge. Full Story |
| JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
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To view the latest contract opportunities at Blackwater, visit our Contract Web Page. TO FILL OUT AN APPLICATION AND SUBMIT YOUR RESUME CLICK HERE Questions regarding Security Consulting or Training at Blackwater (252) 435-2488 or email dcarter@blackwaterusa.com. |
| SECURITY FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
The Man Behind the MagicLou CannonWashington Post Op-Ed Michael Deaver will be remembered as Ronald Reagan's magic man, the impresario who orchestrated presidential performances, ordered up the backdrops (usually blue) and carefully staged historical remembrances such as the splendid observance of the D-Day anniversary on the beaches of Normandy in 1984. All of that is well and good, but Deaver's importance transcended stagecraft. Deaver was one of a handful of aides who joined Reagan early in his California governorship and stayed with him through most of his presidency. His adoration, though, was not automatic: Deaver spoke truth to power at crucial moments. Late in 1986, for example, after disclosures that Reagan had secretly approved arms sales to Iran and that national security aides had diverted some of the proceeds to the Nicaraguan contras, Reagan fired the mastermind of this diversion and the national security adviser who had known of it. He accepted the resignation of CIA Director William Casey. But Reagan refused to fire his chief of staff, Donald T. Regan, whom a board of inquiry would later say bore "primary responsibility for the chaos that descended upon the White House" after the Iran-contra disclosures. Full Story On the Front Line in the War on TerrorismCops in New York and Los Angeles offer America two models for preventing another 9/11.Judith MillerCity Journal Three time zones, 3,000 miles, and a cultural galaxy apart, New York and Los Angeles face a common threat: along with Washington, D.C., they’re the chief American targets of Islamic terror. And both cities boast top cops, sometime rivals—the cities are fiercely competitive—who know that ensuring that a dog doesn’t bark will determine their legacies. After investing millions of dollars in homeland security, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly of New York and Chief William J. Bratton of L.A. can both claim counterterror successes. What can we learn from their approaches? And will they be able to continue preventing terrorist attacks in their cities? On the face of it, the nation’s two biggest metropolitan forces seem to have adopted kindred counterterrorism strategies. Both have roving SWAT or “Emergency Service Unit” teams, equipped with gas masks and antidotes to chemical and biological agents. Both have set up “fusion” centers to screen threats and monitor secret intelligence and “open-source” information, including radical Internet sites, and both have started programs to identify and protect likely targets. Both have tried to integrate private security experts into their work. Full Story Iraq: Can American Military Stop Deadly IEDs?How do you stop foes who kill with devices built for the price of a pizza? Maybe the question is, can you stop them?NewsweekEvan Thomas and John Barry It's bad enough when the insurgents hide the IEDs (improvised explosive
devices) in animal carcasses or, more ghoulishly, human cadavers.
Worse is when they leave the bombs sitting in plain sight. "It
makes the hair on the back of our necks tingle," says Command
Master Chief Pat McLean, the senior enlisted man in an Explosive
Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Mobile Unit 2 battalion in northern Iraq,
the specialists who disarm bombs—and who lost three men to
exploding IEDs in July. Insurgents sometimes want the Americans
to find the IEDs—so they can draw them into an ambush. The
Iraqis are getting cleverer as the Americans try to shield U.S.
troops with more and more armor. In a recent incident, insurgents
used a small IED to blow out the tires of one vehicle. When the
passengers scrambled out to transfer to another vehicle, a larger
IED detonated, killing two. "Sadly, it seems that we're the
ones lagging behind. They're getting better and better at it,"
says Robert Lamburne, the director of forensic services at the British
Embassy in Baghdad. Full Story Why Russia Is Flexing Its MusclesTimeMark Thompson Moscow's latest saber-rattling — flying long-range bomber
patrols toward the U.S. and Britain, launching planes from its sole
aircraft carrier, redeploying the Russian fleet to the Mediterranean,
engaging in war games with China and several central Asian nations
— doesn't mean the Cold War has returned. What it does signal
is Russia's willingness, emboldened by the oil wealth once again
flowing to the government, to begin reasserting its historic role
as a strategic counterweight to Washington. And if it can't quite
muster the heft to do that alone, Moscow is increasingly allying
with other nations to challenge America's global hegemony. Geopolitical
rivalry long predates the United States and the Soviet Union, of
course; it dates back to the days of the Roman Empire. And the revival
of such competition between Washington and Moscow is no surprise
given Russia's recovery from its weakened position in the 1990s,
which saw its regional and global influence dramatically reduced.
But an oil price of $70 a barrel oil has filled the Kremlin's coffers
and allowed it to pump money into its military. And the increased
spending comes on the heels of a series of moves by Washington that
has upset Russia anew, ranging from NATO enlargement and proposed
missile-defense sites in the Czech Republic and Poland, to the Iraq
war. At least partly in response, Russia recently planted a titanium
reproduction of its flag at the North Pole, test-fired a new ballistic
missile supposedly capable of thwarting Washington's fledgling missile
shield, and has blocked moves at the U.N. aimed at granting Kosovo
formal independence from Russia's ally, Serbia. The Iraqi ConvergenceWashington PostCharles Krauthammer After months of surreality, the Iraq debate has quite abruptly acquired a relationship to reality. Following the Democratic victory last November, panicked Republican senators began rifling the thesaurus to find exactly the right phrase to express exactly the right nuance to establish exactly the right distance from the president's Iraq policy, while Murtha Democrats searched for exactly the right legislative ruse to force a retreat from Iraq without appearing to do so. In the last month, however, as a consensus has emerged about realities in Iraq, a reasoned debate has begun. A number of fair-minded observers, both critics and supporters of the war, agree that the surge has yielded considerable military progress, while at the national political level the Maliki government remains a disaster. The latest report from the battlefield is from Carl Levin, Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a strong critic of the Iraq war. He returned saying essentially what we have heard from Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution and various liberal congressmen, the latest being Brian Baird (D-Wash.): Al-Qaeda has been seriously set back as Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar, Diyala and other provinces switched from the insurgency to our side. Full Story |
| TACTICAL TRAINING & INTELLIGENCE RESOURCES FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
| Blackwater has several immediate openings for EMT
's to support our contracts in the Middle East. Applicants must meet
the following requirements: • Current National Registry as an EMT-Intermediate minimum. • 3 years Military or Law Enforcement experience • 3 years tactical medical experience • 1 year Protective Security experience • Must be a U.S citizen For more information concerning rotation, compensation and class dates, please contact Patrick Weinert at pweinert@blackwaterusa.com 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.
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| FRANKS REVIEW |
Tactical Equipment EvaluationSmith & Wesson's M&P .40 Pistol"This is not your daddy's Smith & Wesson pistol." That was what I was told at the range when I was first handed the M&P. "Sure," I though. "That's what I've been told about every new Smith & Wesson pistol." I had a rough familiarity with the evolution of Smith & Wesson pistols with my first experience being an S&W Model 59. I remember the third generation guns and the creation of the Model 1006 in 10mm for the FBI, etc. I never expected to be so happy with a Smith & Wesson pistol as I was with the M&P.Full Story Can Be Viewed At: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/evals/guns/swmp.htm
Recreational Equipment ReviewDavey Crickett .22 Short Rifle For KidsThose who know me well know that I'm a huge supporter of the 2nd Amendment. Saying I believe in it is like saying I breath. Well, of course I do. How could I not? Long ago I decided I should instill that same value into my children and I searched for weapons properly sized so that I could get them into enjoying shooting sports at a young age. At one gun show I found the Davey Crickett .22 short, a bolt action single shot rifle perfectly sized for prepubescent children.Full Story Can Be Viewed At: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/recevals/huntfish/crickett22.htm |
| CHAPLAINS CORNER |
THINGS THAT GNAW IF I LET THEM...People who makes much noise over a simple thing like a valid parking ticket that might cost $20.00... Or an expired registration that is twenty days out of date... People who raise a great noise over having their vehicle towed from an illegal parking situation when the violation is a plain simple violation of posted signs and markings that say violators will be towed... or of blocking someone's driveway... People who think they can park anyplace, even in the travel portion of the roadway, and feel they should be immune from being charged with a traffic infraction... People who drive a motor vehicle after consuming alcoholic beverages... People who complain loudly and vocally about the war and the deaths involved but say absolutely nothing against the deaths by Drunken Driving... People who drink alcoholic beverages or consume mind altering drugs to excess but get upset when caught in the condition of being inebriated, impaired and less than in control of their faculties... http://www.blackwaterusa.com/btw2007/article/082707chaplain.htm |
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| THE PRIVATE SECURITY BLOGOSPHERE |
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The Other Side of The Story (http://pmc-psc-truth.blogspot.com/) Please continue to submit your suggestions to btw@blackwaterusa.com. |
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| CONTACT INFORMATION |
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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
the Editor based on current events. To view an archived BTW, Click Here |
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| 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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