| October 15, 2007 Edition |
From the EditorBlackwater Worldwide Founder and CEO Erik Prince stands his ground against critics as he begins a series of unprecedented appearances on the national talk show circuit. Since September 16th's attack in Bagdad on a Blackwater caravan carrying an American diplomat, Prince's Blackwater security contractors have come under fire amidst a developing debate about the contracting industry in a hot political climate. Mr. Prince has already given a revealing interview with CBS' 60 Minutes and will continue to answer questions for various media outlets while setting the record straight and clearing the names of those who work for him. All his comments can be found by searching YouTube where supporters of Blackwater have placed the various interviews, search "Erik Prince interviews".Coddling KillersPakistan's appeasement fails.New York PostRalph Peters The fighting in Pakistan this week has been more in tense than any current op erations across the border in Afghanistan. President Musharraf is paying, with interest, for trying to cut a deal with Islamist fanatics. The combat operations in North Waziristan involve thousands of ground troops, artillery barrages and attack aircraft. This isn't internal policing. It's war. And it's all the uglier and deadlier because the Pakistani government convinced itself that appeasement could work. Last year, the generals believed they had an agreement with the truculent tribals on the Northwest Frontier: The tribesmen would behave, and the army would leave them alone. Full Story |
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| QUOTE OF THE WEEK |
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Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. Helen Keller |
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| PROFESSIONAL ARTICLES, EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS |
Getting Iraq To WorkWashington PostJim Golby I'm sick of hearing about all the horrible things that happen in Iraq without ever hearing about any of the good ones. That's not because horrible things don't occur here every day; they do. I've witnessed far more death and sadness than I wish anyone ever had to see. And it's not because I believe in some left-wing media conspiracy. If I'm affiliated with a political party at all, I honestly can't remember which one it is. Rather, I'm sick of hearing about all the horrible things that happen in Iraq because I've been deployed here for more than 24 months since this war began, and I think I have a story to tell that's heroic, maybe even noble. Full Story The Bombing Bookends to 9/11TimeRobert Baer Seven years ago, on October 12, 2000, the U.S.S. Cole was attacked in the Yemeni port of Aden, killing 17 American sailors. Two years later, to the day, a pair of suicide bombers killed 202 tourists and Indonesians in Bali. Neither attack would have the fateful consequences of September 11. But, in their own way, the Cole and the Bali attacks were important turning points in radical Islam's war on the West. For Islamic radicals, the legitimacy of attacking the Cole was never in doubt. The U.S. was at war with Islam, and the Cole, a Navy guided missile destroyer, was a military target. Full Story Berlin and Vienna Stand Against the West: European Divisions on the Iranian BombWorld Politics ReviewMatthias Küntzel Toward the end of August, French President Nicolas Sarkozy ushered in a new phase in the diplomatic negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program by calling for tougher sanctions against Iran. In the event that the U.N. Security Council should prove incapable of taking action, Sarkozy demanded that the Europeans take action themselves: unilaterally. It is only by applying massive economic pressure, Sarkozy argued, that "a catastrophic alternative" could still be avoided: "either the Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran." At the same time, Sarkozy pressured the French energy companies Total and Gaz de France to forego any further investments in Iran and he called upon French banks to freeze their business with Iran. Full Story |
| BREAKING NEWS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
The Oligarchs Go on SafariRussians take their place alongside the Chinese in a battle for resources to fuel their growing empires.NewsweekOwen Matthews Late on a Friday night at the Simba Saloon in downtown Nairobi, music by the Kenyan pop sensation the Boomba Clan is playing, and the ties are coming off. At the bar, banker types in expensive suits swap news of the latest bank IPOs and mineral concessions, the must-have gossip in Africa's biggest boomtown. Some of the conversations are in English. Some are in Chinese. And increasingly, many of them are in Russian, as Moscow begins to give both the West and Beijing a run for their money in the race for Africa's riches. Today, emerging-market giants are fighting for oil, gas and metal ore in Africa as energetically as 19th-century European colonialists grabbed land on the continent. Full Story Qaeda on the RunSyria Slay is Latest SetbackNew York PostAmir Taheri Unknown gunmen murdered Muhammad Gul Aghasi - one of the key "theologians" of al Qaeda - at a mosque in northern Syria last month. Candidates for the fiery preacher's killing include rivals within his own radical group, agents of the Americans - and his Syrian hosts. Whatever the truth, this is bad news for the already ailing al Qaeda. Born in 1973, Aghasi, who was of mixed Kurdish-Turkmen ethnic stock, studied Islamic theology in Damascus in the 1990s before traveling to Pakistan, where he established contact with the Taliban and al Qaeda. In 2004, having returned to his Syrian hometown, he created the Ghuraba al-Shaam (Aliens of the Levant), with the declared aim of recruiting, training and arming jihadists to fight against the new Iraqi government and the U.S.-led Coalition forces. Full Story Underworld QueenpinSexy, stylish and female. Meet Mexico's unlikely druglord suspect.NewsweekJoseph Contreras Suspected drug traffickers usually don't look quite like this. But Sandra Avila Beltrán is no run-of-the-mill narco-thug: the 46-year-old brunette was indicted in Florida three years ago on charges of conspiring to import cocaine in connection with a 9.6-ton seizure of the drug in 2001, and her arrest outside a coffee shop in a posh Mexico City neighborhood late last month made headlines because she is one of only two women listed among Mexico's leading drug traffickers. Known as the Queen of the Pacific, Avila Beltrán earned her nickname in part by allegedly helping to develop smuggling routes along Mexico's Pacific Coast for Colombia's Valle del Norte cartel as far back as the 1990s. Full Story U.S. tries rehab for religious extremistsSingapore has reduced its detainee ranks with Islamic reeducation.The Christian Science MonitorSimon Montlake A counseling program that employs Muslim clerics to rebut extremist views of detainees has steadily reduced their numbers over the past four years in Singapore, suggesting that religious-based rehabilitation may offer an alternative to indefinite detention without trial in the US-led war on terrorism. Faced with swelling detention centers, US military commanders in Iraq have begun to take note. In recent months, they have introduced religious-education programs for adults and juveniles that are modeled, in part, on Singapore's and on a much larger program in Saudi Arabia. Full Story Tehran's Price For 'Solidarity'Mullahs Seek Useful Marxist IdiotsNew York PostAmir Taheri Anxious to create what they call "a global progressive front," Presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela are sponsoring projects to underline "the ideological kinship of the left and revolutionary Islam." The theme - hammered in by Ahmadinejad during his recent visit to Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia - inspired a four-day seminar organized by his supporters at Tehran University last week (partly financed by Chavez). Full Story |
| THE WEEKLY CARTOON |
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| 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 webmaster@blackwaterusa.com. |
| SECURITY FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
Hope Yet for Iraq?Real Clear PoliticsVictor Davis Hanson Iraq for most Americans is now a toxic subject -- best either ignored or largely evoked to blame someone for something in the past. Any visitor to Iraq can see that the American military cannot be defeated there, but also is puzzled over exactly how we could win -- victory being defined as fostering a stable Iraqi constitutional state analogous to, say, Turkey. But war is never static. Over the last 90 days, there has been newfound optimism, as Iraqis are at last stepping forward to help Americans secure their country. Full Story A Dutch Retreat on Speech?Washington PostAnne Applebaum And now we come to what may be a truly fundamental test, maybe even a turning point, for that part of the world generally known as the West. The test is this: Are prominent, articulate critics of radical Islam, critics who happen to be citizens of European countries or the United States, entitled to the same free speech rights enjoyed by other citizens of European countries and the United States? Legally, of course they are. In practice, they can say what they want -- and then they can be murdered for doing so. That means that Western governments have a special and unusual responsibility to them, as many have long acknowledged. Full Story Iraq needs a National GuardArmed Forces JournalDavid J. Katz What happens after the surge? After 21,500 additional U.S. troops have come and gone, will we have won in Iraq? Will we have extinguished the insurgency and rooted out the dead-enders? Or will the insurgents maintain their capacity to destabilize the government through harassment and interdiction of its military and police forces and sectarian provocation? There is no magic bullet. Even six full U.S. brigades and 18 U.S. battalions, alongside 13 Iraq Army brigades and eight Iraqi National Police brigades sweeping neighborhoods in Baghdad, cannot - by themselves - win this war, particularly when their presence in those neighborhoods is not permanent. When those boots on the ground march out of Baghdad, the situation may be substantially improved, but the militias, the Sunni-Shiite divide and lack of counterbalancing national institutions will remain. Full Story China's New GuardThey're called the Sixth Generation. (Everything starts with Mao, of course.) When their day comes, they may well be the country's best hope for change.NewsweekMelinda Liu and Jonathan Ansfield Colleagues at the fast-track Communist Youth League have seen a change in their recently appointed boss. "In the past, Hu Chunhua was known within the Youth League for being polite," says a powerfully connected Beijing scholar. "But now he seems to be acting much tougher." Earlier this year Hu, 44, unceremoniously dismissed one of his subordinates, Lu Shizhen, from her post as party chief at the China Youth College for Political Sciences in Beijing. Even though Lu, at 60, had technically hit retirement age, she was hoping to stay on the job a little longer, according to the scholar, who requested anonymity because he isn't cleared to speak to the media. But Hu didn't even warn her in advance that she was being replaced. Full Story Storm clouds over PakistanThe Washington TimesPresident Pervez Musharraf's landslide victory in Saturday's election should also remind Americans of the difficult political predicament faced by the general - a relatively moderate, pro-U.S. authoritarian attempting to lead a nation that is an international nerve center of al Qaeda activity. Gen. Musharraf's win resulted in part from the unexpected boycott of the vote by politicians loyal to former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Although Gen. Musharraf on Friday signed an amnesty agreement permitting her to return to Pakistan without facing corruption charges, Mrs. Bhutto failed to win her other demands, including her insistence that the general resign as army chief before the vote. Full Story |
| TACTICAL TRAINING & INTELLIGENCE RESOURCES 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.
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| FRANKS REVIEW |
Tactical Equipment EvaluationBrigade Quartermaster / 511 Tactical Holster PantsNothing ever stops evolving. The 511 Tactical Pants, once so well known as Royal Robbins have changed in different ways across the past few years. A new evolution, exclusively available through Brigade Quartermaster, is now available: the 511 Tactical Holster Pant. Like very good suspicious cop cynic I had to ask, is this just another gimmick? Or is there value here? So, I acquired two pair and began to wear them out- literally. Here's what I found out.Full Story Can Be Viewed At: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/evals/clothing/bq511holster.htm
Recreational Equipment ReviewTraditions Blackpowder .44 Redi-PakI have a brother who has been a black powder shooting enthusiast for decades. I've never been interested. On the other hand, I've always been a fan of westerns set in the mid to late 1800s and have, therefore, seen my share of scenes involving black powder revolvers. When Traditions sent me their .44 Caliber Redi-Pak I had mixed emotions about taking the weapon to the range. I never realized how much fun such a revolver could be. Let me tell you about it.Full Story Can Be Viewed At: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/recevals/huntfish/tradbp44rev.htm |
| CHAPLAINS CORNER |
REALITYNothing is real to you until you experience it; otherwise it's just hearsay.WHEN YOU ARE UP TO YOUR EARS IN ALLIGATORS... IT IS HARD TO REMEMBER THAT YOUR JOB WAS TO DRAIN THE SWAMP! I have been up to my ears in alligators even more so this week than usual.... So the swamp has to wait until a more advantageous time for me to be able to concentrate upon draining it. I have been off from work for three weeks and hope to get back to work sometime next week. I am under a tremendous load that needs to be settled and trying to meet a very difficult deadline concerning personal business. Sleep is in short supply. My daughter is in the hospital where she is recovering from two abdominal surgical incisions made to debried the infected flesh and clean out swollen pockets of infection deep in the flesh. One incision is very large. The other is fairly small. They will remain open and she will be on antibiotics until she heals. She just had another PIC line installed. We had a bad time with that just a few weeks ago with her developing major blood clots. The PIC line site is bleeding and they are having difficulty stopping the bleeding. The large wound is packed with special sponge like material and has a vacuum pump installed to keep it well drained. The small wound is packed with gauze material and is cleaned several times daily. She was expected to stay overnight but now it looks more like five days or more. I am still praying for all of you daily. As long as I can breathe and think that will be done. My Commander-in-Chief and I do deeply appreciate you taking your stand in the line of defense. We will be eternally grateful for all that you have done and are doing. "BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!" Be alert, watchful, suspicious and wary. Take the best possible care of you. No one else can do that special, personal care of and for us but us. See to the well being of your own spirit. It needs to be strong for you to be successful. http://www.blackwaterusa.com/btw2007/article/101507chaplain.htm |
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