Get News & Views Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
State Department Re-Ups With Blackwater
The State Department’s $10 billion, five-year contract with private security firms is finally out. Guess who’s still a part of it?
I have an exclusive over at Danger Room about how an arm of Blackwater successfully formed a “joint venture” to stay in the picture. Here’s what I’d highlight for you:
Don’t see any of Blackwater’s myriad business names on there? That’s apparently by design. Blackwater and the State Department tried their best to obscure their renewed relationship. As Danger Room reported on Wednesday, Blackwater did not appear on the vendors’ list for Worldwide Protective Services. And the State Department confirms that the company, renamed Xe Services, didn’t actually submit its own independent bid. Instead, they used a blandly-named cut out, “International Development Solutions,” to retain a toehold into State’s lucrative security business. No one who looks at the official announcement of the contract award would have any idea that firm is connected to Blackwater.
Blackwater’s “affiliate U.S. Training Center is part of International Development Solutions (IDS), a joint venture with Kaseman,” according to an official State Department statement to Danger Room. “This joint venture was determined by the Department’s source selection authority to be eligible for award.”
I mean, just try Googling “International Development Solutions.” You see a lot of information about what this company is? It’s hard not to recall Paravant. As Senator Levin explained: “The investigation revealed that Paravant had never performed any services and was simply a shell company established to avoid what one former Blackwater executive called the ‘baggage’ associated with the Blackwater name as the company pursued government business.”
- Posted in
Comments
Note: Disqus 2012 is best viewed on an up to date browser. Click here for information. Instructions for how to sign up to comment can be viewed here. Our Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. Note to Readers: Spam Filter May Capture Legitimate Comments...


5 Comments so far
Show AllAt what point is the historical truism, that mercenaries are more trouble than they are worth, going to be learned by the State Department.
If that is not enough, Machiavelli strongly advises their employment in one of the world's classic works of statecraft, 'The Prince.'
Those Israelis sure must love Blackwater
No wonder the rest of the world has become disenchanted with the U.S. No wonder there are a number of us "Progressives" who have some differences with the present Administration - - this does not appear to be "Change"! We need to get rid of the crooks that seem to infiltrate our governmental affairs. This is not only true of Blackwater, regardless of whatever new identity under which it choose to operate, but it's also true of the CIA!
More Of The Same You Can Believe In, if you're stupid.