SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Blackwater Wants $1 Billion to Train the New Afghan Police Force
Jan 10, 2010
That's right. $1 billion:
Blackwater Worldwide's legal woes
haven't dimmed the company's prospects in Afghanistan, where it's a
contender to be a key part of President Barack Obama's strategy for
stabilizing the country.Now called Xe Services, the company is in the running for a Pentagon
contract potentially worth $1 billion to train Afghanistan's troubled
national police force. Xe has been shifting to training, aviation and
logistics work after its security guards were accused of killing
unarmed Iraqi civilians more than two years ago.Yet even with a new name and focus, the expanded role would seem an
unlikely one for Xe because Democrats have held such a negative opinion
of the company following the Iraqi deaths, which are still
reverberating in Baghdad and Washington.
Blackwater was basically kicked out of Iraq for wantonly killing civilians in Baghdad
while providing "security" for the State Department in 2007. Even
though a US court failed to bring them to justice, Iraq is still
pursuing the case and has so little trust in Blackwater or the people
it hires that the government has explicitly said former Blackwater employees are not welcome in the country.
American forces are already on thin ice with the Afghan populace
because we're killing civilians left and right with, among other
things, our drones. Now Blackwater, mercenaries known around the world
for their brutality, might get the contract to train the Afghan police?
In what world does this seem like a good idea?
It very well may be impossible to train a functioning Afghan police
force, especially on the timeline the administration wants. Any
incidents with Blackwater employees in Afghanistan would only make the
situation worse, and I'm fairly sure the Afghan people don't want their
new police force trained in Blackwater techniques anyway, given their
history.
If Blackwater gets this contract, which hopefully they will not, I
can only see more anger from the Afghan people directed at America in
the future.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
That's right. $1 billion:
Blackwater Worldwide's legal woes
haven't dimmed the company's prospects in Afghanistan, where it's a
contender to be a key part of President Barack Obama's strategy for
stabilizing the country.Now called Xe Services, the company is in the running for a Pentagon
contract potentially worth $1 billion to train Afghanistan's troubled
national police force. Xe has been shifting to training, aviation and
logistics work after its security guards were accused of killing
unarmed Iraqi civilians more than two years ago.Yet even with a new name and focus, the expanded role would seem an
unlikely one for Xe because Democrats have held such a negative opinion
of the company following the Iraqi deaths, which are still
reverberating in Baghdad and Washington.
Blackwater was basically kicked out of Iraq for wantonly killing civilians in Baghdad
while providing "security" for the State Department in 2007. Even
though a US court failed to bring them to justice, Iraq is still
pursuing the case and has so little trust in Blackwater or the people
it hires that the government has explicitly said former Blackwater employees are not welcome in the country.
American forces are already on thin ice with the Afghan populace
because we're killing civilians left and right with, among other
things, our drones. Now Blackwater, mercenaries known around the world
for their brutality, might get the contract to train the Afghan police?
In what world does this seem like a good idea?
It very well may be impossible to train a functioning Afghan police
force, especially on the timeline the administration wants. Any
incidents with Blackwater employees in Afghanistan would only make the
situation worse, and I'm fairly sure the Afghan people don't want their
new police force trained in Blackwater techniques anyway, given their
history.
If Blackwater gets this contract, which hopefully they will not, I
can only see more anger from the Afghan people directed at America in
the future.
That's right. $1 billion:
Blackwater Worldwide's legal woes
haven't dimmed the company's prospects in Afghanistan, where it's a
contender to be a key part of President Barack Obama's strategy for
stabilizing the country.Now called Xe Services, the company is in the running for a Pentagon
contract potentially worth $1 billion to train Afghanistan's troubled
national police force. Xe has been shifting to training, aviation and
logistics work after its security guards were accused of killing
unarmed Iraqi civilians more than two years ago.Yet even with a new name and focus, the expanded role would seem an
unlikely one for Xe because Democrats have held such a negative opinion
of the company following the Iraqi deaths, which are still
reverberating in Baghdad and Washington.
Blackwater was basically kicked out of Iraq for wantonly killing civilians in Baghdad
while providing "security" for the State Department in 2007. Even
though a US court failed to bring them to justice, Iraq is still
pursuing the case and has so little trust in Blackwater or the people
it hires that the government has explicitly said former Blackwater employees are not welcome in the country.
American forces are already on thin ice with the Afghan populace
because we're killing civilians left and right with, among other
things, our drones. Now Blackwater, mercenaries known around the world
for their brutality, might get the contract to train the Afghan police?
In what world does this seem like a good idea?
It very well may be impossible to train a functioning Afghan police
force, especially on the timeline the administration wants. Any
incidents with Blackwater employees in Afghanistan would only make the
situation worse, and I'm fairly sure the Afghan people don't want their
new police force trained in Blackwater techniques anyway, given their
history.
If Blackwater gets this contract, which hopefully they will not, I
can only see more anger from the Afghan people directed at America in
the future.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.