Military Outsources Rescue Ops, Secret Tagging Tech

[Tonggrv]

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/01/military-outsources-hostage-rescue-to-virginia-firm


In the American military, few missions are considered more important than rescuing (http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/09/airborne_emts_in_astan/) missing or kidnapped troops. So it’s more than a little odd that U.S. forces in Iraq have decided to outsource that operation to a private company. The military’s Joint Contracting Command-Iraq/Afghanistan on Sunday handed out (https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=433833fdbbf4c151fc4d979865b973d3&tab=core&_cview=0) a one year, $11.3 million, no-bid contract to Blackbird Technologies Inc., declaring that the firm was “the only contractor that can currently provide the subject matter expertise needed” for personnel rescue operations.

...snip...

Blackbird’s new contract is yet another example of the government’s embrace of private firms in some of its most sensitive work. Among those killed (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/world/asia/07intel.html) last month by the Jordanian suicide bomber who infiltrated a C.I.A. base in Afghanistan were two contractors from the firm formerly known as Blackwater.




I know mostly all those men are former military...

Is this a good idea?

[JJHH]

the only contractor that can currently provide the subject matter expertise needed” for personnel rescue operations.

What happened to the army's own "expertise"?

[Niall]

Metal Gear Solid was right....soon PMCs will take over the world!

[deathil93]

Disgusting...
I agree with Niall, at this rate, PMCs will become so deep into military operations, that they will be the military.

Stupid and unneccessery decision.

[JJHH]

Old news, but some insight in what's behind this sourcing..

CIA assassination program had been outsourced to Blackwater, ex-officials say

The security company was contracted in 2004 for the program to kill Al Qaeda leaders, former intelligence officials said. No missions were conducted before the program was canceled, they said.

August 20, 2009|Joby Warrick, Warrick writes for the Washington Post.

WASHINGTON — The secret CIA program to assassinate top Al Qaeda leaders was outsourced in 2004 to Blackwater USA, the private security contractor whose operations in Iraq prompted intense scrutiny, according to two former intelligence officials familiar with the events. The North Carolina-based company was given operational responsibility for targeting suspected terrorist commanders and was awarded millions of dollars for training and weaponry, but the program was canceled before any missions were conducted, the two officials said.

The assassination program -- revealed to Congress in June by CIA Director Leon E. Panetta -- was initially launched in 2001 as a CIA-led effort. But in 2004, after briefly terminating the program, agency officials revived it under a different code name, using outside contractors, the officials said.

"Outsourcing gave the agency more protection in case something went wrong," said a retired intelligence officer intimately familiar with the program.

The contract was awarded to Blackwater, now known as Xe Services LLC, in part because of its close ties to the CIA and because of its record for carrying out covert assignments overseas, officials said. Blackwater's reputation was later tarnished after unrelated deadly shootings in Iraq.

Panetta briefed members of two congressional panels about the program in July, saying that he had only recently learned of the program and, upon doing so, had canceled it. He also told lawmakers that he thought they had been inappropriately kept in the dark -- in part because former Vice President **** Cheney had directed the CIA not to reveal the program to Congress. The CIA declined to comment. Efforts to reach Blackwater for comment were unsuccessful. Blackwater's alleged involvement was first reported Wednesday night on the New York Times website.

The House Intelligence Committee has launched an investigation into whether the CIA broke the law by failing to notify Congress about the program for eight years.

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/20/nation/na-cia20

[Plausible Deniability]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't one of the obvious perks of hiring PMCs be that if the rescue mission is botched the US Military cant be held responsible even though they contracted the team?

[Waterman]

All this outsourcing of direct action activities is just plain wrong.

If the US Military doesn't have the men and material to do these jobs....then we need to beef up the military, not outsource the fight to private armies.