Military Contractors

A Morally Reprehensible Problem

David Isenberg | Posted 05.03.2012

Read More: International Stability Operations, Labor Trafficking, Private Contractors, Government Contracts, Military Contractors, Politics News

Trafficking in persons takes different forms. It might be forced labor, sex trafficking or bonded labor, to name a few examples. We now have people enslaved than at any time in human history, with estimates ranging from 12 to 27 million people.

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You Can Be a Patriot Or a Profiteer... But You Can't Be Both

Robert Greenwald and Derrick Crowe | Posted 05.07.2012

Read More: Profiteering, Northrup Grumman, Patriots, Profits, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Profiteers, Military Contractors, Defense Lobbying, War Profiteering, Video, Politics News

This week, the three military contractors that do the most business with the Pentagon announced their quarterly profits for 2012. Their profits continue to grow while they push Washington, D.C. to protect their budgets at the expense of the rest of us.

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A Triple Play on Improving Oversight for Better Contracting

David Isenberg | Posted 04.11.2012

Read More: Insourcing, Outsourcing, Oversight, Contracting, Center for American Progress, Auditing, Private-Military-Security-Contractors, Military Contractors, Politics News

The core argument of all private military and security contractor advocates is that they can do things more cheaply and efficiently than the public sector. But the problem is that most PMSC advocates assert this all the time, often without evidence.

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Why PMSC Can't Use Kant

David Isenberg | Posted 03.25.2012

Read More: Private Military Security Contractors, Security Contractors War, U.S. Wars Contractors, Mercenaries Military Contractors, Military Contractors, Business News

Private Military Security Contract (PMSC) workers could sort of be considered like Mexican migrant workers. Yes, some people think they shouldn't be doing the work but the real problem is with the people who hire them.

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UN Use of PMSC? It's a Reality, Not a Hypothetical

David Isenberg | Posted 03.04.2012

Read More: Private Military Security Contractors, United Nations, Un Military Contractors, Un Peacekeepers, United Nations Peacekeepers, Military Contractors, World News

There are a variety of U.N. agencies that use a variety of companies for both logistical and security needs and have competed for those contracts. Indeed, some companies have a history of working with the U.N. which dates back decades.

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A Future of PMC Pushers?

David Isenberg | Posted 02.24.2012

Read More: Privatization, Private Military Security Contractors, Democratic Values, Iraq War, Private Military Contractor, Iraq, Afghanistan, Military Contractors, Politics News

Anyone who has ever used a contractor for anything knows they all have one thing in common, aside from actually doing the job. And that is to do more jobs for you in the future. In short they want your continued business.

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PMC in U.N. Operations? It Depends

David Isenberg | Posted 01.30.2012

Read More: Private Military Security Contractors, United Nations, Peacekeeping Missions, Blackwater, Military Contractors, World News

For many years now supporters of private military and security contracting firms (PMSC) have argued that they can play a useful role in United Nations peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations.

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The Myth of Military Contracting

Max Stanley | Posted 01.03.2012

The war industry stood back with glee when it released a shoddy study that produced the sought-after deceptive headlines about defense spending, the magic sauce of job creation.

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Meet the 0.01 Percent: War Profiteers

Robert Greenwald | Posted 12.27.2011

Read More: 99 Percent, 1 Percent, 0.01 Percent, Northrop Grumman, Wealthy, Lockheed Martin, One Percent, Lobbying, Corporations, Boeing, War Costs, Occupy War Profiteers, Corporate, Rich, Robert Greenwald, Military Contractors, Brave New Foundation, Politics News

There's the top 1% of wealthy Americans (bankers, oil tycoons, hedge fund managers) and there's the top 0.01% of wealthy Americans: the military contractor CEOs.

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Military Contractors Make Their Move on the Deficit Committee

Robert Greenwald and Derrick Crowe | Posted 11.13.2011

The new deficit commission is holding its first substantive meeting on Tuesday, and the military contractors are out in force to protect their profits.

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Judge Allows American To Sue Donald Rumsfeld Over Torture Claims

AP | By NEDRA PICKLER | Posted 10.04.2011

Read More: Iraq War, Donald Rumsfeld, Donald Rumsfeld Torture Lawsuit, Video, Military Contractors Iraq, U.S. Military, Donald Rumsfeld Torture, Iraq, Espionage, Military Contractors, Torture, Politics News

NEDRA PICKLER / AP WASHINGTON -- A judge is allowing an Army veteran who says he was imprisoned unjustly and tortured by the U.S. military in Iraq ...

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Senate Report Slams Nation-Building Efforts in Afghanistan

Malou Innocent | Posted 08.08.2011

Read More: Foreign Aid, Afghan Government, Economic Development, Military Contractors, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Development Aid, State Department, Taliban, Afghanistan, Nation Building, Bonn Agreement, Counterterrorism, Defense Department, Counterinsurgency, Usaid, Afghanistan Contractors, Afghanistan Nation Building, Afghanistan Senate Report, World News

Given the corruption and dependency we'll leave in our wake, without an introspective self-critique our policies, America could turn Afghanistan into Central Asia's Haiti.

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Source: Hackers Breached Security Networks Of U.S. Military Contractors

Reuters | Jim Finkle and Andrea Shalal-Esa | Posted 07.27.2011

Read More: Google, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Securid, Military Contractors, General-Dynamics-Corporation, Department of Homeland Security, Electronic Keys, Northrop Grumman, Rsa, Rsa Security Keys, Computer Hackers, Emc Corp, Hackers, Sony, Technology News

By Jim Finkle and Andrea Shalal-Esa BOSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Unknown hackers have broken into the security networks of Lockheed Martin Cor...

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Showing the Private Military Contracting Sector the Money

David Isenberg | Posted 07.23.2011

Read More: Competition, Private Military Security Contractors, Military Contractors, Private Military Contractor, Defense Spending, Business News

How fast has spending on private military contracting grown? A new report states that in FY 1990 spending was $49 billion. In FY 2010 it was $161 billion, or just over 40 percent of all contract spending.

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Obama's Reset: Arab Spring or Same Old Thing?

Nick Turse | Posted 07.17.2011

Read More: Pentagon, Obama Arab Spring, Obama Speech, Obama Middle East, Obama Middle East Speech, Pentagon Middle East, Arab Spring, Obama Cairo Speech, Military Contractors, World News

On Thursday, Obama will "reset" American policy in the Middle East with a major address. But barring an almost inconceivable policy shift, all signs indicate that the Pentagon will quietly maintain antithetical policies.

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The Uncounted Contractor Casualties

David Isenberg | Posted 07.10.2011

Read More: Private Military Security Contractors, Contractors, Defense, Military, Private Contractors, Afghanistan, War, Military Contacting, Iraq, Military Contractors, Business News

In the last two-to-three years, contractors have increasingly absorbed the most significant cost of our military actions. And contractor casualties are unlikely to decrease.

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SHOCK: Which Company Is Top Workplace For Women?

Mother Jones | — Adam Weinstein | Posted 06.09.2011

Read More: Iraq Contractors, Kbr, Kbr Women Employer, Kbr Top Employer, Woman Workplace, Military Contractors, Woman Engineer Magazine, Business News

Jaw, meet floor. According to a company press release, war megacontractor KBR was voted one of the 50 top companies for women by readers of Woman E...

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Why Not Outsource? Let Us Count the Ways

David Isenberg | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Outsourcing, Private Military Security Contractors, Cost-Effectiveness, Defense Spending, Military, Military Contractors, Business News

Advocates claim there is "oodles of evidence" supporting private military contracting, but when you ask them to point you to just a single peer reviewed journal article, one gets blank stares.

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DSS Director: Defense Security Service "Remiss" in "Fundamental Oversight Responsibilities"

Project On Government Oversight | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Defense Contractors, Contractors, Department of Defense, Military Contractors, Classified Information, Politics News

Cross-posted on POGO's blog By Nick Schwellenbach "We have been remiss in our fundamental oversight responsibilities to the Department and the U.S. G...

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Pentagon Paid Billions To Contractors Suspended For Fraud

HuffingtonPost.com | Amanda Terkel | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Pentagon Waste, Department of Defense, Military Contractors Iraq, Private Contractors, Bernie Sanders Contractors, Bernie Sanders, Military Contractors, Military, Defense Contracting, Defense Contractors, Private Military Contractors, Military Contractors Afghanistan, Pentagon Fraud, Defense Contractors Sanders, Defense Department, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- The military paid a total of $285 billion to more than 100 contractors between 2007 and '09, even though those same companies were defra...

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WikiLeaks Reveals That Military Contractors Have Not Lost Their Taste For Child Prostitutes

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: War in Afghanistan, Eat the Press, Politics News, Military Contractors, Prostitution, Private Security Contractors, Dyncorp, Military Contractors Afghanistan, Media News, Wikileaks, Afghanistan War, Politics News

Anything interesting to be had at the intersection of the WikiLeaks cache of diplomatic cables and those military contractors that cart off many milli...

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Taxpayers On The Hook If Military Contractors Screw Up

HuffingtonPost.com | Marcus Baram | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Kbr, Indemnification Clause, Taxpayer Liability, KBR Hexvalent, Military Contractors, Blumenauer KBR, Politics News

NEW YORK -- Taxpayers may be on the hook if U.S. military contractors in Iraq incur liability while carrying out their work. More than 120 military c...

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Army Awards $250 Million Contract To Tiny, Inexperienced Firm Due To 'Alaska Native' Status

Washington Post | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Military Contractors, Anc, Alaska, Alaska Native, Army, Delaware, Defense Contractors, Alaska Native Corporation, US2, Military, United Solutions and Services, Alaska Native Status, Army Contract, Politics News

In summer 2008, the U.S. military had a major problem. More than 2,400 service members had reported being sexually assaulted the previous year, and th...

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Efforts To Prosecute Blackwater Collapse

New York Times | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Blackwater Prosecution, Military Contractors, Defense Contractors, Blackwater, Iraq War, Iraq, Afghanistan, Afpak, Blackwater Investigation, Defense Department, Justice Department, Afghanistan War, Politics News

Nearly four years after the federal government began a string of investigations and criminal prosecutions against Blackwater Worldwide personnel accus...

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Karzai Orders Private Security Firms Out Of Afghanistan

AP | HEIDI VOGT | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Hamid Karzai, Karzai, U.S. Military, Afghanistan, Military Contractors, Nato, World News

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan's president issued a decree Tuesday ordering private security companies to disband by the end of the year, draw...

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