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Private Contractors

ArmorGroup: Contractor At U.S. Kabul Embassy May Be Ousted

nytimes.com | GINGER THOMPSON | Posted 09.15.2009 | World

Read More: Kabul Embassy, Private Contractors, Kabul, Afghanistan, Armor Group, Armorgroup, Afghanistan Contractor, US Embassy Kabul, World News

The State Department official responsible for overseeing private contracts said Monday that the government was seriously considering terminating its $...

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Private Military and Security Companies Wanted for Hire by CIA as "Hitmen"?

Amnesty International | Posted 09.27.2009 | Home

Read More: Nisour Square, Human Rights, Department of Defense, Cia, Private Contractors, Blackwater, Xe, Iraq, Department of State, Home News
Amnesty International

Congress needs to pass legislation that will close the legal vacuum in which private military and security companies are operating.

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Mother Jones Publishes Story by Writer Detained in Iran

Clara Jeffery and Monika Bauerlein | Posted 09.12.2009 | World

Read More: Iraq War, Iraq Contractors, Private Contractors, Iraq, Shane Bauer, Mother Jones, Pentagon, The Sheikh Down, Iraq Government Contracts, Iran Americans, The Awakening, Americans Missing, Kurdistan, Iran American Journalists Detained, World News
Clara Jeffery and Monika Bauerlein

A magazine has published a major investigative article by Shane Bauer, one of three Americans detained in Iran after accidentally crossing the border while hiking in Kurdistan.

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US Companies Send Translators To Afghanistan Who Are Old, Out Of Shape, Unprepared For Combat

AP | JASON STRAZIUSO | Posted 08.22.2009 | World

Read More: Afghanistan, Foreign Affairs, Advocacy, Translators, Afghan Translators, Afghanistan Translators, Private Contractors, Afghanistan War, War in Afghanistan, Afghan Taliban, Afghan War, World News

NAWA, Afghanistan — Josh Habib lay in a dirt field, gasping for air. Two days of hiking with Marines through southern Afghanistan's 115-degree h...

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The Media's Premature Celebration of US Withdrawal From Iraq

Allison Kilkenny | Posted 07.31.2009 | Politics

Read More: Iraq, Private Contractors, Barack Obama, Politics News
Allison Kilkenny

What the media has failed to emphasize is that 130,000 residual forces will still be operating inside of Iraq, and that Obama intends to keep as many as 50,000 troops there until 2011.

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NSA Ill-Suited for Domestic Cybersecurity Role

Frank Naif | Posted 07.17.2009 | Politics

Read More: Nsa, Warrantless Wiretapping, Private Contractors, National Security, Domestic Surveillance, Defense Contractors, Cybersecurity, National Security Agency, Obama National Security, NSA Wiretapping, James Bamford, Domestic Spying, Cyber Czar, Politics News
Frank Naif

Does the federal government need to be involved in coordinating private sector cybersecurity? Perhaps, but only in a coordinating role.

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Blackwater Iraq Contract Expires; Operations Will Continue Temporarily

AP | KIM GAMEL | Posted 06.07.2009 | World

Read More: Iraq, Blackwater, Blackwater Iraq, Blackwater Iraq Contract, Blackwater Contract, Xe, Blackwater Xe, Blackwater USA, Blackwater Security, Iraq Blackwater, Iraq War, Iraq Contractors, Private Contractors, Private Security Contractors, War Wire, World News

BAGHDAD — The American security firm once known as Blackwater ended its operations in the diplomatic hub of Baghdad on Thursday, bringing to a c...

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New Report Reveals Why We'll Be Paying for the Iraq Occupation for Years to Come, Withdrawal or Not

Jeremy Scahill | Posted 04.30.2009 | World

Read More: Obama Afghanistan, Private Contractors, Afghanistan, President Obama, Ann Wright, Iraq Occupation, US Foreign Policy, Iraq War Funding, Barack Obama, Afghanistan War, Iraq War, Colonel Ann Wright, Iraq, Gao, Residual Force, Government Accountability Office, Iraq Bases, Afghanistan Surge, Us Afghanistan Surge, US Troops, US Military, US Military Afghanistan, Obama Afghanistan Troop Increase, Afganistan Troop Increase, Barack Obama Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, Us Troops Afghanistan, US Afghanistan, Afghanistan Taliban, World News
Jeremy Scahill

With last week's announced escalation of the war in Afghanistan, Obama blew the lid off of any lingering perceptions that he represents a significant change in how the U.S. conducts its foreign policy.

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Government May Be Paying Blackwater To Work In Iraq Illegally

Washington Times | Posted 04.17.2009 | Politics

Read More: Iraq War, Blackwater Guards, Private Contractors, Blackwater Security, Blackwater, Private Security Contractors, Blackwater Iraq, Xe, Iraq Contractors, Blackwater USA, Blackwater Investigation, Iraq, War in Iraq, State Department, Politics News

Days after the Baghdad government decided it no longer wanted the company then known as Blackwater in Iraq, the State Department signed a $22.2 millio...

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The Taxpayer and the Tax Collector

Christopher Brauchli | Posted 04.12.2009 | Politics

Read More: Debt Collectors, Private Contractors, Charles Grassley, Internal Revenue Service, Politics News
Christopher Brauchli

Senator Grassley would obviously prefer to have 60 people in the private sector doing an inefficient job of collecting taxes than to turn the job over to the more efficient public sector.

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Obama Takes On Market-Based Government

Thomas Frank | Posted 04.11.2009 | Politics

Read More: Government, Gop, Obama Administration, Workers, Private Contractors, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Politics News
Thomas Frank

In a little-noted passage of a mostly ignored speech last week, President Obama gave notice that he meant to put the kibosh on the GOP's favorite method for spreading the wealth around.

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Obama's Iraq: All Troops Out By 2011? Not So Fast

Jeremy Scahill | Posted 03.31.2009 | World

Read More: Chuck Schumer, Obama Afghanistan, Mitch McConnell, Private Contractors, Afghanistan, George W. Bush, President Obama, Iraq Contractors, Iraq, Camp Lejeune, Barack Obama, Iraq War, Thomas Ricks, Mercenaries, Jim Miklaszeswki, Blackwater, Nancy Pelosi, Iraq Troop Withdrawal, Harry Reid, Status of Forces Agreement, Residual Force, Surge in Afghanistan, John Mchugh, World News
Jeremy Scahill

The contradiction between President Obama's speech at Camp Lejeune and his rhetoric before he was elected should serve as a warning to those who take his words at face value.

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State Department May Drop Blackwater In Iraq

AP | MATTHEW LEE | Posted 01.17.2009 | Politics

Read More: War Wire, Foreign Affairs, Private Contractors, Iraq, Blackwater, State Department, Politics News

WASHINGTON — An internal State Department report says Blackwater Worldwide may lose its license to work in Iraq and recommends that the agency p...

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This (Old) News Just In... Obama Doesn't Plan to End the Iraq Occupation

Jeremy Scahill | Posted 01.05.2009 | Politics

Read More: Iraq Study Group, Iraq War, Samantha Power, Susan Rice, Private Contractors, Richard Danzig, Blackwater Iraq, Iraq Occupation, New York Times, Iraq, Residual Force, Barack Obama, Colin Kahl, Anti-War, Obama Iraq Withdrawal, Iraq Withdrawal, Obama Iraq, Politics News
Jeremy Scahill

Some people seem to just now be waking up to the fact that Obama never had a comprehensive plan to fully end the occupation. Obama never defined "ending the war" as removing all U.S. forces from Iraq.

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Top Intelligence Picks a No-Win for Obama

Tim Shorrock and Frank Naif | Posted 01.03.2009 | Politics

Read More: Private Contractors, Cia, Director of National Intelligence, National Security, Federal Government, Private Security Contractors, Obama's Cabinet, CIA Torture, Obama Transition, Intelligence Community, Extraordinary Rendition, Torture, John Brennan, Politics News
Tim Shorrock and Frank Naif

The Obama transition team's highly anticipated announcement of its new national security lineup has telling omissions: there's no Director of National Intelligence or CIA Director.

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Private Contractors In Iraq Could Face Charges For Earlier Incidents Under New Security Pact

McClatchy | Nancy A. Youssef | Posted 12.21.2008 | Politics

Read More: Iraq, Security Contractors, Warwire, Private Contractors, Iraq Contractors, Blackwater, Politics News

Private security contractors operating in Iraq could face Iraqi prosecution for acts committed when they supposedly had immunity from Iraqi law, U.S. ...

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Iraq's Private Security Has Cost Over $6 Billion, US Auditors Say

AP | PAULINE JELINEK | Posted 11.30.2008 | Politics

Read More: Iraq, War Wire, Foreign Affairs, Mercenaries, Private Contractors, Iraq Contractors, Politics News

WASHINGTON — No one knows for sure, but auditors think the U.S. has paid well over $6 billion to private security companies who've been guarding...

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State Dept's Use Of Private Contractors To Investigate Iraq Contractors May Be Illegal

ABC News | Kirit Radia | Posted 11.04.2008 | Politics

Read More: Warwire, Iraq, Private Contractors, State Department, Iraq Contractors, Politics News

In an apparent violation of federal regulations, the State Department has outsourced to private contractors the responsibility to investigate possible...

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Whose Vision -- Cusack's Or Bush's? The Privatization Of War

Howie Klein | Posted 09.13.2008 | Politics

Read More: New York Times Private Contracters, Cheney Halliburton, Private Contractors, Halliburton, John Cusack War Inc., War Inc., New York Times, Iraq, Politics News
Howie Klein

John Cusack's movie about a future fictitious occupation of a fictitious country, Turaqistan, is premised on the privatization of ... well, pretty much everything.

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Iraq Contractors Have Cost $100 Billion, Goverment Says

The New York Times | James Risen | Posted 09.12.2008 | Politics

Read More: War Wire, Iraq Contractors, Government Waste, Private Contractors, Iraq, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- The United States this year will have spent $100 billion on contractors in Iraq since the invasion in 2003, a milestone that reflects th...

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US Has Spent $100 Billion On Private Contractors Since Iraq Invasion

New York Times | James Risen | Posted 09.11.2008 | Politics

Read More: Private Contractors, Warwire, Iraq, Politics News

The United States this year will have spent $100 billion on contractors in Iraq since the invasion in 2003, a milestone that reflects the Bush adminis...

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Blackwater And Other Private Contractors In Iraq Losing Immunity

Washington Post | Posted 09.11.2008 | Politics

Read More: Private Contracting, Iraq u.s. Deal, Agreement Iraq, Withdrawal Iraq Agreement, u.s. Withdrawal Iraq, Private Contractors, Blackwater, Iraq u.s. Withdrawal Deal, Withdrawal Iraq Deal, Iraq, Contractors Immunity Iraq, Blackwater Iraq, Withdrawal, Politics News

U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have agreed on most elements of a framework under which U.S. combat troops would withdraw from Iraqi cities sometime next y...

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Abu Ghraib Inmates Sue Contractors, Claiming Torture

AP | DAVID DISHNEAU | Posted 07.09.2008 | Politics

Read More: Private Contractors, Defense Contractors Iraq, Abu Ghraib Torture, Abu Ghraib Lawsuit, Abu Ghraib, Torture, Abu Ghraib Abuse, Politics News

HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Three Iraqis and a Jordanian filed federal lawsuits Monday alleging they were tortured by U.S. defense contractors while detai...

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Command Responsibility

Ray Kimball | Posted 07.02.2008 | Politics

Read More: General Officers, Iraq Contractors, War Contractors, Iraq War Funding, Military Spending, Private Contractors, Defense Contractors, Politics News
Ray Kimball

The current explosion of contract spending in Iraq -- hundreds of billions of dollars, with tens of billions wasted -- has made it clear that this course of action is no longer sustainable.

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Immunity For Private Guards Is Sticking Point In Iraq Security Deal

AFP | Posted 06.18.2008 | Politics

Read More: Private Securit Contractors, Private Contractors, Iraq War Wire, Warwire, Blackwater, Iraq War, Private Security Firms, Iraq, Blackwater USA, Iraq Security Iraq Violence, Politics News

Immunity from Iraqi law for foreign private guards is a sticking point in the deal between Washington and Baghdad over long-term US troop presence in ...

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