Difference between revisions of "Academi"

From Wikispooks
Jump to navigation Jump to search
m (Al Clark)
(2017 reporting added)
Line 12: Line 12:
 
|sourcewatch=http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Academi
 
|sourcewatch=http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Academi
 
}}
 
}}
'''Academi''' is a private military company founded in 1997 as Blackwater USA and Blackwater Worldwide. After a number of scandals gave this a bad reputation, the company was later renamed Xe Services LLC, and then Academi. It is the largest of the [[US State Department]]'s three private security contractors.{{when}}{{cn}}
+
'''Academi''' is a private military company founded in 1997 as Blackwater USA and Blackwater Worldwide. After a number of scandals brought a bad reputation, the company was later renamed Xe Services LLC, and then Academi. Another name that is sometimes mentioned is [[Constellis Holdings Inc]], which is the parent company that bought it in 2014. It has been the largest of the [[US State Department]]'s private security contractor at one point.{{when}}{{cn}}
  
 
==Mercenaries==
 
==Mercenaries==
Line 40: Line 40:
 
Academi has made about hundreds of millions of dollars from the US "[[counternarcotics]]" following the [[Afghanistan war 2001|US invasion of Afghanistan]], and the ensuing huge rise in [[opium production]], leading to a record harvest in 2014.<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/31/blackwater-gets-rich-afghanistan-drug-production</ref>
 
Academi has made about hundreds of millions of dollars from the US "[[counternarcotics]]" following the [[Afghanistan war 2001|US invasion of Afghanistan]], and the ensuing huge rise in [[opium production]], leading to a record harvest in 2014.<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/31/blackwater-gets-rich-afghanistan-drug-production</ref>
  
==2007 Department of State investigation==
+
==2007 - Department of State investigation==
 
Shortly before the [[Nisour Square shoting]] in Baghdad that left 17 civilians dead, the State Department had sent a team to Iraq with the mandate of conducting a Program Management Review (PMR).<ref>http://www.samm.dsca.mil/glossary/program-management-review-pmr</ref><ref>http://acqnotes.com/acqnote/careerfields/program-management-review</ref> When the investigators were made aware of problems with one of the dining facilities they tried to clarify with the RSO office<ref>http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Regional+Security+Officer</ref> and Blackwaters's Program Manager, [[Daniel Carroll]]. Carroll responded to the investigator Jean Richter that the compound in question (WPPS II Camp Baghdad) was technically not under the authority of the Department of State, therefore jurisdiction for the inquiry not existing and he "accentuated this point by stating that he could 'kill me' at that very moment and no one could or would do anything about it as we were in Iraq". After leaving Baghdad three days later Richter filed a report about the incident noting that: "it has become fully apparent to me that the
 
Shortly before the [[Nisour Square shoting]] in Baghdad that left 17 civilians dead, the State Department had sent a team to Iraq with the mandate of conducting a Program Management Review (PMR).<ref>http://www.samm.dsca.mil/glossary/program-management-review-pmr</ref><ref>http://acqnotes.com/acqnote/careerfields/program-management-review</ref> When the investigators were made aware of problems with one of the dining facilities they tried to clarify with the RSO office<ref>http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Regional+Security+Officer</ref> and Blackwaters's Program Manager, [[Daniel Carroll]]. Carroll responded to the investigator Jean Richter that the compound in question (WPPS II Camp Baghdad) was technically not under the authority of the Department of State, therefore jurisdiction for the inquiry not existing and he "accentuated this point by stating that he could 'kill me' at that very moment and no one could or would do anything about it as we were in Iraq". After leaving Baghdad three days later Richter filed a report about the incident noting that: "it has become fully apparent to me that the
 
management structures in place to manage and monitor our WPPS contracts in Iraq have become subservient to the contractor themselves. This occurrence has resulted in a situation where the oversight of these high profile and extremely lucrative contracts is merely superficial at best".<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/us/before-shooting-in-iraq-warning-on-blackwater.html</ref>
 
management structures in place to manage and monitor our WPPS contracts in Iraq have become subservient to the contractor themselves. This occurrence has resulted in a situation where the oversight of these high profile and extremely lucrative contracts is merely superficial at best".<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/us/before-shooting-in-iraq-warning-on-blackwater.html</ref>
 +
 +
==2017 - Special Mission to Saudi Arabia==
 +
Around 9th November 2017 reports started to emerge that Academi mercenaries were arresting and torturing princes of the [[Royal Saudi Family]] in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in [[Riyadh]].<ref>https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-senior-figures-tortured-and-beaten-saudi-purge-1489501498</ref> In some cases it is alleged that money has been extorted, in others it was meant to remove people from their government position or circle of influence. International press started to report on the matter about two weeks later,<ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5108651/American-mercenaries-torturing-Saudi-princes.html</ref><ref>https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/11/23/blackwater-torturing-detained-saudi-princes-on-orders-of-new-crown-prince/</ref><ref>https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/11/23/543176/Saudi-Arabia-US-torture</ref><ref>https://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/insider-claims-saudi-princes-and-billionaires-tortured-and-insulted-following-brutal-crackdown/news-story/b2855f800a8b6aa49af669ea7acdeec7</ref> all relying on the reporting from the [[Daily Mail]]. While a spokesperson for Constellis, Academi's parent company, denied the claims, even having personnel in Saudi Arabia, in the same time frame [[Michel Aoun]], Lebanon's president, said that it is Blackwater personnel who are 'securing' Lebanon's prime minister Saad Hariri after his detention there.<ref>https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/11/15/saudi-arabia-employing-blackwater-mercenaries-to-guard-hariri</ref> In 2018 the Daily Mail followed up with a report on the aftermath.<ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5489883/Saudi-graft-suspects-physically-abused-report.html</ref>
  
 
==People==
 
==People==

Revision as of 02:23, 6 December 2018

Main.png Academi   Sourcewatch WebsiteRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
Academi.jpg
Formation1997
Founder• EP2.JPG Erik Prince
•  Al Clark
HeadquartersMcLean, Virginia, U.S.
Type•  private
•  military
SloganElite Training. Trusted Protection.
Interest ofJeremy Scahill
Formerly known as Blackwater, a huge US-based private military contractor infamous for a string of scandals.

Academi is a private military company founded in 1997 as Blackwater USA and Blackwater Worldwide. After a number of scandals brought a bad reputation, the company was later renamed Xe Services LLC, and then Academi. Another name that is sometimes mentioned is Constellis Holdings Inc, which is the parent company that bought it in 2014. It has been the largest of the US State Department's private security contractor at one point.[When?][citation needed]

Mercenaries

The presence of mercenaries in Iraq first received widespread notice after scenes of the gruesome deaths of four Xe (then Blackwater) hired guns in Fallujah were televised worldwide. Blackwater was a Moyock, N.C. based "security consulting" firm founded in 1996 by former Navy SEAL Erik Prince. The company, according to the LA Times, has "the largest private military base in the world, a fleet of 20 aircraft and 20,000 soldiers at the ready"[1].

In 2002, the company won a five year navy contract worth $35.7 million to train ten thousand navy personnel in seizing ships. More recently it won a $21 million contract with the Pentagon in Iraq to provide personal security detail for CPA head Paul Bremer and other high-level officials, besides its numerous other private ones. The company had reportedly grown 600 percent since the beginning of the war. The firm charges its clients $1,500 to $2,000 a day for each mercenary.

Academi mostly recruits from the ranks of active-duty American special-forces units some of whom earn salaries that run as high as $1,000 a day. In March 2004, it hired 60 former Chilean commandos at a monthly salary of $4,000. May South Africans are also on its payroll. Armed with weapons ranging from M4 rifles to 20mm cannon on its helicopters, its men have engaged in active combat - sometimes with regular US forces.

Academi mercenaries are notorious for their gung ho attitude and their mistreatment of Iraqis. Even the military seems to be concerned about their behavior, since they are invariably seen as part of the occupying army. Robert Fisk reported on their behavior in The Independent as follows:

Xe (Blackwater)'s thugs with guns now push and punch Iraqis who get in their way: Kurdish journalists twice walked out of a Bremer press conference because of their mistreatment by these men. Baghdad is alive with mysterious Westerners draped with hardware, shouting and abusing Iraqis in the street, drinking heavily in the city's poorly defended hotels. They have become, for ordinary Iraqis, the image of everything that is wrong with the West. We like to call them "contractors", but there is a disturbing increase in reports that mercenaries are shooting down innocent Iraqis with total impunity.

The firm drew attention again, when it was revealed in the Observer that a memo to its staff in Iraq stated that 'actually it is 'fun' to shoot some people.'

Academi also offers a psychological counselling programme to combat PTSD.

Secret contracts

Academi has a number of classified CIA contracts, according to the New York Times. In 2002, it won a classified contract to protect the CIA station in Kabul, Afghanistan.[2]

Assassination programme

In 2004 the CIA hired Academi as part of a programme to assassinate top Al Qaeda figures.[3]

The role of an outside contractor was one reason why incoming CIA director Leon E. Panetta sought a meeting in June 2009 to tell US Congress about the programme.[4]

Drug profits

Academi has made about hundreds of millions of dollars from the US "counternarcotics" following the US invasion of Afghanistan, and the ensuing huge rise in opium production, leading to a record harvest in 2014.[5]

2007 - Department of State investigation

Shortly before the Nisour Square shoting in Baghdad that left 17 civilians dead, the State Department had sent a team to Iraq with the mandate of conducting a Program Management Review (PMR).[6][7] When the investigators were made aware of problems with one of the dining facilities they tried to clarify with the RSO office[8] and Blackwaters's Program Manager, Daniel Carroll. Carroll responded to the investigator Jean Richter that the compound in question (WPPS II Camp Baghdad) was technically not under the authority of the Department of State, therefore jurisdiction for the inquiry not existing and he "accentuated this point by stating that he could 'kill me' at that very moment and no one could or would do anything about it as we were in Iraq". After leaving Baghdad three days later Richter filed a report about the incident noting that: "it has become fully apparent to me that the management structures in place to manage and monitor our WPPS contracts in Iraq have become subservient to the contractor themselves. This occurrence has resulted in a situation where the oversight of these high profile and extremely lucrative contracts is merely superficial at best".[9]

2017 - Special Mission to Saudi Arabia

Around 9th November 2017 reports started to emerge that Academi mercenaries were arresting and torturing princes of the Royal Saudi Family in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh.[10] In some cases it is alleged that money has been extorted, in others it was meant to remove people from their government position or circle of influence. International press started to report on the matter about two weeks later,[11][12][13][14] all relying on the reporting from the Daily Mail. While a spokesperson for Constellis, Academi's parent company, denied the claims, even having personnel in Saudi Arabia, in the same time frame Michel Aoun, Lebanon's president, said that it is Blackwater personnel who are 'securing' Lebanon's prime minister Saad Hariri after his detention there.[15] In 2018 the Daily Mail followed up with a report on the aftermath.[16]

People

Resources

 

Known members

6 of the 8 of the members already have pages here:

MemberDescription
John AshcroftUS Attorney General on 9/11
Cofer BlackUS deep state operative with a leading role in the CIA's kidnapping and torture
Bobby Ray InmanNSA director 1977-1981
Jack QuinnDemocratic megalobbyist
Robert Richer
Joseph SchmitzRevolving door between government official and Blackwater merecenaries

 

Related Document

TitleTypePublication dateAuthor(s)Description
File:Isenberg Private Military Contractors.pdfpaperJanuary 2009David Isenberg
Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.


References

  1. Jeremy Scahill, Our Mercenaries in Iraq, Los Angeles Times, 25 January 2007.
  2. Mark Mazzetti, C.I.A. Sought Xe (Blackwater)’s Help to Kill Jihadists, New York Times, 19 August 2009.
  3. Mark Mazzetti, C.I.A. Sought Xe (Blackwater)’s Help to Kill Jihadists, New York Times, 19 August 2009.
  4. Mark Mazzetti, C.I.A. Sought Xe (Blackwater)’s Help to Kill Jihadists, New York Times, 19 August 2009.
  5. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/31/blackwater-gets-rich-afghanistan-drug-production
  6. http://www.samm.dsca.mil/glossary/program-management-review-pmr
  7. http://acqnotes.com/acqnote/careerfields/program-management-review
  8. http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Regional+Security+Officer
  9. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/us/before-shooting-in-iraq-warning-on-blackwater.html
  10. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-senior-figures-tortured-and-beaten-saudi-purge-1489501498
  11. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5108651/American-mercenaries-torturing-Saudi-princes.html
  12. https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/11/23/blackwater-torturing-detained-saudi-princes-on-orders-of-new-crown-prince/
  13. https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/11/23/543176/Saudi-Arabia-US-torture
  14. https://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/insider-claims-saudi-princes-and-billionaires-tortured-and-insulted-following-brutal-crackdown/news-story/b2855f800a8b6aa49af669ea7acdeec7
  15. https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/11/15/saudi-arabia-employing-blackwater-mercenaries-to-guard-hariri
  16. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5489883/Saudi-graft-suspects-physically-abused-report.html
  17. Xe (Blackwater), Cofer Black, accessed 23 august 20-09