Sensitive counterterrorism operations
Run with Total Intelligence
December 8, 2009 9 comments
I had missed the news that Blackwater ((Mentioned in this previous post: shortly afterwards, Blackwater left the International Peace Operations Association, presumably because it wanted to concentrate on war operations.)) had changed its name to Xe Services, hoping to put all that bad press from Iraq behind them, though everyone still refers to them as Blackwater. Xe, of course, is the chemical symbol for xenon, a “noble” gas that can be used as an anaesthetic. Maybe Blackwater is about to unveil its new slogan: “We can anaesthetize people for you — PERMANENTLY.” ((Then again, maybe not: according to one former employee, even the new name Xe already has “such a stain” on it that the Pakistan gig is run under the moniker of Total Intelligence Systems. That’s totally intelligent.))
Anyway, according to Jeremy Scahill ((Author of the fine Blackwater.)) in the Nation, Blackwater mercenaries are active in Pakistan, where they are involved in
sensitive counterterrorism operations
If sensitivity is crucial to the mission, who better to call?
Possibly appealing to those who have problems with insensitive counter-terrorism operations http://www.southasiaanalysis.o.....r2163.html
No doubt they really are sensitive to the requirements of innocents (eg genuine civilians) to not be targeted.
Ghostbusters
The Scahill piece is weird in that it features extensive quotes from a certain Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, who is merely described as “who served as Secretary of State Colin Powell’s chief of staff from 2002 to 2005,” rather than the brain trust behind this war http://www.tinyrevolution.com/.....02063.html (mentioned in this http://unspeak.net/extreme-interrogation-2 unspeak post) that led to the current Iraq war. Pretty dumb sourcing, if you ask me, but not atypical of many liberals/lefties (see here for more).
As a side note, how many html links does it take in a given post to return a “Spammy” warning that doesn’t allow you to post? It’s very annoying if the links are pertinent to the discussion. Maybe its time for an optional typekey registration button?
If you go to Xe.com you’ll find the long-established “World Famous Currency and Foreign Exchange Site”. Seems appropriate, somehow… Blackwater’s extreme makeover is under construction at xecompany.com
“Blackwater” is still being referred to that way in the news:
But what caught my attention in this story in the NYT was the response from a C.I.A. spokesman on this “brotherly relationship”.
Unspeak anyone? No, no, not paid killers, just an innocuous-sounding “talent mix”?
Damn. Wish I’d said, “not contract killers, just our talent mix”. Ah, well …….
Someone should do a reality-TV show in which mercenaries compete to impress the judges with their talent. They could call it The Xe Factor?