| US: PR joins fight for hearts and minds
by David Robertson, The Times (London) September 18th, 2006 A NEW business in military public relations that is worth millions of dollars is emerging as consultants are being drafted into the battle for the world's 'hearts and minds'. |
| US: Spy Agencies Outsourcing to Fill Key Jobs
by Greg Miller, The Los Angeles Times September 17th, 2006 At the National Counterterrorism Center — the agency created two years ago to prevent another attack like Sept. 11 — more than half of the employees are not U.S. government analysts or terrorism experts. Instead, they are outside contractors. |
| SWITZERLAND: Gun for hire: mercenaries operate in a legal no-man's land
by Ian Hamel, Swiss Info September 15th, 2006 Geneva is set to host an international conference in November tackling the thorny issue of private security companies operating in a legal no-man's-land. |
| US: Halliburton Unit Risked Civilian Lives, Lawsuits Say (Update3) by Laurel Brubaker Calkins and Margaret Cronin Fisk, Bloomberg September 15th, 2006 Halliburton Co. sent civilian drivers into combat zones to protect its military supply contract, according to lawsuits filed by families of employees killed or injured while driving trucks in Iraq. |
| SOMALIA: US accused of covert operations in Somalia
by Antony Barnett and Patrick Smith, The Observer (UK) September 10th, 2006 Dramatic evidence that America is involved in illegal mercenary operations in east Africa has emerged in a string of confidential emails seen by The Observer. The leaked communications between US private military companies suggest the CIA had knowledge of the plans to run covert military operations inside Somalia - against UN rulings - and they hint at involvement of British security firms. |
| CANADA: Our side of defence
by Jorge Barrera, The Ottawa Times August 20th, 2006 Ottawa may have the reputation of a government town, but it's also home to Canada's military-industrial complex. |
| IRAQ: Ugandan Guards in Iraq Face Abuse by Grace Matsiko, AllAfrica.com May 10th, 2006 Sources said two Ugandans slipped into a coma due to brutal assaults at the hands of foreign officers at Alasad Airbase after they queried terms of the contract. |
| IRAQ: Green Zone Construction Boom by David Sarasohn, Oregonian May 3rd, 2006 In Baghdad, the United States is now building a monument to rank with Grand Coulee Dam, the Pentagon, Disney World and the Mall of America. It has elements of all four, plus a 15-foot stone wall and surface-to-air missiles. |
| IRAQ: US Private Guards Kill Baghdad Ambulance Crewman by Maher Nazih, Reuters May 2nd, 2006 The incident drew an angry response from Iraqi officials, who often complain private foreign guards kill civilians with impunity |
| IRAQ: Death is a Price of Blood Money by Vasemaca Rarabici, Fiji Times May 2nd, 2006 In two weeks seven Fijian men serving as security guards in Iraq have died, leaving behind grieving wives and children with no fathers. But these are the risks they are willing to take, especially when you get to earn between $3000 to $6000 a month. |
| IRAQ: U.S. Pays for 150 Iraqi Clinics, and Manages to Build 20 by James Glanz, The New York Times April 30th, 2006 A $243 million program led by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to build 150 health care clinics in Iraq has in some cases produced little more than empty shells of crumbling concrete and shattered bricks cemented together into uneven walls. |
| IRAQ: Evidence of Fraud Found by Iraq Audit by T. Christian Miller, The Los Angeles Times April 30th, 2006 A watchdog agency sees poor oversight in a defunct U.S. program to let private firms train Iraqis to guard oil and power infrastructure. |
| IRAQ: USAID Provides Adviser to Iraq Government on Oil Law by Benoit Faucon, MarketWatch April 28th, 2006 At the request of the U.S. State Department, the agency is providing a petroleum advisor to Iraq from February to June through its contract with BearingPoint, USAID spokesman David Snider told Dow Jones Newswires in an e-mail. |
| IRAQ: Halliburton's Rebuilding of Pipeline as Disaster Waiting to Happen by James Glanz, The New York Times April 25th, 2006 The project's demise would seriously damage the American-led effort to restore Iraq's oil system and enable the country to pay for its own reconstruction. |
| IRAQ: Commander Says Contractors Violating U.S. Labor Trafficking Laws by Cam Simpson, The Chicago Tribune April 23rd, 2006 Gen. George Casey ordered that contractors be required by May 1 to return passports that have been illegally confiscated from laborers on U.S. bases after determining that such practices violated U.S. laws against trafficking for forced or coerced labor |
| US: Attorney Pursues Iraq Contractor Fraud by Yochi J. Dreazen, The Wall Street Journal April 19th, 2006 Lawyer uses Civil War-era law to go after frims for corruption, but Bush administration won't help. |
| IRAQ: Businessman Pleads Guilty in Iraq Scheme
by Mark Sherman , Associated Press April 18th, 2006 With millions of dollars in Iraqi reconstruction contracts to be had, Philip H. Bloom offered up money, cars, premium airline seats, jewelry, alcohol, even sexual favors from women at his villa in Baghdad. |
| IRAQ: U.S. Contractor Bloom Pleads Guilty by Robert Schmidt, bloomberg April 18th, 2006 Contractor pleads guilty to conspiracy, bribery and money laundering in connection with a bid-rigging of Iraq reconstruction contracts. |
| IRAQ: Greased Up for Business by Marian Wilkinson and David Marr, The Sydney Morning Herald April 17th, 2006 Iraq's Halfayah oil field was the glittering prize sought in one of the dodgiest deals linked to the wheat board, write . |
| IRAQ: They Backed the Scam to the Bitter End by Marian Wilkinson and David Marr., The Sydney Morning Herald April 17th, 2006 Despite emerging evidence of AWB's kickbacks, the Howard Government continued giving the wheat trader its unconditional support. |