Search

A federal judge must decide whether the United States has jurisdiction over the spending of seized Iraqi assets by the Coalition Provisional Authority. His decision weighs in the balance over a court battle accusing the private security firm, Custer Battles, of defrauding about $50 million while working in postwar Iraq.

Top military contractors have about $25 billion to $30 billion in cash sitting in their coffers. Fully, indebted to the government for their revenues resulting form record Pentagon budgets and spending on homeland security, shareholders are happy and stocks are reaching new highs.

U.S. contractors hit by improvised explosive devices and small arms fire in Iraq are victims of circumstance, and there is little evidence that attacks on U.S. contractors are 'systematic,' says a Pentagon report to Congress.

After more than a year in a Zimbabwean jail 62 black South African mercenaries are due to be released, but freedom will be a bittersweet experience. Embarrassed by the "cesspool of mercenaries" within its midst, the South African authorities have decreed that the dust-blown town of Pomfret must be razed and the inhabitants scattered across the country.

Among other things, rules reaffirm that it is permissible for contractors--at the discretion of the combatant commander--to carry weapons in war zones such as Iraq. Such provisions are bound to please some headed for work in hostile environments, but they have some companies worried about their legal liabilities.

Asked if rebuilding funds were being spent as Congress intended, the special inspector general said "No," Money had been diverted to security, forcing projects to be scaled back. There has also been evidence of corruption in some U.S.-funded deals.

What private security firms in Iraq actually do has been shrouded in mystery. Some provide more than just security. Many are involved in military activities.

According to the Federal Procurement Data System (fpds.gov) database, the US DOD's US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has awarded just over 29,000 contracts since at least October of 2003. A review of 2,000 of those contracts shows that awards go to the usual suspects like SAIC, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. Some go to unusual suspects like Colombia Tri-Star pictures and Time Warner for movie and video distribution services.

Hundreds of pages of documents provide a fuller picture of the allegations at the heart of a lawsuit against private security firm, Custer Battles, which accusers claim operated shell companies that were used to bilk millions of dollars from the Coalition Provisional Authority.

The U.S. Army awarded $72 million in bonuses to Halliburton Co. for logistics work in Iraq, but had not decided whether to give the Texas company bonuses for disputed dining services to troops.

A Socialist deputy has taken legal action against the head of a company recruiting Chilean military personnel and adventurers in order to send them to Iraq as mercenaries.

Day rates peaking at $1,000 turned post-Saddam Hussein Iraq into a modern day Klondike for private security firms, but a growing number of hired guns are paying the price in blood.

• 174 War & Disaster Profiteers Campaign

South Africans seem to be relying more and more on private security. The army of armed and unarmed security guards is growing and seems to be filling in the gaps left by the overstretched police force.

They are everywhere -- ferrying money to businesses in military-style vehicles, guarding gated communities or sitting on three-legged chairs watching over suburban streets. "Private security is growing and has gone through a silent revolution. All over the world, the industry has boomed," says the chain-smoking Jenny Irish-Qhobosheane, a private security researcher.

The company's plans for a state-of-the-art security training center in North Carolina have gone awry as it is caught in a swarming cloud of suspicion, lawsuits and accusations alleging fraud, kidnapping and more.

The private military company and provider of aviation services worldwide is designing and building a $300 million airport facility to "meet the rapidly-growing needs of West and Central Africa." The company will equip and operate maintenance, repair and air-cargo facilities.