Black Water

Private Mercenary Army In the land of Pure An exclusive report by PKKH

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Report prepared by

PKKH Editorial team Dan Qayyum Editor in Chief Talha Mujaddidi Senior Analyst Atif Farooq Senior Editor PKKH Media team Zaki Khalid Editor Media Team Aurang Zaib Khan Video editing Saadullah Aleem Audio/video productions

Note: the new name of Blackwater, Xe will be used interchangeably throughout the document. Pictures taken from MSNBC, Robert Y.Pelton’s book, “Licensed to Kill”, and yahoo.com.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) Preface

3

2) Blackwater

4

3) Afghanistan and Iraq Carnage

12

4) Xe In Pakistan

17

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PREFACE With the start of the Iraq war, the world came to know about a private military company (PMC) called Blackwater; a new brand for the evening news viewer who thought that this is just another security company that offers security guards. But Blackwater is not just another security company. It’s our modern day Armed Forces in the private sector. Blackwater and many other companies like itself are the product of post 9/11 modern warfare. Blackwater has been operational in Afghanistan and Iraq ever since the wars started in those countries. Blackwater provided security to US key officials in Iraq and Afghanistan and still does to this day. Blackwater is also responsible for providing security to President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai. As early as 2007 there were reports of Blackwater activity in Pakistan. Pakistan is supposed to be the frontline ally of the United States in their war against terror. What is the need to have a PMC working in Pakistan? A PMC that has very bad reputation and a dark history is working deep inside Pakistan, on what mission is Blackwater working in Pakistan? The main stream media has reported the presence of Blackwater for quiet sometime now, but an in depth and detailed account on the history of Blackwater remains to be presented by the mainstream media. On the other hand, it seems that as far as the government of Pakistan is concerned they could care less. Blackwater is operating with impunity and with total disregard to the rule of law. There is no doubt in any Pakistanis’ mind that this is the most corrupt, incompetent and disastrous government in the history of Pakistan. We at PKKH are presenting a brief account on Blackwater in order to enlighten the nation regarding the background of this company and its possible mission in Pakistan. PKKH always reports news from authentic sources, hence in this document the most widely used book for reference is Jeremy Scahill’s bestseller, “Blackwater”. Other sources include Robert Y.Pelton’s book, “Licensed to Kill’, and various news reports. If there has been any agreement between the Pakistani government, US authorities, and Blackwater or any other PMCs than that should be made public and people of Pakistan should know what is going on in their backyard? Only guilty governments hide secrets from their own people.

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BLACKWATER "What the agency (CIA) was doing with Blackwater scares the hell out of me," said Jack Rice, a former CIA field operator who worked for the directorate of operations, which runs covert paramilitary activities for the CIA. "When the agency actually cedes all oversight and power to a private organization, an organization like Blackwater, most importantly they lose control and don't understand what's going on," Rice told The Nation. Blackwater was setup by Eric Prince, in 2002 at the border of North Carolina and Virginia. Today the company (Xe) claims that its training facility in North Carolina is the largest in the world which trains almost 40,000 people yearly. Blackwater, renamed to Xe, on February 13th 2009, is the largest recipient of department of Defense and department of State. According to New York Times a congressional research Service, report states that civilian contractors working for Pentagon in Afghanistan now outnumber the number of US Military personal. [1] PBS reported in June, that during the last three months, there has been a 29% increase in private military contractors in Afghanistan. After 9/11 Blackwater has become the frontline corporation for US expansionist wars. Blackwater has more than 2300 private soldiers deployed in at least nine countries, including inside the US. Blackwater has more than $500 million in government contracts, and that does not include the secret, ‘black’ budget operations for US intelligence agencies or private corporations and for foreign governments. As one congressmen observed that in strictly military terms, Blackwater could overthrow many of the world’s governments. [2] The Times, of London reported that in post Iraqi invasion the boom was in security business not oil. [3] Cofer Black, the company's current vice chairman, was director of the CIA's Counterterrorist Center (CTC) at the time of the September 11 attacks in 2001. He was the United States Department of State coordinator for counterterrorism with the rank of ambassador at large from December 2002 to November 2004. After leaving public service, Black became chairman of the privately owned intelligence gathering company Total Intelligence Solutions, Inc. (a Blackwater subsidiary), as well as vice chairman for Xe. Eric prince the founder of Blackwater is a radical right-wing Christian multi millionaire who is a diehard republican supporter, and has a radical Christian agenda that he likes to follow. Prince graduated from Holland Christian High School, attended US Naval Academy for a brief period of time before leaving to attend Hillsdale College. Prince joined US Navy in 1992. He served as a Navy Seal officer. Blackwater was setup with money that Prince Family left for Eric Prince. A very important part of Prince’s religious beliefs are his upbringing in conservative surrounding in rural Michigan. He attended the conservative Dutch Reform Church. Followers of Dutch Reform church believe that God has predestined some people for salvation and others for damnation.

Eric Prince founder of Blackwater. Pakistan’s first independent media organization | www.Pakistan Ka Khuda Hafiz.com

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Jeremy Scahill reports that, “Prince views Blackwater as a neo-crusader force since the beginning”. Scahill also states that Blackwater had a private nod of approval from Christian Zionist in the White House during the Bush presidency. The Ideology of Blackwater and Eric Prince is based upon the core beliefs of an ancient organization that was part of the original Crusades that were launched upon the Muslim world by Christian Europe. Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) was basically the military wing of the Knights Templar. It takes its origins from the Knights Hospitaller, an organization founded in Jerusalem in 1050 as an Amalfitan hospital to provide care for poor and sick pilgrims to the Holy Land. After the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade, it became a Catholic military order under its own charter. Following the loss of Christian territory in the Holy Land, the Order operated from Rhodes (1310-1523), and later from Malta (1530-1798), over which it was sovereign. Although this state came to an end with the ejection of the Order from Malta by Napoleon, the Order as such survived. It retains its claims of sovereignty under international law and has been granted permanent observer status at the United Nations. SMOM is considered to be the main successor to the medieval Knights Hospitaller. Today the order has 12,500 members, 80,000 permanent volunteers, 13,000 medical personnel including doctors, nurses, auxiliaries and paramedics. It claims to be a traditional example of a sovereign entity other than a state. Its two headquarters in Rome, namely the Palazzo Malta in Via dei Condotti 68 (where the Grand Master resides and Government Bodies meet), and the Villa Malta on the Aventine (which hosts the Grand Priory of Rome, the Embassy of the Order to Holy See and the Embassy of the Order to Italy), are granted extraterritoriality. Author Jeremy Scahill writes in his book “Blackwater”, “SMOM, a Christian militia formed in the eleventh century, before the first crusades, with a mission of defending territories that the crusaders had conquered from Muslims.” These hardcore Christian beliefs of Eric Prince and Blackwater have also been verified in the recent ongoing investigation into the crimes of Blackwater. According to the MSNBC news report, one of the witnesses in the case has said that, “Prince views himself as a Christian crusader eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe. To that end Prince intentionally deployed in Iraq certain men who shared this vision of Christian supremacy.” The report says further, “many of these men used call signs based on the Knights Templar, the warriors who fought in the crusades”.

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Blackwater is so powerful that in September 2005, after Hurricane Katrina devastated Gulf Coast and New Orleans, Blackwater sent in around 150 security personnel to New Orleans. This created a lot of controversy in the alert circles of US. It should be the responsibility of US law enforcement agencies to provide services to its citizens. After 9/11 Blackwater, has become part and parcel of US military operations. Scahill says that Blackwater is like fifth pillar of US military after, army, air force, navy, and marines. Recent revelations by news reports show that CIA had asked Blackwater to help in their covert operations in Afghanistan. [4] “In April 2002, the CIA paid Blackwater more than $5 million to deploy a small team of men inside Afghanistan during the early stages of US operations in the country. A month later, Erik Prince, the company's owner and a former Navy SEAL, flew to Afghanistan as part of the original twenty-man Blackwater contingent. Blackwater worked for the CIA at its station in Kabul as well as in Shkin, along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, where they operated out of a mud fortress known as the Alamo. It was the beginning of a long relationship between Blackwater, Prince and the CIA”. [5] This shows that CIA and the Pentagon have been using Blackwater knowing that classified information will be shared with a private company. Other point is that when US forces moved into Afghanistan people around that world didn’t realize that Blackwater mercenaries also accompany US troops. The New York Times interviewed, Illinois Democrat Jan Schakowsky, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, Jan said that because of her oath of secrecy on sensitive intelligence issues, she could neither confirm nor deny that Congress was aware of Blackwater's involvement in this program before the New York Times report. Schakowsky also declined to comment on whether Blackwater came up at a June briefing by CIA director Leon Panetta, which she attended. That briefing sparked calls for an investigation into whether Vice President Dick Cheney ordered the CIA to conceal an assassination program from Congress. "What we know now, if this is true, is that Blackwater was part of the highest level, the innermost circle strategizing and exercising strategy within the Bush administration," Schakowsky told The Nation. "Erik Prince operated at the highest and most secret level of the government. Clearly Prince was more trusted than the US Congress because Vice President Cheney made the decision not to brief Congress. This shows that there was absolutely no space whatsoever between the Bush administration and Blackwater." Currently Blackwater is undergoing a federal investigation in to the alleged murder of seventeen civilians in 2007 at Nisour Square, Baghdad, Iraq. The Justice Department was originally not expected to bring criminal charges against the corporation, however in December 2008, the Justice Department announced they were charging five of the Blackwater employees, and ordered them to surrender themselves to the FBI. Charged with manslaughter are Donald Ball, a former Marine from West Valley City, Utah; Dustin Heard, a former Marine from Knoxville, Tennessee; Evan Liberty, a former Marine from Rochester, New Hampshire; Nick Slatten, a former Army sergeant from Sparta, Tennessee, and Paul Slough, an Army veteran from Keller, Texas. A sixth Blackwater guard, Jeremy Ridgeway of California, struck a deal with prosecutors, turned on his former colleagues, and pleaded guilty to one count each of manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and aiding and abetting. Apart from the main service of providing security personnel, Blackwater has its aviation branch, its own armored personal carriers; Blackwater has its K-9 dog unit. The main subsidiary of Blackwater is Total Intelligence Solution. This is basically Blackwater’s intelligence agency. The executives of Total Intelligence include CEO Robert Richer, the former associate deputy director of the CIA's Directorate of Operations and second-ranking official in charge of clandestine operations. From 1999 to 2004, Richer was head of the CIA's Near East and South Asia Division, where he ran covert operations in the Middle East and South Asia. As part of his duties, he was the CIA liaison with Jordan's King Abdullah, a key US ally and Blackwater client, and briefed George W. Bush on the burgeoning Iraqi resistance in its early Pakistan’s first independent media organization | www.Pakistan Ka Khuda Hafiz.com

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stages. Total Intelligence's chief operating officer is Enrique "Ric" Prado, a twenty-four-year CIA veteran and former senior executive officer in the Directorate of Operations. He spent more than a decade working in the CIA's Counterterrorist Center and ten years with the CIA's "paramilitary" Special Operations Group. Total Intelligence is run out of an office on the ninth floor of a building in the Ballston area of Arlington, Virginia. It’s Global Fusion Center, complete with large-screen TVs broadcasting international news channels and computer stations staffed by analysts surfing the web, "operates around the clock every day of the year" and is modeled after the CIA's counterterrorist center, once run by Black. The firm employs at least sixty-five full-time staff--some estimates say it's closer to 100. "Total Intel brings the...skills traditionally honed by CIA operatives directly to the board room," Black said when the company launched. [6]

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AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ CARNAGE In Afghanistan, Blackwater was hand in hand with US troops and CIA teams. Blackwater was also present at the forward CIA base at Shikin, close to Pakistan/Afghanistan border.

Blackwater providing security to Hamid Karzai

Blackwater contractors with Afghan Army and CIA at Tora Bora operation.

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Blackwater convoy in Iraq Blackwater started out in Iraq with a $21 million no-bid contract to supply security guards and two helicopters for Paul Bremer, the head of the U.S. occupation in Iraq. The main task initially for Blackwater was to provide security for US Viceroy in Iraq Paul Bremer, and other US officials. Gradually Blackwater’s scope of influence started expanding.

Blackwater protecting Paul Bremer in Iraq The main reason for this as mentioned above is that Blackwater has a secret understanding with CIA and the Pentagon. It is now clearly evident that Blackwater fought side by side US troops in Iraq at different locations. Blackwater is often seen by Iraqi militants as CIA troops in civilian clothing, only now have the people of Iraq realized that Blackwater and other PMC’s are part of civilian armies.

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Blackwater mercenaries fighting side by side US troops In March 2004 four Blackwater employees are ambushed while escorting a convoy in Fallujah and brutally murdered, two of their charred bodies dragged through the streets and strung up on a bridge over the Euphrates. Gory photos circulate, putting private military contracting on the map for the first time. In June 2004 Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) published Order 17 that grants private contractor’s immunity from Iraqi law. Three months later, a Blackwater subsidiary is awarded another $34.8 million contract to transport troops and supplies in Afghanistan. According to Jeremy Scahill, In Iraq Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq. This included weapons other than officially given to US troops or Blackwater contractors. Blackwater also operates a K-9 unit, according to one witness; Blackwater was smuggling explosives hidden in supplies of its dog food. In January 2007 two former Blackwater employees, Kenneth Wayne Cashwell and William Ellsworth Grumiaux, plead guilty to possession of stolen firearms shipped in interstate or foreign commerce. Later in 2007 in Baghdad, at Nisour Square a massacre took place in which seventeen Iraqi civilians were killed. This prompted hue and cry inside Iraq and even US puppet Prime Minister of Iraq had to ask action from US against Blackwater. But Blackwater was immune from prosecution under laws that Bremer made when US invaded Iraq. Respected author, traveler, and journalist Robert Young Pelton, says that ‘PMCs are generally trigger happy people, and they don’t mind shooting’. Farid Walid, who was shot in Nisour Square two years ago during a massacre that killed 17 Iraqis, said: “Everybody here knows of cases where Blackwater guards shot innocent people without a second thought. They are a symbol of the occupation. Nobody will forget. But Iraqis might think at least a little differently of America if the killers are put in prison.” Mr Walid remembers the Nisour Square shooting on September 16, 2007 — for Iraqis one of the blacker days of the US occupation. Claiming to have come under fire, Blackwater guards stopped in the middle of a large roundabout and began shooting in all directions. “I left my car and ran away to hide in a petrol station, which was made of concrete. The shooting was so heavy it was like rain,” he said. “I saw lots of people getting shot. The driver who had been in front of me died and his wife fell out of the car. Her child was killed as well. The shooting went on for about ten minutes.” [7]

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After a great deal of navel-gazing, in 2007 the US Congress began looking into activities of Blackwater. In February 2009, Blackwater changed its name to Xe. State Department said that it will not renew Xe contract to provide security in war zones. This was worth $200 million dollars in 2008. Currently a US Justice Department inquiry is going on into the allegation of Blackwater employees killing innocent people in Iraq. There is a statute in US law it’s called Alien Trot Claims Act. This means that if a US company, operating in another country does something against the law, the citizen(s) of that country can ask US law to look into the actions of the Company. (This statute is notable for allowing United States courts to hear human rights cases brought by foreign citizens for conduct committed outside the United States.) A human rights advocacy law firm, Center for Constitutional Rights based in New York, have filed a law suit on behalf of the victims of Nisour Square massacre. At the moment the prosecution has two key witnesses against Blackwater in the court proceedings. One former employee of Blackwater has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the FBI.

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Xe in Pakistan Early last year some reports surfaced that PMC movement has been observed in Pakistan. After the blast in Marriott Hotel Islamabad, there were more reports that top two floors of the hotel were being used by, US marines and possibly some civilian contractors. Gen (r) Aslam Beg, former Pakistan Army Chief has also alleged that US personnel were present at the hotel before the bombings, and US drones were being handled from this location. Few weeks back there was bombing at PC hotel in Peshawar, the eye witnesses confirmed that US personnel were present at the hotel before the bombings. Currently the residents of Peshawar report the presence of PMCs in residential areas of Peshawar. On Jul. 27, the Deutsche Presse-Agentur [DPA] reported that residents of an upscale suburb in Peshawar have formally complained to the Pakistani government that armed private Americans were spreading fear in the area. The video clip attached with this report also shows houses in Pakistani capital Islamabad that are being rented by unknown US officials. As many as 228 houses are being reported to be rented out by either US marines, or PMCs. [8]

Areas in Islamabad where houses have been rented to US/Xe officials The main questions to ask are why is Blackwater or other PMC operating in Pakistan? Who allowed Blackwater to operate in Pakistan? The influx of US marines and PMCs has been noticed by residents of Peshawar and Islamabad, and who authorized Xe to be above the Pakistani law? As there are clearly four counts of law violation by Blackwater personnel that have been reported in the media. In one incident, Blackwater employee beat up a Police Officer of Islamabad police force. In another incident heavily armed men of Blackwater were stopped by police and taken to the Margalla police station, since in Islamabad under Section 144, carrying licensed weapons is also banned. Soon a US embassy official came to their rescue and he was accompanied by SP Aftab Nasir, and a retired Captain, Ijaz. A similar incident has taken place in diplomatic avenue. Senior journalist and informed political analyst are reporting that Blackwater and the US marines will soon operate from Peshawar, Quetta, Karachi, apart from Islamabad. [9] According to Scahill in his book Blackwater, it should be noted that CIA and PMCs were responsible for creating death squads in Iraq after invasion of that country. This was the handy work of John Negroponte, former US National Intelligence Czar.

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“At the same time the country (Iraq) saw the emergence of militias commanded by friends and relatives of Iraqi cabinet officers and tribal sheikhs, they go by the names like the Defenders of Baghdad, the Special Police Commandos, the Defenders of Khadamiya, and the Amarah Brigade. The new units generally have the backing of Iraqi government and receive government funding… Some Americans consider them a welcome addition to the fight against the insurgency tough others worry about the risks. U.S commanders refer to them as ‘pop-up’ units and estimated they numbered fifteen thousand fighters. The Wall Street Journal identified at least six of these militias, one with ‘several thousand soldiers’ lavishly armed with rocket propelled grenades launchers, mortar tubes and lots of ammunition. One militia, the Special Police Commandos was founded by Gen Adnan Thabit, who took part in the 1996 failed coup plot against Saddam Hussein. Lt. Gen David Petraeus, who in 2005 was overseeing the massive U.S effort to help train and equip Iraqi military units, told the Journal that he gave Thabit’s unit funding to fix up its base and buy vehicles, ammunition, radios, and more weapons. Upon his arrival in Baghdad, Negroponte joined up with other U.S officials who were veterans of the U.S. dirty wars in Central America among them Bremer’s ex-deputy, James Steele, who had been one of the key U.S. military officials managing Washington’s brutal counterinsurgency campaign in El Salvador in the 1980s.” Coming back to our first question, who gave the green light for Blackwater to operate inside Pakistan? The answer must lie with the government; this current government has never represented the national interest of Pakistan. Since the day one, this government has been hijacked by President Zardari and his close cronies. Their dealings with US officials behind closed doors are never made public or discussed with the parliament or the cabinet. Before this government we all know that President Musharraf had given US clearance for military bases in Pakistan. There are also confirmed reports that US personal were present in Peshawar under the role of trainers for Pakistan Army. Later on Chief of Army Staff Gen. Kayani put a stop those trainers. It must be kept in mind that if the Pakistani President or Prime Minister gives some private assurances to any other country (or the leader of that country), either verbal or written it stands its ground since the President/Prime Minister represents the nation. It is not easy for the next President or Prime Minister to remove those assurances or verbal commitments. Point is that private agreements, assurances, or commitments given by President Musharraf, or Zardari will be very hard to get rid off by future governments. It is now an open secret that Pakistan Ambassador to US, Hussain Haqqani is actually acting in the interest of the US. He has written letter to Pakistan Foreign Office and Pakistani security agencies not to deny visas to any US citizens wanting to enter Pakistan. Basically he wants Pakistan to allow any mercenary to enter into Pakistan. According to Ahmed Quraishi, “The alarming part of this story is that the embassy of Pakistan in Washington is reported to have issued several hundred entry permits and visas to individuals without seeking clearance from the country's security departments. In one recent report, it is reported that the Pakistani ambassador issued 360 visas to US citizens in one month, sometime this year, from the ambassador's discretionary quota of visas and again without clearance from Pakistani security departments”. Dr. Shireen Mazari, Ahmed Quraishi and other experts have pointed out at the presence of US marines inside Pakistan, the presence of Joint Special Operation Command (JSOC) inside Baluchistan, and the presence of Blackwater. If you connect the dots you will see that first report came of presence of Blackwater in Pakistan, then we heard about JSOC presence in Baluchistan on a secret basis. According to these experts, and other political analysts, chartered flights have been landing at Islamabad and Karachi airport, and no records are kept of these flights. Who is entering the country and when, there is no record of that. [10] The Commander of JSOC is General McChrystal, and his area of operation is ‘AfPak’, this means that US troops are allowed to carry out operations anywhere in AfPak region. This means any part of Pakistan which has become a threat to peace or stability according to US understanding of the situation.

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If JSOC, Xe, or US Marines are present in Baluchistan then what are they doing there? First of all they would like to help and support Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA), and then they would want to secure an alternate land route through Afghanistan all the way to the strategic port of Gwadar. The other task would be to do an area profiling of different areas of Baluchistan to obtain ground intelligence as to where the strategic assets of Pakistan are hidden in Baluchistan. President Zardari has assured the Baluchistan Government that Pakistan Army will not be deployed in Baluchistan and no more cantonments will be made. Zardari has also said that from now on any military operation and declaration of war will require prior approval from the parliament. Dr. Shireen M. Mazari is a scholar and commentator on Strategic Studies and Political Science from Pakistan. She has a Ph.D. from Colombia University and was Director General of Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad, Pakistan and former Chairperson of Department of Defense and Strategic Studies at the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. She is critical of the relationship the Pakistan government has with the United States and India. Dr. Shireen Mazari says, “Will some of these go to the Pentagon’s assassination squads, who may take up residence in some of the barricaded Islamabad houses and with whom the present US commander in Afghanistan was directly associated? Ordinary officials at Pakistani airports have also been muttering their concerns over chartered flights flying in Americans whose entry is not recorded – even the flight crews are not checked for visas and so there is now no record-keeping of exactly how many Americans are coming into or going out of Pakistan. Incidentally the CAII’s (CIA/Blackwater) Craig Davis who was deported has now returned to Peshawar! And let us not be fooled by the cry that numbers reflect friendship since we know what numbers meant to Soviet satellites.” [11] We can now see a pattern of things that are going on inside Pakistan. The presence of US marines and PMCs will complicate things deeply; this is the first stage of US direct invasion into Pakistan. US PMCs above Pakistani law are a serious threat to Pakistan’s national security. We should all remember that the US didn’t invade and occupy Iraq in few days of March 2003. The US started its invasion many years earlier. First, the US forced Iraq to start a war with Iran destroying its Army, and weakening it economically, and then the US duped Saddam into starting a war with Kuwait (details available in Tariq Ali Book, “Bush in Babylon”). It was a nasty surprise for Saddam, to see US supporting other Arab States against him in the first Gulf War in 1991. This war totally destroyed Iraqi infrastructure and the little left might of the Iraqi Army. After the First Gulf War, UN slapped a decade long sanctions on Iraq that resulted in deaths of half million Iraqi children, not counting the adult population. With Iraq standing on its clutches and barely moving, the US attacked Iraq under the false pretext of weapons of mass destruction. We must remember what John Perkins (author of Confessions of an Economic Hitmen) has said in his books, first the US destroys a nation economically, then the secret agents swell into that country, then Special Forces, last resort for US is to move in regular troops and start full war operations. Tactics used in Iraq are also being applied in Pakistan, we are being weakened economically, and our financial future is being destroyed. Since the US can’t afford Pakistan fighting with India, they tried to create rouge terrorist elements inside Pakistan using RAW and Afghan Intelligence Agencies. TTP and other such elements are being used to fight against Pakistan Army. So far this plan has failed, but rest assured US will keep trying to create such disturbances in the future. While Pakistan Army is busy fighting against TTP and other such elements, JSOC and other US mercenaries are gaining foothold in Balochistan, and other places in Pakistan. There are also reports that Blackwater mercenaries will be providing personal security to key government officials of Pakistan. Former Chief of Pakistan Army Gen. Beg has said that, “Blackwater will now do the work for 111 Brigade”. Let’s analyze this statement of Beg. If a coup takes place in Pakistan 111 brigade comes into action and takes over the Prime minister house, the President House, etc. Now suppose if Army attempts to stage a coup and the soldiers reach the President house only to find out that key government officials are being protected by heavily armed US PMCs. This would surely be a catch 22. Pakistan’s first independent media organization | www.Pakistan Ka Khuda Hafiz.com

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Other thing that Gen. Beg might be referring to is the role of PMCs in over throwing governments of different countries. This is evident from books of Scahill and Robert Young Pelton. Examples are different African countries during the 90’s, during the last decade, and even recently. There have been dozens of reports in world media that Pakistan’s nuclear program is in danger of terrorist take over or terrorist attack. There has been little or no credibility in these reports so far. The point is that PMCs operating in any country under the pretext of providing security are virtually above law, and their objectives are not made public. They maintain their own direct links with their clients, and have their separate communications that might even be unaccounted to the US authorities. The real objectives of PMCs would be known to neither the Pakistan government nor Pakistani parliament. But the evidence that we have shows that Xe has been involved in target assassinations, rendition, military operations, and, kidnapping. A petition has been filed with the Supreme Court of Pakistan asking the government to explain why US embassy has been given over 50 acres of land to expand its embassy in Pakistan. We need to file another petition with the Supreme Court, asking the government to present all the information it has on CAII, Xe, US nonprofit organizations, and all the security companies operating inside Pakistan. Security agencies of Pakistan have shown some courage and raided an office that was known to be recruiting for Xe. http://ahmedquraishi.com/latest_col.php?id=107 According to the report, a private security company setup in Pakistan, Inter Risk, was working for U.S Embassy, in Islamabad and this was confirmed by US Embassy spokesman. Report further says, that Inter Risk imported over 80 automatic weapons into Pakistan using special permission granted by Prime Minister’s Office. [12] It is a possibility that there are other companies like Inter Risk that are still working and recruiting in Pakistan. The government needs to put an end to their activities in Pakistan. Otherwise such companies will cause damage to Pakistan in the near future. It’s time for Pakistani establishment and patriotic elements in the Government to wake up and start resisting the assault on Pakistan by neo-con Zionists who are using War on Terror as a pretext to wage their Holy War against Pakistan by using their Crusading forces. The people of Pakistan are ready to help the Pakistani government but the government must resist and show courage under fire. If the government does not show any courage or is incapable to show any resistance then the establishment should remove this government and setup a technocratic government made up of nationalist elements. The compromise on national security will not be tolerated by people of Pakistan. Corrupt elements and traitors in the government, and elsewhere must remember that they will be made accountable for every crime they have committed against Pakistan. It’s time to wake up, as a nation and realize that soft revolution is better than a bloody revolution. Our rulers must mend their ways right now and safe guard the national interests. If they can’t then they should get quit and get out of Pakistan because sooner or later they will be kicked out by the resolve of Pakistani nation.

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Bibliography 1) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/world/asia/02contractors.html 2) Jeremy Scahill, (2007). Blackwater, Nation Books. 3) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3578660.ece 4) www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/20/AR2009082004064.html?hpid=topnews 5) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112171638 6) Jeremy Scahill, (2007). Blackwater, Nation Books. 7) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6742135.ece 8) http://pakistankakhudahafiz.wordpress.com/2009/09/14/blackwater-xe-in-pakistan-full-version/ http://ahmedquraishi.com/article_detail.php?id=766 9) http://jang.com.pk/jang/sep2009-daily/06-09-2009/col2.htm 10) http://ahmedquraishi.com/article_detail.php?id=691 11) http://pakistankakhudahafiz.wordpress.com/2009/08/29/the-u-s-invades-and-occupies-pakistan/ 12) http://pakistankakhudahafiz.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/islamabad-police-raids-us-linked-securityfirm/

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