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August 28, 2008 12:53:29 AM CDT

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Stories related to: security contractors

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12 Stories

  • August 2008

    • US Contractor Bills in Iraq to Hit $100B

      New York Times  |  Aug 12, 08 6:00 AM CDT

      US Contractor Bills in Iraq to Hit $100B

      (Newser) - By the end of the year, the US will have spent $100 billion on private defense contractors in Iraq, a congressional report finds, showing more private-sector reliance than any previous wartime. Some 20% of funds spent on the war have gone to contractors, whose numbers are now greater than the US military, the New York Times reports. More »

      Tags

      Iraq war  • US military  • Iraq war spending  • Iraq contractors  • security contractors  • KBR  • Halliburton

  • July 2008

    • Freed Hostages Back in US

      CNN  |  Jul 3, 08 10:48 AM CDT

      Freed Hostages Back in US

      (Newser) - Three American hostages are back on US soil today for the first time in five years, CNN reports, after a late-night landing at an Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas. The men were taken to an Army medical center, where, after undergoing tests and debriefings, they are expected to be reunited with their families. More »

      Tags

      Colombia  • hostage  • FARC  • Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia  • security contractors

  • May 2008

    • Iraq Profitable Business for Bush's Ex-Spies

      Salon  |  May 29, 08 1:20 PM CDT

      Iraq Profitable Business for Bush's Ex-Spies

      (Newser) - Richard Armitage rarely saw eye-to-eye with the Bush administration on the Iraq war, but these days he may be more sanguine. That’s because Armitage has profited handsomely from his own national security consulting firm, as well stakes in a dozen private defense and intelligence companies that do business with the CIA, NSA, and others. Across Washington, top spies and officials are jumping to private sector gigs, writes Tim Shorrock in his new book Spies for Hire. More »

      Tags

      Iraq contractors  • security contractors  • US intelligence  • Richard Armitage  • intelligence spending  • George J. Tenet

  • April 2008

    • Iraqi Official Calls Blackwater Deal 'Bad News'

      CNN  |  Apr 5, 08 4:24 PM CDT

      Iraqi Official Calls Blackwater Deal 'Bad News'

      (Newser) - An Iraqi official called the renewal of Blackwater USA's contract "bad news" today, CNN reports. "I personally am not happy with this, especially because they have committed acts of aggression, killed Iraqis," said the adviser to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. With many in Baghdad upset about it, he said he may press officials to contest the contract renewal. More »

      Tags

      Iraq  • Baghdad  • Nouri al-Maliki  • Blackwater  • Iraq government  • Iraq contractors  • security contractors

    • Feds Renew Blackwater Deal

      Associated Press  |  Apr 4, 08 7:55 PM CDT

      Feds Renew Blackwater Deal

      (Newser) - Washington renewed Blackwater USA's multimillion-dollar contract for another year today pending two probes into the contractor's conduct in Iraq, the AP reports. The FBI is still investigating a Baghdad shooting last year in which Blackwater guards gunned down 17 civilians and sparked outrage among Iraqis; US lawmakers are also probing claims that Blackwater smuggled arms into the country. Blackwater has denied guilt in both cases. More »

      Tags

      Iraq war  • FBI  • State Department  • Blackwater  • Iraq war spending  • security contractors

  • March 2008

    • Va. Senator Not the Firebrand Many Expected

      Washington Post  |  Mar 21, 08 4:35 PM CDT

      Va. Senator Not the Firebrand Many Expected

      (Newser) - Virginia Sen. James Webb hasn’t played the part of hot-tempered agitator many expected in his freshman term, the Washington Post reports. Making friends and taking legislative strides, Webb “has vaulted to a position of influence,” said one colleague. But "the job of getting out and speaking with constituents and hearing their concerns seems to be something he hasn't warmed up to," one analyst says. More »

      Tags

      George W. Bush  • Iraq war  • Senate  • Virginia  • Afghanistan war  • security contractors  • Claire McCaskill  • James Webb

  • February 2008

    • Blackwater Probers Return to Baghdad

      Associated Press  |  Feb 21, 08 5:13 AM CST

      Blackwater Probers Return to Baghdad

      (Newser) - Federal authorities investigating the Blackwater shootings that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead will revisit the scene of the massacre this week. Prosecutors from the Justice Department have already arrived in Baghdad, to be joined by inspectors from the FBI. But the inquiry has been hamstrung by the American government's promise of immunity to Blackwater bodyguards who gave written testimony, writes AP. More »

      Tags

      Iraq  • FBI  • Baghdad  • Department of Justice  • Blackwater  • Defense Department  • security contractors

  • January 2008

    • Iraq Hired Guns Fight en Español

      Los Angeles Times  |  Jan 28, 08 2:20 PM CST

      Iraq Hired Guns Fight en Español

      (Newser) - Not every security contractor in Iraq is a hotshot American making $500 a day. Many of the private security personnel roaming Iraq are poor Latin Americans, for whom the promise of $1,000 a month and full benefits is nearly irresistible, reports the LA Times. “I’d rather die in a war than die of hunger in my own country,” said one Peruvian former guard. More »

      Tags

      Iraq  • Iraq war  • Latin America  • Peru  • security contractors  • security guards  • Triple Canopy

  • November 2007

    • Grand Jury Calls Guards —but Not Shooters

      ABC News  |  Nov 20, 07 8:04 AM CST

      Grand Jury Calls Guards —but Not Shooters

      (Newser) - A federal grand jury investigating the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians by Blackwater security guards has called guards who were present at the September incident to testify—but not the five who admit firing their weapons, sources told ABC News. Twelve other guards were said to be present at the Baghdad intersection at the time. In State Department testimony obtained by ABC News, guards have given conflicting accounts. More »

      Tags

      Iraq  • Blackwater  • Iraq contractors  • security contractors  • grand jury

    • Guards Kill Baghdad Taxi Driver

      New York Times  |  Nov 12, 07 10:05 AM CST

      Guards Kill Baghdad Taxi Driver

      (Newser) - A convoy run by American security contractor DynCorp International shot and killed an Iraqi taxi driver on a Baghdad roadside Saturday, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said yesterday. “They just killed a man and drove away,” said a spokesman. Witnesses said the driver posed no apparent threat; an Iraqi policeman who examined the car found no explosives, the Times reports. More »

      Tags

      Iraq  • Blackwater  • security contractors  • Iraqi security forces  • security guards  • DynCorp International

  • October 2007

    • Rice Sets New Rules for Guards

      Washington Post  |  Oct 24, 07 3:11 AM CDT

      Rice Sets New Rules for Guards

      (Newser) - Private security contractors in Iraq will operate under tougher controls and tighter supervision, according to new State Department rules approved by Condoleezza Rice today, but they won't be supervised by the military, as Defense's Robert Gates had proposed. Measures include investigative "go teams"' that will respond quickly to future shootings by contractors, reports the Washington Post , and an "incident review board." More »

      Tags

      Iraq  • Condoleezza Rice  • Pentagon  • Robert Gates  • Blackwater  • Defense Department  • US Embassy  • security contractors  • Sean McCormack

    • Family Mourns Iraqi Cabbie Slain by Guards

      Los Angeles Times  |  Oct 11, 07 2:24 PM CDT

      Family Mourns Iraqi Cabbie Slain by Guards

      (Newser) - One of the two civilians killed in Baghdad by Dubai-based Australian security contractors on Tuesday was a taxi driver—wearing black in mourning for her husband’s death. Marani Oranis drove a makeshift cab to put two of her three daughters through college, the Los Angeles Times reports. At her memorial service yesterday, shocked family wept—with one brother calling for "an eye for an eye." More »

      Tags

      security contractors  • taxi driver

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