H
Harry Hope
Guest
"There's no oversight. They're an independent company offering
freelance espionage services. They're rent-a-spies."
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/3667
Prince is more than just another right-wing kook with a lot of guns
and a no-bid government contract to kill at will.
Jeremy Scahill, author of the book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's
Most Powerful Mercenary Army, told Newsweek that Prince is a
"neo-crusader," a "Theocon" with a Christian-supremacist agenda.
Which means Prince fits right in with the madman of 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue - George W. Bush - the deranged President who sees the invasion
of Iraq and massacre of thousands upon thousands of that country's
civilians as a mandate from God.
Prince's private army of professional killers operates without rules,
without boundaries and with the full blessing of the Bush
administration.
Still, their tactics shock and scare even those they are hired to
"protect."
From The Washington Post, 11/3/07:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110202165.html?hpid=topnews
Blackwater's Owner Has Spies for Hire
Ex-U.S. Operatives Dot Firm's Roster
By Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 3, 2007; Page A01
First it became a brand name in security for its work in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Now it's taking on intelligence.
The Prince Group, the holding company that owns Blackwater Worldwide,
has been building an operation that will sniff out intelligence about
natural disasters, business-friendly governments, overseas regulations
and global political developments for clients in industry and
government.
Two analysts, whose names Total Intelligence Solutions would not
release for security reasons, work at company headquarters in
Ballston.
The operation, Total Intelligence Solutions, has assembled a roster of
former spooks -- high-ranking figures from agencies such as the CIA
and defense intelligence -- that mirrors the slate of former military
officials who run Blackwater.
Its chairman is Cofer Black, the former head of counterterrorism at
CIA known for his leading role in many of the agency's more
controversial programs, including the rendition and interrogation of
al-Qaeda suspects and the detention of some of them in secret prisons
overseas.
Its chief executive is Robert Richer, a former CIA associate deputy
director of operations who was heavily involved in running the
agency's role in the Iraq war.
Total Intelligence Solutions is one of a growing number of companies
that offer intelligence services such as risk analysis to companies
and governments.
Because of its roster and its ties to owner Erik Prince, the
multimillionaire former Navy SEAL, the company's thrust into this
world highlights the blurring of lines between government, industry
and activities formerly reserved for agents operating in the shadows.
Richer, for instance, once served as the chief of the CIA's Near East
division and is said to have ties to King Abdullah of Jordan.
The CIA had spent millions helping train Jordan's intelligence service
in exchange for information.
Now Jordan has hired Blackwater to train its special forces.
"Cofer can open doors," said Richer, who served 22 years at the CIA.
"I can open doors. We can generally get in to see who we need to see.
We don't help pay bribes. We do everything within the law, but we can
deal with the right minister or person."
Total Intel, as the company is known, is bringing "the skills
traditionally honed by CIA operatives directly to the board room,"
Black said.
Black had a 28-year career with the CIA.
"They have the skills and background to do anything anyone wants,"
said RJ Hillhouse, who writes a national security blog called The Spy
Who Billed Me.
"There's no oversight. They're an independent company offering
freelance espionage services. They're rent-a-spies."
The heart of Total Intel operations is a suite on the ninth floor of
an office tower in Ballston, patterned after the CIA counterterrorist
center Black once ran, with analysts sitting at cubicles in the center
of the room and glass offices of senior executives on the perimeter.
A handful of analysts in their 20s and 30s sit hunched over Macintosh
computers, scanning Web sites, databases, newspapers and chat rooms.
The lights are dimmed.
Three large-screen TVs play in the background, one tuned to
al-Jazeera.
The room, called the Global Fusion Center, is staffed around the
clock, as analysts search for warnings on everything from terrorist
plots on radical Islamic Web sites to possible political upheavals in
Asia, labor strikes in South America and Europe, and economic
upheavals that could affect a company's business.
"We're not a private detective," Black said.
"We provide intelligence to our clients. It's not about taking
pictures. It's business intelligence. We collect all information
that's publicly available. This is a completely legal enterprise. We
break no laws. We don't go anywhere near breaking laws. We don't have
to."
Total Intel was launched in February by Prince, who a decade ago
opened a law enforcement training center in Moyock, N.C., that has
since grown into a half-billion-dollar business called Blackwater
Worldwide.
Prince has nine other companies and subsidiaries in his Prince Group
empire, offering a broad range of security and training services.
(One, Blackwater Security Consulting, is under scrutiny because of a
Sept. 16 shooting incident in Iraq that involved some of its armed
guards and in which 17 Iraqi civilians were killed.)
Prince built Total Intel by buying two companies owned by Matt Devost,
the Terrorism Research Center and Technical Defense, and merging them
with Black's consulting group, the Black Group.
Devost, a cyber security and risk management expert, is now president
of Total Intel.
Devost runs day-to-day operations, overseeing 65 full-time employees.
At the Global Fusion Center, young analysts monitor activities in more
than 60 countries.
They include a 25-year-old Fulbright scholar fluent in Arabic and
another person with a master's degree in international affairs,
focused on the Middle East, who tracks the oil industry and security
in Saudi Arabia.
Black and Richer spend much of their time traveling.
They won't say where. It's a CIA thing.
Black called at midnight recently to talk about Total Intel from
"somewhere in the Middle East."
"I don't spend a lot of time telling people where I am as part of my
business," he said.
"I am discreet in where I go and who I see. I spend most of my time
dealing with senior people in governments, making connections."
Black, who also serves as vice chairman of Blackwater Worldwide, said
he also does "a lot more mundane things like go to conferences and
trade shows," looking for business opportunities.
"I'm going to have to go," he said.
"My guy is motioning for me. I have to go meet people."
Who?
People.
Government people?
Business people?
All kinds.
The company won't reveal its financial information, the names of its
customers or other details of its business.
Even looking at an analyst's screen at its Global Fusion Center wasn't
allowed.
"No, no," Richer said, putting his hands up.
"There may be customers' names on there. We don't want you to see."
In their conference room overlooking the Global Fusion Center, Total
Intel executives fired off a list of some of their work.
Are some recent bombings at major cities in India isolated incidents
or should you pull your personnel out?
What are the political developments in Pakistan going to mean for your
business? Is your company popping up on jihadist Web sites?
There's been crime recently in the ports of Mexico, possibly by rogue
police officers.
Is the government going to be able to ensure safety?
Since 2000, the Terrorism Research Center portion of the company has
done $1.5 million worth of contracts with the government, mainly from
agencies like the Army, Navy, Air Force, Customs and the U.S. Special
Operations Command buying its data subscription or other services.
To Black and Richer, one of the most surprising things about being in
the private sector is finding that much of the information they once
considered top secret is publicly available.
The trick, Richer said, is knowing where to look.
"In a classified area, there's an assumption that if it is open, it
can't be as good as if you stole it," Richer said.
"I'm seeing that at least 80 percent of what we stole was open."
As he's no longer with the CIA, Richer said he's found that people are
more willing to share information.
He said a military general in a country he would not name told him of
the country's plan to build its next strike fighter.
"I listened," Richer said.
"We talked business and where we could help him understand markets and
things like that."
At the end of the conversation, Richer said, he asked the man, "Isn't
that classified? Why are you telling me this?"
Richer said the man answered, "If I tell it to an embassy official
I've created espionage. You're a business partner."
_____________________________________________________
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/3667
Prince is more than just another right-wing kook with a lot of guns
and a no-bid government contract to kill at will.
Jeremy Scahill, author of the book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's
Most Powerful Mercenary Army, told Newsweek that Prince is a
"neo-crusader," a "Theocon" with a Christian-supremacist agenda.
Which means Prince fits right in with the madman of 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue - George W. Bush - the deranged President who sees the invasion
of Iraq and massacre of thousands upon thousands of that country's
civilians as a mandate from God.
Prince's private army of professional killers operates without rules,
without boundaries and with the full blessing of the Bush
administration.
Still, their tactics shock and scare even those they are hired to
"protect."
Harry
freelance espionage services. They're rent-a-spies."
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/3667
Prince is more than just another right-wing kook with a lot of guns
and a no-bid government contract to kill at will.
Jeremy Scahill, author of the book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's
Most Powerful Mercenary Army, told Newsweek that Prince is a
"neo-crusader," a "Theocon" with a Christian-supremacist agenda.
Which means Prince fits right in with the madman of 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue - George W. Bush - the deranged President who sees the invasion
of Iraq and massacre of thousands upon thousands of that country's
civilians as a mandate from God.
Prince's private army of professional killers operates without rules,
without boundaries and with the full blessing of the Bush
administration.
Still, their tactics shock and scare even those they are hired to
"protect."
From The Washington Post, 11/3/07:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110202165.html?hpid=topnews
Blackwater's Owner Has Spies for Hire
Ex-U.S. Operatives Dot Firm's Roster
By Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 3, 2007; Page A01
First it became a brand name in security for its work in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Now it's taking on intelligence.
The Prince Group, the holding company that owns Blackwater Worldwide,
has been building an operation that will sniff out intelligence about
natural disasters, business-friendly governments, overseas regulations
and global political developments for clients in industry and
government.
Two analysts, whose names Total Intelligence Solutions would not
release for security reasons, work at company headquarters in
Ballston.
The operation, Total Intelligence Solutions, has assembled a roster of
former spooks -- high-ranking figures from agencies such as the CIA
and defense intelligence -- that mirrors the slate of former military
officials who run Blackwater.
Its chairman is Cofer Black, the former head of counterterrorism at
CIA known for his leading role in many of the agency's more
controversial programs, including the rendition and interrogation of
al-Qaeda suspects and the detention of some of them in secret prisons
overseas.
Its chief executive is Robert Richer, a former CIA associate deputy
director of operations who was heavily involved in running the
agency's role in the Iraq war.
Total Intelligence Solutions is one of a growing number of companies
that offer intelligence services such as risk analysis to companies
and governments.
Because of its roster and its ties to owner Erik Prince, the
multimillionaire former Navy SEAL, the company's thrust into this
world highlights the blurring of lines between government, industry
and activities formerly reserved for agents operating in the shadows.
Richer, for instance, once served as the chief of the CIA's Near East
division and is said to have ties to King Abdullah of Jordan.
The CIA had spent millions helping train Jordan's intelligence service
in exchange for information.
Now Jordan has hired Blackwater to train its special forces.
"Cofer can open doors," said Richer, who served 22 years at the CIA.
"I can open doors. We can generally get in to see who we need to see.
We don't help pay bribes. We do everything within the law, but we can
deal with the right minister or person."
Total Intel, as the company is known, is bringing "the skills
traditionally honed by CIA operatives directly to the board room,"
Black said.
Black had a 28-year career with the CIA.
"They have the skills and background to do anything anyone wants,"
said RJ Hillhouse, who writes a national security blog called The Spy
Who Billed Me.
"There's no oversight. They're an independent company offering
freelance espionage services. They're rent-a-spies."
The heart of Total Intel operations is a suite on the ninth floor of
an office tower in Ballston, patterned after the CIA counterterrorist
center Black once ran, with analysts sitting at cubicles in the center
of the room and glass offices of senior executives on the perimeter.
A handful of analysts in their 20s and 30s sit hunched over Macintosh
computers, scanning Web sites, databases, newspapers and chat rooms.
The lights are dimmed.
Three large-screen TVs play in the background, one tuned to
al-Jazeera.
The room, called the Global Fusion Center, is staffed around the
clock, as analysts search for warnings on everything from terrorist
plots on radical Islamic Web sites to possible political upheavals in
Asia, labor strikes in South America and Europe, and economic
upheavals that could affect a company's business.
"We're not a private detective," Black said.
"We provide intelligence to our clients. It's not about taking
pictures. It's business intelligence. We collect all information
that's publicly available. This is a completely legal enterprise. We
break no laws. We don't go anywhere near breaking laws. We don't have
to."
Total Intel was launched in February by Prince, who a decade ago
opened a law enforcement training center in Moyock, N.C., that has
since grown into a half-billion-dollar business called Blackwater
Worldwide.
Prince has nine other companies and subsidiaries in his Prince Group
empire, offering a broad range of security and training services.
(One, Blackwater Security Consulting, is under scrutiny because of a
Sept. 16 shooting incident in Iraq that involved some of its armed
guards and in which 17 Iraqi civilians were killed.)
Prince built Total Intel by buying two companies owned by Matt Devost,
the Terrorism Research Center and Technical Defense, and merging them
with Black's consulting group, the Black Group.
Devost, a cyber security and risk management expert, is now president
of Total Intel.
Devost runs day-to-day operations, overseeing 65 full-time employees.
At the Global Fusion Center, young analysts monitor activities in more
than 60 countries.
They include a 25-year-old Fulbright scholar fluent in Arabic and
another person with a master's degree in international affairs,
focused on the Middle East, who tracks the oil industry and security
in Saudi Arabia.
Black and Richer spend much of their time traveling.
They won't say where. It's a CIA thing.
Black called at midnight recently to talk about Total Intel from
"somewhere in the Middle East."
"I don't spend a lot of time telling people where I am as part of my
business," he said.
"I am discreet in where I go and who I see. I spend most of my time
dealing with senior people in governments, making connections."
Black, who also serves as vice chairman of Blackwater Worldwide, said
he also does "a lot more mundane things like go to conferences and
trade shows," looking for business opportunities.
"I'm going to have to go," he said.
"My guy is motioning for me. I have to go meet people."
Who?
People.
Government people?
Business people?
All kinds.
The company won't reveal its financial information, the names of its
customers or other details of its business.
Even looking at an analyst's screen at its Global Fusion Center wasn't
allowed.
"No, no," Richer said, putting his hands up.
"There may be customers' names on there. We don't want you to see."
In their conference room overlooking the Global Fusion Center, Total
Intel executives fired off a list of some of their work.
Are some recent bombings at major cities in India isolated incidents
or should you pull your personnel out?
What are the political developments in Pakistan going to mean for your
business? Is your company popping up on jihadist Web sites?
There's been crime recently in the ports of Mexico, possibly by rogue
police officers.
Is the government going to be able to ensure safety?
Since 2000, the Terrorism Research Center portion of the company has
done $1.5 million worth of contracts with the government, mainly from
agencies like the Army, Navy, Air Force, Customs and the U.S. Special
Operations Command buying its data subscription or other services.
To Black and Richer, one of the most surprising things about being in
the private sector is finding that much of the information they once
considered top secret is publicly available.
The trick, Richer said, is knowing where to look.
"In a classified area, there's an assumption that if it is open, it
can't be as good as if you stole it," Richer said.
"I'm seeing that at least 80 percent of what we stole was open."
As he's no longer with the CIA, Richer said he's found that people are
more willing to share information.
He said a military general in a country he would not name told him of
the country's plan to build its next strike fighter.
"I listened," Richer said.
"We talked business and where we could help him understand markets and
things like that."
At the end of the conversation, Richer said, he asked the man, "Isn't
that classified? Why are you telling me this?"
Richer said the man answered, "If I tell it to an embassy official
I've created espionage. You're a business partner."
_____________________________________________________
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/3667
Prince is more than just another right-wing kook with a lot of guns
and a no-bid government contract to kill at will.
Jeremy Scahill, author of the book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's
Most Powerful Mercenary Army, told Newsweek that Prince is a
"neo-crusader," a "Theocon" with a Christian-supremacist agenda.
Which means Prince fits right in with the madman of 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue - George W. Bush - the deranged President who sees the invasion
of Iraq and massacre of thousands upon thousands of that country's
civilians as a mandate from God.
Prince's private army of professional killers operates without rules,
without boundaries and with the full blessing of the Bush
administration.
Still, their tactics shock and scare even those they are hired to
"protect."
Harry