Private Military and Security Contractors (PMSCs) are further criminalizing the strategically-failed wars on drugs and terror in: Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, and elsewhere in the Middle East and Africa — by engaging in business fraud, prosecutorial immunity, child rape, and even murder. On March 2, 2016, US Navy veteran, David Isenberg reported on www.lobelog.com, how PMSCs like: Academi, DynCorp, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon, among others, have collectively amassed and profited by more than $3.1 billion dollars in tax payer-funded, federal government contracts since the late 1980s.
Isenberg goes on to reference how Plan Colombia was the initial testing ground for deployment of PMSCs by the US government. Employing private military contractors has allowed the US government to keep their Drug and Terror War operations out of the public eye and under the radar, given them the ability to circumvent international laws, and avoid criminal prosecution in situations where human and civil rights may have been violated; sometimes resulting in sexual abuse and death. Although the war on drugs is over 40 years old now, drug trafficking remains at an all-time global high; civilians the world over continue to be victimized by it; and the only true beneficiaries seem to be members of the Private Military and Security Contracting industry.
Back in June 3, 2014, The Washington Post reported that Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) called for a counter-narcotics investigation of Northrup Grumman and DynCorp, after a Pentagon report disclosed both PMSCs fraudulently charged the US Government by over $100 Million. On April 7, 2015, The Nation published an article stating how Dyncorp mercenaries sexually abused some 53 underage girls in Colombia, back in 2004; and they filmed and sold pornographic material of their crimes. April 14, 2015, saw The Guardian disclose details about how four former Blackwater mercenaries who were responsible for killing 17 Iraqi civilians and injuring 20 more in Nisour Square in Baghdad, back in 2007, were convicted of murder and manslaughter.
As of March 26, 2016, The Intercept has revealed that Erik Prince, founder of Academi (formerly known as Blackwater), is currently under investigation by the US Department of Justice and other federal agencies, for attempting to provide military services to foreign governments and possible money laundering. With the noted exception of The Washington Post story from 2014 listed above, corporate media coverage of these events concerning Private Military and Security Contractors (PMSCs) seem to be almost universally absent at this time.
Sources:
Greg Grandin, “US Soldiers and Contractors Sexually Abused at Least 54 Children in Colombia Between 2003 and 2007,” The Nation, April 7, 2015, http://www.thenation.com/article/us-soldiers-and-contractors-sexually-abused-least-54-children-colombia/
Nicky Wolff, “Former Blackwater guards sentenced for massacre of unarmed Iraqi civilians,” The Guardian, April 14, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/13/former-blackwater-guards-sentencing-baghdad-massacre
David Isenberg, “When Crime Pays for Private Military Contractors,” www.lobelog.com, March 2, 2016, https://lobelog.com/when-crime-pays-for-private-military-contractors/
Matthew Cole, Jeremy Scahill, “Eric Prince In The Hot Seat,” The Intercept, March 24, 2016, https://theintercept.com/2016/03/24/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-under-federal-investigation/
Corporate Coverage:
Christian Davenport, “McCaskill calls for review of counternarcotics contracts after $100M in improper charges” The Washington Post, June 3, 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/mccaskill-calls-for-review-of-counternarcotics-contracts-after-100m-in-improper-charges/2014/06/03/c2629a3c-eb2e-11e3-93d2-edd4be1f5d9e_story.html
Independent Researcher: Jason Elliott Bud (Art Center College of Design)
Evaluator: Mickey Huff (Diablo Valley College)