Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of theWar on Terror (53 page)

driven a six-wheeled truck
: Omar Waraich, “Blast Leaves Pakistan Shaken,”
Time
, September 21, 2008.

“biggest explosion in Pakistani history”
: Ibid.

Citizen Award
: Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department,
Line Copy
, vol. 4, 2008.

“They’ve been getting a lot of negative publicity”
: Nardy Baeza Bickel, “With Blackwater’s Help, Aid Workers Flee Kenya,”
Grand Rapids Press
, January 6, 2007.

“It’s been a nightmare and a miracle”
: Ibid.

CHAPTER 16:
THE DOWNFALL

“They presented their request”
: Timothy Williams, “U.S. Refuses to Renew Blackwater Security in Iraq,”
New York Times
, February 9, 2009.

“many marks against this company”
: Ibid.

“basically a moot point”
: “Official: Blackwater’s Iraq Security Deal Won’t Be Renewed,” Associated Press, January 30, 2009.

The IRS
 . . .
dug into our accounting
: “Evidence of Tax Evasion by Blackwater,” Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, http://oversight-archive.waxman.house.gov/story.asp?id=1562, captured August 13, 2013.

“As Blackwater continues to cooperate”
: Letter from Stephen M. Ryan to Henry Waxman, www.contractormisconduct.org/ass/contractors/123/cases/825/1261/blackwater-latc-employee-misclass_blackresp.pdf, captured August 13, 2013.

two employees in our armory
: “Former Blackwater Employees Sentenced to Probation, Cooperating with Federal Investigation,” Associated Press, January 10, 2008.

Cashwell and Grumiaux bargained down
: Ibid.

“I’m sorry for what I’ve done”
: Ibid.

“Federal officials confirmed in 2005”
: Ibid.

we purchased a single-propeller Embraer
: Sharon Weinberger, “Blackwater Buying Counter-Insurgency Aircraft,”
Wired
, August 27, 2007.

“Blackwater is building its own air force”
: Ken Layne, “Blackwater,”
Wonkette
, captured August 14, 2013.

another deadly shooting—this time of a dog
: Maria Newman, “Guards Shoot Dog at Baghdad Bureau,”
New York Times
, December 18, 2007.

“Blackwater Shoots the
New York Times
’ Dog”
: “Blackwater Shoots the
NY Times
’s Dog,”
Dailykos
, www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/18/423886/-Blackwater-Shoots-the-NY-Times-s-Dog-160, captured August 13, 2013.

“They took the incident very seriously”
: Maria Newman, “Guards Shoot Dog at Baghdad Bureau,”
New York Times
, December 18, 2007.

“a heady cocktail of fear, ignorance and paranoia”
: “Mercenaries Buying Fleet of Star Destroyers,”
White Rabbit
blog, www.blackwaterblogger.com/2007/09/supert.html, captured August 13, 2013.

“I really didn’t do anything”
: Frank Rich, “Suicide Is Not Painless,”
New York Times
, October 21, 2007.

“only about three degrees”
: Ibid.

“The premise of this blog”
: “Mercenaries Will Protect the 1% and Here Is Why!,”
All You Need Is a Crazy Rich Guy with a Private Army
, http://crazyrichguy.wordpress.com/2012/05/20/1037/, captured August 14, 2013.

“heavily armed contract guards”
: Paul Richter, “Blackwater Warnings Got Little Attention,”
Los Angeles Times
, October 7, 2007.

“the biggest, meanest guys”
: Ibid.

“late summer and fall of 2007”
: David Isenberg, “The State Department Tells Us How They Really Felt: Part 1,”
Huffington Post
, February 17, 2012.

Task Order 8 south of the city
: Matthew Lee and Mike Baker, “Blackwater Out of Iraq? No, Not Yet,”
San Diego Union-Tribune,
April 20, 2009.

renegotiated a new Task Order 10 contract
: Ibid.

pay us an additional $22.2 million
: Ibid.

paid us more than one billion
: “Joint Audit of Blackwater Contract and Task Orders for Worldwide Personal Protective Services in Iraq,” Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, June 2009.

five contractors from Nisour Square pleaded not guilty
: Del Quentin Wilber, “Former Blackwater Guards Plead Not Guilty,”
Washington Post
, January 7, 2009.

two men working
: Tim McGlone, “Defense Rests in Trial of Ex-Blackwater Contractors,”
Virginian-Pilot
, March 8, 2011.

Christopher Drotleff and Justin Cannon were charged
: “Two Individuals Charged with Murder and Other Offenses Related to Shooting Death of Two Afghan Nationals in Kabul, Afghanistan,” U.S. Department of Justice, www.justice.gov/usao/vae/news/2010/01/20100107cannonnr.html, captured August 15, 2013.

subcontract with Raytheon
: August Cole, “War-Zone Contractors Draw Senate Scrutiny,”
Wall Street Journal
, February 25, 2010.

160,000 trained ANP members
: Luis Peral and Ashley J. Tellis, “Afghanistan 2011–2014 and Beyond: From Support Operations to Sustainable Peace,” European Union Institute for Security Studies, June 2011.

240,000 capable ANA soldiers
: Ibid.

preparing to spend more than $9 billion in 2010
: “Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan: United States Plan for Sustaining the Afghanistan National Security Forces,” U.S. Defense Department, April 2011.

Raytheon had been awarded
: Raytheon, “Warfighter Support Services,” www.rayjobs.com/index.cfm?NavID=303, captured August 15, 2013.

“consolidate operations and maintenance”
: Raytheon, “Warfighter FOCUS,” www.raytheon.com/capabilities/idiq/mai/wff/, captured August 15, 2013.

offering Paravant a subcontract worth $25 million
: Walter Pincus, “Army Contractor’s Use of a Cover Name for Blackwater Angers Sen. McCaskill,”
Washington Post
, March 9, 2010.

never seen indoor plumbing or electricity
: Bruce Huffman, “Afghanistan First,”
Defence Management Journal
46.

Every six weeks
: “New Recruits Join Afghan National Army,” ISAF Joint Command, January 24, 2011.

some thirteen hundred ANA members
: “Blackwater USA,” Hearing Before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, October 2, 2007.

trained more than 38,000 ANA soldiers
: “Contracting in a Counterinsurgency: An Examination of the Blackwater-Paravant Contract and the Need for Oversight,” Hearing Before the Committee on Armed Services, U.S. Senate, February 24, 2010.

“were outstanding, flexible, and delivered”
: Ibid.

on top of the 3,700 Afghan Border Police personnel
: Ibid.

and the 5,700 Narcotics Interdiction Unit officers
: Ibid.

roughly twenty thousand men and women in 2009
: Ibid.

“we are aware of many atrocities”
: R. J. Hillhouse, “Blackwater’s Identity Crisis: Ninjas or Social Workers?,”
Spy Who Billed Me
, December 13, 2006.

“a bear’s paw print in a red crosshairs”
: Paul von Zielbauer, “Blackwater Softens Its Logo from Macho to Corporate,”
New York Times
, October 22, 2007.

“not a direct result of a loss of contract”
: Mike Baker, “Blackwater Dumps Tarnished Brand Name for ‘Xe,’”
Salt Lake Tribune
, February 13, 2009.

Joy may have been the first
: “Contracting in a Counterinsurgency: An Examination of the Blackwater-Paravant Contract and the Need for Oversight,” Hearing Before the Committee on Armed Services, U.S. Senate, February 24, 2010.

network of some three dozen affiliates
: James Risen and Mark Mazzetti, “30 False Fronts Won Contracts for Blackwater,”
New York Times
, September 3, 2010.

On March 27, 2009, President Obama stood
: “Remarks by the President on a New Strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan,” White House, March 27, 2009.

“Today, I am announcing”
: Ibid.

pushed back three months
: “Afghan Presidential Vote Delayed to August 20,” Agence France Presse, January 30, 2009.

deadliest year of the war
: Stephanie Gaskell, “Deadliest Year for U.S. Troops on Afghan Duty: 311 Killed in 2009, Up from 155 in 2008,”
New York Daily News
, December 29, 2009.

In 2009, it only got worse
: Ibid.

an additional twenty-one thousand troops
: Gordon Lubold, “Gates: Afghanistan Surge Could Require More Than 30,000 Troops,”
Christian Science Monitor
, December 3, 2009.

a pledge for another twelve thousand
: Ibid.

more than doubling the Bush administration’s force
: Ibid.

“This push must be joined”
: “Remarks by the President on a New Strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan,” White House, March 27, 2009.

conducted 2,730 protection missions
: “Contracting in a Counterinsurgency: An Examination of the Blackwater-Paravant Contract and the Need for Oversight,” Hearing Before the Committee on Armed Services, U.S. Senate, February 24, 2010.

all of the $174 million
: “Performance Evaluation of the U.S. Training Center Contract for Personal Protective Services in Afghanistan,” Middle East Regional Office of Inspector General, August 2009.

2009 performance audit
: Ibid.

eighteen-month contract worth $120 million
: “Blackwater Firm Gets $120M U.S. Gov’t Contract,” CBS News, June 19, 2010.

“the concern is whether in Afghanistan”
: “Private Security Contractors in Iraq: Where Are We Going?,” Commission on Wartime Contracting hearing, June 21, 2010.

“Xe is the only company”
: Ibid.

leveled an enormous fine against my company
: “Xe Services LLC Enters Civil Settlement of Alleged Violations of the AECA and ITAR,” U.S. Department of State, www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/08/146215.htm, captured August 15, 2013.

In 2009 alone, those three government export agencies
: “Overview of U.S. Export Control System,” U.S. Department of State, www.state.gov/strategictrade/overview/, captured August 15, 2013.

“transparent, predictable, and timely”
: “Licensing Police Review and Building a Single Licensing Agency,” Export.gov, http://export.gov/ecr/eg_main_027616.asp, captured August 15, 2013.

“potential national security implications”
: “Proposed Charging Letter,” U.S. Department of State letter to Victor Esposito, www.pmddtc.state.gov/compliance/consent_agreements/pdf/Xe_PCL.pdf, captured August 15, 2013.

“unauthorized access to ITAR-controlled technology”
: Ibid.

eclipsing the $32 million settlement
: “Hughes Electronic Corp. and Boeing Co. Violated U.S. Export Laws on Satellite Technology,” U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement news release, May 22, 2008.

“These violations did not involve”
: “Xe Services LLC Enters Civil Settlement of Alleged Violations of the AECA and ITAR,” U.S. Department of State, www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/08/146215.htm, captured August 15, 2013.

delivering to Chinese authorities
: “United Technologies Subsidiary Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges for Helping China Develop New Attack Helicopter,” U.S. Justice Department, June 28, 2012.

UTC agreed to pay a $55 million
: Ibid.

split up its five-year, $10 billion WPPS III
: “US State Department’s 5-Year, $10.0B WPS Security Contract,”
Defense Industry Daily
, www.defenseindustrydaily .com/US-State-Departments-5-Year-100B-WPS-Security-Contract-06594/, captured August 15, 2013.

background of the company International Development Solutions
: Spencer Ackerman, “Exclusive: Blackwater Wins Piece of $10 Billion Mercenary Deal,”
Wired
, October 1, 2010.

IDS won Task Order 2
: “WPS Task Order 2: Solicitation No. SAQMMA10R0005,” FedBizOpps.gov, https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=28770b3c4c3b645d70dfe3a01f10422a&_cview=0, captured August 15, 2013.

confirmed Blackwater’s ties to IDS
: Jeff Stein, “Onetime Blackwater Affiliate Scores U.S. Contract,”
Washington Post
, January 7, 2011.

“We emphasize that our Palestinian land is not an arena”
: Tania Kepler, “Blackwater-Related Firm to Provide ‘Protective Security’ in West Bank,” Alternative Information Center, January 13, 2011.

condolence payments of as much as $12,500
: Sudarsan Raghavan, “U.S. Offers Cash to Victims in Blackwater Incident,”
Washington Post
, October 25, 2007.

“It’s not an admission of culpability”
: Ibid.

“I am a double agent”
: Marc A. Thiessen, “The Dean of the Gitmo Bar,”
Weekly Standard
, March 29, 2010.

defend a series of questionable-at-best characters
: “William Kunstler, Disturbing the Universe,” PBS POV, www.pbs.org/pov/disturbingtheuniverse/film_description.php, captured August 15, 2013.

“We wanted all of his clients to be innocent”
: Ibid.

“filing countless cases on behalf”
: “Illegal Detentions and Guantanamo,” Center for Constitutional Rights, http://ccrjustice.org/illegal-detentions-and-guantanamo, captured August 15, 2013.