What is Blackwater?

Blackwater is the notorious and despised American security firm. It is world’s biggest, richest, deadliest and most powerful mercenary army, which operates from United States of America. Black Water hires retired army-men and villains and criminals from around the world. Especially they target the poor countries in Asia and Africa for the fodder. They act as NGOs and welfare organization in poor countries and recruit people in the name of sending them to the land of dreams; the USA. They also reach first to the areas where earthquakes and floods strike, and pickup the strong helpless men and give them “jobs.” It was founded in 1997 as BlackWater USA by Erik Prince and Al Clark. Erik Prince is the CEO of Blackwater.

Renamed as Xe Services:

Black Water now operates under the name of “Xe” since February 2009. After Black Water name became so notorious with respect to the Iraq war, the company president Gary Jackson changed the name. Black Water or Xe is based in the U.S. state of North Carolina, Xe operates a tactical training facility which the company claims is the world’s largest, and at which the company trains more than 40,000 people a year, mostly from U.S. or foreign military and police services. The training consists of military offensive and defensive operations, as well as smaller scale personal security. That’s only a cover, and the workings of this secret organization comprises of all the dirty and murderous acts.

Blackwater in Iraq

Iraq is just one example. Black Water recruited the Iraqi men and used them against the Iraqi people. Iraqis are very well aware of this evil outfit and in Fluja city they killed the Black Water personnel who were working in the garb of food contractors and hung their corpses along with the banks of Euphrates. Later in September 2007, 17 civilians were shot down by Blackwater operatives in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square and allegedly, the firm sent US$ 1m to its Iraq office to buy the silence of government officials outraged by the shootings.

CIA had hired Blackwater in 2004:

Earlier in 2009, The New York Times reported that the CIA in 2004 hired Blackwater to locate and assassinate top Al Qaeda operatives. The CIA deployed that secret programme as an alternative to drone attacks that often kill civilians and are unsuited to urban environments. In other words, the CIA tasked Blackwater operatives, often described as ‘hired guns’, to extend its policy of extrajudicial killings of known and suspected terrorists.

Blackwater in Pakistan:

In Iraq, Afghanistan, and now, as per media reports, Pakistan, Blackwater is primarily associated with targeted assassinations of high-value militants. The Blackwater is expected to protect American headquarters and also carry out search and destroy operations anywhere in Pakistan. Orya Maqbool Jan of Express News wrote in his column that University Town in Peshawar is the headquarter of Black Water in Pakistan. He also claims that Black Water people can be frequently seen in the area guarding vehicles and people, clad in black suits and black glasses. He also says that the biggest embassy of America in Islamabad having thousands of employees is just another Black Water plan. He also says that Black Water is operating in Pakistan under the cover of a NGO Creative Associates.

And its presence is associated with the proposed expansion of the US embassy in Islamabad which is billed to become the largest communication complex in the world. To provide security to the installation, the reports say, the services of 1,000 US marines and Blackwater operatives have been acquired. They have started arriving in Pakistan but the US embassy spokespersons deny presence of Blackwater in Pakistan and equally in denial is Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

The question is: why is such a huge facility being built here in Pakistan? Americans say it is to facilitate the war against terror and also to manage increased load of work after socio-economic assistance begins to reach here. If this is true one wonders why the Chinese ambassador had to state that he was concerned at the increasing US influence in Pakistan. Such statements are rare in China's diplomatic practice.

Out of the proposed US aid to Pakistan for the year 2008-9, one billion dollars out of $1.8 billion, have been earmarked for the proposed extension of the US embassy. And there are reasons for the construction of a 'mini-Pentagon' in Pakistan. Firstly, the cornerstone of American global policy remains the repression of China. To accomplish it, it is necessary to bring together the countries of South Asia, West Asia and South-East Asia and the Central Asian countries in this alliance.

Secondly, both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers and the US policy makers feel that there should not only be a new equation between the two but they want to monitor their ‘nuclear assets’ from a close range. Thirdly, the need to coordinate the international effort on the ‘war against terror’ provides an explanation acceptable to the world. The US government knows that an installation of this kind would require a large force of personnel. Hence, the Blackwater.

In Pakistan’s context, the firm has become synonymous with public perception about American interference in the country. Blogs are buzzing about Blackwater’s alleged activities here, ranging from advance missions for US/Nato forces to plots to capture Dr A.Q. Khan. Pakistanis are also enraged at the idea that Blackwater employees — who operate outside any legal framework — are running around their country, taking pot shots at anyone who seems suspicious, or is deemed problematic by the US.

US media stands testimony of presence of Blackwater in Pakistan:
One American journalist who has researched deeply into the subject is Jeremy Scahill, a reporter with The Nation, and author of Blackwater. He has written about the firm’s birth in 1997, and its phenomenal growth after 9/11.

investigative reports published in the New York Times, the Washington Post and most recently The Nation (US) have shown the CIA programme planned to target various Al Qaeda terrorists overseas by dispatching small hit teams made of highly trained special operatives. According to Jeremy Scahill’s report in The Nation these special Blackwater cells also had bases in Karachi and other parts of Pakistan from which they ran their operations. Scahill’s report suggests that Blackwater operatives are working with the US Joint Special Operations Command on a secret programme to assassinate Taliban and Al Qaeda militants and conduct ‘snatch and grabs’ of other high-value targets.

Blackwater operatives are violating International Law:

Blackwater operatives tasked with assassinating terrorist suspects are also in violation of international law. Indeed, US President Barack Obama has acknowledged the need for mercenaries to work within a legal framework and has called for greater accountability for the employees of private security firms.

What Pakistanis need to do?
Rather than conflate condemnations of Blackwater operations with a more general anti-Americanism, Pakistanis should specifically reject the practice of extrajudicial killings.

Such focused opposition to mercenary activity will also put pressure on the Pakistani government to wage a clean war against terrorism, one that can win this ideological battle rather than generate more sympathy for the militant cause.

Compiled from various articles in Dawn