By Kevin McCauley
Blackwater, which was the State Dept’s "go-to" security firm in Iraq until the massacre in Nisour Square, offered PR services, according to a report published Sept. 15 on The Nation’s website.
Via a Blackwater shell company, former CIA paramilitary Enrique "Ric" Prado and ex-CIA officers Cofer Black and Robert Richer were available for "representation" to "national decision-makers."
Black served in the CIA for 28 years and ran its counterterrorism arm. Richer was its deputy director of operations.
Both left Blackwater.
Prado, wrote Jeremy Scahill, also offered to lead four-man counter-surveillance teams in the U.S. for $33,600 a week.
Monsanto, Walt Disney, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Barclays and Deutsch Bank were customers of Blackwater.
The Nation reports that Monsanto tapped Blackwater’s Total Intelligence unit to be its "intel arm" to infiltrate activist groups protesting the biotech giant’s activities.
Disney paid Blackwater $24K for work by TI and the Terrorism Research Center to conduct a "threat assessment" for potential film shoots in Morocco.
Barclays hired TRC for background checks of Libyan and Saudi businessmen. In particular, the Brit bank wanted to know whether executives of the Saudi Binladin Group had any ties to Osama bin Ladin.
Richer noted that SBG chair Bakr Mohammad bin Ladin is respected among Arab and western intelligence services for cooperating in the hunt for Osama bin Ladin.
Blackwater, now known as XE Services, is on the auction block Founder Erik Prince has moved to Abu Dhabi due to "business friendly climate," low taxes and lack of trial lawyers.
Scahill also noted that Abu Dhabi does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S.
|