The CIA's Secret Sites in Somalia. Jeremy Scahill at The Nation reports on a CIA facility at Mogadishu's international airport used for a "counterterrorism training program for Somali intelligence agents and operatives," as well as a secret prison "buried in the basement of Somalia's National Security Agency" where "some of the prisoners have been snatched off the streets of Kenya and rendered by plane to Mogadishu." [more inside]
posted by lullaby on Jul 14, 2011 - 39 comments

So how’s Blackwater Xe doing these days? You could say “Birds of a feather flock together”. Jeremy Scahill explains (via The Nation). Watch out for Total Intelligence. Is the circle between Big Business and the Military Industrial Complex now complete? (hat tip).
posted by adamvasco on Sep 17, 2010 - 8 comments

Eric Prince (Wiki), the controversial and secretive founder and owner of Xe, formerly known as Blackwater International, rarely gives public speeches. When he does he attempts to ban journalists from attending, and forbids recording or videotaping of his remarks. The Nation magazine has obtained an audio recording from May 5th in which Prince speaks to a select gathering in his hometown of Holland, Michigan. [more inside]
posted by Harald74 on May 6, 2010 - 43 comments

In the wake of allegations from ex-employees at Blackwater/Xe, founder Erik Prince is now under investigation for murdering federal informants. [more inside]
posted by zoomorphic on Aug 4, 2009 - 125 comments

Jeremy Scahill talked with Bill Moyers recently about the continued role and increasing centrality of private military contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq, the use of military drones, and other issues related to these two ongoing wars. [more inside]
posted by ornate insect on Jun 6, 2009 - 10 comments