More Frightening News from Blackwater

This is just scary.

In a recent op-ed piece for the L. A. Times, Jeremy Scahill writes about Blackwater's bright future, no matter who inhabits the White House come 2009. He talks about how Blackwater sued the city of San Diego, bringing them to their knees, then gives a brief bullet summary of some of Blackwater's more recent ventures, above and beyond their run-of-the-mill mercenary solder work.

Blackwater's California expansion is just one of several ventures that reveal how Blackwater is growing. Among the others:

* Prince's private spy agency, Total Intelligence Solutions, is now open for business. Run by three veteran CIA operatives, the company offers "CIA-type services" to governments and Fortune 1000 companies.

* Blackwater was asked by the Pentagon to bid for a share of a whopping $15-billion contract to "fight terrorists with drug-trade ties" in countries such as Colombia, Bolivia, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. Analysts say it could be the company's "biggest job" ever.

* Blackwater is wrapping up work on its own armored vehicle, the Grizzly, as well as its Polar Airship 400, a surveillance blimp Blackwater wants to market for use in monitoring the U.S.-Mexico border.

It was the first of these that piqued my interest and racheted up my paranoia. A "private spy agency" that offers "CIA-type services" to anyone that can pay? So, this is how our government will get around the CIA charter forbidding them from engaging in domestic surveillance? Outsource it? I'm sure Prince Erik hopes so.

Check out the Total Intelligence Solutions website. It's slick. (The global intel watch map is particularly spooky ... somebody needs to put a "worsening unstable/risky" arrow over Moyock.) For instance, their homeland security (that damned Republican euphemism for domestic surveillance) solutions ...

... support the US Government and private companies as they strive to meet national security preparedness goals, and related national strategies and doctrine. Total Intel offers a layered range of products—including templates and onsite support—that apply to states, regions, Urban Areas, local and tribal jurisdictions, as well as private interests with a role in homeland security.

In other words, local governments and government agencies can hire them to do the kind of work that the CIA is forbidden to do. They'll even train you to think like a terrorist in their "Mirror Image" course.

Under Intel Operations ...

Total Intelligence Solutions provides traditional intelligence functions such as surveillance and countersurveillance, deployed intelligence collection, and rapid safeguarding of employees or other key assets.

In other words, you want somebody spied on with CIA-quality techniques? We'll do it for you! And this is supposed to make us feel more secure?

I used to think that a Democrat in the White House and a Dem majority in congress would spell the end of Blackwater. It doesn't look like that's going to happen. Short of a very public boycotting and divestment campaign targeting the corporations and non-governmental institutions that hire these goons, it looks like Prince Erik and his minions will be around and getting disgustingly rich for a very, very long time.