Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder

[Jan Klimkowski]

I find it really helpful that you consistently link current events to their historical antecedents Jan. It gives instant perspective and context and shows the continuity and the--all important--big picture.

Hee hee, The Bad and the Ugly.

Myra - Blackwater (aka Xe, aka Manchurian Global :creep is currently a bit of a problem for Them.

Jeremy Scahill is an excellent investigative journalist, and has been on Blackwater's case for some time. I fully expect Blackwater to become less publicly visible, whilst remaining an operator in this arena through sub-contracts etc.

The history of Private Military Contractors (PMCs) reveals that they do a lot of the dirty work that needs to be "plausibly deniable" by the state. When a particular PMC starts attracting too much attention, it reincorporates or morphs into other corporate entities.

Take Military Professional Resources Inc (MPRI). They basically ran Operation Storm for the Croatian and Bosnian-Herzegovinan armies during the Yugoslav civil war, supplying training, military advisors and generals. This led to the ethnic cleansing of 200-300,000 Serbs from Krajina.

The invasion of Krajina was preceded by a thorough CIA and DIA analysis of the region. (14) According to Balkan specialist Ivo Banac, this "tactical and intelligence support" was furnished to the Croatian Army at the beginning of its offensive. (15)

In November 1994, the United States and Croatia signed a military agreement. Immediately afterward, U.S. intelligence agents set up an operations center on the Adriatic island of Brac, from which reconnaissance aircraft were launched. Two months earlier, the Pentagon contracted Military Professional Resources, Inc (MPRI) to train the Croatian military.(16) According to a Croatian officer, MPRI advisors "lecture us on tactics and big war operations on the level of brigades, which is why we needed them for Operation Storm when we took the Krajina." Croatian sources claim that U.S. satellite intelligence was furnished to the Croatian military. (17) Following the invasion of Krajina, the U.S. rewarded Croatia with an agreement "broadening existing cooperation" between MPRI and the Croatian military. (18) U.S. advisors assisted in the reorganization of the Croatian Army. Referring to this reorganization in an interview with the newspaper Vecernji List, Croatian General Tihomir Blaskic said, "We are building the foundations of our organization on the traditions of the Croatian home guard" - pro-Nazi troops in World War II. (19)

It is worth examining the nature of what one UN official terms "America's newest ally." During World War II, Croatia was a Nazi puppet state in which the Croatian fascist Ustashe murdered as many as one million Serbs, Jews, and Roman (Gypsies). Disturbing signs emerged with the election of Franjo Tudjman to the Croatian presidency in 1990 Tudjman said, "I am glad my wife is neither Serb nor Jew," and wrote that accounts of the Holocaust were "exaggerated" and "one-sided." (20)

Much of Tudjman's financial backing was provided by Ustasha émigrés and several Ustasha war criminals were invited to attend the first convention of Tudjman's political party, the Croatian Democratic Union. (21)

(Full article here on Krajina is worth reading: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?c...va&aid=795)

And who are MPRI?

MPRI is a private military contractor that provides a wide range of services to both public and private customers, most notably the United States Department of Defense. MPRI specializes in various professions such as law enforcement, security, military training, logistics, etc. By its own account MPRI operates in over 40 countries. The firm is based in Alexandria, Virginia.

A member of International Peace Operations Association (IPOA), MPRI was founded in 1987 by eight ex-officers of the United States Army. It was sold to L-3 Communications in June 2000 for $40 million. In 2004, MPRI bought Civilian Police International. The firm also serves as additional reinforcements in U.S. bases in Korea.

Management
MPRI's President, retired General Carl E. Vuono, served as Army chief of staff during the Gulf War and the U.S. invasion of Panama. The Vice President of the firm, General Ronald H. Griffith is a former Army vice chief of staff. Other top executives include General Crosbie E. Saint, former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe; and Lt. General Harry E. Soyster, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. This concentration of experience makes MPRI and other firms like it quite influential. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell described General Vuono as "one of my dearest friends."[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Pr..._Resources

By their spooks, shall ye know them....