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DynCorp CEO Steps to Blackwater
Washington versus Cornwallis. Napoleon versus Wellington. 50 Cent versus Ja Rule. And now: DynCorp versus Blackwater!
The Raleigh News & Observer's Joseph Neff reports that on a recent conference call with investors, DynCorp CEO Herb Lanese had some not-particularly-nice words about his chief competitor in the security contracting world. Like:
But I do want you to know that in this narrow space in which we compete with Blackwater, we believe we are a very different company.For example, we are highly selective in our hiring practices. We operate very, disciplined security teams. We enforce a strict, no-alcohol policy, strict no-alcohol -- not eight hours prior to going up on a work assignment, but no alcohol period.
And:
And we've developed our own rules for the use of force that are more detailed than those issued by the U.S. government. In fact, our rules for the use of force are based on the most conservative elements of the three sets of rules in effect in Iraq.
And:
We're not in the game of firing people after we hire them. We're in the game of being selective in hiring the right people upfront. That is a really important distinction.
Oh, snap! Who knew: it turns out Herb Lanese rolls straight gangsta. Erik Prince, are you just gonna take that?
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Josh
Zachary
I rather favor the off-shoots from Executive Outcomes myself for my personal security needs. Those guys are professionals not former US Military guys who (though very competent in combat!) finally get to be cowboys.
Life imitating Metal Gear Solid 4.
I'm just waiting for an "Outer Heaven" Mercenary company.
November 9, 2007 3:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
They may need to redo their logo again.
November 9, 2007 3:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
instead of recounting mercenary trashtalk, why not cover Dennis Kucinich's House Resolution 333? aka the articles of impeachment against VP Cheney? there was movement on this earlier this week, but TPM failed to cover it. i understand that the resolution is in the HJC. what do Conyers and the other members of the HJC have to say about it? i think there are some TPM readers who are more interested in the impeachment of Cheney than they are in hired guns who spit straight gangsta.
November 9, 2007 3:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well isn't this the pot calling the kettle black.
Dyncorp, the company that gave Tucker Carlson a AK to let him threaten civilians to let the car they were riding to the head of gas station queue.
The company that hires nightclub bouncers and credits them as "ex-special forces".
The company that ran a white slavery operation out of their local headquarters during Kosovo.
November 9, 2007 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
v.p.:
We're writing to ourselves, I guess.
I'm still very concerned about garnering support for Cheney's impeachment, and one way to do it is to let the members of the House Judiciary Committee know they have out support in it.
But if it's not even covered, how can constituents know to write to their representatives? How can they know that their constituents will back them in the impeachment proceedings and they don't need to fear the consequences?
Media Matters doesn't care, either. I just don't get it. People say they want to get rid of Darth Vader, but their ignoring the strongest light saber The Force currently has: impeachment. (Sorry if that metaphor got a little tortured. Better a metaphor than an "enemy combatant.")
Just a small thing: It got renumbered to Res. 799 when Kucinich presented it again.
November 9, 2007 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I just followed the link TPM gave for:
11.09.07 -- 4:10PM // link
The Fakery Of It All
Two commenters on the two pages of posts at that CBS page ask why the Kucinich resolution is being ignored by the press.
November 9, 2007 5:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
I posted a similar query on media matters the other day. It did not seem to generate any interest. It has been a long time since journalism 101 but somewhere in the back of my mind. I feel there's something newsworthy in the Vice President of the United States being considered for impeachment even if Steny Hoyer was able to shuffle it off to committee.
November 9, 2007 5:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Throwing their hat in the ring for street control after bushco makes their move.
November 9, 2007 5:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, Roberta
HR 799. I had heard the # was changed but not what it was.
November 9, 2007 6:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The company that ran a white slavery operation out of their local headquarters during Kosovo."
First thing that came to mind. It involved child sex slavery, too, IIRC, which makes it even worse.
Maybe once Dyncorp and Blackwater merge, they'll be able to create reorganized services and exploit synergies which will give customers in government and industry an end-to-end rape, mayhem and murder solution for the post 9/11 environment.
November 9, 2007 8:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Roberta and V.Populi, Wonderful poster I saw earlier (poster as in the kind one hangs on the wall): Honor our troops - Demand the truth.
November 10, 2007 1:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
I've worked in the arenas of private security and DynCorp has done it's share of corrupt business. I've personally witness the lack of professionalism on the battlefields of Iraq.
Not to mention the way DynCorp treats their people. It's ruthless and unprofessional. Their "So-Called" high standards are over shadowed by selecting the people with the wrong motives for being in Iraq and who engage in bad business from day 1.
If you want a good company that actually has some standards and ethics...Triple Canopy is, hands-down the best war profiteer out there for security.
November 10, 2007 3:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
2 more cents on impeachment of the evil:
I tried several times today before I had to leave for work, Conyers phone lines were full all day.
You should be able to google House Judiciary Comm. for a list of all the critters, go after them too.
And I've been using the tactic of googling a Congress-critter, getting their local office number, and calling that number, and when I get through, explaining that I'm not local but I took that trouble because of the perception that the leadership is not listening.
November 10, 2007 3:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
As long as the government keeps throwing our borrowed money at these "security" companies nothing will change. How was it Paul Bremer had that much power he could grant these MERCENARIES immunity from prosecution? What kind of license is that? No wonder 9 BILLION is missing and no investigation. And they are killing Iraqis? And why is it Eric Prince is trying to pose like Paris Hilton when there is a picture of him or he is on TV? He tries to look "cute" too hard.
November 10, 2007 10:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
As a couple of folks have hinted at, this is indeed the same DynCorp that had an operation in Kosovo in which management-level american employees each had at least one kosovar girl's passport bought and paid for, allowing them to keep the girls (many of whom were in their early teens) as sex slaves. It boggles the mind and turns the stomach. But hey! At least they don't let their Iraq-based hired guns drink! Al-RIIIGHT!!
I had the pleasure of meeting the former DynCorp employee who blew the whistle on the Kosovo misconduct-- greatest Texan I've ever encountered.
November 10, 2007 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
We have the Military - CIA - FBI - US Marshals - US Boarder Patrol that belongs to us.....It time we have a diplomatic Security that too belongs to us. No more out-sourcing.
November 10, 2007 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I guess the old adage is true: There is no honor among thieves.
November 10, 2007 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Diplomatic security? It's called the United States Marine Corp. They have been on the job for a couple of hundred years and are patriot based.
November 10, 2007 8:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
We here at DynCorp only hire distinguished mercenaries.
We run them through an exhaustive battery of psychological profiles to weed out the truly sociopathic killers, for those are the ones we want.
Our competition is happy to hire any buck private cowboy fresh out of the Army, but we have exclusive contracts with Wackenhut and other private prison facilities worldwide, that provide us with only the most anti-social mass-murderers available on the planet.
Log on to our website. Once you create a user profile don't forget to click the box for your free pre-teen sex slave. Don't forget to check the boxes for preferred sex, skin color and ethnicity.
Remember, only DynCorp sends you one pre-teen sex slave per $100,000 purchase!
DISCLAIMER: Sorry, we are all out of arabic boys. There will be an imminent shipment of Perisan boys once we bribe Cheney to invade Iran in 2008.
If at any time you are dis-satisfied with DynCorp sex slaves, simply discard the unused portion. Another will be sent by Special Delivery using our international shipping service, the US Armed Forces.
November 11, 2007 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
michael valentine wrote on November 10, 2007 8:19 PM:
Diplomatic security? It's called the United States Marine Corp. They have been on the job for a couple of hundred years and are patriot based.
Which is why they have to GO! The GOP leadership needs a capitalism-based army that is beholden only to the highest bidder, not to ephemeral concepts such as Patriotism and Freedom.
See, US troops might not fire on unarmed civilians, mercenaries pride themselves on doing excactly that.
November 11, 2007 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why is TPM reporting this without doing some homework first?!? DynCorp is just as bad, if not worse (child sex issue) than Blackwater. Yuck. This just stinks to high heavens.
November 11, 2007 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are they allowed to murder each other as well as Iraqis? Let 'em shoot it out in the Baghdad high streets. OK Corral style!
November 12, 2007 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
One of the biggest problems with Blackwater is that they hire a lot of Navy SEALS.
SEALS are great at what they train to do but they don't train to operate in civilian rich environments and it shows in how quick they are to treat unknown people as hostiles ... and kill them.
November 12, 2007 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you for this comment, made my day.
"Maybe once Dyncorp and Blackwater merge, they'll be able to create reorganized services and exploit synergies which will give customers in government and industry an end-to-end rape, mayhem and murder solution for the post 9/11 environment"
I especially like the "end to end rape, mayhem and murder solution".
So what happens when Johnny comes home? Do they get jobs at Wal Mart, local police, prison guards, gym teachers?
November 13, 2007 10:51 PM | Reply | Permalink