WikiLeaks Reveals That Military Contractors Have Not Lost Their Taste For Child Prostitutes

[Ichingcarpenter]

Anything interesting to be had at the intersection of the WikiLeaks cache of diplomatic cables and those military contractors that cart off many millions of taxpayer dollars to facilitate their profit-seeking misadventures in the world's zones of forever war? Glad you asked! Here on these pages is the latest news of one of my favorite private military contractors, courtesy of David Isenberg:

Now, courtesy of Wikileaks, DynCorp can look forward to a new round of ridicule and denunciations.
As first reported by the British Guardian newspaper, on June 24, 2009 the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan sent a cable to Washington, under the signature of Karl Eikenberry, U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, regarding a meeting between Assistant Chief of Mission Joseph Mussomeli and Afghan Minister of Interior Hanif Atmar. Among the issues discussed was what diplomats delicately called the "Kunduz DynCorp Problem." Kunduz is a northern province of Afghanistan.
The problem was this:
1. In a May 2009 meeting interior minister Hanif Atmar expresses deep concerns that if lives could be in danger if news leaked that foreign police trainers working for US commercial contractor DynCorp hired "dancing boys" to perform for them.
"Dancing boys!" Just how concerned/disturbed should you be about this? As it turns out, very: these "dancing boys" are part of a very sick tradition called "Bacha Bazi." Isenberg links to an excellent "Frontline" documentary about the practice in his post, but if you're looking for something succinct, let's send you over to John Nova Lomax at the Houston Press:


More:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/08/wikileaks-reveals-that-mi_n_793816.html


Your tax money at work, but we need to keep this secret and scorn the whistle blowers.

[ZombieHorde]

1. Fucked up. nt

[Poll_Blind]

2. For info junkies: Back in 2010, I made a post showing how the revelation was sanitized in mass media

HERE

You'll want to have at least read the article in the OP first, if not seen the excellent Frontline piece referenced in the article in the OP.

When you're being lied to, there is some utility in going back and revisiting how you were lied to. It may provide enough wisdom to spot it on the fly, the next time it happens.

PB

[sabrina 1]

3. Disgusting. Child abuse, crimes, war crimes, these Blackwater criminals were found guilty of MURDER

yet this government is still pouring millions of dollars into their acccounts to spend like this and on more killing?

We should be ashamed. We claim to care so much about children. We kill them and call them 'collateral damage' not even giving them the dignity of humanity.

As for Dyncorp, I thought they were disbanded long ago for the crimes they committed, but no, I should have known better, we LOVE our war criminals here.

Disgusted with all of it. There is no law in this country anymore, except for the little people, pot smokers, mostly poor pot smokers, and anyone who dares to try to stop the crimes, like Bradley Manning. The more I hear about these criminals, the more of a hero Manning becomes.

[starroute]

10. Dyncorp is now owned by Cerberus Capital

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DynCorp#Sale_to_CSC.2C_IPO.2C_and_purchase_by_Cerberus_Capital_.282003-present.29

On April 12, 2010 DynCorp International announced a conditional deal to be acquired by private equity investment firm Cerberus Capital Management at a price of $17.55 per share ($1 Billion).[30] The deal was agreed on 7 July 2010.[31]

In December 2011 the company hired Michael Thibault, former co-chairman and commissioner of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan (CWC), as vice president of government finance and compliance. Thibault worked for many years at the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), serving as Deputy Director from 1994 until 2005.[32] In 2011, Dyncorp set a company record with 12,300 new hires, bringing the total number of employees to 27,000.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerberus_Capital_Management

Dan Quayle, former Vice President of the United States 1989–1993, who served with former President George H. W. Bush (Senior), joined Cerberus in 1999 and is chairman of the company's Global Investments Division. . . .

Firearms — Acquired Bushmaster Firearms, Inc., from Windham, Maine native Dick Dyke for an undisclosed sum in April 2006, and purchased Remington Arms in April 2007. Under Cerberus direction, Bushmaster Firearms acquired Cobb Manufacturing, a manufacturer of large-caliber tactical rifles in August 2007. Cerberus also acquired DPMS Panther Arms December 14, 2007.[59][60] Remington Arms acquired Marlin Firearms in January 2008.[61][62] In October 2009, Remington Military products acquired silencer manufacturer Advanced Armament Corporation.[63] These companies were combined into the Freedom Group. Cerberus made plans to sell its share in the Freedom Group on December 18, 2012, after the Bushmaster AR-15 was used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.[10] This decision was made due to a threat by a California state pension board, which owns a stake in the company, to dispose of stakes it holds in any firearms manufacturer that makes weapons banned by California state law.

[starroute]

11. And Cerberus seems to be having trouble selling off the Freedom Group

I realize this is getting fairly far afield from the Dyncorp issue -- but it's interesting in itself. And the second item below, which is from today's news, indicates the extent to which Cerberus has been trying to get into military markets.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/17/us-freedom-group-idUSBRE93G01620130417

Private equity mogul Stephen Feinberg may bid for the Bushmaster rifle maker that his firm Cerberus Capital Management LP put up for sale after one of its guns was used in a Connecticut school shooting, three sources familiar with the situation said. . . .

A bid by Feinberg for a company that his own firm owns would be a rare move in the private equity industry. The move raises potential conflict of interest issues, as it could pit the founder's interest against those of the investors in Cerberus funds, known as limited partners. It may also indicate Cerberus may be having problems in selling the company. Banking sources have said that major Wall Street firms have been unwilling to finance a bid for Freedom Group.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/07/usa-guns-freedomgroup-idUSL2N0DN0UD20130607

A dispute involving a gun industry executive who claims he was fired after being falsely accused of bringing his weapons to work offers a peek into Freedom Group, the gun making conglomerate owned by Cerberus Capital Management LP. . . .

Around the time of Brittingham's termination, the company said it discovered 43 firearms belonging to him on its premises, including "machine guns, a grenade launcher, silencers and a short barreled shotgun," Advanced Armament and Remington said in court papers seeking to dismiss Brittingham's lawsuit. . . .

Brittingham contends that Freedom Group was particularly interested in expanding Advanced Armament into "the emerging military market, initially in special operations and eventually the larger military."

Advanced Armament's "key customers" included the Israel Defense Forces and "classified U.S. Special Operations groups," according to a 2010 e-mail from Jason Schauble, a former Remington official who helped lead the Advanced Armament deal for Freedom Group, to Nardelli and several other executives.

[Sparky 1]

4. Ridicule and denunciations? Should be public whipping and jail.

[idwiyo]

5. K&R I feel so fucking safe knowing my taxes are used to keep pedophiles entertained.

[Solly Mack]

6. K&R

[Laelth]

7. Lovely. (sarcasm) n/t

-Laelth

[Kurovski]

8. I suppose Rush Limbaugh would be the last person to talk about this?

C.mon Mr L, old pal o' mine, surprise us. You know we love you.

Christ commands that we do so!

[burnodo]

9. Damn you, Bradley Manning!