5 Companies That Make Money By Keeping Americans Terrified of Terror Attacks

[kpete]

5 Companies That Make Money By Keeping Americans Terrified of Terror Attacks
A massive industry profits off the government-induced fear of terrorism.

(mho, from a couple of days ago, but worth repeating as we start a new week)



Michael Hayden, the former director of the National Security Agency, has invaded America’s television sets in recent weeks to warn about Edward Snowden’s leaks and the continuing terrorist threat to America.

But what often goes unmentioned, as the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald pointed out, is that Hayden has a financial stake in keeping Americans scared and on a permanent war footing against Islamist militants. And the private firm he works for, called the Chertoff Group, is not the only one making money by scaring Americans.

What it all adds up to is a massive industry profiting off government-induced fear of terrorism, even though Americans are more likely to be killed by a car crash or their own furniture than a terror attack.

Here are five private companies cashing in on keeping you afraid:

1. The Chertoff Group

...........After the failed attempt in 2010 to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day with a bomb hidden in underwear, Chertoff pushed for better airport security procedures. One of the suggestions Chertoff made was for the Transportation Security Agency to use full-body scanners like the ones Rapiscan, one of the Chertoff Group's clients, made. And sure enough, after the Christmas Day plot, the TSA ordered 300 Rapiscan machines. The Huffington Post reported that Rapiscan made $118 million from the government between 2009-2010.

2. Booz Allen Hamilton

..........In the last fiscal year, the company made $1.3 billion from working in U.S. intelligence. In total, Booz Allen Hamiltion made over $5 billion last fiscal year. And the cash keeps coming: in January, the company announced that it had won a contract with the Defense Department to provide intelligence services. The amount of money it could make from the deal is up to $5.6 billion.

3. Science Applications International Corporation

.................SAIC is an immensely lucrative and large company. It boasts 42,000 employees—20,000 of whom hold U.S. government security clearances. It is the NSA's largest contractor, according to CorpWatch, and is deeply involved in the NSA's collection of intelligence. Last year it reported a net income of $525 million.

4. Center for Counterintelligence and Security Studies

...........It's unclear exactly how much this firm makes per year. But according to the PRA report, a five-day course for government employees on the “Global Jihadist Threat Doctrine” costs $39,280. The firm also lists the costs of individual courses on their website. For a 30-person class titled “Dying to Kill Us: Understanding the Mindset of Suicide Operations,” the cost is $7,856. For a three-day course for 30 people on “Informant Development for Law Enforcement to FighTerrorism,” the cost is $23,568.

5. Security Solutions International

........The conferences they hold are usually well-attended, and this year SSI is putting on a conference in Orlando, Florida for three days. The cost for each attendee is $400. The keynote speaker this year is Steve Emerson, a well-known member of what's been termed the “Islamophobia industry.” SSI also makes money off its Counter Terrorist magazine. A yearly subscription is $35, and the company says it has 15,000 subscribers.

more, plus supporting links, etc:
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/5-companies-make-money-keeping-americans-terrified-terror-attacks?paging=off

[chimpymustgo]

1. K&R, bkmrking. Follow the money!! They're spying, lying, starting wars, and keeping shit stirred up

Awful - all of them.

[Trillo]

2. "Pursuit of happiness"?

That phrase was just another cruel joke forced into our minds when we were young by people who didn't give a damn they were lying to us.

[Bunnahabhain]

3. Didn't mention the biggest one

The US Federal Government.

[MisterP]

4. and #6, OSI Systems under the other Deepak Chopra

[chimpymustgo]

5. This deserves a nice evening kick! nt

[mstinamotorcity2]

6. thanks Kpete

have this on bookmark for future references.

[kpete]

12. mstinamotorcity2

you are SO welcome
important to keep info close at hand
mho

peace, kp

[WillyT]

7. K & R !!!

[Electric Monk]

8. k&r

and someone just posted a dupe thread http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023486743

[Fire Walk With Me]

9. Hey, the Bush family's Carlyle Group owns Booz Allen.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2013/06/10/the-carlyle-group-has-made-2-billion-off-of-booz-allen/

The dividends started flowing to Carlyle before it took Booz Allen public. Booz Allen paid big dividends twice in 2009, resulting in Carlyle receiving payments of $104 million and $444 million. Special and regular dividend payments continued to flow to all of Booz Allen’s shareholders after the company became publicly-traded, including a large special dividend last year that saw Carlyle get $621 million. Carlyle’s stake in Booz Allen is now valued at $1.66 billion.

In a statement, Booz Allen said that Snowden has been an employee of the company for less than three months, adding that “news reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm.” Carlyle declined to comment.

There was a time when Carlyle’s ties to the government made the private equity giant a target of conspiracy theories, but the firm has worked hard and successfully to improve its image and limit its connections to the government. In recent years Carlyle has escaped much of the public criticism that has dogged other big players in its industry, like Bain Capital. While other private equity firms have increased their hiring of ex-government officials, Carlyle has moved away from the practice. KKR, for example, recently hired former CIA chief David Petraeus. But Carlyle still does deals in the government space and Booz Allen has been one of its most successful such investments in recent years.

(More at the link.)

[OnyxCollie]

10. Gah! That picture of Chertoff needs a GRAPHIC warning. nt

[Fire Walk With Me]

11. Kickety