Wackenhut in the Gulf guarding BP & US 'Command ' Center - (xpost)

[bananas]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x538925

Wackenhut in the Gulf guarding BP & US 'Command ' Center - (The Nation, Jeremy Scahill, 5/29)

BP and US Government 'Command Center' Guarded by Company From Afghan Embassy Hazing Scandal
Jeremy Scahill

I just got off the phone with my friends Naomi Klein, author of "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism," and her husband Avi Lewis, host of al Jazeera English's popular program Fault Lines. They are traveling around the devastated US Gulf reporting on the horrific disaster caused by BP's massive oil spill. They described to me a run in that they just had with the private security company Wackenhut, which apparently has been hired to do the perimeter security for the "Deepwater Horizon Unified Command." The "Unified Command" is run jointly by BP and several US government agencies including the US Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security.

Wackenhut, of course, is the notorious private security company that operates in the US and around the globe. It recently became part of the huge British mercenary network G4S. Most recently, Wackenhut gained global infamy for the conduct of guards from its subsidiary Armor Group after it was revealed by whistleblowers that the company created a "Lord of the Flies environment" at the embassy "in which guards and supervisors are 'peeing on people, eating potato chips out of cracks, vodka shots out of cracks... brawls, threats and intimidation from those leaders participating in this activity." According to the Project on Government Oversight, "Multiple guards say this deviant hazing has created a climate of fear and coercion, with those who declined to participate often ridiculed, humiliated, demoted, or even fired. The result is an environment that is dangerous and volatile. Some guards have reported barricading themselves in their rooms for fear that those carrying out the hazing will harm them physically."

In other words, Wackenhut is the perfect choice to "guard" the joint BP-US government-US military operation in the Gulf.

Lewis told me that for two weeks his crew has attempted to interview officials from the Unified Command's Joint Information Center. "We had been shut down or dodged for 2 weeks of official requests," he said. Finally, Lewis and Klein, who is on assignment for The Guardian, decided to go to the information center in person "to try to nail something down."


the rest: http://www.thenation.com/blog/bp-and-us-government-command-center-guarded-company-afghan-embassy-hazing-scandal

More info on Wackenhut in the original thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x538925

[FreedomRain]

1. my info may be out of date

I worked for Pinkerton some 15 years ago - we took over an Intel contract from Wackenhut. Their logs were clearly incompetent and unprofessional.

[bananas]

3. They were videod sleeping on the job at nuclear power plants

Story and video at Raw Story:

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Nuclear_plant_security_fears_after_guards_1004.html

Video shows nuclear plant guards sleeping on the job
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Thursday October 4, 2007

CBS News reports that almost a dozen security guards were taped sleeping on the job at Peach Bottom Nuclear Power Plant, located on the Pennsylvania-Maryland border.

The anonymous whistleblower who revealed the behavior told CBS that when he tried informing plant managers, they told him, "Let's not talk about that, there's going to be a big investigation. ... You need to concentrate on being a part of this team."

Now senators have demanded a full report on why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission didn't find out about the sleeping guards during routine inspections. Wackenhut, the security firm which provided the guards, has already been fired by the company which runs the plant.

Wackenhut, which has a reputation for close ties to the military and to intelligence, has previously been at the center of several major scandals involving its provision of guards to privatized prisons, US military bases, and nuclear plants. Wackenhut has been been caught cheating on tests at a nuclear weapons facility and has been known to retaliate against nuclear whistleblowers.

<snip>

[bananas]

4. Los Angeles fired them for incompetence and other problems

Just one of many items from Sourcewatch:

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wackenhut_Corporation

On June 26th, 2007 the City of Los Angeles opened an investigation into Wackenhut for contract abuses with the city ranging from workplace discrimination, labor violations, and management incompetence to employing irresponsible contractors with poor performance on other contracts and failing to comply with relevant laws and regulations.

Wackenhut had more than $5 million annually in contracts with the city to guard at least two dozen buildings and public places including Los Angeles City Hall East; Mount Lee -- the home of the famous Hollywood sign; the Ed Davis Training Facility, an elaborate LAPD training facility; other parks, performing arts centers, and the Watts and Van Nuys city halls.

The contracts were not renewed.

[lurky]

2. Wasn't Wackenhut the original Blackwater?

They have some kind of "private intelligence" branch that does dirty stuff our government spooks don't want to touch. I remember reading a really disturbing Wackenhut article in Spy Magazine way back in the day, and lo and behold, somebody has posted it on the web:

http://prop1.org/legal/prisons/92wack.htm

Definitely worth reading.

[bananas]

5. Yes they were, and thanks for that link. nt

[kristopher]

6. K&R