Blackwater Manager Earns More Than Double General Petraeus
Via Washington Post: (h/t Nonny)
The contract that Blackwater Security Consulting signed in March 2004 with Regency Hotel and Hospital of Kuwait for a 34-person security team offers a view into the private-security business world. The contract was made public last week by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee majority staff as part of its report on Blackwater's actions related to an incident in Fallujah on March 31, 2004, when four members of the company's security team were killed in an ambush.
According to data provided to the House panel, the average per-day pay to personnel Blackwater hired was $600. According to the schedule of rates, supplies and services attached to the contract, Blackwater charged Regency $1,075 a day for senior managers, $945 a day for middle managers and $815 a day for operators.
According to data provided to the House panel, Regency charged ESS an average of $1,100 a day for the same people. How the Blackwater and Regency security charges were passed on by ESS to Halliburton's KBR cannot easily be determined since the catering company was paid on a per-meal basis, with security being a percentage of that charge.
Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Baghdad overseeing more than 160,000 U.S. troops, makes roughly $180,000 a year, or about $493 a day. That comes out to less than half the fee charged by Blackwater for its senior manager of a 34-man security team. Read more...
the fruits of privatization
1st
Being a fascist mercenary for the Bush family obviously pays well.
nevermind
As I said yesterday... Iraq war is all about Business and Money.
Sad and unfortunate that many has taken this seriously and given up their lives.
Just search for Movie "Iraq for Sale" and watch it, if you have not so far.
It is pure business.
If you look who makes up of CEO/Presidents/Board of this companies and their contacts with Pentagon and Administration, you will understand how public tax money is transferred to some elite group on the name of spreading "Democracy" and "Freedom" around the world.
In the movie one guy, Truck Driver for KBR says (of private contracts) and very accurate "It is a legal way of stealing public money"
One guy says -working for CACI - as interrogator at Abu Ghareb prison made 140K in 8 months - 5 to 6 times more than a regular MP made.
There are ~180,000 private contractors in addition to 160,000 American Troop in Iraq at present
Bush Cabels "Republican Guard"
And all this money goes into a company in which Dick Cheney is a large part of.
Even people living in the original dark ages didn't know they were living in the dark ages.
Just the GOP drinking at the public trough again. All in the name of mom, apple pie, democracy, the flag, the troops, freedom, liberty......
They are stealing ... that is the point. They arent soldiers. They have one principle, the check better be good ... they are stick up artists.
I don't want to be too picky, but the $493 a day number (for Patreus) is assuming a 7 day work week. The number in a typical 5 day work week would be more like $750 a day. Does that make a difference? I don't know...
As a note, dont be surprised if petraeous isnt working for either blackwater or an equivalent shortly.
A republican version of "The New Deal". Massive public spending to promote growth. But instead of building stuff like the Hoover Dam they are destroying a country....
Doesn't take courage to put money in your own pocket.
Fanon @ 11:
People like Petraeous actually compare to CEO's of large companies - not regional managers. Their equivalent in the private sector are running companies like Chrysler or Qwest. He is a four star general.
Then we better watch what we say, look at what happened over MoveOn's comments about Petraeus.
So when Blackwater does domestic duty here in the USA us taxpayers pay them to keep us in line and push us around if we get hit by a hurricane.
What a concept.
anon @ 10:
Stick up what?
This whole thing has me so pissed off. You would not believe what they get away with. I was a truck driver (private contractor) in Iraq and these freakin cowboys actually shot at us!! Our convoy was travelling slowly through an Iraqi traffic jam and the private security (caucasians with armored SUVs) came up and tried to break into the middle of our convoy. When one of our drivers (American) would not stop his truck, they shot into his cab. Luckily he was not killed. This stuff happens all the time. There will never be any accountability because EVERYTHING is covered up and it involves so much money.
Cunning-Linguist @ 7:
Only chainey could work for a company where they have to let out doors so he can fit through them.
anon @ 15:
So, more like 24 hour responsibility so it would be broken out 365. Got it.
Ray @ 19:
Blackwater Pledge
Rule Number One. There are no rules.
Rule Number Two. Obey the first rule.
L.A. Confidential @ 17:
They are fighting terrorists - in theory at least. Part of the problem is,
1) If anyone gets noisy about their stealing they are likely to hit back. Well, they are cowards. They wont do anything. But they will take your tax dollars and hire someone to hit you for them.
2) They are dystopian thiefs who never thought much of you to begin with. From their perspective, you look surprisingly similar to a terrorist.
L.A. Confidential @ 14:
And follow this money to the next step...some it winds up in the hands of our so-called representatives. How much have Obama and Hillary taken in in contributions? Hmmmm?
And every other politician up for reelection on both sides of the aisle.
The People have no voice anymore. As the Supreme Court said...years ago...Money is Free Speech.
Now shut up and get to work, you sorry sacks of the working class.
ysbaddaden @ 16:
It's BETRAE-US!!
Greup @ 13:
Yep... supply side economics instead of Keynesian economics is fucking everything up.
[Deleted. Moronic babbling from a moron. Shocking-Sitemonitor]
Blue Buddha @ 26:
Remember when it used to simply be called stealing.
The Penguin @ 27:
Yes, I'm sure I'll be the first to go.
The camps should be completed by then.
Have gun, will travel.
Liberal AND Proud @ 29:
I do hope they come up with better tattoos this time around. The WWII concentration camp tats were so "plain". I mean what about a nice Sans Serif...or perhaps some nifty Broadway typeset.
Fanon @ 11:
I believe the war is fought 24/7/365.
This whole post is moot, because civilians will always make more than their military counterparts.
Liberal AND Proud @ 31:
They will insert a tracking rfid chip next to your heart under a rib. They could include an OZ of explosive as well. If you wander off away from camp, the send a signal and a small charge explodes next to your heart.
The Penguin @ 27:
If they don't share the booty with her!
>Bush Cabels “Republican Guard”
Foreign Lesion
like flys in vasoline
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qGwvSwOP7Ow
nyhmr @ 32:
Uhh...you're last comment is the whole point. It's not about money and the difference between government and private sector jobs...it's about privatizing military operations and using them to siphon off public funds.
nyhmr @ 32:
Yeah, nice snark, I realize a war is fought 24/7, but that doesn't mean you are on duty 24/7. However, if you are considered to be more like a CEO (as another poster pointed out) you would have 24 hour accountability.
Hey, you're missing the point.
Being a blood-lusting old testament Evangelical Christianist Wacko like the Blackwater thugs is expensive?
You have to fund The Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, and also pump millions into far right nutball conservative candidates?
It costs Eric Prince probably Millions to get his Billion dollar no bid contracts?
Evil is an expensive proposition, especially if you cloak it in self-righteous religiosity.
Everyone over there is being paid in blood money.
anon @ 33:
Don't threaten me with a good time!!
Fanon @ 38:
Maybe we pay to fly them home on weekends?
Helloworld @ 40:
I guess that makes the U.S. Public the Pharisees.
Fanon @ 38:
Most combat soldiers and Marines average 16 to 18 hour days in theater.
Liberal AND Proud @ 31:
How about the peace symbol, that way it will be clear what we stand for and why we are sent there by the warmongers.
Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the peacemakers. It is more likely for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than a wealthy man to enter heaven.
Apologies to the man who originally said that, for I can't remember his name. Otherwise I would credit him. But obviously his name doesn't come up in the context of this quote very often.
nyhmr @ 44:
So, why not just say that instead of being snotty? Most nurses work 12 hour shifts, that doesn't mean we work 365 days a year.
it's the Private Sector ... bay-bah!
General Betrayhim?
Maybe he's paid by the head. Which would explain all those innocent Iraqi civilians being killed.
Or maybe it's just that killing innocent people pays much more than simply propagandizing for the Bush regime.
Ruthless People @ 50:
Bingo! This goes to the heart of something that has me profoundly perplexed. How is it legal or constitutional or allowed or whatever that private companies get to administer wars. Private companies exist for one reason ... profit. The longer the war, the more the profit. They have no incentive to behave in a manner that will expidite the end of the war.
PurplePatriot @ 51:
Oh...c'mon. Constitutional? That old piece of paper?
Totally lame. I'm an animator and I make more money than a general commanding over a hundred thousand troops. What kind of ass backwards society do we live in? I guess managing a cartoon is more important than real people? Oh, that's Bush's job and he makes more than me.
"Blackwater charged Regency.." .THis does not mean that the managers get all that money. The company takes their cut including for payroll taxes?, mgmt fees, etc. Although it may still be comparable to a three or four star General.
GB @ 53:
Depends on the cartoon - I'd say that Homer Simpson or Hank Hill is more important
than, say ... the 70% of the people who supported Bush in going to war in Iraq.
Don't you think Congress could use some of the $190,000,000,000.00 they just handed over for the war, to give Petraeus a raise. We would want him to feel disrespected.
anon @ 33:
They will insert a tracking rfid chip next to your heart under a rib. They could include an OZ of explosive as well. If you wander off away from camp, the send a signal and a small charge explodes next to your heart.
Good, because otherwise I'll be holding onto the electric fence.
Five times as much as General Petraeus. General Petraeus made $180,000, Prince made a million.
During the hearing this morning Erik Prince says he makes 10% of the billion dollars worth of contracts that Blackwater acquired during 2006
patthemonkey @ 56:
Of course I meant we WOULDN"T want him to feel disrespected.
No-one need fear a military junta in the US so long as the soldiers are of the people, and loyal to them; and so long as the officers are sworn to protect and defend the Constitution, not the ruling party of the moment.
A mercenary army loyal only to a rather fat paycheck is another thing entirely. This has the unmistakable stench of martial law all over it. The American people would do well to demand that none of these Blackwater thugs are ever allowed to re-enter the country again. It would be tantamount to Julius Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon, which ended the Roman republic.
arroyo @ 55:
LOL! Doh!
just how much of this money is making it's way into bush and cheneys' pockets?
another haliburton fuck American plan by the bush administration.
I'm a Corporal in the Marine Corps. I get paid about $825... every two weeks.
I'm an engineer platoon leader in Iraq. I command a 30 man platoon that conducts IED-hunting missions. My job would be comparable to the "senior manager". I get paid $178 /day by the US Army.
Blackwater is a criminal organization. It's disgusting that they get paid horrendously more than our military people do. Blackwater employees probably don't pay taxes, either, because they work in a foreign country.
The Blackwater hearings created new questions in my mind and confirmed that it is a cash cow courtesy of the American taxpayers. (1) If its employees are contractors, does that mean they are self-employed? Who pays their Social Security taxes? Blackwater or the employee? (2) Does Blackwater withhold income taxes, or is that left up to its employees? Does it report earnings to the IRS? (3) Does that mean that Blackwater doesn't pay for any benefits like health insurance, 401K matching funds, dental insurance, life insurance, vacation, sick leave, short and long term disability insurance, etc? (4) Does that mean that Blackwater isn't liable for any unemployment insurance when its employees are let go? People are always the largest expense for a business. It sounds as though Blackwater has figured out how not to incur this expense and simply let the owners pocket all the profits.
If true, this would be in keeping with the Bush administration's policies of concentrating wealth at the top rather than have a large enough military to which they are obligated.
Zachary @ 63:
I guess many in this admin. feel that...."golly, that's a pretty good salary since he/she
has a roof over his/her head, is fed three squares a day, receives a clothing allowance and will get to travel and see the world." Those same persons have NEVER served a day in
the military and do not appreciate, understand, comprehend what it's like.
GB @ 61:
But worth less than half as much if it's Peter Griffin.
MN USA @ 66:
I cannot answer all of your inquires; however, after viewing/listening to testimony by
CEO of Blackwater, several things were clear: Each employee is a independent contractor;
each employee is responsible for paying his/her own Soc. Sec. and FICA taxes and making
appropriate filings w/IRS; Blackwater provides only a life insurance policy and an optional
401K plan to the individuals;and to my knowledge, no unemployment benefits are offered
or available...primarily because(as I understood the explanation), these independent contractors are hired for a specific, known in advance, period of time..(i.e., for 6 mos,
9 mos, or 12 mos.) and consequently are not the usual and customary "employee" entitled
to various benefits. And, you are correct...this way the CEO/Company pockets the profits.
Gotta love Droopy McTrophywife ...
Doggiebobo @ 69:
By the way....it was mentioned by several of the Congresspersons, that the "other"
security contractors/merenaries currently in Iraq, treat their respective employees
as exactly that..."employees" and not independent contractors...so that should tell us
something.
Doggiebobo @ 69:
Thanks for the clarification. That's just as I thought. All the wealth concentrated at the top. The poor saps on the ground risk everything. The Bush economy at work.
In Washington today, all eyes are on the Blackwater hearings. But the relentless focus on potential atrocities committed by unaccountable, grotesquely overpaid private security firms in Iraq and Afghanistan obscures the larger issue for the United States. That is, mercenary forces simply should have no place in the national defense of an American democracy.
For the details, see:
"The Meaning of Blackwater."
Today Erik Prince admitted that he made 1,000,000 bucks last year. He has about 1000 contractors in Iraq. Patreaus is in charge of 160,000 troops and makes around 180,000 a year. What's wrong with that picture?
Strawberry @ 74:
That he didn't make more?
Guest commented by Dick Cheney
and this is news .... how?
Keep it in the family. These people are the reason we are still in Iraq and you better believe that.
Never believe that the money these freaks are getting from our pockets, is not being devied up and shared among the republicans who support this shit.
They really think American people are stupid, when they claim they really do believe that we should continue on with this blood bath in Iraq. It's getting more and more difficult for any of these foul freaks to come out and speak on behalf of this crap and we need to continue slamming the message home, that they in fact are not blowing smoke up our asses and I am very proud of the team of acivist that call into C-Span morning talk show and blast them with the truth as they did this morning.
Doggiebobo states the best representation of how these rates are broken down with one exception (which will address everyone else's statement as a response).
A typical gross margin on those rates (prior to General & Admin, Overhead, etc. cost) is 30%. Thus one has to divide each rate by 1.3 to determine what the 'employee' (or 1099 or LLC contractor) is getting prior to FICA, Fed, etc. taxes. Thus a simple example for the "Senior Manager" gross is $825/day (or 82/hr if divided by a typical 10 hour day in Theatre).
From a federal government contract perspective; competitive rate for contract resources. From a ethical and war profiteering perspective, the U.S. Congress has plenty of precedence to stop war contractors from receiving any profit from the war being waged. Stop that, or implement a 'war tax' on those profits, and you will see a quick change in seeing this war continue among it's contractors!
The way I see is that these are Mercenaries; they get paid to fight in wars. They get paid to go where we don't want to. They are completely immersed in war and weapons and the things that go bump in the night.
I have not been to war, I have not killed anyone, but I know that to be as proficient as these men and women are, you have to surround yourself in your job.
The Hessians fought for us in the revolutionary war, they also fought against us. They were contract soldiers. The French Foreign legion has been known for the same thing.
I am not saying these might not be horrible people, but they get a job done. And I am also not saying I agree with the way that they get the job done, but the world id not a pretty place. When our enemy can fight us face to face and burn the mutilated bodies of our men and women, then maybe we won’t be so inclined to enlist the services of a contract group.
We are attempting to fight a war the best and most morally correct way we can. We have our shortcomings, and we have our setbacks, but you cannot say that we are not trying. The frustration comes when our commanders say there is no other choice. I cannot say that there is a better way, but I can also say that none of us are in the decision making position, and we cannot see all the extenuating circumstances.
So start with yourself. Violence begets violence. If we want to America to be that structured moral good, then it starts with the people. Teaching your loved ones, your family, your sons and daughters, your enemies, what a moral course of action is.
I am not saying accept what happened but I am saying that in the world today, there are FAR greater travesties.
I was a truck driver in Iraq for KBR. At the time I left we were being paid about $8,000/month +/-. That is about $260/day with a high school diploma. The office workers (accounting, payroll, etc) were making significantly more than that. As truck drivers we worked an average of 3/days a week but were paid 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. The contract only guarantees 40 hrs/wk but they never dropped it to that even when we sat around watching movies all day. The scam is much much much much worse than most state-side people realize. I wrote Waxman about some of the scams back in '05, but nothing will change. There is just too much money involved. Our supervisors would actually laugh about it and they actually handed out sheets with the exact answers we were supposed to give auditors in order to perpetuate the scam on overcharging. It no longer makes me outraged, but just super depressed because it makes you go insane. I fully admit I went over there for greed just like every other driver I knew. But once you realize how massive this rip-off is, and that it is now to the point of complete auto-pilot, it makes your insides burn up and want to scream. There are huge brand new barracks that were 90% completed and they they let them sit for years (and still vacant as far as I know) because they were caught misusing funds. There are multi-story gyms with gleaming basketball courts and hundreds of weight machines and the newest in aerobic equipment. The bases are virtual American cities with more ammenities than I have at home. Steak and lobster every Sunday. Unlimited Baskin Robbins every day. It is gluttony and excess to an infinite degree, of course with Iraqis in rags just outside the razor wire as you leave the base on a convoy. It is the most massive, humongous scam I have ever seen and beyond anything I ever dreamed. Billions and billions and billions wasted. And yep, even the money I made (about $200K) is just dwindling away because I don't have the energy to do anything but just drink it away to numb out my conscience. And I didn't even really see any gore. Yes a plenty of IEDs and shootings. But the sheer banality of the evil, the immense proportion of the rip-off and so many willing participants (me included) ... that is the clincher that really freezes your heart stone cold.
Ray @ 80:
Sorry, Ray. That sounds awful. I hope you can get some help for your unsettled mind. I mean its over for you now, you got out and realised it was bad. Time to move on and do something good with what you've learned.
Good luck, friend.
Ray @ 80:
Don't feel bad about that. You were unarmed, correct? And if you'd been injured you'd be on your own for medical expenses, right? I don't think they paid you enough!
The last thing anyone wants to do is blame working men and women for supporting themselves and their families. There's no shame doing what you did.
My tax dollars are being stolen from me to pay for these mercenary thugs! That is an outrage. There are things that should NEVER be "outsourced", this is one of them. These are jobs that should only be handled by US Marshalls, Secret Service and the military. If these guys want to play soldier, they can join the service of their choice. There is no other proper or safe place for them to do ar attempt such work.
Shut Blackwater and every other similar outfit down, or at least ban the government from giving them any business for any reason, ever! This is a private army of thugs ,which the neocons are building in order to serve themselves and not the country. The neocons are STEALING our tax dollars to do it.
And before it is over, the government, or the People banding together in mutual self-defense, is going to be fighting these people. Watch it unfold.
The Blackwaters are step whatever in the tried-and true 14 steps to underrmining and destroying free, liberal democracies by fascist, totalitarian tyrants. They can not be allowed to flourish, most especially in greater numbers than the military.
Congress had damn well better do something about these folks if they know, or give a damn about, what's good for this country.
I think this is all the end result of Rummy/Wolfowitz and others of the neocon/pnac pursuasions desire to sell war on the cheap via privatizing military ops as much as possible.. Not so cheap after all... in money or national integrity... It's all so trite and cliche' that it 'should' have been forseen by the so-called experts on such things.. These are the real purps in all this I think need held accountable for such outrages as Blackwater personnel gunning down Iraqi civilians under dubious circumstances to say the least... Mr. Prince, as annoying as he is with his sort of homey sanctimonious holier than thou presence, is merely a guy taking advantage of his strong suit in an environment now tailored by this government to encourage just these types of out of work agro-militaristic types to take just these kinds of actions masked as some kind of business opportunity for out of work military 'specialists'.
All symantics regarding the terms 'contractor' verses 'mercenary' aside, does anyone think privately hired guns to defend a nations sovereignty or promote a nations ideals makes any sense really? Do these people who would promote such a model of national defense actually think they can sell this shit as honorable to the rest of the world observing this behavior out of the United States? Now? After what's it's all led too? Mr. Prince may be a nice guy and a buffed ex-seal 'jus wantin to help', jus tryin to be a patriot and make a buck at the same time', but he has taken his skill set and applied it to what can only be most charitably labeled a black art.... There are more derogatory terms for it, but I'll just leave it at what I called it here. It is something the U.S. should never have embraced. A road better left untraveled altogether............JD
I don't know if this is a dumb question or not, but would it be safe to assume that the recent spending bill also covers further funding of the blackwater mercenaries ?
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