The 2010 velocity is concerning.
Blackwater/Xe is now owned by a Private Equity firm, purchase was assisted by The Chertoff Group, and financed by Bank of America. December, 2010
DynCorp was sold by one Private Equity Firm to Another Private Equity firm, financed by Bank of America, Citi, Barclays, and Deutsche. Veritas sold DynCorp to Cerberus. Check. Done. April, 2010
For fun, Cerberus was a ‘mythological’ giant dog that guarded the gates of Hades. No one escapes him.
Cerberbus bought up many US gun and bullet mfgrs. and created Freedom Group, Inc. to run the gun/bullet consortium. March, 2010
So, while we were arguing about this or that, Private Equity Firms, in concert w/BoA and Citi, Chertoff, etc., and Dan Quayle,now own mercenary armies, guns and bullet mfrs, and are training and equipping Iraqi/Afghan police.
More research below:
It is interesting that these stories are of little interest to the media.
Perhaps it is because any given day provides shocking news sufficient to fill the news for the day.
This subject is custom made for an in-depth Frontline Report. Or maybe Matt Taibbi?
Before I forget to mention it, Blackwater/Xe (Erik Prince) sold his aviation division to AAR, Corp., in Illinois. March, 2010
Here is more information about the Private Equity Firm's acquisition and control of private military, gun and bullet manufacturing, military clothing/uniforms/helmets/body armor, those scary, painful radio and micro wave tank mounted crowd control devices, and national security IT etc, if you are interested,
WASHINGTON, D.C. June 1, 2010 – The Chertoff Group, a strategic security and risk management advisory firm, announced Thursday that recently retired U.S. Navy Admiral Timothy J. Keating and the former Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Sir John M. Scarlett have joined the Chertoff Group’s Board of Advisors.
I'm sure that the British taxpayers are as thrilled as we are that we paid for all that training so that the Chertoff Group can now profit from it.
More than a half dozen companies are now following in the footsteps of Carlyle by signing up former high-ranking government and military officials as they try to make inroads into the Pentagon and the newly-created Homeland Security contracting business.
I know that it seems like 'the revolving door' is old news, HOWEVER, this trend of revolving from being a Top Secret Privileged Military Commander revolving/morphing into leadership positions for Private Equity Firms seems to have escalated.
We know for a fact that Cheney and Rumsfeld have worked for decades scheming and setting up continuity of government exercises:
After Reagan is inaugurated in 1981, Rumsfeld, and his old partner Dick Cheney, now a republican congressman from Wyoming, begin participating in the Reagan administrations's covert continuity of government exercises... The program circumvents the constitution and is legally questionable.
I don't think it's a stretch to assume that plans for a Department of Homeland Security preceded the attack on 9/11.
October 8, 2001: President Bush establishes the Office of Homeland Security in the Executive Office of the President
And we know that both Rumsfeld was The DoD Privatization Promoter:
To transform the Department, we must look outside this building as well. Consequently, the Senior Executive Council will scour the Department for functions that could be performed better and more cheaply through commercial outsourcing....
...Like the private sector's best-in-class companies, DOD should aim for excellence in functions that are either directly related to warfighting or must be performed by the Department. But in all other cases, we should seek suppliers who can provide these non-core activities efficiently and effectively.
The Senior Executive Council will begin a review of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the Defense Logistics Agency and Defense Information Service Agency.
In essence, Rumsfeld and Cheney, having had decades of both Government and Private Industry experience, launched what is now the most far spread, privatized national security and military apparatus the world has ever seen. It's so stunningly vast, it's difficult not to wonder if there is some one/some place that really knows what everyone is doing. Is there a Hal somewhere? Probably, but owned by a Private Equity Firm. Comic relief.
Do you think Dick and Rummy ever got together over the decades with a cigar and a brandy to brainstorm Their Perfect Plan?
What part are they playing today? Or has the herd they created gotten out of hand?
You would think that alarms would be ringing now that we know and have the documented facts that
The largest banks in the world are financing
The largest Private Equity Firms in the world
Who now have controlling interests in the largest
Mercenary armies,
Crowd control technology,
Weapons,
Bullets, and
Heaven knows what else
Former Military leaders, Generals and the like, are now heading up and/or advising Private Equity Firms.
And no one seems to be alarmed by this. Move on. Nothing to see here.
Here's an example.
Veritas Capital Management is the 41st largest defense contractor and second only to the Carlyle Group among Private Equity Firms.
...Veritas' roster includes
Adm. Joseph W. Prueher, ex-commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command and former U.S. ambassador to China;
Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, Gulf War I veteran and former U.S. Southern Command chief ;
Admiral Leighton W. ("Snuffy") Smith, former commander-in-chief of Allied Forces in Southern Europe ;
Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, former commander-in-chief of the U.S. Central Command ; and
Gen. Richard E. Hawley, former commander of Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base, Va.
Businessweek has a great, albeit lengthy article about Cerberus, its CEO, and some interesting insider info. It pays well, as those chosen to run some of Cerberus' acquisitions earn $20 million or more.
What's Bigger Than Cisco, Coke, Or McDonald's? Cerberus
But it's not just Cheney, Rumsfeld, Veritas, and Cerberus.
To see the Private Equity Acquisition of Nat'l Security and Revolving Door for Military professionas, etc. read this research article published by Public Integrity. It's enlightening.
Maybe no one wants to know. Sometimes I think that this might be even be too much for us.
However, what peril do we risk if we do not help expose information like this so that others can become aware as well?
Maybe there is no recourse.
Maybe we are too far down the road for any effort to make a difference because if one side has MOST of the money/direct access to power here and abroad, the painful, effective crowd control devices, PRIVATIZED military means, the support of about 25% of Americans (tea baggers and uber conservative Republicans), and a PROFIT incentive to keep us in our place, what can we do about that?
Crying in the wilderness
Heart about to break
Hope soothes distress
Will we awake?
Will you join us?
