Blackwater Lives Again!

[IronfootMcGurk]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... src=nl_fed

So, in 2008, the army was using a company called Raytheon Technical Services to train U.S. troops, but ordered Raytheon to hire a company called Paravant to train Afghan troops.

Paravant was The Company Formerly Known As Blackwater.

So why didn't the army hire Paravant directly rather than going through another contractor?

The saga continues. Some of the men Paravant hired for the project had been drummed out of the military. A couple of them got in a little trouble on the Pravant contract too-- a little thing about killing Afghans for sport while intoxicated (S/KWI, in military parlance). Not good for relations with the host country.

What is also interesting is that the Paravant agent who hired these men -- guy named McCracken -- left Paravant and was hired by Raytheon to oversee Paravant's performance under the contract with Raytheon! (Which makes sense to me. Who are the best prison guards? Ex-prisoners, of course; they know all the angles. The best consultant to keep a bank from being robbed? An ex-bank robber! But the Armed Services Committee that is investigating may not agree with me.)

In the meantime, Paravant has changed its name to Xe Services.

You can't keep a good company down.