From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sat Oct 17 2009 - 07:48:13 EDT
US to make Blackwater-style entry into Somalia
Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:58:12 GMT
The grounds have reportedly been established for armed American presence on
Somali soil with a US security firm winning a contract in the war-ravaged
country.
Michigan-based CSS Global Inc., secured the contract under the plea of
'fighting terrorism and piracy' and 'protecting' Somalia's Transitional
Federal Government (TFG), reported Michigan Live citing The Grand Rapids
Press newspaper.
"It is going to be a huge challenge," said Chris Frain, chief executive
officer and co-owner of CSS Alliance, to which the CSS Global Inc is
affiliated. "This is a brand-new government being stood up with the help of
the international community."
The contractor's operations team was composed of former military and law
enforcement personnel, including Special Forces, Michigan Live added.
The US firm has been involved in other African nations as well as in Iraq,
where 17 civilians were killed in 2007 by a similar licentiate, Blackwater,
currently known as Xe Services.
Washington has been exceedingly deputizing the companies, which are
notorious for misusing their State Department-issued gun licenses as excuses
for trigger-ready atrocities. The move has been denounced as an effort at
putting a non-military face on the US pursuits in the respective countries.
US officials have, at the same time, been strongly arguing that there is an
alleged al-Qaeda presence in Somalia and a reported militant-run recruitment
network which, they say, could ensnare the Somali-American community.
Special Somali envoy to the United States, H.E. Ali Hassan Gulaid, however,
said they were "confident the expertise of the CSS Global senior staff will
prove to be a valuable asset to us in our efforts to establish a safe and
secure Somalia for our citizens."
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