To a physician, the mention of black water is bound to ring alarm bells because this is a particularly virulent form of malaria which is mostly fatal. For those familiar with the American invasion of Iraq the name also rings alarm bells because this is the name of a particularly virulent gang of mercenaries operating under the directions of the CIA. The notorious ‘contractors’ were responsible for numerous atrocities in that country.
Now the Blackwater is here in Pakistan as media reports suggest. And its presence is associated with the proposed expansion of the US embassy in Islamabad which is billed to become the largest communication complex in the world. To provide security to the installation, the reports say, the services of 1,000 US marines and Blackwater operatives have been acquired. They have started arriving in Pakistan but the US embassy spokespersons deny presence of Blackwater in Pakistan and equally in denial is Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Syed Zafar Ali Shah, the PML-N MNA, has revealed that a large number of houses being acquired on rent in Islamabad were being turned into fortified bunkers. Footage of the buildings concerned was also shown. Whatever the extent of the foreign presence, it cannot remain a secret for long, as was the case with Badaber airbase during the Ayub regime.
The question is: why is such a huge facility being built here in Pakistan? Americans say it is to facilitate the war against terror and also to manage increased load of work after socio-economic assistance begins to reach here. If this is true one wonders why the Chinese ambassador had to state that he was concerned at the increasing US influence in Pakistan. Such statements are rare in China’s diplomatic practice.
Out of the proposed US aid to Pakistan for the year 2008-9, one billion dollars out of $1.8 billion, have been earmarked for the proposed extension of the US embassy. And there are reasons for the construction of a ‘mini-Pentagon’ in Pakistan. Firstly, the cornerstone of American global policy remains the containment of China. To accomplish it, it is necessary to bring together the countries of South Asia, West Asia and South-East Asia and the Central Asian countries in this alliance.
Secondly, both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers and the US policy makers feel that there should not only be a new equation between the two but they want to monitor their ‘nuclear assets’ from a close range. Thirdly, the need to coordinate the international effort on the ‘war against terror’ provides an explanation acceptable to the world. The US government knows that an installation of this kind would require a large force of personnel. Hence, the Blackwater.
Few people in Pakistan are aware about this organisation. Thanks for its dirty role in Iraq, it has already received worldwide notoriety. The Blackwater are hardened mercenaries and are expected to protect American headquarters and also carry out search and destroy operations anywhere in Pakistan. Blackwater Worldwide is now known as Xe [pronounced as zi'] Services LLC. It was founded in 1997 as BlackWater USA by Eric Prince and Al Clark. Based in the US state of North Carolina, Xe operates a training camp which the company claims is the largest in the world. Here the company trains more than 40,000 people a year, mostly from the US or foreign military and police services.
Currently, there are about sixty large security contractors operating in the US. Xe is one of three largest security contractors of the State department.
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