Never-Ending Insanity: $42 Billion Spent Annually on Private Espionage

TPM Muckraker:

Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army reports for The Nation on the shadowy Blackwater's growing foray into the world of private espionage.

The privatization of intelligence has grown dramatically under President Bush, with Washington paying $42 billion annually in private intelligence contracts, compared to just $17.5 billion in 2000. As Scahill points out, it means that 70% of the U.S. intelligence budget is going to private companies, which creates an interesting market for government operatives.

Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater, started Total Intelligence Solutions in April 2006 in order to capitalize on this growing demand for privatized intelligence services:

"Total Intel brings the...skills traditionally honed by CIA operatives directly to the board room," [Blackwater's vice chair Cofer] Black said when the company launched. "With a service like this, CEOs and their security personnel will be able to respond to threats quickly and confidently -- whether it's determining which city is safest to open a new plant in or working to keep employees out of harm's way after a terrorist attack."

"Total Intel"-- lovely people I'm sure, with ONLY the best interests of ALL American citizens at heart. Right?

Now, where is our Blackwater troll? One time I posted stuff on Blackwater killing civilians in Iraq, amazingly I had someone defending them here. Honestly, for such an "obscure" site, I get the most amazing shills here.