Jeff Stein reports this morning that the company formerly known as Blackwater has been awarded a CIA contract worth about $100 million to provide security in “multiple regions.” This comes days after the company landed a $120 million State Department contract for work in Afghanistan. Stein’s piece includes an interesting quote from an official who defends the government’s decision to provide Blackwater 2.0 with more work, given the litany of abuses and scandals in the firm’s recent past:
“Blackwater has undergone some serious changes,” maintained a U.S. official who is familiar with the deal and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss it freely.
“They’ve had to if they want to survive. They’ve had to prove to the government that they’re a responsible outfit. Having satisfied every legal requirement, they have the right to compete for contracts. They have people who do good work, at times in some very dangerous places. Nobody should forget that, either.”
If Blackwater (which is currently up for sale) only now has to prove it’s a responsible, legally compliant company, you have to wonder what type of standard government contracting officers were applying previously, as they handed the firm (and its affiliates) contract after contract despite serious questions about its conduct. The offical Stein quotes is echoing the line Blackwater’s new management team has been pushing
—that the company has been reformed, chastened by the mistakes of its past. It may even be true. Otherwise it’s a shrewd, if predictable, PR campaign.
In February, when he was called before a Senate committee to answer for the misconduct of employees of a Blackwater-created shell company named Paravant, Fred Roitz, a senior VP at Xe (as the company is now known), insisted [PDF] the company had truly been transformed into a model corporate citizen: “These changes in personnel, attitude, focus, policy and practice, ownership, and governance represent a break from the past. The new Xe Services remains committed to our nation’s critical missions. We are equally committed, however, to a culture of compliance that in all circumstances reflects a responsible US government contractor.” Following the hearing, I approached Roitz to pose a couple questions about his testimony and Xe’s new corporate culture. I’d barely introduced myself when he refused to speak with me, brushing past trailed by an entourage of lawyers and crisis management specialists. It sure seemed like the old Blackwater to me.
