Private Military Contractor released "Al-Quaeda Study"

posted by ewing2001 on Monday November 10, @06:10PM

Report Evaluates al-Qaida Risks Worldwide

AP -November 11

"...A report released Tuesday said Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network has been largely dismantled, but the threat posed by extremist Muslim terrorists remains high and has grown harder to track.

The report by the London-based Control Risks Group said the number of countries likely to pose a medium security risk to Western businesses operating in them was 71 for 2004, with 14 countries bumped up from low-risk. The group is a private consultancy that advises companies on security..."

In Reality, as GFP found out, "Control Risks Group" is a PMC (Private Military Contractor), founded in 1975 as a subsidiary of the Hogg Robinson insurance group, which runs UK Armed Forces pensions, together with former Halliburton Partner, Schlumberger (Oilfield Services, Real-Time Energy Management and one of the National ID Developers).

Hogg Robinson is a market leading armed forces insurance specialist which owns EDS, a supporter of the e-voting industry .

CRG has also distinguished itself in the kidnap and rescue industry, sending in ex-military personnel to advise on negotiations or rescue attempts in places like Colombia and Nigeria. They have also offices in Algeria, Pakistan, Phillipines and Bahrain.

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More about the Profile of Control Risks Group and Hogg Robinson

compiled by ewing2001

Control Risks Group is the leading, specialist, international business risk consultancy.

In 1975 Control Risks Group was founded as a subsidiary of the then Hogg Robinson insurance and travel group.

In July 2003 Control Risks opened also a "project office" in Iraq and October 2003 saw the opening of a new office in China.

CRG claims to have had "more than 5,300 clients, including 86 of the Fortune 100 companies, in more than 130 countries.

Hogg Robinson, the main group, which runs Control Risks, is specialised in Corporate and employee services.

In June 2001, Hogg Robinson announced the disposal of its insurance broking businesses - Wilsons Hogg Robinson and Quotecheck - to Towergate.

Wilsons Hogg Robinson is a market leading armed forces insurance specialist providing products for services personnel, as well as cover for their units. Quotecheck is a telephone and extranet based civilian insurance intermediary.

Other highlights in the recent history of Hogg Robinson:

2000: Joint venture of TRX Europe

1999: Joint venture with BCD Holdings and Kuoni, major share in BTI

1998: Paymaster becomes wholly owned by Hogg Robinson. Two years later, in 2000, Paymaster wins a contract for administration and payment of Armed Forces pensions, including Soldiers’ pensions.

In 2001, Paymaster wins a 14 year contract to be strategic partner to NHS Pensions Agency, working with SchlumbergerSema and Claybrook, providing finance, administration, IT and support services.

Claybrook is UK's leading pensions administration and actuarial valuation software provider.

In the US, a company with the same name, Paymaster, is specialised since 1983 in assistance in payroll processing, workers' compensation, and health insurance.

SchlumbergerSema is a subsidiary of Schlumberger (once a partner of Halliburton) and currently working on a National ID System.
SchlumbergerSema is specialised in Real-Time Energy Management .

They are also Technology Partner for the Olympic Games.
Among their three primary business segments are Schlumberger Oilfield Services, SchlumbergerSema and WesternGeco, jointly owned with Baker Hughes, the world's largest and most advanced surface seismic company.

According to the History of Paymaster, Hogg Robinson aquired Paymaster in 1997 in collaboration with EDS.

Hogg Robinson aquired both Paymaster and EDS for a total cash consideration of £17.8 million.

Meanwhile, in 2003, EDS (Electronic Data Systems Limited) has some new interesting projects. They not only run an electronic task force for E-Voting Machines (Diebold, ES&S;, Sequoia and SAIC), together with Lockheed, Northrop Grumman and Accenture (new name for former ENRON auditor Arthur Andersen), they're also since 2000, partner of Raytheon Command, Control, Communication and Information Systems, which is providing total systems security for the Navy Marine Corps Intranet program

One of the plans of EDS is to organise an online military vote in 2004, probably with help of the very same system, they develop since 2000 with Raytheon C3I.

Raytheon C3I is one of the largest businesses within Raytheon Co. and is involved in a host of DOD information technology programs, such as NMCI, satellite communications, the Joint Tactical Radio System and the Army’s Tactical Internet, as well as other federal government and commercial programs.

Meanwhile, some investigative journalists like Lynn Landes are looking into a large list of conflicts of interests of EDS, but since August 2003, EDS's contracting practices are also under watch by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as Washington Post reported.

The Electronic Voting Machine Industry is currently part of a controversial, but politically downplayed discussion. Diebold and Sequoia, both producers of e-voting machines, got targeted by voting activists. Diebold reacted with threatening to shutdown their websites.

As it came out, internal memos of Diebold showed, that they used uncertified and flawable software.

In California's recall, Sequoia was switching Shasta County over to its touch screens in time for the recall vote. Riverside County is also a Sequoia customer.

Alameda and Plumas counties are already using electronic voting machines made by competitor Diebold.

Both cities complained about irregularities during the voting process.

It's interesting to know, how Hogg Robinson's business park and their subsidiary Control Risks Group tie together.

A "specialist of Al Quaeda", which released a new report, only one day after a professional (and by the US State Department "announced") attack in Saudi Arabia by people "in police uniforms", where still noone claimed responsibility yet and on the same day of an obscure airspace violation of DC, where nothing was revealed more about the pilot's identity?

The release of this "report" smacks at least like a political copycat -for more military business.

Who runs CRG and who has a real interest of analysing "terror"?

Chairman Jonathan Fry came from Burmah, where he was successively Chief Executive of the Chemicals and Castrol divisions.

Nigel Churton joined Control Risks Group in 1980 as a consultant advising corporations on resolving incidents of kidnap and extortion. He has personally handled or managed over 100 incidents of kidnap and product extortion worldwide.

Churton is specialised in intelligence and counter-terrorism activities for which he was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE).

As the Investigative Group ICIJ found out, CRG is meanwhile specialised in the kidnap and rescue industry, sending in ex-military personnel to advise on negotiations or rescue attempts in places like Colombia and Nigeria.

The Control Risks Group has also joined the Energy Industries Council (EIC).
The Energy Industries Council (EIC) is the leading Trade Association for UK companies that supply services to the energy industry worldwide. The EIC has offices in London (Head Office), Aberdeen, Houston, Rio and Singapore.
In February 2003, Control Risks announced a new partnership with Hunt & Palmer International, the global Aircraft Charter broker.

Control Risks Group has a long history of working with many of the world's premier companies in the energy sector.

But they have also ties to one of the Pentagon's most important security companies, Kroll Associates:

Their chief financial Officer, John Conyngham, held the position of legal adviser and Head of Fraud Investigation at Kroll Associates.

Non-executive Director Robin Baillie has ties with the Standard Chartered Group.

He was appointed an Executive Director of Standard Chartered PLC in 1983.

It would be interesting to know, how Control Risks Group received exactly their knowledge about "Al-Quaeda", which officially is so hard to track by the CIA.

Does CRG have the better connections?

And if so, who are their connections?

CRG publishes now also a "RiskMap" to Forecast Opportunities and Trouble, spots for 2004.

Smells a bit like the former John Poindexter plan, for which he had to resign some months ago.

A risk map? Sounds like the same "proposal for setting up a speculator's "market" for betting on future assassinations".

CRG is just another private military contractor, which does the dirty work for the Government, when it should not be officially confirmed.

By privatising these kind of military business acts, the U.S. Government is no longer accountable for their actions. It makes sense in the long run, when PMCs replace CIA- and Pentagon-related business. Meanwhile it helps to repeat their "incompetence" to let them appear more and more unprofessional and then replace with professional analyst business".

This kind of analyst reporting is part of their strategy and it's harder to track.

In the two years since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration has systematically reduced the amount of information available to the public, which in turn has made government officials less accountable to taxpayers.

Until recently, as ZDNet found out, "the Web site for the Defense Science Board--an obscure but influential advisory body that influences military policy and had a budget of $3.6 million a year--had listed the board's membership.

Today, the board's Web site still includes links to "members" and "task force members," but one link requires a password, and the other link returns a "404: file not found" error."

These members, now hidden by "national security" are still visible. They are only one mouse click away, at "companies" like Northrop Grumman, Sandia National Laboratory or General Dynamics.

These are the same companies, who are founding all these Consultancy Groups and ThinkTanks, who claim to tell us the truth about "terrorist groups", while they in reality represent the interests of energy- and oil industry.

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