Despite Clinton Pledge, State Dept. to Pay Out Billions More to Mercs

By Spencer Ackerman September 29, 2010

Get ready to meet America’s new mercenaries. They could be the same as the old ones.

A new multibillion-dollar private security contract to protect U.S. diplomats is “about to drop” as early as this week, say two State Department sources, who requested anonymity because the contract is not yet finalized and they are not authorized to speak with the press.

So much for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s one-time campaign pledge to ban “private mercenary firms.”

Neither source would say which private security firms have won the four-year contract or how much it will ultimately be worth. The last Worldwide Protective Services contract, awarded in 2005, went to Blackwater, Triple Canopy and DynCorp. Rough estimates place that contract’s value at $2.2 billion.



Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/09/despite-clinton-pledge-state-department-ready-to-pay-mercs-billions/