Steve Peacock's U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor

SNAPSHOT: The Potential of Plants to Impart Power, Prestige, and Pride

The Monitor offers the following snapshot of various embassy gardening costs while acknowledging, to some degree, the need for nations to impress a desired image upon friends and foes alike around the globe.

A sampling of U.S. Embassy landscaping/gardening contracts awarded, listed by location and cost. All amounts are in U.S. dollars:

Chambesy, Switzerland

One year contract awarded to BEP S.A : $175,000 (a total that will jump to about $893,000 if all four option-years are exercised).

Kingston, Jamaica

One-year contract awarded to Manpower and Maintenance Services Ltd.: $105,000 (though it should be noted that when the State Dept. initially issued a Request for Proposals, it offered an estimated annual cost of $150,00-$300,000. Oh well, as one ex-State Dept. staffer told me, the running joke at State is "It's not real money, after all. It's taxpayer money!").

Frankfurt, Germany

One year contract awarded to Johannes Winkler: $173,000.

Baghdad, Iraq

As the Monitor's predecessor site The Peacock Report reported several years ago, the State Dept. tentatively had slated $1 million just to get the new embassy's shrubbery up to snuff, just a fraction, though, of the $177 million contract it awarded to PAE Government Services, Inc., to build and maintain the compound. Many thanks to the Centre for Research on Globalization for re-distributing that article.

The Peacock Report Archives Now Available on U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor

Past articles from The Peacock Report (TPR) -- the predecessor investigative-news blog to U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor -- are now available at this site. While not all of TPR's reports are international commerce or foreign aid-related, the importing of those files nevertheless will serve as a valuable addition by adding content richness to the Monitor. Even though I no longer leverage TPR's signature -- DIG. DISCOVER. DISCLOSE. -- I will continue to offer a similar journalistic approach to digging up unreported and under-reported government initiatives and expenditures.

Please bear with me as I conduct some minor housekeeping in order to get those uploaded files in top shape. While the transfer of those pieces into the TypePad system was simple and otherwise glitch-free, there likely be some broken links, missing pictures, and other relatively minor matters to rectify.

I invite the growing body of Monitor readers to tap into the TPR resources now at your fingertips. Just as the many tens of thousands of visitors to that site found its offerings useful, it my hope that likewise my new readers will not be disappointed.

Feel free to contact me if there are any broken links from TPR articles that you would like restored, or just send a message to me with any comments, concerns, or journalistic desires to stevepeacock[a]yahoo[dot]com.

Washington Takes Action on High Gas Prices

Rising fuel prices and truck-based shipping expenses are spelling trouble for U.S. policymakers, who now are exploring ways to strengthen, as an alternative, new highways, commercial railways and ports. Specifically, the federal government is taking action through an endeavor known as the "Sub-Saharan Africa Trade Corridor Transportation Initiative."

Conflict stemming from elections in Kenya -- and the increased time its takes to transport goods in and out of neighboring countries -- purportedly has caused the governments of nearby Uganda and Rwanda to begin rationing fuel, according to a federal planning document that The Peacock Report has located.

"[T]he cost of shipping to the Port of Mombasa has increased 25% since the political stalemate," according to the original solicitation document. "Costs are expected to continue to rise until the power sharing accord has been reached. The cost implications for Uganda and Rwanda are tremendous and will constrain these fragile economies even more.  Therefore, alternative transport corridors are a necessary investment for the region."

In order to alleviate these fuel shortages while addressing the concomitant impact on the [Sub Saharan African] economy, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) recently awarded a $94,000 contract to a private firm to assess the situation -- and to report back to USAID on whether U.S. taxpayers should bear the brunt of more significant "investments" into that region.

Interdisciplinary Research Consultants (IdRC), an international consulting firm with offices in Jordan and the U.S., will develop a preliminary plan to help modernize, among other possibilities, the East African Central Corridor. The original plan for the corridor, which links Tanzania and Rwanda, was to facilitate the transport of gold and nickel from inland mining operations to main ports. The corridor still may be expanded to Burundi, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the document says.

USAID Set to Unveil West Bank/Gaza Infrastructure Project

Details of a U.S.-financed West Bank/Gaza reconstruction project involving "major types of construction" soon will be unveiled, a recently located federal-contracting document shows. The "Infrastructure Needs Program," as this U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) initiative is known, will focus primarily on water and transportation infrastructure. However, according to a presolicitation document dated Feb. 11 that The Peacock Report has located, the endeavor also could involve the awarding of contracts for:

- Construction and renovation of schools;
- Construction and renovation of health clinics/hospitals;
- Construction and rehabilitation of municipal and local government infrastructure;
- Construction and rehabilitation of wastewater treatment plants;
- Construction of youth and sports facilities;
- Purchase of construction materials;
- "Other" civil works.

USAID did not provide an estimated value of the project. However, the agency anticipates releasing a more detailed Request for Proposals around Feb. 25.

USAID "Infrastructure Needs Program" Presolicitation Notice.

NASA Creates Unit to Hasten Dawning of Nukes on Moon

The eventual deployment of nuclear reactors on the Moon blasted a baby step closer to reality today, with NASA embarking upon the creation of a new unit tasked with bringing such a nuclear capability to fruition. The Technology Demonstration Unit (TDU) for Fission Surface Power (FSP) on Nov. 14 began searching for potential contractors capable of helping the new entity to initially develop and test a "simulated nucelar heat source," according to a presolicitation notice that The Peacock Report (TPR) located via a routine search of the FedBizOpps database. The TDU is "planned as a 5 or 6-year activity with concept definition and risk reduction that could lead to the start of a potential flight development program in the future," the document says:

FSP systems provide a potential option to support future human exploration missions on the Moon and Mars. FSP is a current technology project under the Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP) sponsored by the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate.

TPR broke the story early last year that the Bush Administration envisions building nuclear facilities and robotic spacecraft-manufacturing plants on the Moon as a critical step in eventually sending humans to Mars (see TPR, 03/23/2006; New Details of U.S. Moon-Base Project Reveal Nuclear Intentions).

Blackwater, Other Defense Behemoths, Get $15 Billion Narco-Military Contract

Despite intensive scrutiny of embattled military contractor Blackwater for killing Iraqi civilians, the Moyock, N.C.-based company will still share a chunk of an unrelated $15 billion U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command contract awarded last month. Blackwater, Lockheed Martin, ARINC Engineering Services, Raytheon, and Northrup Grumman/TASC, Inc. were jointly awarded the multi-billion contract Aug. 24, The Peacock Report belatedly discovered through a routine search of the FedBizOpps database. According to a related solicitation document, the companies will, among other tasks, conduct research & development for the Dept. of Defense (DoD) Counter-Narcoterrorism Technology Program Office (CNTPO). Services provided under this contract, which will be awarded in estimated annual disbursements of $100 million-$300 million for the life of the contract, fall into the general categories of Technology Development and Application; Training, Operations, and Logistics Support; and Professional and Executive Support.

The Technology Development and Application Support category primarily involves intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaisance-related counter-drug and counter-narcoterrorism technology. Examples of Training, Operations and Logistics Support include "security force training for border police in Afghanistan; air crew training for Columbia [sic]; leasing armored vehicles for security forces training in Afghanistan; and building a firing range for training in Afghanistan," according to the document. Professional and Executive Support includes the provision of administrative support for DoD-wide Combatant Commands; "strategic public relations support to senior government officials in Afghanistan and Columbia [sic]; geographic information system support in Columbia[sic]; and the purchase of boots for counter narcoterrorist police in Afghanistan," it said.

Media Miss NSA Angle on Navy 'Telecom' Project in Hawaii

Recent media coverage of a $320 million contract to modernize a Navy technology facility in Hawaii have missed -- or ignored -- one critical element of the construction project: this so-called "telecommunications" site also serves as a National Security Agency (NSA) global surveillance center.

The Peacock Report more than a year ago was the first news outlet in the world to report that the Hawaii Cryptologic Center and other NSA facilities would receive hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure and technological upgrades. The piece NSA To Pour Hundreds of Millions Into Surveillance Infrastructure back on April 20, 2006 was a major breaking-news story for TPR; unlike mainstream- and business-media reports a full year later -- reports based simply on a regurgitation of corporate and federal press releases announcing the Shaw-Dick Pacific, LLC, contract

TPR routinely conducts government-database searches and scours congressional reports to obtain unannounced information often far in advance of "official" release dates.

U.S. Poised to Restore Palestinian Infrastructure Projects

The U.S. government appears ready to soften its stance on humanitarian projects in the West Bank and Gaza -- projects that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) halted last year in a punitive response to Hamas' rise to power in Palestinian politics (TPR, March 27, 2006). According to a contracting document that The Peacock Report located via a routine search of the FedBizOpps database, USAID is amassing a list of potential engineering and consulting firms capable of carrying out various construction projects in the region. 

While only U.S.-based companies can compete for future contracts, "eligible" local subcontractors from the West Bank and Gaza can be hired to provide support services to prime award winners, who will be tasked with carrying out studies, cost estimates, conceptual designs, and other planning activities related to:

[W]ater, storm water and wastewater collection, treatment, and reuse systems; water treatment, transmission and distribution systems; roads rehabilitation and construction, buildings construction, border crossings, security installations, environmental assessments and any other infrastructure related work.

It remains unclear whether last year's sewer and water project specifically will be restored. However, the new document indicates that "the minimum guaranteed amount for this contract is $3.0 million and the Ceiling Price for this contract is $30 million."

A Shrub Grows in Baghdad

The U.S. State Dept. may designate a one-million-dollar landscaping "allowance" for the New Embassy Compound (NEC) under construction in the heart of war-torn Baghdad, Iraq -- and that's just for the first year, according to a draft planning document located by The Peacock Report. The compound is within a 64-acre tract envisioned along the Tigris River, where the Iraqi government already has allocated a total of 104 acres for official U.S. business. The construction of 27 buildings, a power plant, water treatment facility and eight guard towers is slated for completion by June 2007. Landscape maintenance services for this project will be performed during that time "by trained personnel using current, acceptable horticultural practices," the Nov. 6 document says:

Landscaping maintenance shall include all turf, trees, beds, shrubs and ground cover within the NEC walls. All flower, ivy and juniper beds on and around the site shall be edged, weeded, mulched and fertilized to maintain a well cultivated appearance. Landscape maintenance shall reflect the highest degree of professional performance.

All walkways shall be seeded and overhanging limbs cut back. Sucker growth shall be removed from trees. Grass and weeds growing against the perimeter wall and buildings shall be trimmed. Fallen limbs and branches shall be removed in conjunction with each mowing.

Despite this need for an untold number of groundskeepers and construction professionals, many of whom will be housed in a still-to-be-constructed $12 million Operations & Maintenance "Man Camp," Iraqis need not apply.

Indeed, no matter how many jobs are created via this project, "Iraqi citizens are not currently able to be vetted so may not work on this contract," the document says. "The majority of the employees are expected to be third country nationals."

An additional security measure that the State Dept. will require from the selected contractor is the creation of an employee Code of Conduct. The internal rules shall, at a minimum, prohibit activities such as the acceptance of "shift relief from unqualified, incompetent or impaired individuals," as well as conduct considered by the U.S. government to be "immoral, offensive, disorderly, criminal, or any other actions that may be construed as detrimental to the safety and well being of the site and its occupants."

Naval Security Document Lumps Journalists With Foreign Spies

A recently obtained Naval Operations Security Plan (OPSEC) expressly reveals the U.S. Navy’s contempt for journalists, whom it views in the same light as – and arguably a less favorable light than – foreign spies. The document was discovered while researching a federal contract to support psychological operations (PSYOPS) that the U.S. military conducts worldwide, a $100 million award secured by Virginia-based CACI International.

While the document – which was labeled FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY – had been available for public viewing, the Navy has since removed all links related to the contract, replacing those links with the phone number of a Naval procurement specialist handling the account.

CACI will carry out much of its PSYOPS and electronic-communications support role at the Naval Air Warfare Center facilities in Patuxent River, Maryland, where the Navy’s Special Communications Requirements (SCR) Division is located. The SCR Division designs and maintains federal systems for C4ISR – command, control, computers, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Consequently, the OPSEC plan serves as a precautionary guide for contractors visiting the Patuxent River Complex and Naval Air Station, advising visitors to be mindful of potential "human intelligence" (HUMINT) threats that foreign collection services pose to national security.

It claims that while 10% of the data that these agents collect are the fruits of espionage, the other 90% of HUMINT is gathered through the analysis of "open source literature," material that is largely – but not exclusively – produced by journalists. The Navy acknowledges that these open sources include information that the Dept. of Defense itself, plus other federal entities such as the Commerce Dept., make available to researchers, contractors, and the general public.

The document points out that such sources are far-reaching, and can be found through "official and unofficial organization and professional publications, the World Wide Web, the National Technical Information Center, the Defense Technical Information Center, at meetings and seminars, or through contractor advertisements."

Although the OPSEC document says all these sources, and not just journalists, provide foreign intelligence collectors with "highly valuable information regarding military capabilities, limitations, and technology," it nonetheless drops the bulk of the blame for this data access on the U.S. media.

"To put the open source threat into the proper context, consider that the total number of dedicated foreign intelligence agents in this country is estimated to be between one and two thousand, while the total number of reporters in this country is closer to one million; a thousand to one ratio." the document says. "As a result, HUMINT organizations depend heavily upon open source information to assist them and are much more likely to learn of new information through the open press."

Wayne Madsen, a former Naval officer and Naval Intelligence staffer, said that while this view of the media is troubling, he is not shocked that the Navy has incorporated its negative perspective into policy.

"The U.S. Navy hierarchy, by far, is more conservative than its counterparts in DoD, including the Marine Corps," Madsen said in an interview. "That is why they entertain these dangerous notions of controlling the media. The Navy's track record on cover-ups – USS Iowa turret blast, Tailhook scandal, USS Vincennes downing of IranAir flight, and other outrageous censorship and disinformation – has made it and the open media enemies for a number of years. It's not surprising the Navy would suggest a plan to control the media and liken them to foreign intelligence agents."

While the Navy is warning CACI to beware of spies and their co-conspirators in U.S. newsrooms, the IT contractor is tasked with enabling U.S. Special Forces to more effectively disseminate media; not free and open media, but the sort of media made possible via aerial leafleting and the broadcasting of U.S. government radio and TV messages in hostile territories.