extortion, protection payments, Derek Harvey and the Three Amigos

https://www.npr.org/2019/12/28/792065458/gold-star-families-sue-defense-contractors-alleging-they-funded-the-taliban


BLACK & VEATCH SPECIAL PROJECTS
CORPORATION, CENTERRA GROUP, LLC,
DAI GLOBAL LLC, ENVIRONMENTAL
CHEMICAL CORPORATION, G4S HOLDINGS
INTERNATIONAL (AG) LIMITED, G4S RISK
MANAGEMENT LIMITED, JANUS GLOBAL
OPERATIONS LLC, LOUIS BERGER GROUP,
INC., LOUIS BERGER INTERNATIONAL, INC.,
LOUIS BERGER GROUP, INC. / BLACK &
VEATCH SPECIAL PROJECTS CORPORATION
JOINT VENTURE, MTN GROUP LIMITED,
MTN (DUBAI) LIMITED, MTN
AFGHANISTAN, 




NPR reported on these so-called "extortion rackets" in 2010. 

"Resupply convoys navigating the hazardous Afghan highway system frequently have to hire security firms to protect them, and as often, these security firms pay off militias that control key stretches of road," international correspondent Peter Kenyon wrote.

More than 100 Gold Star families are suing several major defense contractors, alleging they made illegal "protection payments" to the Taliban — thereby funding the Taliban's insurgency efforts that killed or wounded thousands of Americans in Afghanistan.

It's illegal under the federal Anti-Terrorism Act to provide material support to the Taliban. The U.S. has warned defense contractors that protection payments are against the law, but according to the lawsuit, the practice has proliferated because defense contractors feel it's a cost of doing business.

"Defendants supported the Taliban for a simple reason: Defendants were all large Western companies with lucrative businesses in post-9/11 Afghanistan, and they all paid the Taliban to refrain from attacking their business interests," the complaint says. "Those protection payments aided and abetted terrorism by directly funding an al-Qaeda-backed Taliban insurgency that killed and injured thousands of Americans."

According to the lawsuit, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Taliban in 2005 began systematically approaching international businesses operating in Afghanistan, and offered them a choice: pay up, or else. "Defendants paid the Taliban to leave them alone," the suit alleges. "The payments saved Defendants money: it was cheaper to buy off the Taliban than it would have been to invest in the security necessary to mitigate the terrorists' threats."
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 "According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. is paying about $16 million dollars a month to members of the Sons of Iraq. Petraeus emphasized during his testimony that the "savings in vehicles not lost because of reduced violence — not to mention the priceless lives saved — have far outweighed the cost of their monthly contracts."

https://www.factcheck.org/2008/08/us-government-paying-former-insurgents/


Roberts: The real purpose of the "surge" was to hide another deception.

The Bush regime is paying Sunni insurgents $800,000 a day not to attack US forces. 

… Allegedly, the Sons of Iraq are now at work fighting al Qaeda. … This is a much cheaper way to fight a war. We can only wonder why Bush didn’t figure it out sooner."

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"Harvey, a former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst with long experience in the Middle East, had been brought in by Flynn, who was fired as national security advisor a month after Trump took office. He is also close to Gen. David Petraeus, who is said to be advising the Trump administration from the sidelines."

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/mcmaster-removes-flynn-pick-derek-harvey-national-security-council-n787146


It has also been reported that Harvey grew close to White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.

"I treasure having had the opportunity to support committed and visionary leaders such as Mrs. K.T. McFarland, Mr. Jared Kushner, and Mr. Steve Bannon, and consummate professionals like Mr. Jason Greenblatt and Ms. Dina Powell," Harvey said in his statement"

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