Now It's Official... Raymond A. Davis is CIA and Ex-Blackwater/Xe

In case you haven't read or heard about it by now, Raymond A. Davis has just been exposed officially as a security contractor for the CIA. According to senior U.S. intelligence officials, Davis was part of a covert team operating for the past two years out of a safe house in Lahore. At the time of his arrest, Davis was based at a house with five other CIA contractors as well as a 'Blue Badger' (referring to coloured badges worn by CIA personnel) a US official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. It was members of this team that were driving the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado that ran over and killed motorcyclist Ibad-ur-Rehman. When they were unable to extract Davis before he was arrested by police, they left the scene and retreated back to their safehouse. There, within hours, they had destroyed all sensitive documents, abandoned it, and retreated to the US consulate for safety.

Davis' team were closely affiliated with JSOC, which is the US military's Joint Special Operations Command. The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) also commands and controls the Special Mission Units (SMU) of United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). These units perform highly classified activities. JSOC has an excellent relationship with the CIA's elite Special Activities Division and the two forces often operate together. The CIA's Special Activities Division's Special Operations Group often selects their recruits from JSOC. According to a recent report in The Nation, JSOC, in tandem with Blackwater/Xe, has an ongoing drone program, along with snatch/grab/assassination operations, based in Karachi and conducted both in and outside of Pakistan.

Ever the collusive gatekeepers, The Washington Post actually learned of Davis's CIA affiliation after his arrest but agreed not to publish the information at the request of senior US intelligence officials, who cited concern for Davis's safety if his true employment status were disclosed. Those officials withdrew the request Monday after other news organisations identified Davis as a CIA employee and after US officials made a final attempt to prevail upon Pakistan's government to release Davis or move him to a safer facility. Other news agencies such as ABC News were approached by representatives of the Obama Administration and told to keep quiet on Davis' CIA background.

A former member of the US Army Special Forces, Davis was hired as a contract employee of the CIA's Global Response Staff (GRS), a unit that is responsible for providing security for agency employees and facilities in other countries. Members of the GRS most often accompany CIA case officers, who meet with clandestine sources. Until last August, Davis was stationed in Pakistan as an employee of the company once known as Blackwater, now called Xe Services, and contracted to the CIA. According to a former Blackwater executive, the CIA terminated the company's GRS contract in Pakistan, accusing the security company of failing to provide adequate services. The agency then moved to hire all the former Xe/Blackwater security personnel directly as independent contractors. As a GRS officer, Davis made $780 per day working as a security guard for the agency's clandestine case officers.