A lawsuit filed in federal court and recently in the news reminds me again of the dark side of some American companies engaged in the mechanics of war. Unlike many companies engaged in the manufacture of weapons, the company in question – CACI – is in the business of what some could say are contracted war crimes.
Al Shimari v. CACI is a federal lawsuit brought by four Iraqi torture victims against private US-based contractor CACI International Inc., and CACI Premier Technology, Inc. It asserts that CACI participated directly and through a conspiracy in torture and other illegal conduct while it was providing interrogation services at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
Among the heinous acts to which the four Plaintiffs were subjected at the hands of the defendant and certain government co-conspirators were: electric shocks; repeated brutal beatings; sleep deprivation; sensory deprivation; forced nudity; stress positions; sexual assault; mock executions; humiliation; hooding; isolated detention; and prolonged hanging from the limbs.
So who is CACI exactly?
CACI International, Inc. (NYSE: CAI) is a publicly held Information Technology company, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia and London, England. CACI provides national security, defense, and intelligence-related solutions in the national interest of the United States to counter the threat of global terrorism, assure homeland security, and strengthen the company’s role as a national asset for national missions. CACI has approximately 11,800 employees in 120 offices in the US and Europe; 69% of CACI employees hold security clearances.
Its senior executives include Paul Cofoni who was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), William Fairl, President, US Operations, and Randall Fuerst, the Chief Operations Officer (COO). Dr. J. P. (Jack) London is Chairman of the Board and Executive Chairman.
So who owns CACI?
Like many public companies, institutional investors largely hold CACI. For starters, the company’s biggest shareholders, in order, are:
FMR LLC (Fidelity)
WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT CO LLP
BARCLAYS GLOBAL INVESTORS UK HOLDINGS LTD
VANGUARD GROUP INC
BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORP
BANK OF AMERICA CORP
ARTISAN PARTNERS LTD PARTNERSHIP
KINETICS ASSET MANAGEMENT INC
VAUGHAN NELSON SCARBOROUGH & MCCULLOUGH LP
ASTER INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CO
The tragedy here lies in the fact that we, as Americans own CACI though mutual funds and directly through stock ownership and offer nary a peep about the conduct of this company and how it does business.
The Investment Risk Associated with CACI’s Business of Torture
As noted in a 2004 article in Salon.com, the problems with CACI and other firms in Iraq posed real threats to the reputation of the U.S. for years to come.
Among the individuals not qualified for sensitive interrogation positions at Abu Ghraib were many hired by CACI International, a Virginia company that provided intelligence services to the U.S. military, and Titan Corp., a San Diego company that supplied translators. According to an investigation released July 21 by the Armys inspector general, a third of contract interrogators at Abu Ghraib “had not received formal training in military interrogation techniques, policy, and doctrine.”
As America moves from its ends-justify-the means war footing of the Bush years to a more sanity based approach toward world conflict, the question in my mind is what place does CACI and other companies of its ilk have in the global economy?
The answer is: None.
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