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

WND: U.S. Prepares for Casualties in Africa

My latest from WND:

The extrication of U.S. Special Forces injured in African military ventures soon will provide contractors with an additional revenue stream, now that the Obama administration plans to keep such vendors on stand-by, 24/7, for cross-continent airborne mobilization.

While the Pentagon’s reliance on private vendors to support international military operations is nothing new, plans to station such providers specific to such a large swath of Africa does deviate from prior procurement actions.

The Trans-Sahara Short Take-Off and Landing Airlift Support initiative will rely on outside assistance in the event that soldiers of U.S. Special Operations Command-Africa sustain traumatic medical emergencies, thereby requiring urgent transportation out of hostile zones.

Read more at WND.com...

U.S. Could Infuse $300 Million Into Upcoming Elections -- Overseas

Nearly $300 million in contracts could be awarded to help the U.S. provide “technical leadership in the field of electoral and political processes” in foreign nations. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will use private contractors to provide “rapid-response, one-time only” assistance as well as “iterative,” or repeated, goods and services, according to an updated solicitation (#SOL-OAA-11-000037) that U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor located via a routine search of the FedBizOpps database.

USAID currently is carrying out such assistance projects under previously awarded contracts in Afghanistan, Sudan, Pakistan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The agency recently extended the contracts of three vendors—Creative Associates (award #DFD-I-00-05-00197-00), Democracy International (award #DFD-I-00-05-00198-00), and IFES (award #DFD-I-00-05-00225-00)—to continue operating in those nations. USAID estimates that that the approx. $40 million extension will bring total expenditures under that initiative to $185 million—far short of the previous $400 million ceiling that it set for such ventures.

The new solicitation once again will open up the process to competitive bidding over a five-year ordering period.

FOR ADDITIONAL COVERAGE OF THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

FOR ADDITIONAL REGIONAL COVERAGE, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S AFGHANISTAN PAGE, CONGO PAGE, AND PAKISTAN PAGE.

Federal Government Seeks to Hire Elections Adviser

Corruption remains endemic, rule of law is not sufficiently respected, and a pervasive culture of impunity undermines the legitimacy and credibility of the government.

As a consequence of the above assessment—which refers to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), not the United States—the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking to hire a private contractor to bolster its Congo staff. The Democracy and Governance Officer, as the position is known, would assist existing USAID staffers and “most likely” will work with Congo stakeholders and interested NGOs on upcoming elections.

The solicitation acknowledges that the task will be difficult:

In 2006, following an extended period of economic decline, a brutal civil war that resulted in the deaths of over four million people, and three years of an interim transition government, the [DRC] held elections and inaugurated the first democratically elected government since independence (1960s)…

Presidential and general elections are planned for the end of calendar year 2011, followed by local elections in 2012-13. Access to information is a critical issue for most of the population, which remains largely isolated from the sweeping changes promised under the new Constitution. GDRC lacks the wherewithal to implement development projects without significant donor intervention. The most prevalent access to information is through community based radio.

The selected candidate, according to an agency personnel solicitation (#SOL62309000019), can expect to earn an annual salary in the $71,674-$93,175 range.