Reporter's Notebook: Stephen Peacock

About Stephen Peacock

Biography
I'm a former Washington, DC, journalist (1998-2003) who most recently worked for Communications Daily and Washington Internet Daily (WID), investigative newsletters that cover the telecommunications, broadcast and Internet industries. Following the 9/11 attacks, my news beat expanded beyond Capitol Hill telecom/TV/IT policy and began to include technology-policy coverage at the Pentagon and Dept. of Homeland Security. I've written over a thousand articles about government and industry affairs, and I'm pleased to say that I was the reporter who broke the story about the Total Information Awareness surveillance/data-collection initiative of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. I've written articles for publications including NACLA Report on the Americas, Drug Enforcement Report, Corrections Journal, SoJo Mail (Sojourners), and the Tampa Tribune. I've also written a memoir about my former career as a plainclothes security officer of the Helmsley Palace hotel in New York City, Hotel Dick: Harlots, Starlets, Thieves & Sleaze. I look forward to contributing to the fine work being done here at NarcoSphere.

View full user profile

Stephen Peacock's Latest Comments

On a related note...
State Dept. Arranges Delivery of Sniper Rifles to Bogota
September 10, 2007 - 9:24pm
Appreciation
House of Death continues to haunt Bush Administration
August 7, 2007 - 8:03pm
O'Really
Autopsy
April 27, 2007 - 12:06am
Credit where credit's due
U.S. Government Starts Spy Program in Mexico
April 3, 2007 - 8:34am
Likewise
Free Speech Threatened at Columbia Universtity?
October 20, 2006 - 8:24am

U.S. Marshals to Expand Caribbean 'Mission'

Posted by Stephen Peacock - May 20, 2005 at 12:24 am

The Justice Prisoner & Alien Transportation System (JPATS) of the U.S. Marshals Service is getting ready for what appears to be an anticipated increase in detainee deportations. The Oklahoma-based JPATS on Thursday (May 19) alerted potential vendors that it needs to buy a 56+ passenger twin-engine turboprop aircraft "to perform a recently expanded Caribbean mission."

U.S. Air Force Preparing to Build More Counterdrug Deployment Sites

Posted by Stephen Peacock - May 16, 2005 at 4:02 pm

The U.S. Air Force is conducting "market research" of various equipment suppliers and service providers in preparation for future counterdrug surveillance missions staged from Ecuador, Curacao, and Aruba. The agency's Air Combat Command last month released a special notice for potential contractors that can provide all "personnel, equipment, tools, materials, supervision, and other supplies" in support of U.S. "forward operating locations" (FOLs) in the three nations.

U.S. Embassy-Bogota Seeks Greater Internal Oversight of Drug-War Funds

Posted by Stephen Peacock - May 3, 2005 at 1:36 am

The U.S. Embassy in Bogota is searching for a Financial Management Advisor to oversee a billion-dollar stockpile of U.S. taxpayer dollars slated for counternarcotics operations in Colombia. The Embassy’s Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) issued a sources-sought notice May 2 via the federal Electronic Posting System to fill the position – a job that comes with the responsibility of providing financial management “oversight and direction” for all U.S.-sponsored counterdrug programs and appropriations.

Smile and Say 'Cheese'

Posted by Stephen Peacock - April 29, 2005 at 2:03 am

I discovered with mild amusement that the U.S. Bureau of International Narcotics & Law Enforcement Affairs put out separate bid requests on Thursday to buy 150 "small pickup trucks" and 120 "water resistant" digital cameras, respectively. The bureau is buying the trucks and cameras on behalf of the American Embassy-Bogota.

US Forms Task Force to Maintain Grip On Colombian Peace Process

Posted by Stephen Peacock - April 19, 2005 at 12:34 am

A nascent Peace Process Task Force organized by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been meeting regularly to prepare for what it calls “the hoped-for, multi-year Colombian peace process,” according to a newly obtained government planning document. One of the group’s goals is to scrutinize and, if deemed necessary, alter the course of initiatives launched by “non-U.S.” governmental organizations such as the International Criminal Court and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the document points out.

State Dept. Recruiting Counterdrug Aviation Adviser for Peruvian Jungle Post

Posted by Stephen Peacock - April 15, 2005 at 2:43 am

The U.S. State Dept. is continuing to step up deployment of personnel and resources to conduct air-based coca- and poppy eradication missions in South America, evident most recently by a recruitment campaign to locate a new Fixed Wing Aviation Advisor at a key command post in the jungle town of Pucallpa, Peru – a facility involved in the April 20, 2001, downing of an airplane that killed U.S. missionary Veronica Bowers and her infant daughter, Charity.

Mercenaries to Play Greater Role in Future U.S.-Led Drug Interdiction, Crop Eradication Missions

Posted by Stephen Peacock - March 31, 2005 at 2:05 pm

The U.S. Dept. of Defense (DoD) and the State Dept. are preparing to intensify and expand drug interdiction and aerial crop-eradication efforts in South America, Central America and the Caribbean. Based on a review of recently distributed federal-procurement documents, the U.S. government is actively soliciting the help of mercenaries whose sole function will be to locate and rescue missing or captured Drug War personnel.

The hiring of private-sector contractors to perform these “personnel recovery” missions for the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) is coinciding with other initiatives in and around Colombia; for instance, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) simultaneously is arranging to buy millions of gallons of jet fuel through 2009 to supply Colombian national police and military posts, camps and stations, the documents show.

Washington Consulting Firm Secures Bolivian Justice Project Contract

Posted by Stephen Peacock - February 6, 2005 at 4:20 am

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) this week awarded a $14.7 million contract to a Washington, D.C., firm to oversee the next phase of the Bolivian Administration of Justice (BAOJ) Project. The Bolivian and U.S. governments since 1992 have jointly implemented the BAOJ, which USAID says has succeeded in bringing about “full criminal justice reform in the country.”

Despite implementing a new Code of Criminal Procedures and replacing the nation’s inquisitorial system for “a modern accusatorial, oral one,” USAID says that more work is necessary over the next five years “to strengthen and sustain accomplishments.” Consequently, the agency awarded the contract to Checchi & Company Consulting, Inc., a firm known for its worldwide efforts in assisting countries in the modernization of their criminal justice systems.

USAID Extending Life of Colombian 'Alternative Development' Program

Posted by Stephen Peacock - February 5, 2005 at 12:54 pm

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is planning to infuse several hundred million additional dollars into “alternative development” projects in Colombia over the next five years, according to a review of recently released policy planning documents. The programs are extensions of existing illicit-crop substitution efforts that USAID has supported since 2001.

Language