Joseph Cofer Black (born 1950) is an American former CIA officer who served as director of the Counterterrorism Center in the years surrounding the September 11th attacks, and was later appointed Ambassador-at-Largeand Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the State Department by President George W. Bush, serving until his resignation in 2004.[1]Prior to his roles combatting terrorism, Black served across the globe in a variety of roles with the Directorate of Operations at the CIA. (Wikipedia)
Cofer Black is a former CIA officer, State Department official, and Blackwater executive who advised both the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
During the 2012 campaign, conservative journalist Eli Lake described Black as “Mitt Romney’s trusted envoy to the dark side” of the U.S. intelligence community. “Black has known Romney since 2007, when the candidate was running for president the first time, and has been an important adviser ever since,” Lake wrote. “But unlike other Romney foreign-policy aides, he does not spend time tweaking speeches or coming up with nuanced ways to explain the candidate’s positions on international affairs. Instead, he often acts as the campaign’s in-house intelligence officer,” arranging meetings for the candidate with former intelligence officials and providing briefs from foreign intelligence agencies.[1]
Black’s 28-year CIA career reached its peak from 1999-2002, when Black served as the head of the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center (CTC). As one of the primary CIA officers charged with pursuing Al Qaeda operatives both before and after the September 11 attacks, Black faced considerable scrutiny for his role in the government’s failure to stop the attackers. A classified report from the CIA’s internal watchdog, reported the Guardian, implicated Black in the CIA’s “failure to place hijackers Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf Alhazmi on a government watchlist in 2000 and to inform the FBI that the other September 11 hijackers had entered the US,” leaving Black subject to a possible formal reprimand.[2]
9/11 Terrorist attacks
After the September 11 attacks, Black famously remarked of Al Qaeda, “When we're through with them they will have flies walking across their eyeballs.”[3] He later told Russian officials, whose help he sought as the United States prepared to invade Afghanistan, "We're going to kill them. We're going to put their heads on sticks. We're going to rock their world."[4]
In the early days of the war on terror, according to theWashington Post, Black was “known for his leading role in many of the [CIA]’s more controversial programs, including the rendition and interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects and the detention of some of them in secret prisons overseas.”[5] According to the 9/11 Commission Report, Black was also an early advocate of launching unmanned drone strikes against alleged enemy combatants in Afghanistan.[6]
General Atomics MQ-1 Predator
Black left government service in 2004 after serving two years as the Bush administration’s ambassador at large for counterterrorism, signing on as a Vice Chairman of Blackwater USA, the controversial private security firm founded by Erik Prince. At Blackwater, Black assembled the “Total Intelligence Solutions” operation, a risk consultancy for private corporations doing business overseas that, Black told the Washington Post, brought “the skills traditionally honed by CIA operatives directly to the board room.” He added, “We provide intelligence to our clients. It's not about taking pictures. It's business intelligence. We collect all information that's publicly available. This is a completely legal enterprise. We break no laws. We don't go anywhere near breaking laws. We don't have to."[7]
Black resigned from Blackwater in 2008, reportedly after learning of the company’s bribing of Iraqi officials as protests came to a head over the Nisour Square massacre, a 2007 incident in which Blackwater employees murdered 17 Iraqi civilians and wounded dozens more in an apparently indiscriminate attack.[8]
According to the biography from his speakers bureau (which also credits him with having “conceived, planned and led the CIA’s war in Afghanistan”), Black “is currently the Vice President of Blackbird Technologies, a military contractor that offers state-of-the-art technology-based solutions to intelligence, defense and corporate challenges.”[9]
Former CIA Director Joins Burisma, and It Is Good News
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/former-c ... 4ab51c75a4
Former Director of CIA's Counterterrorist Center joined Burisma's board, and he will help to expand the company's global presence.
Burisma Group, an independent oil and gas company with operations in Ukraine, announced that Joseph Cofer Black will join the company's board of directors. Joseph Cofer Black's past experience includes: Director of CIA's Counterterrorist Center between 1999 and 2002, and Ambassador at Large for Counter-Terrorism between 2002 and 2004. With such a strong background, Mr. Black will be leading the company's security and strategic development efforts.
According to President of Burisma Group Nikolay Zlochevskyi, "We are excited that Mr. Black has agreed to serve as a member of Burisma's Board...Burisma is expanding into new and emerging markets and is actively pursuing global energy projects."
Here's a look at Joseph Cofer Black's profile, depicting why he would be a great fit for Burisma's security and strategic development efforts in different countries. Black is well recognized across the globe for his work in counterterrorism, cybersecurity, foreign affairs, national security, as well as experience in international business development and strategies.
After three decades serving the public up until 2005, Black moved to the private sector to guide companies to protect against security threats, as well as provide guidance on strategic expansion in countries with high barriers of entry. Black has also worked with several international companies and provided advice regarding strategic business development and various areas of risks.
That being said, Joseph Cofer Black is sure to provide Burisma with guidance in multiple areas, and consequently, it will allow the company to strategically expand and develop its business, while increasing its security measures.
Black Will Be A Valuable Addition To Burisma's Board
Mr. Black stated "I was impressed to learn that Burisma Group is the fastest-growing private gas producer in Central Europe. International projects where the Group is involved require a more thorough analysis and risk assessment, not only in terms of conventional risks - financial or political but also in terms of security."
Additionally, Mr. Black knows the difficulties in today's time as more companies move to information technologies. Leveraging the knowledge of Joseph Cofer Black, Burisma would be able to deal with and prevent potential cybersecurity threats and other related risks. In turn, this will save the company a great deal of money over time. Moreover, Black has experience in a plethora of countries across the globe, which would help Burisma in expanding its business.
Black went on to say, "Knowing all too well the energy and security challenges Ukraine has had to manage, I am pleased to join the Board of a privately held company that has been continuously working to ensure Ukraine's energy security. Burisma should be proud of its contributions to Ukraine's economy through its investments in production, job creation and expansion and its tax payments to the state."
Burisma's Investment Programme
Burisma also announced recently that it is ramping up investment in 2017, spending more than $100 million USD in its local growth. At the same time, the Group is planning to drill 20 new wells with a total depth of circa 100 km.
Here's a look at Burisma's production growth between 2010 and 2015:
In addition to its impressive compound annual growth rate of nearly 50% over this period, Burisma has 33 licenses for hydrocarbon production in the main oil and gas basins of Ukraine, as well as 30% of the market share of the independent natural gas producing industry, by gas output volume. Moreover, 91% of the company's total production volume is in natural gas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cofer_Black
Blackwater
From 2005 to 2008 Black was Vice Chairman of Blackwater USA (later renamed Blackwater Worldwide, then Xe, and finally Academi), a US-based private security firm which was "the biggest of the State Department's three private security contractors".[27]
In March 2006 Black allegedly suggested at an international conference in Amman, Jordan, that Blackwater USA was ready to move towards providing security professionals up to brigade size for humanitarian efforts and low intensity conflicts. Black denies the allegation. Critics have suggested this may be going too far in putting political decisions in the hands of privately owned corporations.[28] The company denies this was ever said.[29]
Black resigned in 2008 reportedly after learning of illegal payments to Iraqi officials.[30]
Black later served as Chairman of Total Intelligence Solutions (Total Intel), a private intelligence gathering group. This company was created in February 2007 by the Prince Group, the holding company that owns Blackwater. Total Intel was formed by the merger of The Black Group LLC (also led by Black), Terrorism Research Center, Inc., and Technical Defense.[31] As of 2021, Total Intel has been absorbed by OODA group, a business intelligence and crisis response consulting group. Black appears on the firm's list of consultants.[32]
Mitt Romney presidential campaigns
On April 26, 2007, Black was chosen by Mitt Romney to head a campaign counter-terrorism policy advisory group during the Republican's 2008 U.S. presidential campaign.[33]
In October 2011, Black was chosen by Romney to serve as "Special Adviser" on all foreign policy issues during his 2012 presidential campaign.[34]
Burisma
In February 2017, the Ukrainian oil and gas corporation Burisma announced the addition of Black to the company's board of directors, leading the company's security and strategic development efforts.[35]
Greenwald: The NYT Now Admits the Biden Laptop -- Falsely Called "Russian Disinformation" -- is Authentic
In the wake of the Hunter Biden email controversy, a report from The Wall Street Journal associated Black's role at the firm with a group of "well-connected operatives in Washington to help persuade Ukrainian prosecutors to drop criminal cases against it."[36]
During the 2020 election, the Trump Campaign shared an article from a conservative opinion outlet advancing a conspiracy theory connecting Black's work with Burisma and his connection to Mitt Romney's presidential campaigns. The campaign used the article to attempt to tie Romney into the growing Hunter Biden email controversey and discredit his vote to convict Trump during his first impeachment trial as a product of corrupt collusion with the Bidens.[37] Black was hired six months after Hunter Biden had departed the board.[37] Romney associates described the claims as an attempt at the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.[37]
Black remains a member of the Burisma board as of February 2021.[38]
Mueller investigation
Black's name appears in volume five of the 2020 Senate Intelligence Committee report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections produced following the investigation by special prosecutor Robert Mueller. Joel Zamel, executive at Psy-Group, an Israeli private intelligence agency specializing in honey traps and perception manipulation campaigns, testified that apart from their pitch to the Trump Campaign, the firm had proposed projects to three other clients: Russian oligarchs Oleg Deripaska and Dmitri Rybolovlev, and Blackwater founder Erik Prince, whom Black had introduced to Zamel in 2016.[39]
Other roles
In January 2016 Black became an independent director of publicly traded biotechnology company Northwest Biotherapeutics (NWBO), a Maryland-based development-stage biopharmaceutical company developing cancer immunotherapies.[40]
Awards
In addition to numerous performance awards and meritorious citations, while at CIA Black received the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the George H. W. Bush Medal for Excellence, and the Exceptional Collector Award for 1994.[5]