Fmr. CIA & MI official warns American companies: "Egypt is on the brink of civil war... So give me your business!"

" A longtime CIA and military intelligence veteran warned companies doing business in Egypt Thursday that the country was on the brink of civil war and that outside help for foreigners seeking to evacuate will probably be “unavailable ... We believe that the situation is deteriorating to the point that Egypt will probably go the brink of or actually begin a civil war on 04 February 2011,” said Richard L. Palmer, a former CIA station chief who retired in 1998 and founded a private investigative and security company

”If that does happen, outside evacuation assistance will probably become unavailable for the near future. We believe that the planned demonstration for Friday afternoon in Cairo may be the closing of the window for secure escort from locations in Cairo and Alexandria to local airports,” Palmer said in an e-mail to companies with business in Egypt.

Palmer said he had several teams of two or three local operatives on the ground, one of which had already rescued foreign oil company workers “in the middle of the night”...

“U.S. citizens seem to attracting the most attention,” Palmer said in his e-mail. "Kidnapping is the greatest single danger right now with many kidnappers being dressed like police."

“In one successful assisted evacuation on 02 February 2011, from a small city outside of Cairo," he added, "the vehicles came under directed small arms fire.”..."