Hearts & Minds, Baby
Blackwater USA, a private security firm that's controversial because of the power it wields in the Iraq war, allegedly opened fire on and killed several Iraqi civilians.
Iraq's interior ministry wants to ban Blackwater from operating anywhere in that country and jerk its license. The US State Department is apologizing after the bloody shootout in Baghdad.
I'm sure the dead Iraqis feel much better now.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's Interior Ministry has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, an American security firm whose contractors are blamed for a Sunday gunbattle in Baghdad that left eight civilians dead. The U.S. State Department said it plans to investigate what it calls a "terrible incident."
In addition to the fatalities, 14 people were wounded, most of them civilians, an Iraqi official said. [..]"
Ooopsie .. the White House can't be too happy about this .. Maliki is hanging on by a thread now, and forcing him to back down on this after he went public could be the death blow.
There'll be claims back and forth about who shot first .. whether the shootings were justified or not .. whether the dead and wounded were insurgents or civilians, etc. Everyone will have their own spin. It will be interesting to see if any video finds its way out.
My money is on Blackwater. There is so much money involved in Blackwater contracts, you can bet that they won't be leaving anytime soon .. they have been roaming Iraq without oversight or management for years.
Nope, Blackwater is going nowhere. The number of mercenaries in Iraq is around 20,000 -- that's another entire "Surge." It would take eight to ten combat brigades to replace those 20,000 hired guns .. and we don't have 'em. Period.
You don't really think the White House is going to let the Iraqis kick out a high-dollar war profiteer, do you? Next they'll think they can run their own country.
I don't understand what the US State Department is doing using mercenaries to provide its security in the first place .. if memory serves, that task is the duty of our military.
The US Government HAS an Armed Forces at its command. It has no business employing mercenaries. That it does so is a sad indication of our failure in Iraq.
From what I read, Blackwater mercenaries only tend to create more problems for the US military .. who sometimes talk about what kind of Wild West crap Blackwater pulls. US military officers often complain about having to share the battlefield with these private forces who operate under their own rules and agendas.
Boots on the ground say the mercs can be a downright menace, getting into situations where Iraqi security forces engage in direct combat with Blackwater .. that it was cowboying by Blackwater that led to the Fallujah bloodbath.
I remember a video on the Internet that contractors took of themselves, shooting at civilians, set to the Elvis song "Runaway Train."
There's also Abu Ghraib, where all of the translators and half of the interrogators were private contractors from the Titan and CACI firms. The US Army found that contractors were involved in 36 percent of the proven abuse incidents.
The real story here is that the strong-on-defense Republican administration has to hire mercenaries because we don't have enough troops to do the job in Iraq.
Looks to me like it costs much more to contract out than simply to find more active duty personnel to fill the same positions. If we'd offer just half the money the mercs are getting paid, I guarantee more military sign-ups. Blackwater got a $1 billion contract to do the State Department diplomatic security job last year.
"License? We don' need no stinkin' license!"
And Iraqis can't seek justice .. can't prosecute Blackwater. Paul Bremer made sure private contractors are not allowed to be brought into any Iraqi court. They can't be held to Iraqi laws.
Ultimately, they're accountable to the US government. Now, who exactly is going to prosecute them....?
The Department of Justice can .. because the FBI is investigating an incident that took place last Christmas where a Blackwater employee is alleged to have shot and killed a security guard for a top Iraqi official. But, as of yet, no charges have been filed. Experts say no contractor has ever been charged in the death of an Iraqi.
That must really make the Iraqis feel nice and cozy .. knowing there is nothing they can do, they have no right to punish anyone for misbehaving in any way.
"As we now see in Iraq and elsewhere, the privatized military industry is a reality of the 21st century. This entrance of the profit motive onto the battlefield opens up vast, new possibilities, but also a series of troubling questions – for democracy, for ethics, for management, for law, for human rights, and for national and international security. At what point do we begin answering them?"
Food for thought by P.W. Singer (Senior Fellow and Director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at The Brookings Institution) who wrote "Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry"
Mark my words, Blackwater will stay in Iraq .. they will pay a steep fine, say they're sorry and keep their license.
Otherwise, one of Bush or Cheney's cronies will lose money, and that is unacceptable.
End of story.
