It would show the Iraqi government as active in its defensive of the safety of its people and probably give it some popular legitimacy. Which the American government has been trying to do hasn’t it?

It’s probably the best spin you could pull out of this case and the only people who get their paws a little muddy on the stage is Blackwater.

Yes and no. This is one of the many situations where the administration's professed and real goals are out of step with one another.

Investigations and prosecutions would, as you say, help establish its legitimacy, independence, and authority, which is critical for obtaining any kind of result from this mess that might be called a success.

On the other hand, from the very beginning, the occupation has been less about promoting Iraqi political freedoms than it is about promoting the "freedom" for major Republican campaign donors to pillage the land wihout hindrance and profit from its destruction. I genuinely believe that this is what Bush actually means whenever he uses the word - though I doubt that he's even aware there's anything amiss with that.

Moreover, I guarantee you that the thought of permitting American citizens to prosecuted for war crimes in a foreign court has Cheney and Bush trembling in their socks. It would betray their cronies in Blackwater, et al., and would likely be read as a stab in the back by the uniformed military. Moreover, it would make it harder for themselves to resist possible indictments, and that's no small consideration in itself.

Thanks. I really didn't want to have to say it.

Most of the people I have met who were Blackwater contractors were going to leave the military for good either way (mostly due to marraige problems, and the money not being great once you start getting older). Making 100k+ was the only way to get them to come back to Iraq after they said they would never go back for another tour.

So I guess what im saying is that the military would be having major retention problems even if Blackwater didn't exist. Occupying a country and being subjected to guerrilla attacks (and the multiple redeployments) is terrible for morale.

So instead of paying the military decent wages, and providing for adequate medical coverage after they retire we should be overpaying dangerous and failed ex-military men to do the job that our armed forces should be doing in the furst place? How much could we shrink our military budget if we replaced half of all contractors with military personel???? How much of that saved money could be passed onto the soldiers and still have enough left over to help pay for this fucking war! My grandkids are going to still be paying the interest on the pay for some drunk trigger happy redneck mercenary. A fine use of tax-payer dollars!

In WWII the military did almost everything. They built their own barracks, they fed their own soldiers they did their own laundry, they provided their own security. Now they don't even do the fighting?!?!?! Come on, this is a completely fucked up situation that will lead us no where good.


The military can do it better and cheaper than any contractor. And that's including giving our soldiers a fucking pay raise and real medical benefits when they retire.

That is true. There is a reason I got out at the point I got out in my career. I really wasn't interested in rotating back and forth to Iraq/Afghanistan but that was what was on the table for me. Initially I had no plans of contracting but situations change.
My first real experience with contractors came in Bosnia back in 97. That always put it in the back of my mind. More money, doing the same job, with freedom.

I wouldn't say "dangerous and failed ex-military men". I know Blackwater is a bitch to get into and most of those guys are ex-Special Ops.
And I don't know exact figures and such, but contracting jobs out can be a wash. Instead of paying for barracks, chow, uniforms, medical, retirement, all the costs of having a soldier, you pay some ex-military person 100k a year with no obligation.
What is bad though is a lot of the companies are now sub-contracting out work. They have 1 American boss and 30 foreign workers. All the jobs from security to running a fuel farm.
What really sucks about that is the government pays a flat rate for each body, the companies keep the extra. So a company who used to pay 31 Americans 100k a year, now pays 1 American 100k and 30 foreigners 70k a year.
They recruit a lot from this area where the average salary is $300 a month with 70% unemployment. The companies profit more and more.

Thats comforting.

This is encouraging news. The headline suggests that the Iraqi ruling body came down with some serious dysentery.

Blackwater is building a factory to make APCs and armoured vehicles at its corporate HQ in North Carolina. I'd be surprised if they didn't have helicopter gunships on tap.

Hey, outsourcing military needs worked like a charm of the Romans, so stop being such a complainer, okay?

A convincing argument could be made that, with estimates putting the presence of Blackwater (the unaccountable 'private security contractor') at levels greater than that of American military forces, Blackwater has contributed greatly to the insurgency.

That's a brilliant self-perpetuating strategy. Not so fantastic for the Iraqi people, or long term American security and interest, but fantastic for Blackwater's bottom line.

This war has gotten so confusing and so amazingly out of control, that I don't know what's going on anymore.






Tabletennis, anyone?

Good article, Z.

It was really only a matter of time until one of these companies got themselves into trouble. Right now they're enjoying the fact that (I think) most Americans don't know exactly how many of them there are in Iraq. As this shit starts becoming more and more visable, though, the public will have far less patience for mercenaries than it would for actual US soldiers.

Though, I doubt seriously we'll see anything happen to Blackwater in this case.

UPDATE.

The official Iraqi government report, as yet unverified, says that the car bomb (in contrast to the State Department, they assert there was only one) identified in the American account was "so far away that it could not possibly have been a reason for the convoy to begin shooting."

Instead the report claims that Blackwater personnel opened fire, unprovoked, on a "slowly moving vehicle" (which happened to contain a couple and their child) that failed to come to a complete stop at an intersection to allow the convoy to pass.

Also interesting to note is that it was discovered that Blackwater has not been licensed to operate in Iraq for some time, apparently since last year.

Nicely done, Z. Contractors exist because we are going through a shift in the Services, it's more evident in maintenance and logistics, but private firms are also taking over training and security operations.

My policy was absolutely no firing post-IEDstrike, unless we could confirm the presence of weapons and/or the trigger man. Needless to say, we didn't fire after being hit...