The US’ private, mercenary army is been kicked out of Iraq. How long do you think this will last once Cheney finds out?
We’ve posted about the privatization of the military by using shadow companies like Blackwater in the past as have others.
BBC: Iraq shootout firm loses licence
Iraq has cancelled the licence of the private security firm, Blackwater USA, after it was involved in a gunfight in which at least eight civilians died.
The Iraqi interior ministry said the contractor, based in North Carolina, was now banned from operating in Iraq.
The Blackwater workers, who were contracted by the US state department, apparently opened fire after coming under attack in Baghdad on Sunday.
Thousands of private security guards are employed in lawless Iraq.
They are often heavily armed, but critics say some are not properly trained and are not accountable except to their employers.
In a related story, it seems the training of would-be Jack Bauers should become as big a business as that of homeland security (ie, the Insecurity Industry ™ [Note: Not affiliated with War Without End Enterprises, soon to be a Fox News subsidiary (Motto: If you can’t spin the news, make some of your own.)]
Now we get to see who has more control over Iraq currently; the Iraqi government, or Blackwater and Eric Prince. I’m not betting on the government, alas.
They will be replaced Generic Company Name, a wholly owned subsidiary of Blackwater.
Anyone with half a wit of common sense could have seen this coming.
OF COURSE, people earning a couple of bucks a day (if they can get the work) are going to resent the hell out of American mercenaries earning 100,000 dollars a year to drive trucks and shoot at civilians with impunity.
Is it any surprise that Iraqis are cynical about the occupiers and think it is justified to fight them?
You’d be too, if the tables were reversed.
My brother in law, Dustin Reynolds a cop from Purcell, OK is one of those mercenaries.
Hack,
You’re missing the importance of this story through your biased view: This is just another domino in the coming abrupt pullout from Iraq.
After all, you can’t fault Bush/Cheney from pulling out if the elected government of Iraq doesn’t let them do the job (in the way they want to, meaning that there’s now no money to be made).
The funny part is that, long term, this is a good decision for private security firms. Once the pullout happens the country will enter a limbo state, requiring more private security. In turn, non-Arabs will be trusted to carry out this security more than Arabs, since they don’t have a dog in the fight (or a tribal heritage to worry about).
#3 Greg Allen
You are 100% correct.
The first step to winding down this war is to start removing the mercenaries that should not have been there in the first place. As with mercenaries everywhere, they are nothing but expensive trouble.
This whole mercenary thing is another part of the shame that has been wrought over America and it’s underlying principles by our current government.
Who would have ever thought that the US government would actually become one of those governments that we fought against and utterly despised, one of those governments directly paying mercenaries to subjugate and torture people and then claim that since it’s not the US Military, then it really isn’t the government problem.
If you are a true American patriot, then you should be ashamed of what America has become, and how it’s underlying principles are being abandoned. I am ashamed of what our country is doing.
And by the way… my question still stands… exactly who is America fighting in Iraq?
Say hello to America’s next generation of police and security guards.
Should be fun to watch, from a distance, a very long distance.
Blackwater will just change its name, and come back as a “different” corporation.
This is one reason why corporations should NOT have the same rights as people. They can live forever. Albeit under a different name, under different leadership, but they can live on and on. Much longer than any human could hope for.
I’m with Milo in #2, and Rabble Rouser in #8.
Do we really think all of Blackwater’s personnel are just going to hop on planes and fly back to the US? To Kuwait or UAE, maybe…
From the linked article:
All Blackwater personnel have been told to leave Iraq immediately, with the exception of the men involved in the incident on Sunday.
“We are taking it very seriously indeed,” she told the BBC, adding that discussions were still taking place about Blackwater’s status now that they had been ordered to leave.
When asked if Blackwater was complying with the order, the spokeswoman said she could not comment because the investigation into the incident was still in progress.
So, it just doesn’t matter that they have all been ordered to leave, because “discussions” and an “investigation” are in progress.
We have opened a criminal investigation against the group who committed the crime…. They will have to remain in the country and stand trial, the ministry said.
Anyone think the trial will ever take place?
James Hill – Just how shortsighted are you?
“This will be a boon for private security firms”
Just how many of these American mercenaries do you think would take a job in the Middle East if they don’t have the full blessing, support and backing of the US government. Remember, these are people that KNOW that if push comes to shove, they can count on the US military to bail them out of trouble and come to their rescue. 90% of the mercenaries would leave Iraq tomorrow, no matter what their pay, if the US were to place them “on their own”.
The average merc in Iraq is making well over $150,000 / year, plus we are paying for ANYTHING they ask for in terms of armor, weaponry, logistical support. They have the best of everything. On the other hand, the US military is in a ‘beggar mode’ right now (and has been since the beginning of the occupation).
You want to know how corrupt the whole system is right now? When the secretary of defense went to Iraq last year, he was guarded by mercenaries. Now explain that for me… the secretary of defense not even using his own military for security. That should tell you just how pervasive and distorted the use of contractors has become.
James, who are we fighting in Iraq? Who are we at war with?
Personally, I don’t really want the mercs to come back to the US. These guys are future bank robbers, drug smugglers and all around degenerates. Is it possible to make what they did in Iraq retroactively a crime so we can just lock them in some super max dungeon when they get here?
The slaughtering Blackwaters will be ‘ investigated ‘, as were the anthrax ‘ attacks ‘ ( oops, the anthrax came from al-Usa’s military ), various voting machine ‘ anomalies ‘, al-Usa’s non-remembering Attorney General, the slaughter of Pat Tilman, etc., etc., etc.
Allen McDonald, El Galloviejo®
4. Joe- I hope you used a pseudonym. because even if I disliked my brother in law I dont think it wise to identify him online.
Tomorrow’s headline:
Blackwater Mercenaries Overthrow Iraq Govt. – Christopher Walken named as new Prime Minister.
just make machines do it – preferable remote controlled from back here in the good ol us of a…. it’ll be perfect for the console generation 😉
Convenient “plausible deniability” there, for the White House and Pentagon, if a private contractor screws up big time, instead of Army troops. And the contractor can’t be sued, as so protected by Congress.
Still you have to see the ironic side to this. The Clinton admin had it’s “Whitewater” scandal. And now the Bush admin could have a “Blackwater scandal”. Talk about history repeating itself, kinda.
#6 Awake,
It’s nice to know someone else agrees with me. I’ve been sayting this since about day #1 in Iraq and I felt like a pretty lonely voice in the wilderness back then.
Who are we fighting in Iraq? I think it is pretty clear that we are fighting the Iraqis.
Forget the dumb rhetoric that we are fighting FOR the Iraqis — we are not fighting the Iraqis.
Yes, we are also sometimes fighting Saudis or Iranians or Syrians but by-and-large, we are fighting the Iraqis over who controls the country (and, especially, the oil).
>>> I meant to say we are _NOW_ fighting the Iraqis.
And we will continue to fight them as long as we stay there. The current Bush talking point (dutifully parotted by Fox and the conservative media) is that we’ll be in Iraq like we’ve been in Japan, Korea and Germany — for fifty years and counting after the war.
But a standing army in a Muslim country is a different situation than those other countries. Bush and the conservatives are — as usual — too clueless to understand that but it’s a glaring reality.
Muslims countries and cultures have a very strong sense of territory that makes it a religious DUTY to fight against non-Muslim occupiers.
Anyone who paid attention (which, of course, excludes the average conservative) knows that bin Laden’s stated motivation for the 911 attack was America’s standing army in Saudi Arabia. Bush quietly capitulated on this issue because he thought he’d could use Iraq as a ME base for our army.
But — mark my words — the violent resistance to our presence in Iraq will not go away in five, fifteen, fifty or even five hundred years.
I just love how “Dvorak.org/blog” accuses Fox of making up the news and then you look here and all you see is agenda driven journalism. At least Fox puts on the other viewpoint, rather than doing drive bys with a blog.
I saw the BBC story on this and it looks like it was an attack on a US State department convoy that was attacked, and Blackwater responded.
Of course the truth won’t matter here, because those with an agenda will turn the story into whatever makes them feel good.
Blackwater not only protects US State Department personnel in Iraq, but also several members of the Iraqi goverment and cabinet. If this was Maliki saying this I would have to wonder what was going on, but since this was an Interior Ministry offical screaming foul, I have no faith in anything they say. The Interior Ministry is well known to be completely infiltrated with Sadr militia, and guess who that militia usually attacks?………goverment ministers that are Sunni, US State department officals and US soldiers. It’s because of the Interior Ministry that the Sunni won’t make agreements with the Malaki goverment, because when they allow Iraqi police into their neighborhoods, suddenly they are attacked by militia and the police can’t seem to find them.
The Italian newspapers are saying that the dead seem to be Mahdi army…..and I’m betting they are right.
#20 – but of course, that bit of information will be left out of reporting in the MSM.
Heaven forbid that someone coming under hostile fire should return fire.
19 and 20 – Matt… or should it be Joshua? You are obviously the same person, you aren’t fooling anyone.
As far as I’m concerned, there is no justification for the export, payment and direct use of non-military personnel in military roles. You have people that are accountable to nobody, neither the US military or the Iraqi government, they are outside the law.
To the Iraqi people, they are the equivalent of the ‘foreign fighters’ that are coming in from Pakistan, Syria, Iran, etc, except that these are ‘blessed’ by the Americans.
From a legal and moral standpoint, these US contractors are the exact equivalent of the “non-combatants” being held in Guantanamo.
If you want to know what kind of person you are defending, take a look at this video of a contractor shooting cars randomly just for the fun of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BDByPfIavQ
#19, Matt,
I just love how “Dvorak.org/blog” accuses Fox of making up the news and then you look here and all you see is agenda driven journalism. At least Fox puts on the other viewpoint, rather than doing drive bys with a blog.
Difference. DU is for people to make comments. FOX Spews claims itself to be a News Organization that is “Fair and Balanced”. DU makes no such claim. The other viewpoints you “suggest” FOX puts on are usually just more talking heads from the same biased side. When they have a true opposing view, he is never allowed to put his point across.
#17, & 18, Greg,
I agree with you and respect the insight your location brings to the discussion.
#22…Awake….I see your back. I’ve been Joshua since I came to this blog over a year ago. I have no reason to hide under phoney names, because I say what I want, feel or believe.
When you can show me ANY military, or police unit that is 100% uncorrupted or pure of heart I will condemn Blackwater, and all police forces and militaries not named by you. Until then, grow up and face reality. There really are bad apples in any bushel.
I don’t know if there are other groups like Blackwater, but the use of non-military armed protection became nessesary to protect State department personel so that troops could be used for what troops are used for….not protecting civilians in a war zone. Iraqi’s that use them, do it because they can’t truest Iraqi’s to protect them due to all the militia infiltration(remember the recent bombing of the Iraqi parliment by an *insider*).
While I am against the war, I’m not knee jerk against everything that *we* do in a war. If it was up to me, the US forces would be home and they could fight the whole damn thing with mercenaries if they wanted.
I think we’re all strangely serene about corporations creating their own armed forces, totally independent of any nation state.
Perhaps the science fiction writers got it right when they predicted nations like the United States and Iraq will eventually cease to exist (or cease to be important in any way) and corporations will fight each other for diminishing natural resources like oil.
Companies like Blackwater should be put in command of our forces in Iraq. They have the right approach, kill anyone that gets in you way and prevents you from accomplishing your mission.
I am sick and tired of America having to fight this war with one hand tied behind our back. What ever happed to vanquishing you enemies through scorched earth and overwhelming firepower? It is time we give the Iraq people and their government a clear ultimatum, either stop the violence and get on with rebuilding your government or we will flatten your country. All we would have to do is destroy a few cities and maybe they would get the message. Either get in line or we will bury you and your country under our missiles and bombs.
Joerg,
Dustin has never worked for Blackwater and is not a mercenary. He has been in Iraq but in a different capacity. Do not display personal information about where we live and what we do on the internet. It was not wise and it could adversely affect us and our household.
Do not talk about things that you know nothing about. Do not be so naive.