Does Blackwater Play By Its Own Rules in Iraq?

The colonel was furious. "Can you believe it? They actually drew their weapons on U.S. soldiers." He was describing a 2006 car accident, in which an SUV full of Blackwater operatives had crashed into a U.S. Army Humvee on a street in Baghdad's Green Zone. The colonel, who was involved in a follow-up investigation and spoke on the condition he not be named, said the Blackwater guards disarmed the U.S. Army soldiers and made them lie on the ground at gunpoint until they could disentangle the SUV. His account was confirmed by the head of another private security company. Asked to address this and other allegations in this story, Blackwater spokesperson Anne Tyrrell said, "This type of gossip has led to many soap operas in the press."

If even one ounce of this is true, those who did that and everyone involved need to go to jail and be fired from Blackwater.  If this is an ongoing type of thing, then they need to lose their government contract and they need to be removed from Iraq.

You simply do NOT draw your weapons on US soldiers and get away with.  I certainly wouldn't have thought twice if one of those soldiers fired upon the Blackwater personnel if what they say is true.

Responsible for guarding top U.S. officials in Iraq, Blackwater operatives are often accused of playing by their own rules. Unlike nearly everyone else who enters the Green Zone, said an American soldier who guards a gate, Blackwater gunmen refuse to stop and clear their weapons of live ammunition once inside. One military contractor, who spoke anonymously for fear of retribution in his industry, recounted the story of a Blackwater operative who answered a Marine officer's order to put his pistol on safety when entering a base post office by saying, "This is my safety," and wiggling his trigger finger in the air. "Their attitude was, 'We're f---ing security; we don't have to answer to anybody'."

Well the bigger question is, do they do this type of behavior to Iraqi citizens?  If so, I can completely understand why they would want us out of Iraq.  Is Blackwater in the Anbar province?  If not, it certainly would explain a lot.  Al-Qaeda killing and mutilating the locals, US soldiers coming to their aid, and Blackwater nowhere to be found, all has a recipe for success in that area.

If that is what's going on, then Blackwater should be removed because they are hampering our efforts to maintain the peace and get Iraq back on it's feet.

This is all of course, if these accusations are true.  If they aren't, and it's just a few bad apples, then they need to be removed so we can move forward.  If not, Blackwater should be in hot water.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com