Blackwater Involved In Highest Rate Of Iraq Shootings Among All Security Firms

New York Times:

The American security contractor Blackwater USA has been involved in a far higher rate of shootings while guarding American diplomats in Iraq than other security firms providing similar services to the State Department, according to Bush administration officials and industry officials.

Blackwater is now the focus of investigations in both Baghdad and Washington over a Sept. 16 shooting in which at least 11 Iraqis were killed. Beyond that episode, the company has been involved in cases in which its personnel fired weapons while guarding State Department officials in Iraq at least twice as often per convoy mission as security guards working for other American security firms, the officials said.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[wisawhore]

Remember the W the President signs? Or the W still the President signs, we saw them all over the South after the elections. Someone should reissue these little stickers with the truth about what W really is....W the Whore, or maybe W still the Whore.

[CheGuevara1]

The USA has no room to complain--you let this happen.

[kittycago]

What do they win from the BushCorp? What is first prize? Maybe a medal of Freedom of better yet another no bid contract?

[fedupnburnin]

George Bush says he's a "born-again" Christian. Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, also says he's a "born-again" Christian. When you consider all the death and destruction that surrounds these 2 born-again Christians, it's only logical to assume that you can be a born-again Christian and be a hit-man, operate a brothel, dismember small children, take bribes, give bribes and so on, and still be on proper footing with God. Repentance is for the birds.

[dictatortot]

Maybe it's their belief in God--at once naive and infinitely arrogant--that leads them to sanction mass murder.

To paraphrase Matt and Trey,

God! Fuck yeah!

http://www.newsprism.com

[helonias]

There born again satanist to be sure.

Actions speak louder than words

[Y2KCockroach]

I have to agree with a previous poster ("Boobaloo"): who the f*ck is bubble boy to be declaring the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a "terrorist" organization? The Iranian Revolutionary Guard are a discrete, dedicated, and identified branch of the Iranian military. They have a clear structure and mandate, and they pursue their mission(s) doggedly on behalf of the Iranian government. We may not like them, but hey, I wasn't big on the Shah of Iran's SAVAK; "Papa" Doc Duvalier's Ton Ton Macoute (Haiti); Robert D'Aubisson's ARENA and the Atlacatl Battalion (El Salvador); Somoza's National Guard (Nicaragua); or anything else that Eliot Abrams, John Negroponte, the CIA, Oliver North and Republicans in general touched either. The Iranians aren't doing anything that those f*ckers above didn't do on a grand scale, in all sorts of places (while they were lying, cheating, and hiding from Congress all that they were doing). If bubble boy had any real sense of history, and of America's role (past, present and future) in how geo-political alliances are formed, and will be shaped in future he would simply shut the f*ck up, run out the clock and go (far) away. The world is not going to forget bubble boy; it will surely try, but it is going to take a few generations to undo his legacy. In the meantime, the Iranians (and most everyone else) will get on with protecting their interests, and tune out those who would tell them what is right and wrong in this world.

[vfippinger]

Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070927/ap_on_go_co/blackwater_iraq
WASHINGTON - Blackwater USA triggered a major battle in the Iraq war by sending an unprepared team of security guards into an insurgent stronghold, a move that led to their horrific deaths and a violent response by U.S. forces, according to a congressional investigation released Thursday. ......
The March 2004 incident involving Blackwater was widely viewed as a turning point in the Iraq war after images of the mutilated bodies of the four guards were seen around the world. Four days after the Blackwater guards were killed, a major military offensive, known as the Battle of Fallujah, began.

So, can we back charge these Texas bastards for the Billions wasted since 04?

[cryingeagle]

Masters of War

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWkWSLEW-Ds

[esquire07]

Good practice for when Blackwater is released on Americans in the coming years.

The World knows Iraqi lives mean nothing to America's leaders. If it takes killing every man, woman and child in Iraq to steal their oil than so be it.

Dick Cheneny will stop at nothing to secure Oil profits for his buddies.

[cryingeagle]

Yee Haa! Test your reflexes in these great shoot em up games:

http://www.biohazardgaming.com/cat-4-p0.html

[thegreatgiginthesky]

Bio Hazard makes some of the most violent video games ever.

[Moshe]

As Naomi Wolf recognizes in her recent article "Fascist America in 10 Easy Steps" there is a clear historical pattern for transforming an open society into a fascist state.

Step number 3 is the creation of a thug caste, and Cheney/Hal­liburton's "Blackwater" thugs fit the bill perfectly.

The 10 steps are:

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy;
2. Create a gulag;
3. Develop a thug caste;
4. Set up an internal surveillance system;
5. Harass citizens' groups;
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release;
7. Target key individuals;
8. Control the press;
9. Dissent equals treason;
10. Suspend the rule of law.

As Naomi Wolf demonstrates in her article, we are already well down the road toward fascism in America, and the closer we get to the event distorting gravity of the black hole of fascism, the more difficult it becomes to turn back. She states:

"Right now, only a handful of patriots are trying to hold back the tide of tyranny for the rest of us - staff at the Center for Constitutional Rights, who faced death threats for representing the detainees yet persisted all the way to the Supreme Court; activists at the American Civil Liberties Union; and prominent conservatives trying to roll back the corrosive new laws, under the banner of a new group called the American Freedom Agenda. This small, disparate collection of people needs everybody's help, including that of Europeans and others internationally who are willing to put pressure on the administration because they can see what a US unrestrained by real democracy at home can mean for the rest of the world."

You can read the full text of her article here:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5487

Shalom to all.

[Ammobob]

Reminds me of the 60's. YEAH Baby!

[thegreatgiginthesky]

Deranged and psychotic till the very end, right Bob?

[speakingtruth2power]

Does anybody really think that Hillary will stop the funding of Blackwater merc's?

[MyNameIsVictoriaWinters]

I have absolutely NO sympathy for these mercinaries. NONE

A good chunk of them come from military units of oppressive regimes.

They are hired murderers.

[Ammobob]

How many is in a 'good chunk'??? 10-20-30-100????

And can you name the 'oppressive regimes'????

And how many of 'they' have been charged and/or convicted of murder?

[WolfLarsen]

How about this for a solution to the war. Pull all our troops out and turn the security of Iraq over to the contractors that are currently on the ground. Put them on the payroll of the Iraqi government. That way the Iraqis will be responsible for the payment and the conduct of their security forces. With responsibility comes accountability. Allow any of the current National Guard members that want to work for the contractors and do essentially what they are doing now only for ten times the money sign on. Sell the contractors whatever armament they will need and let the Iraqi government be responsible for their re-supply.

This is the best of all worlds. It removes our military and the government of the U.S. from an Islamic country and in essence ends the occupation. It turns over the security of Iraq to the Iraqis by providing a seasoned security force free of sectarian affiliation and it allows some of our soldiers to make some decent money for risking their lives.

No matter how bad Blackwater is the secular death squads within the army and police are worse. Under this plan Blackwater will have to be more responsible to the people of Iraq because it will be their government paying their contract and can void it at anytime. They will not be able to hide behind the U.S. army and will be subject to Iraqi law. Also I am sure the Iraqi government will scrutinize the billing procedure more closely cutting down on waste and fraud. Believe me things will change in a heartbeat!

Hillary, feel free to steal this idea. Believe me it is better than any you have.

[frybread]

Where would the Chimp's administration be without mercenaries? Recent news stories have said the Chimp has more than 180,000 mercenaries working in Iraq. If it wasn't for them we probably wouldn't have the manpower to stay in Iraq. The Chimp, therefore, will not allow the Iraqi puppet government to ban Blackwater -- the most important band of mercenaries -- from Iraq.

[Ammobob]

The most recent estimate is around 20-30,000 Mercs in Iraq. 100,000 is the 'extreme' estimate.

And you are correct. Without these brave individuals, the American military would have to commit 20 - 30,000 MORE soldiers.

They provide a valuable service to both Americans and Iraqi government officials. Shooting incidents with the other two firms are estimated at around 1 in 125 convoys or escorts. With Blackwater it's double this or around 1 in 60 escorts. Surprisingly, Iraq is not the Wild, Wild, West portrayed in the MSM.

[andyboy]

Your insane.

They provide a valuable service to who? Their bosses wallet? At 10x the pay of a grunt?

Then he starts quoting "estimates" of shooting incidents as if they were true. What a dullard you are my friend.

Here's a quote from the article:

"The disclosure came as the Pentagon said Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates had sent a team of officials to Iraq to get answers to questions about the use of American security contractors there."

Bob what are the chances that Mr. Gates will get anything other than glowing reports about how courageous and efficient these mercenaries are?

The fox is going to issue a report on the security of the henhouse and Bob's going to suck it down in one swallow then lick his lips and proclaim to all he likes it!

Bob doesn't have a clue which of his numbers is the most correct but he never stops to wonder why we can't have an accurate number.

He immediately rationalizes this discrepency by excusing the lack of any real hard data becasue it's a "war". You can't get good numbers in a war. It's too much to ask for. More pablum he sucks down because it makes his leaders seem more believable and trustworthy. No doubt he had the same opinion of William Westmorland when he was pulling bullshit numbers out of the air.

[gardengoddess]

How ironic the Senate passes a non-binding resolution that Howdy Doody should designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, but have done nothing about Blackwater, which is so obviously a terrorist organization.

Time to pick up the phones again and start calling.

[Ammobob]

Good Luck! GardenSalad.