Ex-Blackwater Workers May Return To Iraq Jobs

New York Times:

Late last month Blackwater Worldwide lost its billion-dollar contract to protect American diplomats here, but by next month many if not most of its private security guards will be back on the job in Iraq.

The same individuals will just be wearing new uniforms, working for Triple Canopy, the firm that won the State Department's contract after Iraqi officials refused to renew Blackwater's operating license, according to American diplomats, private security industry officials and Iraqi officials. Blackwater -- viewed in Iraq as a symbol of American violence and impunity -- lost the contract after being accused of excessive force in several instances, particularly an apparently unprovoked shooting in downtown Baghdad in 2007 in which 17 civilians were killed.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[tazdelaney]

so the navy and police use the blackwater training center like their own lil 'school of the americas'? blackwater changes its name like the SOA did as if that will change their reputations? garbage stinks. the best news about all this is that, historically, when empires, all of which are evil, start heavily relying on puppet 'allies' and hired mercenaries to do their brutal bidding in colonial resource wars... we're about to witness the twilight of those tired old gods, yippeee. like the old beat writer bill burroughs wrote, "america tried to make death the company cop..." can't wait to see the chickens come home to roost.

[SOLERSO68]

that may be true but i ceratinly pity the generations that will have to try to live through the process. im old, i wont see much of it. America is dead. Long live Amer ka

[motoGpifupleez]

A mercenary, is a mercenary is a mercenary. Are we really expected to believe that a change in company is going to make a difference? I guess we'll find out when one of the triple Canopy guys commits a murder weather or not Iraqi law has any meaning in Iraq.
Blackwater was bad enough, but Triple Canopy is far more willing to use Salvadorian and Chilean thugs. Oh well, to an Iraqi, all foreigners are foreigners.

[foxisms]

If a military or paramilitary operation is sanctioned by the state and authorized to function in an arena of battle, then sure enough that military belongs to the state whether they wear different uniforms and act independently or not. On the other hand,, denying this, then these "contractor's (AKA mercenaries) are simply state sponsored terrorists. Change the languge all you like...rea­lity stays the same.

[adzeman]

Lessee, business as usual with the GOP militia, business as usual with Wall St, business as usual on the hill. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

[treetracker]

This was the State Department's contract - please complain to Hillary, it's her shop, not Obama's.

I heartily disagree with hiring mercenaries. They should be dismantled and legally banned from being used by any entity in our government.

I also disagree with having privately owned prisons. They should be (as they once were) run by state government. Federal prisons should be run by the federal government. Many of the laws we have on the books in several states (or federally) have been put in place by lobbyists for the owners of these private prisons and now we are facing a population crisis in the prisons. The three strikes your out laws were part of this as well as sentencing for (personal use) drug crimes. Sen Webb is taking this on and, hopefully, he'll come up with a common sense approach to this.

The only jobs I want these a-holes to have is private security for some rich dude who can pay them from his own pocket and not the taxpayers.

[indyleftist]

Ahhh, yes. The people who are fighting this war not for their country, not because of some type of moral principle, but for the money

Just once I would love to see these people characterized as "Militants"
Its hilarious because whenever I do see that phrase used its invariably is referring to the local population and not the invading militants

[DemocratByDefault]

Obama goes with Triple Canopy which has the greatest number of ex-Chilean and Salvadoran death squad members.

Obama's change is changing mercenary companies, changing the name of "global war on terror", changing the name of military units in Iraq from "combat" to "training", changing rhetoric but not policy at Gitmo and Baghram.

[freedomitchy]

No surprise, there isn't an unlimited pool of military trained people to hire.

[wadenelson1]

Triple Canopy will reportedly offer "sensitivity training" classes to former Blackwater employees to help them make more compassionate shoot/no shoot decisions.