Former Iraq Security Contractors Say Firm Bought Black Market Weapons, Swapped Booze For Rockets

ProPublica:

"We're spending a lot of money on these rifles, millions of dollars -- where do you think that money is going to?" [1] Ronald Boline, a former Triple Canopy manager, said in a lawsuit deposition videotaped [2] in June 2007. "Who are we supporting in doing that? We're supporting people who are trying to kill Americans is the logical conclusion."

Read the whole story: ProPublica

Comments

[NeoconGal]

12:27 AM on 09/21/2009

I have never heard a reporter ask why we need mercenarys?

[LeLoup]

02:32 AM on 09/20/2009

"Until late 2004, the department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls blocked most requests for the export of automatic weapons to private firms — the result of a decades-old policy to cut down on international arms trafficking.

When private security companies began requesting weapons to fulfill U.S.-issued contracts, the department was caught off guard, the official said. It wasn't until November 2004 that the policy was changed to grant private security companies export licenses — more than a year and a half after the first such firms were hired in Iraq."

The country was at war, hiring private contractors for security job in a war theater...and the State Department took 18 months to change a *decades-old policy*??

It appears the DUH! syndrome is still endemic in certain locales.

[duxguts]

12:14 AM on 09/19/2009

So what, our government trades money for rockets.

[NeoconGal]

11:51 PM on 09/18/2009

Doesn't sound like spreading democracy to me.

[janeycat]

05:50 PM on 09/18/2009

if the Iraq people would start hiring and training there own people then we would not have problems like this.we have been over there and sent enough money over there to train there whole country.....i think they have half of the money we sent to them in a swiss bank..there sure not using it to police the country.
we even pay there people to work as police..its crazy.we are building there schools ....yea..i know we blew some of them up,but not all of them.
i just say its time for our boys to come home.

the same for afganastan,we need to stop our part of the war...let them take care of there selfes..
we did it ourselfes....we grew our country,we went through hell to get where we are,they will have a struggle just like we did...bring our boys home..we can help them from here at home,send them stuff,
give them a fish , they eat for a day
teach them to fish,they eat for life.

~~~( off my soapbox )~~~

[Paula Ann]

08:32 PM on 09/18/2009

i whole heartedly agree that our troops should leave afghanistan and iraq, but for reasons other than yours.....

- iraqi's should hire and train their own people

halliburton, kbr, triton et.al ( "American" companies) bring in staff and laborers from asia. i am sure that iraqi's would work if given the chance

- i think half the money we sent to them is in a swiss account

i, too, think the money is out of the country. The money was not sent to iraqi's, they were the vanquished in the war. i would check the ceo's of the companies above mentioned and some highly placed members of the last administration.

- they should take care of themselves

how are we taking care of the Afghan's? having a vicious war fought in your country is not being "taken care of". Afghanistan has been one of the (if not the) poorest countries in the region and war has only made it worse. the USA (arming the taliban) fought a war there against the Soviets in the 80's and left .... the rest is recent history. If we would have built schools, roads, hospitals, developed the infrastructure we wouldn't be in mess we are in today.

I get the feeling you have a loved one "over there", hope all turns out well

[thepoliticalcat]

12:24 AM on 09/19/2009

janeycat, if you have a relative in either of these trouble spots, I wish you and them the best and hope they come home soon.

That said, Iraq did not ask the US to invade. Gee, Dumb? Yeah! decided unilaterally, with no evidence, to bomb a small poor country that had nothing to do with 9/11. We have k. ill *ed one million Iraqis. 4-5 million more are refugees, internal and external. Nobody knows how many are maimed. Children have lost their parents and parents have lost their children. Anyone who could escape the country - where unemployment rates have gone through the roof - has fled. And the first to flee are always the skilled and educated people, who can easily get jobs elsewhere. Where the money has gone, possibly only Chain ee knows. It has gone into the pockets of war profiteers and scoundrels. Iraq once had a very liberal society with the most highly educated workforce in West Asia. Now it is a broken country, with violent factions fighting to kill each other and control the flow of oil. Please Google Juan Cole. He is a scholar of the Middle East and has written extensively about conditions in Iraq. Reading his work can help you understand just what we have done there. Hopefully, all Americans will soon be gone from that benighted country and return home to their loved ones.

[dnegri]

05:15 PM on 09/18/2009

What! Using tax payer money to promote drinking! I say, DEFUND them today!

Where's Beck to lead the charge/

[christopherflynn]

04:56 PM on 09/18/2009

stupid as**s*ho*les, trade the rockets for booze...it's better for your health....

[jay1975]

03:57 PM on 09/18/2009

Triple Canopy was kicked out of Iraq for constanly opening fire on anything that moved if they took fire. Some of the most unprofessional mercs out there. Their claim that they traded booze for US weapons is most likely false in that our weapons are are highly controlled sensitive items. If one comes up missing, the FOB goes on lock down and to leave to go on mission, all weapons must be checked by serial number to leave and they even check at the chow halls.

[Godweiser]

05:06 PM on 09/18/2009

Should just hire a South African firm outright. They're real professionals and they don't go out of their way to antagonize the natives. The really rich guys tend to go with them because they're more experienced and are better suited to operating in a way that doesn't offend local culture and exacerbate the security problem by raising their profile.

Which, of course, is why you hear about these idjits like Blackwater/Xe and Triple Canopy and less about the quieter, mid-sized operations run by old Africa hands with experience from the Executive Outcomes days, who were recruited from the cream of the very capable South African Defense Forces.

[wadenelson1]

05:36 PM on 09/18/2009

You're saying our soldiers have to check their weapons in and out of the chow hall in a WAR ZONE?

No wonder we can't win wars anymore.

[jay1975]

09:05 PM on 09/18/2009

If one comes up missing, the serial numbers are checked all over the place. On a normal day you just clear the chamber and proceed with your business.

[gs-425]

03:49 PM on 09/18/2009

Duhhh, anybody that prepares for disasters knows to keep booze in stock to trade for things that you need. This guy was a contractor.....friggin boy scout knows that.

[wadenelson1]

03:47 PM on 09/18/2009

Booze for weapons? No worries, since everyone has a share in M&M Enterprises they'll all come out winners, especially the ellTee.

[Keith Mayass]

03:23 PM on 09/18/2009

amazing...

the us government gives billions dollars contract to a company to secure bases and then takes 12 months to give the licenses to purchases US arms.

bureaucrats at their best. .. no oversight , no accountability...

wonder why they have slight problems.

[gs-425]

03:52 PM on 09/18/2009

Cant wait till they are running the health care system.

[wadenelson1]

04:18 PM on 09/18/2009

Touche'. You wait seven months for heart surgery but they're still waiting on anesthetic.

But let's be realistic. Not one single Congressmen has ever opted OUT of the government healthcare program THEY get. The government is capable of running an excellent program, when they so desire.

[roudy]

03:14 PM on 09/18/2009

Once you farm out your military to scabs, you are pretty much done as a viable country.

[thepoliticalcat]

12:31 AM on 09/19/2009

Just look at the Romans. That's exactly what they did, and soon the barbarians were at the gates.

[Rog49Thomas]

03:12 PM on 09/18/2009

As any good capitalist knows (or should if he doesn't), profit always comes first.

Before humanity, before decency, before patriotism.

[JoeBlough]

03:02 PM on 09/18/2009

The Bush/Cheney Legacy lives on. It will be with us for decades.

[Tunde15]

03:00 PM on 09/18/2009

So, did the U.S. government get charged weapons or booze, or are the cost the same?