Hair Trigger
In time the Rockies may crumble,
Gibralter may tumble,
They're only made of clay,
But our love is here to stay
--Our Love is Here to Stay, George Gershwin
________
Gibralter may tumble,
They're only made of clay,
But our love is here to stay
--Our Love is Here to Stay, George Gershwin
________
A "firefight" in which "at least 11" Iraqi civilian were killed by members of the U.S. contracting firm Blackwater has resulted in their being banned from working in the country. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said on Wednesday, "We will not tolerate the killing of our citizens in cold blood."
But by Friday, Blackwater was rolling again. "Secretary of State Rice declined to comment on Friday's resumption of Blackwater-protected convoys but paid tribute to the guards from the firm." What an unfortunate, yet apropos use of the term tribute, for mercenaries they are.
To Ranger, a firefight is a significant military disagreement. Opposing soldiers engage in firefights, but civilians are usually involved in exchanges of fire, shootouts or just good, old-fashioned gun fights. Sometimes, they're just caught in the crossfire. And Blackwater dudes, despite their military demeanors and love of camo as a complete fashion statement, are, in fact, civilian. As in "civilian contractors." Rent-a-cops.
"A spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, said Monday that authorities had canceled the company’s license and that the government would prosecute the participants. But under the rules that govern private security contractors here, the Iraqis do not have the legal authority to do so."
"The deaths struck a nerve with Iraqis, who say that private security firms are often quick to shoot and are rarely held responsible for their actions. A law issued by the American authority in Iraq before the United States handed over sovereignty to Iraqis, Order No. 17, gives the companies immunity from Iraqi law (U. S. Contractor Banned by Iraq)."
So our thugs are a law unto themselves. But IF Iraq is a sovereign nation as the GWB administration always hypes, and IF it is a democracy, and IF killing its citizens is what terrorists do, then why not allow them to prosecute the terrorists?
Even if they work for Blackwater USA.
The Blackwater contract [What an appropriate name for a business involved in obfuscation and shady doings] is purportedly run through the auspices of the State Department, a group which should realize that hiring thugs is not a valid hearts and minds protocol.
Labels: blackwater banned from iraq
posted by Lisa at 6:40 PM
10 Comments:
this was the same kind of firefight as happened at my lai. it was not a fight, it was a slaughter of unarmed civilians. it is a crime. it is murder. they will get away with it. there are currently 30,000 more armed "contractors" (although i prefer the old fashioned mercenary or gunfighter) than there are soldiers on the ground. atrocities by mercenary troops blew back on many regimes in africa. the same will happen there, although i'm sure central and south america have been gratified by our companies like blackwater being able to employ all those out of work death squad guys who haven't had a paycheck since somoza and pinochet fell.
Good to see this causing a "buzz;" bad to hear it happened.
I had similar thoughts over at my place; perhaps we can make a really cool feed-back loop or something.
Good to find you!
Hi CR,
Glad to find you, too--thanks for dropping by. (Were I tech-savvy enough, I'd do a feedback loop with you. But I'm basically a Luddite with all things computer.)
MB,
Don't forget the South Afrikaaners.
fallen regimes have always been a rich source of mercenary troops. zenophon and glyppus went to persia because the peloponnesian war had ended and since it started before they were born they really had no other trade or skill set. rhodesians used to be the gold standard for mercenary troops. they were quickly followed by biafran and congolese. now, you're indeed correct, a high percentage of the blackwater command structure is filled by afrikaaners. think about that for a moment. you have afrikaaners commanding chilean and salvadoran troops. i'm sure somewhere in the bowels of hell there are some dead dictators who are laying bets on whose troops will commit the most heinous acts in the name of "freedom."
If Blackwater is what the end of American Empire phase looks like, it is ugly enough that everyone WANTS to look away. But, of course, if we do...we deserve that ending. Mr. Berman's depressing book "Dark Ages America" hammers this and other points about corporate armies, he believes we are already over that edge. I don't want to go quietly or otherwise into THAT darkness...
MB and Labrys,
Pretty perverse, this scabbing on of mercenaries to our military --
all-volunteer, mind.
I have met a few people tempted by the big buckeroos of Blackwater, et. al. Most recently, a young guy set to graduate college in elementary ed.
A good American boy, who wants to teach kids, and maybe open a restaurant one day as he loves to cook.
But he's a big guy, and he and a friend are considering the one-year mercenary tour, because they could use the money. (If he'd been able to secure a loan, he would instead be interning at a school in London.)
So, one less teacher, one less chef, one more gun.
+++So, one less teacher, one less chef, one more gun.+++
Gods, but that is depressingly elegant. ::::::bows head:::::::
an old collegue from the teams who has only been retired a few years has told me that one of the current stressors they are having is that there aren't all that many lifers hanging around in special forces for a career. they get trained, do a tour, maybe a couple ops on the side and they're gone in less than ten years (of which four was training, expensive training) to cash in on the big bucks offered by blackwater and their sister corporations like "executive outcomes."
there is an excellent book out by jeffery scahill called Blackwater the rise of the world's most powerful mercenary army. the author has been making appearences on MSNBC and PBS's newshour talking about how incidents like the most recent one are merely the tip of a very dangerous iceberg. it's a witch's cauldron that has been giving off greasy steam for a long time. they only needed a place like iraq to show what they can do. oh, yeah, they also had blackwater mercs in new orleans right after katrina. they were behaving exactly the same way.
MB,
Re. the heinous acts of atrocity, my money's on the American troops. Odds on the Marines, closely followed in second by the Army.
When Lt. Calley becomes their adviser, we'll definitely know the gig is up.
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