Blackwater Down

I was meaning to write a post last week about the alarming number of security contractors that support our regular Army in Iraq. I got the idea for the post, did all of my research, and I was getting ready to write it, but then the doorbell rang, and my extra-large pepperoni pizza arrived, and I fell asleep after eating the whole thing. But the headline in WAPO today, about Blackwater, the North Carolina security company, getting kicked out of Iraq, reminded me about my lack of diligent posting, and so I put aside my dinner of beef burritos, rice, and Corona, and got down to some somewhat serious blogging.

The term "security contractor" makes me think of a pudgy, middle-aged guy, who sits at the front desk of an office building or an upscale apartment building. The guy doesn't carry a weapon, he usually carries a pencil, and mans the phone. The security contractors like Blackwater, that we have hired in Iraq, are heavily armed, and man attack helicoptors called "Little Birds". They are a shadow army, a force of mercenary soldiers, who operate outside of the military chain of command. They are responsible for the security of diplomats and Cabinet members, like Ryan Crocker, and Condoleeza Rice. There is speculation that the number of mercenaries in Iraq is as high as 100,000. Nobody knows for sure, they are not subject to Congressional oversight, they do not answer to any Marine or Army General, they are involved in all sorts of military activities, from combat operations, to intelligence gathering. They owe alligience not to a particular country, but to the company that signs the paycheck.

They even operate in the United States, in places where our National Guard should be present, but are not. Places like New Orleans.

Blackwater Security was paid $33.3 million to "provide security" in the months after Katrina. Providing security after national emergencies is traditionally a function of the National Guard and local police, and can be more efficiently done by public servants rather than by mercenaries. Blackwater contractors were paid $950 a day, which is approximately eight times the salary of a New Orleans Police Officer.

A cop who is not a cop, a soldier who is not really a soldier, can be pretty expensive, but that's not the main worry. What if the highly paid soldier commits some serious war crimes, and is not subject to the rules of engagement that ordinary armies have written into formal policies and procedures? Are they then just lawless, like the terrorists we claim to be fighting? With no oversight, what sort of harm might they do to our foriegn policy, and our reputation as the great bringers of democracy?

Here is a disturbing incident.

On Christmas Eve 2006, a Blackwater employee allegedly got drunk while inside the Green Zone in Baghdad and got in an argument with a guard of the Iraqi Vice President. He then shot the Iraqi dead. The employee was quickly flown out of the country and, 9 months later, has not been charged with any crime.

And some chilling statistics.

Abu Ghraib, where reportedly 100 percent of the translators and up to 50 percent of the interrogators at the prison were private contractors from the Titan and CACI firms, respectively. The U.S. Army found that contractors were involved in 36% of the proven abuse incidents and identified 6 particular employees as being culpable in the abuses. However, while the enlisted U.S. Army soldiers involved in the Abu Ghraib abuse were court-martialed for their crimes, not a single private contractor named in the Army's investigation report has been charged, prosecuted or punished. The Army believes it lacks the jurisdiction to pursue these cases, even if it wants to.

So the Army hires these guys, gives them tons of taxpayer money, and does not have jurisdiction over any criminal activicty? So who actually does have responsibility for these heavily armed guys who are not really soldiers? Do they drive around in armed vehicles randomly shooting anyone who looks like a terrorist? And if there a hundred thousand of these soldiers who are accountable to no one, what sort of damage might they be doing to our mission to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis, and bring them all of the joys of democracy?

| +Save/Share | |