Trigger happy Blackwater & Co. outrage Iraqis, U.S. soldiers

It is regrettable that it has gone down this way.  One element of the Iraq occupation is the large number of U.S. security guards working there with little or no legal accountability. Their willingness to shoot first and ask questions not at all has gradually outraged the civilians of Iraq for reasons of safety, and more recently has started to outrage U.S. soldiers, because the security guards are payed ten times the income of a U.S. soldier, and generally face less real danger.

"I understand this is war" recently commented Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D. Ill., "But that is absolutely no excuse for letting this very large force of armed private employees, dare I say mercenaries, run around without any accountability to anyone".  These employees of Blackwater (estimated 1000 staff currently on duty in Iraq) and other firms fire on Iraqi vehicles during their convoy duties on almost a daily basis. While American soldiers in these situations face possible investigations into their use of deadly force, the security guards generally do not. They have Carte Blanche to use deadly force, and the worse punishment they face for inappropriate use of deadly violence would be to be sent home- no more enormous paychecks.

It is noteworthy that the Fallujah uprising, siege, and assault, one of the most significant chapters of our involvement in Iraq, involved two separate security guard incidents. The event that precipitated Fallujah was the slaughter and mutilation of 4 Blackwater staffers by a Fallujah mob in 2004. Might we argue that this group of men should not have been in a dangerous place without backup? Later, a group of 16 guards from Zapata Engineering on convoy duty was accused of indiscriminate shooting, including of some shots that whistled around Marines on duty there. The guards were arrested and detained by the Marines, and sent home to the U.S.

Can we argue that the policy of hiring these security guards is fundamentally contrary to our interests in Iraq? If we need guys to face deadly danger, let us employ soldiers who represent our nation and are subject to the code of military justice. The current policies and procedures demoralize the Iraqis and our soldiers, cost more money, and create a vested consituency of lobbyists and boot lickers for our presence in Iraq. Blackwater, the largest participant in this movable feast, has so far been paid $800 million. It is simply moronic.