Like the rest of the United States, media or otherwise, I had never heard about Blackwater Security until last week, when four of it's private contractors were killed in the Sunni Triangle. And again, like everyone else, I assumed that they were private contractors, hired to do the things that the army couldn't, like putting out oil fires or getting the electricity back up and running.
So it was very surprising when I flipped open the Post to find a story about Blackwater Security guards being the only people defending the government's base in Najaf (their headline: Private Guards Repel Attack on U.S. Headquarters). During all the rioting going on in Iraq over the weekend, several hundred armed Iraqis stormed the CPA's main government building in Najaf – and the only people who held them off were 1 marine and 8 Blackwater Security guards.
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Also, Blackwater "sent in its own helicopters amid an intense firefight to resupply its commandos with ammunition". Wow, that sounds like something the military should be doing, not hiring people to do. It's important to note that in the picture above, from the CPA, with the exception of the one marine in camos everyone else is one of those private contractors you hear about (evidently not putting out oil fires – notice how that one guy is wearing a collared work shirt with his assult rifle!!!)
What's the benefit to Bush of doing things this way? One is that he doesn't have to count these people as soliders – making the number of americans gunning away in Iraq less. The other? From the Post: "A Defense Department spokesman said that there were no military reports about the opening hours of the siege on CPA headquarters in Najaf because there were no military personnel on the scene.
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" So much for accountability and transparency.
The government, the military and the people they serve/protect will be able to get the reports on that seige from Blackwater headquarters the day after you can subpoena the secret herbs and spices from KFC.
tom says:
So Iraq has been occupied by a bunc of frat guys with machine guns? Great.
I love how that Marine is the youngest and most-clueless-looking one in the picture.
mike says:
What's worse!?!?!? those blackwater security guys are making upwards of $375,000/yr. To guard things! I thought one of the tenets of the free market system was to _drive down costs_ – this is 5x (10x?) more expensive than the salary of a marine.
If this isn't profiteering (yeah, my buddy can get us contracts to sit in a building for half a million dollars each) I don't know what is.
tom says:
And I'm sure that knowing that while you face front-line fire for minimum wage, some dipshit in a polo shirt is making brain-surgeon's money to guard a hotel has got to be great for morale.
That photo is really amazing. When I look at the poeople the US are usually fighting, I see a bunch of guys with bad haircuts, mismatched civilian clothes, and whatever weapons they can carry and it's obvious that they're just an armed mob with no unit discipline. Then I see that photo of our "private security contractors" and it's the same shit – they look like a 3rd world guerilla army. Seriously, that bald guy looks more like he should be managing a carpet store, or maybe drinking beer on a bass fishing boat somewhere.
tom says:
an even better part of the scam, i found out from a friend who has an exBF that was doing translation work, and earned about $80k in 6 months, that if you don't live in the US for a year after you get the money, you dont' get taxed on any of it. So after 6 months in baghdad translating, this guy is going to live like a king in Prague for a year, then come home with a few months' rent still in his pocket.