Out of control ‘private’ contractors terrorize Iraq
by Justin Raimondo
On September 16, as a car approached Nisour Square, all the folly and tragedy of the Iraq war was enacted on a Baghdad street. In the vehicle were two Iraqis: Ahmed Haithem was driving his mother, Mohassin, to the local hospital, where her husband worked as a pathologist. They never made it.
Instead, four armored vehicles manned by “private” guards employed by Blackwater USA moved into position and fired: Ahmed was hit, but the car continued on its path, out of control. When the smoke cleared, and the casualties counted, 17 Iraqis were dead and 24 wounded. The Washington Post cites one anonymous high-ranking U.S. official as saying:
“This is a nightmare. We had guys who saw the aftermath, and it was very bad. This is going to hurt us badly. It may be worse than Abu Ghraib, and it comes at a time when we’re trying to have an impact for the long term.” It’s a nightmare alright, especially for the Iraqi people, who have long resented this “private” army of thugs and wannabe heroes, apparently subject to nonexistent rules of engagement. The Americans have slaughtered, abused and otherwise alienated their “liberated” charges before, and the Iraqis did little but bleat a few feeble protests: this time, however, the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki reacted with authentic anger. The Iraqi ministry of the interior ordered Blackwater out of the country, and, although the U.S. State Department initially succeeded in getting this order rescinded, that reversal now appears to have been reversed. If Maliki sticks to his guns, the Blackwater massacre could mark a new phase in the war, one that bodes ill for the Americans.
This new phase was prefigured by what Seymour Hersh dubbed “the redirection” and made manifest in the alleged “success” of our alliance with the Sunni tribesmen of Anbar and Diyala provinces. As U.S. war aims in Iraq have shifted from stamping out the Sunni insurgency to preparing for war with Iran, the potential for conflict with the Shi’ite-dominated government has increased: that’s why that anonymous senior official described the Blackwater massacre as possibly “worse than Abu Ghraib.” The September 16 incident could be the pivot point leading to the previously unthinkable: a demand by the democratically-elected government of Iraq that U.S. forces begin withdrawing.
Ah, but they wouldn’t do that – especially when their very lives depend on the presence of U.S. soldiers – now would they?
Don’t count on it: after all, they can always turn to their natural allies in Tehran to afford them all the protection they need.
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=11711