CE Week #5: “Mercenary strategy”
Ed Morales
Progressive Project
October 2, 2007
The United States must stop relying on mercenaries in Iraq.
The Sept. 16 incident in Baghdad, where Blackwater USA, a private security company, killed at least 11 Iraqi civilians, has created a diplomatic crisis between the United States and Iraqi governments.
Worse, it has made a mockery of U.S. efforts to establish democracy in the country it invaded more than five years ago. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has already called for Blackwater to cease operations, saying the mercenary army amounted to a challenge of his nation’s sovereignty.
While initial accounts of the incident said Blackwater was responding to gunfire, subsequent Iraqi reports claimed that there was no attack. Instead, they said Blackwater security guards opened fire at a car that didn’t stop when told to by a policeman, and its passengers – a couple and their infant – were killed.
Blackwater, which is the primary provider of security to senior U.S. officials, including Ambassador Ryan Crocker, operates outside the law and governmental supervision. Having received a no-bid contract and operating on billions of dollars in taxpayer funds, Blackwater plays the role of renegade cowboys, flying low in helicopters with guns drawn. It is despised by Iraqis, and even some U.S. military personnel.
This is not the first time that Blackwater operatives have been involved in serious incidents in Iraq. The Iraqi government has announced it is investigating five previous incidents that occurred earlier this year in which 10 Iraqis were killed and 15 wounded. Last Christmas Eve, an off-duty Blackwater contractor allegedly killed a bodyguard for the Iraqi vice president.
The reckless use of Blackwater greatly undercuts the moral authority of the United States as a beacon of democracy, and calls into question the true extent of Iraqi sovereignty. How can the U.S. claim to be bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq while imposing a mercenary army on an Iraqi government that is not empowered to prosecute it?
Blackwater’s role in maintaining security is so crucial that its removal presents a logistical nightmare. That, in itself, shows how reliant on mercenaries the United States has become.
This practice should end now, and those responsible for civilian deaths should be brought to justice.
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I agree with the article on many points, especially that the US should not be employing mercenaries in Iraq without their government’s approval. The fact of the matter is that these mercenaries are “operates outside the law and governmental supervision”. This is ridicules, no one is above the law, and government supervision is there for a reason. To ensure that nothing like what the Blackwater USA operatives have been accused of is aloud to happen or go unpunished. I have nothing against professional mercenaries, I am sure that the vast majority of them do their jobs correctly and within the stent of the law, but the fact remains that the Iraqi government doesn’t want them there, and as I recall the US didn’t appreciate it either back when Great Briton used mercenaries to try to keep peace in the colonies. It seems unwise to me to become dependant on American power in Iraq that is not controlled by the Government, and yet the “Blackwater’s role in maintaining security is so crucial that its removal presents a logistical nightmare.” On the other hand, this article seemed very biased against not only the use of mercenaries, but also the mercenaries themselves, and I think that while we shouldn’t be dependant on them, and that while they shouldn’t be considered above the law nor be in Iraq without the consent of the Iraqi government, that there is nothing wrong with the US employment of mercenaries.
Andrew Barnes
Personally, this Blackwater business is ridiculous. Since when does our country, the country that has stopped so many bad things from happening, result to using mercenaries and allowing military of ours roam and kill whomever they feel? Whoever is giving these soldiers the freedom to do this is in the wrong and should be brought down immediately. It’s true when said this is doing nothing but bad things for the relationship between the Iraqi and U.S. Governments. We are digging ourselves into a pit with this situation, and nothing can really justify it.
The last time I checked, we didn’t just throw our soldiers, or these ‘mercenaries’, into the middle of a war (or whatever you want to call this) to just start killing people. I would sure hope something is being done about the occurrences of September 16 right away. If not, there is something seriously wrong in our government that should be changed right away. Iraq is probably none too happy with what has been happening, and I would take a pretty good guess that this is not going to help our campaign in the rest of the Middle East at all, not to mention our reputation throughout the rest of the world. The Government and Military should really start watching what is really happening in those places of the worlds, and not just believing what is said.
At first this article made it sound like Blackwater is a joke a bunch no good trouble makers. Then they began to describe the incident that got them into trouble. It sounds to me like they didn’t do anything wrong. If I’m on guard and a car is going by that I tell to stop, I expect it to. If it doesn’t stop and keeps coming, I think they have every right to do what it takes to stop it, even if that means killing all the passengers in the car. These soldiers do not know what people in their vehicles are planning. They might just be in a hurry or they could be carrying a car full of explosives. Judging by how things are going in Iraq, I would assume that if they didn’t stop they are suicide bombers.
So all I’m saying is I don’t think they did anything wrong for their actions.
It also says that the U.S. has become heavily dependant on mercenaries. I have never heard of mercenary groups in Iraq before, which is probably just because I have not informed myself the best. My question is how many mercenary groups are there in Iraq and if they’re causing so much trouble why are they still there?
This is a very interesting article. I have never before heard about mercenaries like blackwater, and I’m surprised that the United States is using resources that we have to employ such companies. It is amazing to me that the United States seems that they need the help of mercenary companies like black water when we have hundreds of thousands of troops currently located in Iraq. It also is an unneeded use of the millions of dollars it costs to hire these companies. The fact though that this company of mercenaries does not have to follow any of the rules that the United States government and military troops have to might be the reason why they have decided to seek out their services, but that seems like cheating the system. It also seems though that they are going against United States law. The government can get what they want done, without having any strings attached directly to them, except the fact that they employed them with tax payer money. I agree that this practice should end now. They are not held to any standards, they can do what they want and get away free. The fact that this is being allowed to take place is crazy.
This article was very different from anything I have ever read and informed me of the things that are happening in Iraq that I never knew about. To be a private group and go into Iraq to try to help takes a tough mind. But these people went too far and the American military and Iraqie people realize it.They are irritated that they are coming in trying to help then end up killing people. When they shoot at a car that does not stop and kill a baby and family, something needs to be done. The American government needs to step up know and put an end to these groups. They are not helping anyone, just making matters worse for the relationship between our country and Iraq. I still can not believe that people of our country would go to Iraq with purpose of helping, then leave with killing innocent people. These people need to be punished severely for what they did. They need to realize that it is not right to murder any person anywhere. They United States government needs to realize this to in order to give them the right severe punishment. I agree with the final statement in this piece: “This practice should end now, and those responsible for civilian deaths should be brought to justice.”
First off, I’d like to say that this article is very biased. It will say every bad thing under the sun about these mercenaries, but it will never mention the advantages that they bring. At home, in America, we like our troops. Every time one soldier dies in the war in Iraq, it will automatically be on the news. The moms of America will get together, protests will take place; everyone joining in the cause to end the war. What alternative does the author give? Use our troops? Yeah, let’s go out and get more troops killed. They’ve already been doing a fantastic job in winning the war. That’s why we had to bring more over several times. That will help our cause, I’m sure that bringing thousands more troops over to Iraq will be absolutely great for both us and Iraq. Iraq will be happy since they already love us so much, and Americans will be happy that Bush just promised a pullout, but will recall it. In, all reality what other choice do we have? Are we going to ask China if we can use some of their 1.2 billion people? Will France actually do something productive? Do you really think that the UN is going to do something? We have no help anymore. Our greatest ally in the Iraq war was Britain. They’re pulling out as well. The more troops and the longer the time we spend in Iraq, the more the Muslims will continue the hate of Christians (Americans mostly) and we are actually propelling the Al-Queda members to attack our troops. So if you look at it that way, the war in Iraq is a perpetual cycle that we will never exit until we decide to get the troops out of Iraq, much like Vietnam. It leads to deaths in both the US and in Iraq. Why does our administrations think that it is ok to dismantle entire countries, just for one to function. How can we win against an idea? We can’t! Much of the world is jealous that we are still the solo hegemony; they believe that we shouldn’t be the watchdog for the world, but we do. Why would we present ourselves with a logistical nightmare? There is nothing else that we can do without keeping the mercenaries. It is the only viable alternative that we have. The Bush administration says that we are winning the war, and that we can pullout soon, but are we, or are just propelling it?
I disagree with Chad Blashill that the mercenaries are ridiculous. This is because not all mercenaries are breaking laws and doing unethical things. The mercenaries are just one way that the United States is trying to restore seventy in Iraq. Also, by having the mercenaries there, that means that those positions no longer are going to be filled by more American troops. Yes, granted they are breaking laws, but there are ways in order to check them. The United States can make it so they are no longer untouchable by the law and that they will be punished if they do break it. This will help cut back on the wrong doings that the mercenaries will make, due to fear of punishment. We could also just have a more thorough screening process in which we hire them. This would help cut down on the rift raft and insure a more professional task force. Mercenaries are not a ridiculous thing, but can be if we do not use them right. However, when properly used they can be a positive presence.
I know we aren’t really supposed to agree with people but I’m going to anyways. I agree with Chad and Andrew. There isn’t a need reason for anyone to operate above the law, oe without the laws consent. It seems to the that the scenes portrayed in the article about Blackwater playing the role of renegade cowboys, flying low in helicopters with guns drawn reminded me of the scene in “Apocalypse Now.” Martin Sheen and his crew first arrive at the island. They then meet the chief commander and he is telling them all about how capture the land from the “natives.” That land wasn’t really theirs to take and he wasn’t supposed to take it. They were patrolling the island like savages and killing innocent civilians. There is absolutely no reason for that to happen. But on the other hand I can see where Anthony is coming from when he is talking about the whole suicide bomber thing. I think that he presents a very good point. How are we supposed to know what kind of people are in the car if they don’t stop? But overall I think if Blackwater is causing problems, then I need to be terminated.