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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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October 10th,
2007 - Iraqis Want Answers from Security Firms |
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Iraqis Want Answers from Security
Firms By Steven R. Hurst Associated Press October 10, 2007 Baghdad - Iraqi officials
demanded answers Wednesday from representatives of an Australian-owned
security company, as the government appeared determined to curb perceived
excesses by heavily armed guards accused of killing nearly 20 Iraqi civilians
in less than a month. The scrutiny of the firm,
Unity Resources Group, began a day after its guards gunned down two Iraqi
Christian women in their car, and nearly a month after 17 Iraqis died in a
hail of bullets fired by Blackwater USA contractors at a busy Baghdad
intersection. Officials in the tight-knit
world of security operatives in Baghdad said Blackwater was preparing a
reorganization and possible downsizing. The officials spoke on condition of
anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity. The company, based in Moyock,
N.C., does not speak publicly about its operations or plans. At a funeral mass in
Baghdad's Armenian Orthodox Virgin Mary church, the Rev. Kivork Arshlian
urged the government to punish those responsible for Tuesday's killings
despite the immunity that has generally been enjoyed by foreign security
contractors in Iraq. "This is a crime
against humanity in general and against Iraqis in particular. Many other
people were killed in a similar way," he said. "We call upon the
government to put an end to these killings." His comments reflected the
growing anger against the private security companies - nearly all based in
the United States, Britain and other Western countries - as symbols of the
lawlessness in this country since the U.S.-led ouster of Saddam Hussein in
2003. As the largest security firm
operating in Iraq, much of that rage has been directed at Blackwater, which
protects U.S. diplomats as they move about on Baghdad's dangerous streets. An
Iraqi investigation into the Sept. 16 killings recommended that the U.S.
State Department sever all contracts for the company's operations in Iraq
within six months. A top aide to Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki told The Associated Press that the American government was
considering the findings. "The Americans seem to
be ready to meet this demand because they have seen that the Iraqi government
is serious and inflexible on this issue. But so far there has been no
concrete answer from the U.S. Embassy showing it was definitely going to drop
Blackwater," the aide said on condition of anonymity because of the
sensitivity of the issue. The embassy said it does not
comment on the ongoing investigation. The aide said the al-Maliki
government told the embassy, "We will draft and pass laws that would lift
the immunity on these security companies to stop their reckless
behavior." The shooting in central
Baghdad on Tuesday by guards firing from a Unity Resources Group convoy only
deepened troubles for the foreign security industry in Iraq. The two Armenian
Christian women died when their white Oldsmobile was targeted by two Unity guards
as the convoy was returning to one of its facilities in the Karradah
district. Witnesses and police said it
appeared that the driver was trying to stop when the shooting began. "We cannot say the
guards shot at random, but we rather say that they used deadly force in a
situation where they shouldn't have," said government spokesman Ali
al-Dabbagh. "The preliminary investigation has shown that there was no
threat to the convoy. The families of the victims will be summoned according
to the legal procedures. They can file a law suit against the security
company." Unity Chief Operating
Officer Michael Priddin said company officials had "been meeting with
Iraqi authorities throughout the day and are cooperating with their
investigations." "The security team used
graduated and escalated responses which included non-lethal means such as
signage, strobe lights, hand signals, and a signal flare fired in front of
the vehicle in an effort to get it to stop," Priddin said in a statement
Wednesday night. "The vehicle did not heed these warnings and failed to
halt. Fearing a suicide attack, only then did the team use their weapons in a
final attempt to stop the vehicle." The Unity executive said,
"We deeply regret the loss of these lives." U.S. military spokesman Maj.
Gen. Kevin Bergner said Unity was "working with the Diplomatic Security
Service here at the embassy and with the government of Iraq ... to be
accountable and to investigate fully what happened." Unity, which is owned by
Australian partners but with headquarters in the United Arab Emirates,
provides protection for USAID contractor RTI International. According to the
USAID Web site, RTI has about $450 million in U.S. government contracts to
work on local governance projects in Iraq. USAID is a semiautonomous arm of
the U.S. State Department that manages American aide programs. Statements from both Unity
and RTI have made clear the guards were not escorting RTI clients when the
shooting occurred. At the church, mourners wept
and called for justice during the funeral Mass for Marou Awanis, who was
driving the car, and Geneva Jalal, a passenger. Among a small group of
relatives and friends were Awanis' three daughters, who cried over their
mother's simple casket, adorned only with a golden cross. Awanis, whose husband died
during heart surgery last year, was using the Oldsmobile as an unofficial
taxi to raise money for her three now-orphaned daughters: Noura, 21, and
Karound, 20, both students at Technology University; and Alees, 12. As journalists approached at
the funeral service, Noura screamed: "What is the use of the word
sorry?" Associated Press writers
Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report. © 2007 The Associated Press External link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/5203700.html |