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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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April 3rd,
2009 - Ex-Blackwater Workers May Return to Iraq Jobs |
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Ex-Blackwater
Workers May Return to Iraq Jobs By Rod Nordland New York Times April 3, 2009 Baghdad - Late last month
Blackwater Worldwide lost its billion-dollar contract to protect American
diplomats here, but by next month many if not most of its private security
guards will be back on the job in Iraq. The same individuals will
just be wearing new uniforms, working for Triple Canopy, the firm that won
the State Department’s contract after Iraqi officials refused to renew
Blackwater’s operating license, according to American diplomats, private
security industry officials and Iraqi officials. Blackwater - viewed in Iraq
as a symbol of American violence and impunity - lost the contract after being
accused of excessive force in several instances, particularly an apparently unprovoked
shooting in downtown Baghdad in 2007 in which 17 civilians were killed. Despite the torrent of
public criticism against Blackwater, American officials say they are relieved
that the old guards will stay on. Otherwise, Triple Canopy, they say, would
not be able to field enough qualified guards, with the proper security
clearances, before the new contract goes into effect in May. “There is just no other way
to do it,” said one Western diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity
because he is not permitted to discuss the issue publicly. Critics of Blackwater said
they worried that the same people might perpetuate what they believed was a
corporate culture that disregarded Iraqis’ lives. “They’re really all still
there, and it’s back to business as usual,” said Susan Burke, an American
lawyer who has filed three civil rights lawsuits against Blackwater on behalf
of Iraqi civilians alleged to be victims of it. An unresolved question is
whether Blackwater, recently renamed Xe (pronounced zee), or any affiliated
company will profit from the deal. Speculation inside the industry and the
Iraqi government has focused on whether Triple Canopy might hire as a
subcontractor a company called the Falcon Group, identified in a lawsuit
brought by Ms. Burke as a Blackwater affiliate. A Blackwater spokeswoman,
Anne Tyrell, said that Blackwater had no relationship with Falcon Group,
whose Web site describes it as an Iraqi-owned company with interests in
security and reconstruction. “The people who provide security services abroad
are independent contractors,” Ms. Tyrell said. “When their 60- to 90-day
contracts with us expire, they can seek employment with whomever they
choose.” A Triple Canopy spokesman,
Jayanti Menches, declined to respond to the subcontractor issue. “We will
staff this contract with qualified, vetted and trained personnel,” Ms.
Menches said. The Western diplomat said
that even if most of the bodyguards remained Blackwater veterans, there would
be dramatic changes in their rules of engagement. One former Marine Corps
colonel who worked closely with Blackwater summed up the previous rules: “No
compassion for the locals who had to use the roads with the Blackwater
vehicles or convoys, shoot if in doubt and keep driving, etc.” The new rules of engagement,
the diplomat said, would require staff members to behave less aggressively.
They had already started to take effect, he added, with Blackwater escorts
ordered to negotiate traffic courteously. After Iraq refused to renew
Blackwater’s contract, the State Department awarded it to Triple Canopy, one
of two other firms, including DynCorp, already doing some State Department
security contracting in Iraq. The five-year State Department contract,
awarded March 31, is worth $977 million and goes into effect May 7. That
amount represents a large proportion of Blackwater’s previous worldwide
business. American officials said
replacing Blackwater from scratch in just over a month would be difficult.
The firm maintains a force of 600 armed men based in Baghdad’s Green Zone to
protect embassy and other United States government civilian employees. Their
work requires security clearances when they accompany diplomats on sensitive
missions, involving lengthy background checks. It is particularly difficult
for non-Americans to get such clearances. Blackwater also maintains a
quick reaction force, and has a civilian air wing with helicopters,
surveillance drones and other aircraft. The contract for their air operations
remains in force, expiring in September. Although Triple Canopy is an
American company, most of its Iraq-based employees are former members of the
military from countries with low wage scales, like Peru and El Salvador, with
a much lower level of training or expertise than Western employees, and little
likelihood of getting security clearances. Many American diplomats have
defended Blackwater. At least six American State Department employees have
been killed since the occupation of Iraq, and Ms. Tyrell said that 27
Blackwater personnel members were killed defending their charges. “A certain
number of our people are here today because Blackwater guards have been
killed protecting them,” said an official familiar with security arrangements
for American diplomats, who did not want to be identified because he was not
authorized to speak to the news media. The Iraqis now seem prepared
to accept the prospect that many or even most of the former Blackwater
employees will remain on the job as Triple Canopy employees. “It doesn’t
matter who they are, what their names are, or what uniform they wear,” said
Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, spokesman for the Iraqi Interior Ministry, “as
long as they are subject to Iraqi law and their company follows Iraqi laws.” Tareq Maher contributed
reporting. External link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/world/middleeast/04blackwater.html |