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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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January 25th,
2010 - Charged Contractors had Checkered Military Pasts News article from the Associated
Press |
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Charged Contractors had Checkered
Military Pasts By Mike Baker Associated Press January 25, 2010 Raleigh, N.C. - A pair of
former Blackwater contractors charged with murdering two people in
Afghanistan had checkered pasts with the military before getting hired to
work overseas, according to service records disclosed in recent U.S. court
hearings. The troubled backgrounds of
the two men - including instances of violence, drug use and disregard for
authority - are a first sign that Xe, the company formerly known as
Blackwater, was staffing its war-zone work force with contractors who might
not be suited for the job. The military typically keeps
its detailed service records confidential. That makes it difficult to verify
the conventional perception that Xe has long filled its rosters with
decorated special forces personnel. In the cases of Chris Drotleff and Justin
Cannon, prosecutors brought up their records while arguing at hearings this
month that both men should be jailed pending their trials. Drotleff's three-year
service in the Marines ended with an other-than-honorable discharge in 2001
and a military record that included offenses for seven unauthorized absences,
two failures to obey an order, assault, disrespect toward a noncommissioned
officer and falsely altering a military ID card. Before his service with
Blackwater in Afghanistan, the 29-year-old also faced a number of state
convictions for reckless driving, disturbing the peace, assault and battery,
resisting arrest and DWI. Cannon, 27, was discharged
from the Army after going AWOL and testing positive for cocaine. He later
petitioned successfully to have his military records officially changed to an
honorable discharge. Both men were indicted by a
federal grand jury in Virginia this month on two counts of second-degree
murder, attempted murder and weapons charges in a 2008 shooting along a Kabul
road. They had been in Afghanistan working for Xe subsidiary Paravant under a
Department of Defense contract to provide weapons training to the Afghan
National Army. Their records were detailed
in exhibits and arguments at detention hearings in Virginia and Texas this
month. Cannon, of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Drotleff, of Virginia Beach,
Va., have been ordered held in custody, with the federal judge in Drotleff's hearing
citing his "decade long pattern of refusing to obey laws orders and
regulations." "The court finds that
the defendant is a danger to the community based on the nature of the charged
offense, his history of alcohol abuse and criminal and military history which
include crimes of violence," U.S. Magistrate Judge Tommy E. Miller
wrote. Loren Thompson, a defense
analyst with the Lexington Institute, said he was surprised to hear that
Myock, N.C.-based Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, would
hire workers with questionable pasts when the company is struggling to
overcome the 2007 Nisoor Square shooting that left more than a dozen Iraqis
dead and the subsequent perception that its staff is undisciplined. He said
the evidence suggests that Blackwater's standards aren't even as high as
those of the U.S. military. "Why would you take a
chance with people who have had other-than-honorable discharges or criminal
records?" Thompson said. "The fact that people with spotty records
were still in the Blackwater Afghan work force long after the blowups in Iraq
suggest that the company needs to pay closer attention to the character of
the people it hires." Xe spokesman Mark Corallo
said the company "screens and vets applicants pursuant to U.S. Government
requirements." Defense Department guidelines require contractors to
certify that their personnel are not prohibited from possessing firearms
under U.S. law, but instructions released by the department do not discuss
how to address specific criminal or military violations. Drotleff's wife, Gina,
conceded Monday that her husband had troubles in his past. Still, "they're
dredging every single little thing up," she said of prosecutors.
"They're ruining our family, our situation and his character. He's a good
person, a wonderful father, a great husband and a patriot." Neither Drotleff nor Cannon
has entered a plea. Drotleff has an arraignment set for Wednesday. Both have said in interviews
with The Associated Press that they were driving along a Kabul road on the
night of May 5, 2009, when a speeding car slammed into the first vehicle of
their convoy, causing it to flip. Both said they got out of their car to help
before seeing the car that caused the accident speeding toward them, leading
the men to open fire and saying later that they feared for their lives. Two other contractors who
were at the scene have not been charged. All four were fired, with one
receiving a termination letter from Xe that cited violation of alcohol
policy. External link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/25/AR2010012502494.html |