They work mostly for the state department, which I would imagine has not run into a situation quite like Iraq beforeDilbert_X wrote:
They are doing a job which would normally be carried out by the security services and military personnel of the US state.
If they are being paid to carry arms for a foreign country in a third country that pretty well meets the definition.
Just because you choose to call them 'contractors' instead of 'soldiers' doesn't change a thing.
I can't think of a country besides the US which contracts out this kind of work, not on this kind of scale.
Either it was due to shortage of troops, lack of will to impose a draft or they wanted their buddies in the defense industry to make a few billion at the expense of Joe the Plumber, take your pick.
...Of the State Department's dependence on private contractors like Blackwater for security purposes, U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker told the U.S. Senate: "There is simply no way at all that the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security could ever have enough full-time personnel to staff the security function in Iraq. There is no alternative except through contracts."
That being said, I personally would prefer they had a bigger US military arm for that purpose. That would be a better solution: there would be more oversight, and it would be cheaper.
People want to call them 'mercenaries' because of the emotive impression it gives(hired killers) which shores up their particular views. I don't think it's an informed or accurate use of the term, but it works for those who like to spew rhetoric..
However, I'd say in this case Blackwater made their own beds
Too many loose cannons and too many poorly addressed complaints by Iraqi civilians, culminating in the Nisoor Square incident has left a bad taste, and the Iraqis are fed up. I can't really blame them, they have the authority to make the decision, and the people do not want BW given a permit to operate.
To be fair, in that incident Blackwater employees claimed they were attacked first, and evidence does support that
The shooting strained relations between Washington and Baghdad and fueled the anti-American insurgency in Iraq, where many Iraqis saw the bloodshed as a demonstration of American brutality and arrogance. Five former Blackwater guards have pleaded not guilty to federal charges in the United States that include 14 counts of manslaughter and 20 counts of attempted manslaughter.
Blackwater maintains the guards opened fire after coming under attack, an argument supported by transcripts of Blackwater radio logs obtained by the AP. They describe a hectic eight minutes in which the guards repeatedly reported incoming gunfire from insurgents and Iraqi police.
Last edited by Vax (2009-01-30 12:52:41)
