By Kenneth J. Theisen, 9/18/07
The recent deaths of Iraqis at the hands of U.S. security company, Blackwater USA,
are causing a minor crisis for the Bush regime. (Blackwater has an estimated
1,000 employees in Iraq and
at least $800 million in U.S.
government contracts.) On Sunday September 16, 2007 while guarding a U.S. State
Department motorcade, Blackwater mercenaries allegedly opened fire killing
eight Iraqi civilians and wounding thirteen others. The Prime Minister of Iraq,
Al-Maliki, condemned the shooting by a “foreign security company” and
called it a “crime.”
The most recent incident is just one of many in which
private security contractors employed by U.S. have killed Iraqi
civilians. No American security contractor
has been prosecuted in the United States
or Iraq
for these deaths. Former Vice-Roy Paul
Bremer granted blanket immunity for these foreign private security contractors
when he was head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) shortly after the
U.S. invasion of Iraq. CPA Order 17 says private contractors working
for the U.S. or coalition
governments in Iraq
are not subject to Iraqi law. In April 2007, the Department of Defense reported
that there are 129,000 contractors of many nationalities operating in Iraq, but not
all are armed contractors.
Until now, the Iraqi government has refused to act in any of
the deaths caused by these mercenaries. But now, faced with anger in the
streets, the government is threatening to prosecute those responsible.
But Blackwater and other mercenary companies are critical to
the U.S. control of Iraq. They provide critical security to the
henchmen of the Bush regime. Blackwater
is among three private security firms employed by the State Department to
protect employees in Iraq. Other top officials, including General
Petraeus, are also guarded by Blackwater and other security companies.
Their importance was emphasized on Monday when U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice phoned Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
to “express regret” over the deaths. A
State Department spokesman told the media that Rice “reiterated that the United States
does everything it can to avoid such loss of life, in contrast to the enemies
of the Iraqi people who deliberately target civilians.” He apparently did this without a trace of
irony in his voice.
On September 18, 2007 the Iraqi Cabinet stated it intended
to review the status of all foreign security companies. But the government
appeared to back down from earlier statements that it had revoked Blackwater’s
license and would order its personnel to leave Iraq. Ali al-Dabbagh, an Iraqi government
spokesperson stated, “We are not intending to stop them and revoke their
license indefinitely but we do need them to respect the law and the regulation
here in Iraq.” Undoubtedly this less confrontational
approach is due to U.S.
pressure.
But Iraqis are angered at the recent deaths. Islamic cleric Muqtada al-Sadr demanded that
the Iraqi government ban “48,000 foreign security contractors” from the country. Al-Sadr is a supporter of al-Maliki and
controls a bloc of votes in the legislature. He also controls a Shi”a militia
force which has fought against U.S.
forces. The Iraqi government is attempting to walk a tightrope, pleasing its U.S. masters,
while at the same time not risking too much anger from the Iraqi masses.
This is why Iraq’s
national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, is urging the Iraqi government to
utilize this most recent incident to consider repealing the immunity law issued
by the CPA. Al-Rubaie stated, “This
is a golden opportunity for the government of Iraq to radically review the CPA
Order 17 and make the review part of the investigation process.”
There are two diametrically opposed views of what happened
in this recent incident. Iraqi witnesses
say that there was no fire directed toward the State Department convoy. This is why Interior Ministry spokesman Brig.
Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf took an alleged tough stand against Blackwater when he
said, “They committed a crime. The judicial system will take action.”
But the U.S. Embassy claims the convoy came under fire. A U.S. embassy spokesperson said, “A
car bomb went off near a location where U.S. Embassy officials were in a
meeting. Two U.S. Embassy support teams responded. One team made it to the
scene quickly, and the other team came under fire.”
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, told reporters,
“an investigation of that incident is under way and it would be premature
to comment until the investigation is finished.” But he also admitted that
this incident is politically sensitive when he said it is important, “to
find the best ways to put new regulations and conditions by the Interior
Ministry on the work of security companies.” Crocker obviously hopes the Iraqis will be
satisfied with an investigation, some minimal compensation to the victims’
families, some change in the immunity law, and not any insistence on expelling
mercenaries that are critical to the U.S.
domination of Iraq.
As expected, Blackwater is claiming complete innocence. A Blackwater media flak claimed that, “The
‘civilians’ reportedly fired upon by Blackwater professionals were in fact
armed enemies, and Blackwater personnel returned defensive fire. Blackwater regrets any loss of life, but this
convoy was violently attacked by armed insurgents, not civilians, and our
people did their job to defend human life.”
It is evident that the Iraqi government which exists at the
sufferance of its U.S.
master will not force mercenaries employed by the U.S. to leave the country. These thousands of armed men are critical to
the U.S. They provide essential armed force while at
the same time allowing the Bush regime to limit the number of U.S. troops in Iraq. This also allows avoidance of Congressional
and U.S.
public oversight. As long as the U.S. is in Iraq
we can expect further killings both by mercenaries and also by regular U.S.
troops. But then the people killed are
only “enemies” or “collateral damage” so I guess that is okay. Isn’t it?