By Kenneth J. Theisen
On October 9, 2007 two Iraqi women became the latest casualties of a “security company” working for the Bush regime in Iraq. Their “crime” – they made the mistake of approaching a convoy guarded by Unity Resources Group, one of the many contract mercenary groups in Iraq. Like Blackwater USA, this company operates on behalf of the U.S. occupation. And apparently this company’s guards are as trigger-happy as Blackwater too. These private mercenaries use automatic weapons like some of us use car horns. In the U.S. you can be cited for using a horn unnecessarily, but in Iraq these “contractors” apparently can get away with murder under the immunity law promulgated by the U.S. former Viceroy Paul Bremer.
The recent killings, including the massacre perpetrated by Blackwater last month which killed at least 17 civilians, are not aberrations in the Iraq war. They are part of a brutal occupation which terrorizes the Iraqi people and brings death and destruction to Iraqis for ordinary things such as driving on the street. One of the dead women, a widow, used the car she was driving as a “taxi” to raise money to support her three children. With the high unemployment rate, people do what they can in Iraq to survive, but she was unsuccessful in her fight to survive. Her three kids are now orphans, some of the tens of thousands of orphans created by the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Riyadh Majid, an Iraqi policeman, witnessed the shooting. He told reporters that as the women’s car approached the four armored SUVs, convoy guards threw a smoke bomb near their car. The women tried to stop, but convoy guards had opened fire killing both of the women. The convoy sped away after the murders. Two other passengers were wounded. Iraqi police investigators recovered at least 19 spent shell casings at the scene.
Killings by security contractors have become routine events in Iraq. Prior to the recent massacre at least 21 other Iraqis were killed in similar circumstances by Blackwater according to the Iraqi government. Unity has also been involved in at least one prior death. In March 2006, the company was blamed for shooting a 72-year-old Iraqi at a Baghdad security checkpoint when he allegedly failed to stop his car in time. Unity provides armed guards throughout Iraq.
The most recent killings will put additional pressure on the Iraqi government. The Iraqi populace is fed up with the arrogance and lawlessness exhibited by security contractors. These thousands of contractors jeopardize the lives of Iraqis whenever they come into public. Because of this, the Iraqi government has publicly had to take a “firm” stand against contractors like Blackwater. Recently the Iraqi Prime Minister, al-Maliki demanded that Blackwater pay $8 million in compensation to the families of each of those recently killed by Blackwater guards. But at the same time, the U.S. government has made clear to the Iraqi puppet government that security contractors are absolutely necessary for the U.S. to control Iraq. These private armed forces are needed to supplement the official occupation army. They provide protection for U.S. diplomats, contractors, and “aid” groups necessary to the U.S. occupation. Without their presence the U.S. would have to dramatically increase its official military presence creating huge political problems for the Bush regime. As a result, the Iraqi government will not ban these mercenaries from the country.
But the biggest problem in Iraq is not that there are private armies running around or that they get paid hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. money for their crimes. These facts are true, but the problem is much deeper. The media reported that the street was stained with the victim’s blood after the women were killed and the other passengers were wounded.
The stain of blood on the street will one day disappear. But the stain of blood on the Bush regime will not be erased. Each day Iraqis die as a direct result of the U.S. invasion and continued occupation of Iraq. Some are killed by mercenaries and others die at the hands of the U.S. military and other formal military forces. But regardless of who does the killing, the Bush regime is responsible for the deaths. The very nature of the U.S. invasion and occupation demand that the control over the population of Iraq be brutal. It is a military occupation and despite occasional statements about winning hearts and minds, the reality will keep coming to the fore.
This is an occupation that has involved the rounding up of tens of thousands of Iraqis and their incarceration and torture at hell holes like Abu Ghraib. It is nightly break-ins by military forces at private homes, searches of women in night clothes, and theft and destruction of property. It is checkpoints and “accidental” killings at checkpoints for failure to stop quickly enough. It is murders for getting too close to occupation convoys or occupation troops. It is rapes and murders of young girls and women. It is a brutal war perpetrated by an imperialist power over another people and country. It is a war that creates orphans, widows, and widowers by the hundreds of thousands.
This is the reality of what takes place in Iraq on a daily basis. As long as the Bush regime exists, the carnage will continue. We can and we must drive this regime from power for the sake of the Iraqi people and the people of the world.