Breaking News: Dozens seized at Baghdad security firm: police

[plasticsundance]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Gunmen wearing the uniform of Iraqi police commandos seized dozens of employees from the offices of a security company in eastern Baghdad on Wednesday, police sources said.

Two sources said about 50 people were taken. They said that the gunmen, who arrived in at least 10 vehicles, broke into the headquarters compound of the firm in the Zayouna district. One Interior Ministry source said he was unaware of any official police operation in the area.


http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-03-08T142443Z_01_KAR851308_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-FIRM.xml

[elehhhhna]

1. Sounds like uncivil war to me.

[xultar]

2. Well then, Bush would be correct. Because he did say that there was

no evidence of Civil war and that he had no indication that Civil war would be a consequence of his bullshit policy.

[izzie]

4. One hates to think what the Civil War will be like

I wonder how you put the OK on this is Civil War or not any how. I may be forced to watch Bush and see if he ever calls it one. That watching part is almost more than I can even think about.It is just to painful to hear that man let alone seeing him.

[BR_Parkway]

18. It will only be Civil War when people start talking about Yankees

and Confederates. According to our education these days, it's probably the only Civil War that too many Americans even know about.

[LeftHander]

3. A different war....

SOunds to me like these "security" firms are operating death squads to encite civil war. Then others have found out and are taking the battle to them with similar methods.

I have long thought that western NGOs are behind the numerous mass killings and the many bombings including the gold dome shrine of Sammarra.

[Just Me]

11. That would be my suspicion as well.

It's ashame that the environment in which I live draws me to such suspicions.

[anotherdrew]

25. there sure are eye witness reports of that...

US and Iraqi interior ministry forces controlled the whole area around the shrine all night. It's been estimated that the precise demolitions done would have taken 10 men 12 hours with good equipment.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

36. I agree. They want chaos and Iraqis killing Iraqis and...

...that's just what they've got.

[Ian David]

43. Remember the British soldiers disguised as insurgents...

who were captured by Iraqi security forces while driving around in a car-bomb?

And then the ensuing tank assault on the Iraqi prison to free them?

[PassingFair]

5. Not very much info....

any chance this was a "western" security company?

[maxrandb]

6. "Ruh Roh". Could this Security Company be Blackwater? n/t

[file83]

38. Wouldn't that be a shame?

And after ALL that Blackwater has done to for the good citizens of Iraq.

:sarcasm:

[grytpype]

7. Tomorrow's Headline: 50 Headless Bodies Found in Tigris

The Interior Ministry vows to investigate.

[Barrett808]

29. Or they'll be ransomed. n/t

[Bozita]

8. Reuters pulled that story down.

"We're sorry... this story is currently unavailable"

WTF?

[truth2power]

10. It's up again. n/t

[sabra]

9. Gunmen Kidnap Up to 50 Workers in Baghdad

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq_kidnapping;_ylt=AowdriDHjwhpiCEV_vlFdAus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

Gunmen Kidnap Up to 50 Workers in Baghdad 10 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen in camouflage uniforms stormed the offices of a private security company Wednesday and kidnapped as many as 50 employees, police reported.

The attackers hit the al-Rawafid Security Co., a private Iraqi-owned business, at 4:30 p.m. and forced the workers into seven vehicles, including several white SUVs, said Interior Ministry Maj. Felah Al-Mohammedawi.

The company is located in the mixed Sunni-Shiite Zayouna neighborhood in eastern Baghdad.

[bigworld]

12. some security company...

... can't even protect their own.

[0007]

13. Holy Moley! Didn't Rumsfeld tell us yesterday that the media

was embellishing and exaggerating the violent in Iraq?

Rumsfeld should be cleaning toilets at the U.N. and John Bolton should be his assistant.

[Auntie Bush]

49. And they should use bush's head as the scrubber. I laugh when I

picture that scene. :rofl: That kinky hair would make a great scrubber.

[truth2power]

14. White SUVs??

Aren't the death squad thugs (American) famous for white vans or SUVs or something?

Negroponte's boys ?


Sorry, I can't keep up with who's doing what to whom. For my money, the US is responsible for most of the mixing and stirring. :eyes: Cui bono?

[Drum]

15. maybe it's staged...

...say, an evac of some NGO's personnel?

[truth2power]

19. Could be, I guess..

given that 3 years in, we still don't control the road between Baghdad and the airport. I wonder if they caught their flight.

'Course, to hear Rummy tell it, people can just stroll around the streets of Baghdad at will.

Whatta tool! He should be in an institution for the criminally insane. :evilfrown:

[Canuckistanian]

16. Matching white SUV's?

Seems to me, insurgents wouldn't spend their money on buying two or more identical vehicles and use them in an operation. Far too conspicious.

No, these were the vehicles of some American agency.

[Spazito]

21. It's probably Blackwater Security taking out their competition

(only half joking!)

[glitch]

26. Turf war - isn't that what happens when the mafia is in control?

or is trying to be in control - not joking at all.

[Roland99]

28. Doesn't require much tinfoil either

[mom cat]

34. I am surt that black opps are involved.

[NYC]

23. Competition?

An Iraqi owned security company was raided.

[Ilsa]

17. How will Rumsferatu spin this one?

Something about how "untidy" and unfriendly war can be?

[Catrina]

20. *lol* ~ or maybe 'freedom means being able to do bad things, it's a pretty

heady feeling' ~ and who would know that better than he and his cohorts?

I can't find it now, but I think I read that two 'British nationals in civilian clothing' were detained after an attack this week ~ they were not identified. I made me think of the other incident involving the British secret agents who were caught dressed as Arabs with bombs in their car ~

But what advantage would there be to the British/US stirring up even more trouble over there?

[Ian David]

44. Make them fight each other so they're not fighting us?

I mean, we're fighting them there so we don't have to fight them here, right?

Why not add, "As long as they're fighting each other, they're not fighting us?"

The smartest thing for the Iraqis to do would be to call a truce and stop fighting one another.

And then, stop fighting us.

Allow Bush to declare victory and start withdrawing troops.

And then, just as the last C-130 clears the runway, have themselves the bloodiest civil war the middle east has ever seen, decimating or capturing every American-owned asset in the process.

Think about what happened in Cuba when Castro took over. All those fancy American-owned hotels and sugar refineries were taken intact.

Let the Americans re-build the infrastructure, and then as soon as the coast is clear, seize it for themselves.

[thebigidea]

22. still cracks me up that "Rumsferatu" stuck and is still being used...

[rocktivity]

24. ARE WE TALKING ABOUT AMERICAN CONTRACTORS HERE?

rocknation
:wow:

[file83]

40. Yeah - nice reporting eh?

Notice how they leave out the "who" of the story? Why don't they want us to know?

[Igel]

53. Other stories on the same incident

say about 50 employees, most of which were former members of Saddam's security apparatus, all Sunnis.

You know, those nice friendly folk whose maximum level of abuse was offering caramels to their guests a second time, after having been turned down the first time. Oh, the horror of it all.

[The_Casual_Observer]

27. "wearing the uniform of Iraqi police commandos"

This sort of thing goes on all the time, all over the world.:sarcasm:

[file83]

41. I wish it were "wearing the uniform of Cross Dressing Transvestites"

Now that would be a NEWS story!

[reprobate]

30. I have this fantasy that when anyone on this administration appears in

...public, the entire audience just points and giggles. I know it doesn't do justice to their evil, but it sure would be satisfying.

[gauguin57]

31. Mission Accomplished!

:eyes:

[file83]

39. The insurgency is in it's LAST THROWS!

:silly:

[lebkuchen]

32. I doubt there's time to hang that many captives

At any rate, they will be toast in short order.

[Dawgs]

33. I thought some Australian guy said we had them on the run.

:shrug:

[Synnical]

35. Reuters: Mystery as men in police uniform raid Baghdad firm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060308/ts_nm/iraq_firm1_dc

By Mariam Karouny 7 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Armed men in police uniform seized dozens of Iraqi private security guards from their firm's compound on Wednesday, police said, but officials contradicted each other over whether they were arrested or kidnapped.

Three of the most senior officials in the Interior Ministry insisted no raid was authorized on the company in Baghdad. Two other officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the private guards had been arrested by genuine police commandos.

One senior official in the Interior Ministry said police raided the company after a complaint from a corporate client dissatisfied with the firm's security services.

But Major General Mohammed al-Hassan, the ministry's head of operations, said in a statement: "The Interior Ministry is not involved in any way in this arrest."

[Dover]

42. Al Jazeera says

The (security) company, one of dozens providing protection for businesses and other clients in the violence-plagued country, is located in Zayouna, a volatile mixed Sunni-Shia neighbourhood in east Baghdad.

Its employees include many former members of Saddam Hussein's security forces.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F2D16687-5D2A-4F62-867B-B060333DE988.htm

[NYC]

54. That's a little harsh, isn't it?

What happened to registering a complaint with the Better Business Bureau?

...police raided the company after a complaint from a corporate client dissatisfied with the firm's security services...

[Vinca]

37. Surely you must be mistaken.

Just yesterday Rummy was opining about the media and how they exaggerate and fabricate. Photos? Doesn't matter. Everything in Iraq is going swimmingly, end of discussion.

[PaulaFarrell]

45. Gunmen take 50 security workers hostage as violence escalates (Baghdad)

Gunmen dressed in the uniforms of Iraqi policemen have stormed the offices of a private business in Baghdad, kidnapping up to 50 workers and bringing yet more chaos to a city in the grip of bloody sectarian conflict.

The unidentified group launched its attack on the al-Rawafid security firm in broad daylight yesterday afternoon and seized dozens of employees, including former members of Saddam Hussein's security forces.

The company, whose owner was among those abducted, is one of dozens providing protection for businesses and other clients in the war-ravaged country and is located in Zayouna, a volatile mixed Sunni-Shiite neighbourhood in east Baghdad.

The mass kidnapping came soon after the bodies of 18 men - bound, blindfolded and strangled - were found dumped in a predominantly Sunni Arab district of the capital, apparent victims of the sectarian turmoil gathering pace in Iraq since the bombing of a renowned Shia shrine last month.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article350105.ece

[Just Me]

47. Very curious.

And the Iraq government is giving mixed reports, too.

:shrug:

:wtf:

[PassingFair]

46. KICK

Anyone following this?

Article that my husband read to me while
I was driving said that the
"security firm" was owned by SAUDIS!

Can't find the article....

[bemildred]

48. Abductees... Company Suspected Of Assisting Insurgency in Iraq

The Sunni-owned security company where about 50 employees were kidnapped Wednesday was under investigation for allegedly collaborating with the anti-government insurgency, an Interior Ministry official said Thursday.

The official, Maj. Gen. Mehdi Sabih Hashem al-Garawi, commander of a paramilitary police unit, said in an interview that his investigators had been examining the company. Many of its employees were members of Saddam Hussein’s security forces, said a company employee who evaded the abductors.

The company was also operating without a license, which was canceled last year, according to ministry documents.

Witnesses to the kidnapping said the attackers were driving vehicles and wearing uniforms resembling those used by paramilitary units of the Interior Ministry, which oversees the police.

http://www-tech.mit.edu/V126/N10/10long2.html

[54anickel]

50. Weird, is it a kidnapping or an arrest? Is there some sort of shadow

government forming in Iraq that is separate from the US puppet master? :shrug:

[bemildred]

52. It's a civil war.

Or what Lind likes to call 4th generation war, or what I like to call chaos. This is the best delineation of the situation I've seen of late:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x196292

Edit: "failed state" is an appropriate common term too.

[MGKrebs]

51. So, a security firm that offers to protect ocompanies from

insurgents is actually helping the insurgents? What a great cover!

Just like the mafia, offering "protection" from ... um... themselves.

So companies that hire the security firm are actually funding the insurgency? Ouch!

[hang a left]

55. Well now they have found some of these bodies in mass graves.

kick

[hang a left]

56. See here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2167848