A Rare Look Inside the World of Private Security Contractors- "I want to kill somebody today"

[Jcrowley]

A Chaotic Day on Baghdad's Airport Road
By Steve Fainaru
The Washington Post

Sunday 15 April 2007

Four hired guns in an armored truck, bullets flying, and a pickup and a taxi brought to a halt. Who did the shooting and why?

On the afternoon of July 8, 2006, four private security guards rolled out of Baghdad's Green Zone in an armored SUV. The team leader, Jacob C. Washbourne, rode in the front passenger seat. He seemed in a good mood. His vacation started the next day.

"I want to kill somebody today," Washbourne said, according to the three other men in the vehicle, who later recalled it as an offhand remark. Before the day was over, however, the guards had been involved in three shooting incidents. In one, Washbourne allegedly fired into the windshield of a taxi for amusement, according to interviews and statements from the three other guards.

Washbourne, a 29-year-old former Marine, denied the allegations. "They're all unfounded, unbased, and they simply did not happen," he said during an interview near his home in Broken Arrow, Okla.

The full story of what happened on Baghdad's airport road that day may never be known. But a Washington Post investigation of the incidents provides a rare look inside the world of private security contractors, the hired guns who fight a parallel and largely hidden war in Iraq. The contractors face the same dangers as the military, but many come to the war for big money, and they operate outside most of the laws that govern American forces.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041507B.shtml

[nam78_two]

Wow-interesting

Thanks for posting..:kick:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Mercenaries have been known as scum for centuries and for good reason.

Although, I think the appellation "scum" is far too generous.

[DCKit]

4. Not if you know the original meaning of the word Tierra : )

And what's to become of us when the trained psychopaths who've gotten a real taste for blood in Iraq and Afghanistan come home? I'm thinking instead of 15 active serial killers, we'll have a hundred.

Good times.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. Having looked it up...you may be right. Perhaps an adjective would suffice. Fetid scum.

[DCKit]

7. NASTY : )

[LynnTheDem]

2. And the world will judge ALL Americans by the behaviour of our mercenaries...

as well as our soldiers.

And we will ALL pay the price.

[Canuckistanian]

13. The Iraqis certainly don't make a distniction

They just want ALL Americans out.

Can't blame them.

[Robson]

3. These same people were in NOLA and could be on your streets

Be concerned. The private Bush military is a threat to our democracy and our own military.

[Bobbieo]

9. nd some of you scoff - when I wonder if we will ever get rid of Bush and company

[file83]

11. That is exactly right. Many "Red Blooded Americans" think Blackwater is cool....

...but wait until Blackwater is shooting taxi drivers and teenagers for fun in their own American Streets.

It won't be so "cool" then.

[Robson]

14. FUBAR - Meant as reply to #5

This proves that these mercs are used in more than security in a defensive posture. The coordination between coalition forces and these various merc groups in theater must be a regular zoo. No wonder Iraq is FUBAR and they have friendlies being killed. These guys appear not to know what they are shooting at. One guy says a Green flag makes that person an enemy and target under ROE.

[seemslikeadream]

5. Blackwater Mercenary Sniper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXgcQNsUKO0


'Iraq for Sale' bonus scene: Blackwater

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJUEULWEP9c

[quiet.american]

8. What to expect when L. Paul Bremer officially declared they are above the law.

L. Paul Bremer needs to be dragged into the Hague right along with the rest of the Bushies as far as I'm concerned.

[MikeNearMcChord]

10. I was watching the movie "The Wind That Shakes The Barley"

In that movie the British used a merc group, The Black and Tans, to terrorize the Irish citizens. Mercs are uncontrollable and thus not subject to Geneva Convention protections, shame of the US to use them, more war crimes charges on the US for using them in Iraq.

[Selatius]

12. Remind me not to broad brush all mercenaries as a sorry bunch of motherfuckers. I hope not all are..

like this "kill somebody" types.

[sanskritwarrior]

15. I have stated on many occasions in my post history

that many contractors I have worked with in Iraq are not bad guys and gals. Yes there are psychopaths but they are the exception, not the norm. I have 14 years in the Army when I make my 20 I have considered contractor work myself. There are many kinds, some pull triggers, some drive trucks, some fix computers, some do intel analysis and yes some are psycho mother fuckers that deserve to be given to the Iraqis. But that number is less than 1%. Most contractors I met in Iraq are kind and decent people that are convinced they are doing a good thing. Whether or not this is true is in the eyes of the beholder.

I will now sit back and watch the hate mail and accusations of freeper status pour in. Having a nuanced opinion and a little real world experience should count for something when using a broad brush. :D