Contractor Says Marines Abused Him in Iraq

[Barrett808]

Contractor Says Marines Abused Him in Iraq
By SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press Writer

RENO, Nev. - Security contractors were heckled, humiliated and physically abused by U.S. Marines in Iraq while jailed for 72 hours with insurgents, one of the detainees said Friday.

"It was disbelief the whole time. I couldn't believe what was happening," said Matt Raiche, 34, an ex-Marine who was one of 16 American and three Iraqi contractors detained at Camp Fallujah last month.

"I just found it crazy that we were being held with terrorists, that we were put in the same facility with them," he told The Associated Press in an interview at his lawyer's office. "They were calling us a rogue mercenary team."

Defense officials disclosed on Thursday that the security guards for Charlotte, N.C.-based Zapata Engineering were detained for three days after they fired from trucks and SUVs on Iraqi civilian cars and U.S. forces in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad.

The military has denied the contractors were abused. No charges have been filed against any of the contractors, who the military said were separated from suspected insurgents.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050611/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_workers_detained

[DRoseDARs]

1. I'm trying to care, really I am...

...but the violin doth beckon. :nopity:



If only this clusterfuck would stop.

[Barrett808]

4. Americans turning on Americans? Reports of fragging?

Things must really be falling apart over there.

[kiraboo]

12. At least we can rest assured that the abuses were committed

only by a few, nonrepresentative members of the American military. We should in no way imagine that physical and/or psychological abuse is standard pracice when dealing with the Iraqis.

Uh-huh.

[Trajan]

2. Zapata Engineering ? ....

Fascinating ....

You dont think that: .. Nahhhhhhh .. too obvious .... right ?

I mean: The old man wouldnt .....

Nah .. cant be ...

[havocmom]

5. oh, yeah, he would

:mad: :nuke: :mad: :nuke: :mad: :nuke: :mad: :nuke: :mad:

[Trajan]

9. That name: Zapata ....

http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/3579.html

-snip-

Zapata Oil

In 1952, Prescott Bush was elected to the US Senate. A year later, his son George H W Bush used money from the Nazi bankers – Brown Brothers and Harriman – to form Zapata Oil, a front for the CIA.

Zapata's offshore oil served as the perfect CIA cocaine smuggling scam, as those who worked on the rig never had to go through customs.5
In 1961, Zapata's annual report boasted that the company had paid no taxes since it was founded. In 1981, SEC filings for Zapata Oil for 1960-66 were found to have been "inadvertently destroyed."6

Operation Zapata

The CIA's ties to the Italian Mafia are well-known, and go back to the Mob's assistance with the Allied invasion of Italy in World War II. Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution removed the Mafia (and their drug smuggling) out of Cuba. The Mafia complained to their buddies at the CIA.

In 1961, the CIA attempted to invade Cuba using US-trained and equipped Cubans. Code-named "Operation Zapata," two of the boats used in the invasion were named "Houston" and "Barbara." Operation Zapata was a failure and became known as the "Bay of Pigs" invasion. Much of the US intelligence community held then-President John F Kennedy responsible, as he refused to commit US air power to the invasion.

Incredibly, George H W Bush claims to have forgotten where he was in Texas on the day of Kennedy's death. Oddly, he is known to keep in contact with Felix Rodriguez – the anti-Castro Cuban assassin who killed Che Guevara.

-snip-

[havocmom]

10. Yep, that's the bell that rang in my head too

Thanks for posting that for those not old enough to know the context.

[havocmom]

3. US contract employees shooting at US Marines in Iraq. WTF!?!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1539915

Ummm, some people are fighting our troops who are not Iraqi defenders (I refuse to call someone defending his home an 'insurgent') nor are they Al Queda operatives! Agents of US Corporations are sending live fire at US Marines! Let's get this front and center and ask just how they explain it! :mad:

[DRoseDARs]

7. They misidentified the vehicle following them and fired a warning shot...

Mercs have no business being there if they can't maintain clear lines of communication with coalition forces so things like this don't happen. Then again, we still bombed the Canadians in Afghanistan. Opps. :thumbsdown:

[havocmom]

11. So they say

I'll stick to my theory that US Corporations do what they please. They have laws in place all over the globe to assure they do not have to abide by any law they don't like. Why would they let Marines be the boss of them. They were letting the troops know who was boss is a safe assumption. Most merc ARE better at maintaining clear lines. There are Corporations that are gonna do as they please and are communicating that line loud and clear.

[Just Me]

23. Highly paid mercs shouldn't exist at all!!!

Should I be pissed because our low-paid Marines engaged in retaliation against mercs shooting at them?

I think not!!!

[DRoseDARs]

24. Though the irony be delicious, two wrongs don't make a right. n/t

[NewJeffCT]

6. Why do we keep calling them "contractors"???

Isn't the correct term "mercenary"?

[leesa]

8. Tsk. Tsk. Not worth the $$$$$??

[autorank]

13. Let's see, Marine $2500 a month; contractor $10,000 a month

Marine risks life every day. Contractor just has to stay away from Marine to avoid getting his ass kicked.

This is an insane policy: have those who face the greatest risk, bear the greatest sacrifice, receive 1/4 or less than f'ing contractors.

Hmmm.....whose side are you on?

Contact the DNC and Give 'em Hell About NOT Acting on Election Fraud

NEW LEADERS FOR A NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

[siliconefreak]

14. Security contractor says Marines abused him and other contractors in Iraq

From USA Today Posted 6/10/2005 9:54 PM

RENO (AP) — Security contractors were heckled, humiliated and physically abused by U.S. Marines in Iraq while jailed for 72 hours with insurgents, one of the detainees said Friday.
"It was disbelief the whole time. I couldn't believe what was happening," said Matt Raiche, 34, an ex-Marine who was one of 16 American and three Iraqi contractors detained at Camp Fallujah last month.

"I just found it crazy that we were being held with terrorists, that we were put in the same facility with them," he told The Associated Press in an interview at his lawyer's office. "They were calling us a rogue mercenary team."

More: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-06-10-contractor-abuse_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA

[EFerrari]

15. It was just a matter of time.

You can't encourage service people to treat "terrorists" abusively and then expect them to treat each other any better. Tonight, there is a suspected fragging being investigated and now this.

This is going to be one terrible time for our military families.

[izzie]

16. Sounds like the Wild West.

--

[Ikonoklast]

17. "Security contractor" is newspeak

for mercenary. It was probably difficult for the marines to tell the good bad guys from the bad good guys; or is the good good guys from the bad bad guys? Whatever, anyway, these people fight for money, not principles or freedom, money, money, money. Guess you gots to take the good with the bad when you wear a corporate uniform and not a government issued one.

[DRoseDARs]

18. Dupe, but Yahoo link to same AP article instead

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1539911

[leftchick]

19. hmmm who to believe here the lying mercs?

or the lying US Military? That is a tough one...



Matt Raiche talks from his attorneys office in Reno, Nev., Friday afternoon, June 10, 2005, about his experiences as one of 16 Americans detained at Camp Fullujah last month. Defense officials disclosed on Thursday that the security guards for Charlotte, N.C.-based Zapata Engineering were detained for three days after they fired from trucks and SUVs on Iraqi civilian cars and U.S. forces in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad. The military has denied the contractors were abused. No charges have been filed against any of the contractors, who the military said were separated from suspected insurgents.(AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)

[Binka]

21. Read About Zapata Engineering Here

Bush has his hands all over this deal.

http://hannah.smith-family.com/archive/000133.html

[Trajan]

22. Wow ...

-snip-

For $3.8 million, Zapata Engineering will provide one year of ordnance and
explosives management services of five Zapata staff members?one liaison
officer and four program managers?who will work for the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers' Captured Enemy Ammunitions program in Iraq. The task order
negotiated a salary based on an 84-hour work week for the liaison officer
at a rate of $159.47 per hour, or $696,564.96 for 52 weeks. Each program
officer receives the rate of $119.26 per hour, or $520,927.68 for 52 weeks.
In total, $2.8 million of the $3.8 million task order could be spent just
for the salaries of the five-person team. The task order also breaks down
estimated total costs, including Zapata's profit, at $1,098,650 for the
liaison officer and $2,740,308 for the four program managers.

-snip-

I was just thinking; what if the regular army soldiers are sick and tired of being paid PEANUTS while mercenaries like these are paid tens of thousands of dollars per month ? ..

What if some soldiers on the ground in Iraq know the Zapata name, and know what they are up to, and have fellow soldiers who know what they (The mercenaries) are up to: Fellow soldiers who's families are THIS MOMENT suffering from the absense of a spouse, and a lack of money at home ...

If I were a regular GRUNT making basic military pay, and I knew some 'friends of the Bush's' were making 20 times more than I was in sweetheart deals designed to provide profits to GOP supporters at the expense of american taxpayers ......

One might wonder if the regular soldiers arent a tad fed up with those disparaties, and maybe might have decided to rattle a few extra comfy cages ? ...

Perhaps ... I could see it happening ...

[cornermouse]

20. I bet Matt has discovered a whole new perspective...