Black Mark: Blackwater Investigation / Slate / Michael Weiss

[Demeter]

http://www.slate.com/id/2175003/

Black mark: The U.S. Embassy report on a Sept. 16 incident involving Blackwater USA has concluded that the private security contractors had faced "mayhem" that may have accounted for the death of 11 Iraqis and the wounding of 12 more. Still, the episode raises further concerns about mercenary forces in a war zone that do not fall under the jurisdiction or oversight of the U.S. military. The New York Times reported Thursday that Blackwater tops all other security firms for the highest rate of shooting incidents.

Lefty Tony Carson at Carson's Post says regulation and oversight of private security firms is a must: "This latest episode should be a wake-up call to the downsides of outsourcing so much of the Iraq war — and should prompt better regulation and oversight. Until now, it's as if the Bush administration and Congress have averted their eyes as the role of private contractors has exploded to the point that the U.S. military can't function without them in Iraq."

Liberal Jim Booth at Scholars & Rogues has an anger-inducing statistic: "A typical American soldier's pay while on active duty in Iraq, including allowances for things like housing and uniforms is less than $38,000 per year. A typical Blackwater Security guard is paid about $120,000 per year."

Helmut at Phronesisaical, a "Politics, Philosophy, International Affairs, and Fruit" blog, thinks "these Blackwater cases and others like them are nothing but murder. There is a pattern and until the shootings at Nisour Square, this pattern was not public (as in American public, not Iraqi public) and the State Department apparently had little inclination to make these cases public or punish or even criticize Blackwater."