'Battling back against the 'human jackals'

[madfloridian]

Interesting take on the Blackwater Security people from the Scotsman. I have not seen these concerns in American press. Good article, rather graphic, but fair.

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=382692004

SNIP..."Most locals, eyeing the security men’s civilian clothes, four-wheel-drives, and state-of-the-art weaponry, automatically label them ‘CIA’, despite the fact that the vast majority do nothing more than look after businessmen. Yet their refusal to explain their missions to anybody - even fellow Westerners are often given a polite brush-off - has does little to endear them to a population already gritting its teeth under occupation.

"Having soldiers here is one thing - you know who they are, why they’re here, and if you talk to them politely they’ll usually talk back," said Amir al Nasiri, a taxi driver. "But these guys - they just drive around with their wraparound shades, sleeveless T-shirts and big guns thinking they’re Rambo and acting like they own the place. I don’t mind the Americans being here, but I wish they hadn’t invited their friends."

In what remains effectively a lawless country, most of the private security contractors are indeed a law unto themselves. While respectable companies only employ staff with clean records, ex-Serbian and Croatian paramilitaries, apartheid-era South African policemen, and Chilean soldiers from Pinochet’s days have all come through Iraq’s still unpoliced borders to seek work. A lack of monitoring means misdemeanours go largely unreported, but already many British security firms, who traditionally enjoy the best reputation, have expressed worries about some of their colleagues’ waywardness.

"For some people it’s just a chance to go around with a loaded gun in a way they couldn’t back home," said one. "I once heard guys actually laughing about how they shot out the tyres of an Iraqi bus after it cut them up on the road - it was appalling. Others mean no harm but just don’t have the right attitude - they drive aggressively on the roads, pissing people off, and refuse to stop at Iraqi police checkpoints. How are those policemen supposed to know they’re not suicide bombers?" ....."

[Narraback]

1. Kick

nt