The Blackwater Disgrace: Iraq only Gets Worse

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Interesting piece by Michael Hirsh - one of those "radical left wing" media types, for sure:

It speaks for itself. But Congress has better things to do with its time, and rather than fix the problems in Iraq, it passes a measure against MoveOn, and those Americans who should dare disagree with the recklessness and incompetence of their government.

Here's more:

An aboluste disgrace. But yet when people speak out against one of the worst regimes in the modern era, and this type of barbaric behavior, it is branded as, "they are just jealous of America because of how great and free we are." Yeah, right.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20892483/site/newsweek/

 

Guess what's going to happen to Blackwater when we pull out of Iraq? They're coming back home!!

Just as the use of mercenary troops doomed the Roman Empire, the use of Blackwater is the death knell of Liberty in America. These big merc companies should not exist on American soil.

 

That sort of thing isn't exactly unprecedented.

Pinkertons, anyone?

Now, if only we could get our state legislatures to pass anti-PMC acts.

 

The interesting point this raises is how sovereign the sovereign Iraqi government is. The Iraqis are still bound by proconsul Bremer decreeing that all US personal as well as US private contractors in Iraq have immunity from Iraqi law. Call it 'imperial privilege'.

In Iraq Americans can damage or destroy private property, hurt, maim or run over Iraqis, shoot them - with impunity - because there is nothing the Iraqis can do about it legally.

It is darkly amusing that Maliki's government is being so much criticised for being ineffective by the Bushies. Ineffective indeed. They cannot even do something against armed private entities operating beyond accountability and beyond Iraqi reach and control on Iraqi territory. Sovereign indeed. Not more sovereign than Vichy was.

PS: I agree with Sir Bel. Private armed entities like Blackwater undermine and corrode the State's monopoly of the use of force. Bad idea.

 

You remember those purple fingers? Pres. Bush at the time celebrated the Iraqi elections, saying the Iraqis have "taken rightful control of their country's destiny … and they have chosen a future of freedom and peace." The Iraqi people, Bush added, have proven they are "equal to the challenge."

Indeed. Apparently that is why the Senate will vote on a plan to separate Iraq.

That much for taking 'rightful control of their country's destiny' and purple fingers. In my reading of this there appears to by an abyss between rhetoric and reality. The decision about the mercenary companies operating in Iraq will be made in D.C. Period.

 

Any predictions for Erik Prince's upcoming hearing tomorrow before the Senate?

 

Farce?

 

Yanks went singing into the war and now they are trying to put the blame on different umbrella organizations. Whenever they kill people, be it tens or thousands, it's the blame of the president or some anonymous corp.

In the end, it's just about one thing: the rule of the strong. They should just annihilate the whole damn country and start reaping the oil already. Neither did the romans or stalinists leave much alive when they were about it.

 

It seems as if the US government, in its infinite wisdom, (and we know just how infinite it is) can assess the value of a human life:

That's very reassuring to those of us who thought that "weirgild" had gone out of fashion in the 21 Century. It's good to know that some medieval practices have not been completely forgotten in the "Age of Progress." I'm reminded again that our "good and worthy" government knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. I mean, why bother to help someone who was obviously already dead? If anything we are a "pracitcal" lot.

Good thinking on the part of our government. I'm sure all kinds of people would jump at the chance to get iced by a Blackwater stooge - just to "set up their families." As I mentioned at the opening, our government has "infinite" wisdom and they "know" the price of a human life - umm, an "Iraqi" life, that is.

So who are the real "Butchers of Baghdad?" Please remind me, before I lose myself in the dream that used to be reality .

[ October 05, 2007, 07:04: Message edited by: Chandos the Red ]

 

Actually, it doesn't get much publicity but the wergild isn't so long gone imo. I think quite a few legal and, more importantly social systems still have the practice in which a murderer's family is supposed to compensate the family of a victim. It will probably be called something neutral - condolence money, compensation, for example - but it's generally a similar thing: you provide the family both as a show of apology and to avoid (hopefully) a potential reprisal.

"Although a senior embassy official first suggested that the company pay between $100,000 and $250,000 to the victim's family, the committee memo reported, a diplomatic security official called those sums "crazy" and suggested that they could cause Iraqis to "try to get killed so as to set up their family financially."

The only way in which I see that happening is if the Iraqi was thinking about suicide anyway. Mind you, I remember reading about some cases where such money was paid for accidental shootings by the US forces, and the sum was 15,000 or lower. Hey, the war is expensive anyway, why waste good money on dead people - particularly Iraqi

Back on the Blackwater case: I think the entire thing illustrates why (not) to employ what is essentially a mercenary company imo. If you want more people with little regard for cost or accountability, go right ahead. If you're looking for those two things - and if you worry about issues such as image or morality - then you best consider other methods.