Posted on 09/28/2007 5:58:44 AM PDT by RDTF
The initial U.S. Embassy report on a Sept. 16 shooting incident in Baghdad involving Blackwater USA, a private security firm, depicts an afternoon of mayhem that included a car bomb, a shootout in a crowded traffic circle and an armed standoff between Blackwater guards and Iraqi security forces before the U.S. military intervened.
The two-page report, described by a State Department official as a "first blush" account from the scene, raises new questions about what transpired in the intersection. According to the report, the events that led to the shooting involved three Blackwater units. One of them was ambushed near the traffic circle and returned fire before fleeing the scene, the report said. Another unit that went to the intersection was then surrounded by Iraqis and had to be extricated by the U.S. military, it added.
Separately, a U.S. official familiar with the investigation said that participants in the shooting have reported that at least one of the Blackwater guards drew a weapon on his colleagues and screamed for them to "stop shooting." This account suggested that there was some effort to curb the shooting, with at least one Blackwater guard believing it had spiraled out of control. "Stop shooting -- those are the words that we're hearing were used," the official said.
The report, by the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, details the events as described by Blackwater guards -- details that are now at the center of an intense debate in Iraq and in Congress over the larger role of private security firms in Iraq. Tens of thousands of armed, private guards operate in Iraq, protecting everything from U.S. and Iraqi officials to supply convoys. The shooting incident is being scrutinized in at least three separate investigations.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Eventually, you’ll get the other side of the story the MSM purposely missed.
Blackwater is the Left’s new Halliburton.
“Eventually, you’ll get the other side of the story the MSM purposely missed.”
They didn’t miss it. They ignored it.
Sounds like a typical government operation. Don't do anything yourself. Hire someone to do your job so you can jump on the bandwagon to criticize their actions after the fact. Too bad Blackwater can't just pull out and tell the "diplomats" to defend themselves.
Here is the report that just “happened” to be released finally in the middle of the recent hoopla....
PRIVATE MILITARY CONTRACTORS IN IRAQ:
AN EXAMINATION OF BLACKWATER’S ACTIONS IN FALLUJAH
PREPARED FOR
CHAIRMAN HENRY A. WAXMAN
http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070927104643.pdf
The February 7, 2007, Committee Hearing
LLS
snips
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/world/middleeast/28blackwater.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin
The operation, by the private firm Blackwater USA, began as a mission to evacuate senior American officials after an explosion near where they were meeting, several officials said.
calls by the Iraqi government to ban Blackwater from working in Iraq
Diplomats with the United States Agency for International Development were meeting in a guarded compound
A preliminary Iraqi investigation has concluded that there was no enemy fire, but some Iraqi witnesses have said that Iraqi commandos in nearby guard towers may have been shooting as well, possibly leading Blackwater guards to believe that militants were firing at them.
“....and returned fire before fleeing the scene...”
ROE for all convoys, Blackwater included, is that when they come under fire to push the pedal to the metal and get out of there - which is not exactly “fleeing.”
So Blackwater is the next best thing to keeping the America is Scum theme going. It gives them woodies. They like it. It makes them feel warm and good all over, and as we know, lefties are all about the feeling.
Actually the object does not matter. Anything iconic American will do. The left just hates America and Americans.
“Too bad Blackwater can’t just pull out and tell the “diplomats” to defend themselves.”
They should. Why continue to work for traitors to your own well being?
“....and returned fire before fleeing the scene...”
ROE for all convoys, Blackwater included, is that when they come under fire to push the pedal to the metal and get out of there - which is not exactly “fleeing.”
The MSM lies more by omission than commission!
Does anyone know is Blackwater the only private security firm ever used in war situations? This had to to have happened before. Is it now only ‘so awful’ because it is IRAQ?!
Blackwater has been everywhere the State Dept has been. It’s only awful because the troops are getting the job done, so successfully I might add that even JAG needs to get in the act and start prosecuting our guys. :(
If Blackwater was there giving out toys and candy Waxman and Co. would still be finding a reason to be rid of them. It’s funny, I just read a story from Ollie North that the hypocrite Waxman benefited from their protection. I guess all was well and good when they were protecting his sorry ass. These disgusting dems are so transparent. Anything and everything associated with Iraq is fair game to them. If they were associated with Bill or Hill, they’d rate them right up there with God and Mother Theresa. Our military needs to deal with the bad guys, they don’t need to be babysitting the politicians and corporate guys that are in and out of the country. Erik Prince and company scare the shit out of the likes of Waxman. Prince is a Navy Seal, millionaire, christian, conservative white guy. Waxman on the other hand is a pig-nosed whining little wuss.
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