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Blackwater: Hired Guns, Above the Law
This is an edited transcript of the prepared testimony of Jeremy Scahill before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, September 21, 2007.
My name is Jeremy Scahill. I am an investigative reporter for The Nation magazine and the author of the book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. I have spent the better part of the past several years researching the phenomenon of privatized warfare and the increasing involvement of the private sector in the support and waging of US wars. During the course of my investigations, I have interviewed scores of sources, filed many Freedom of Information Act requests, obtained government contracts and private company documents of firms operating in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. When asked, I have attempted to share the results of my investigations, including documents obtained through FOIA and other processes, with members of Congress and other journalists.
I would like to thank this committee for the opportunity to be here today and for taking on this very serious issue. Over the past six days, we have all been following very closely the developments out of Baghdad in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of as many as 20 Iraqis by operatives working for the private military company Blackwater USA. The Iraqi government is alleging that among the dead are a small child and her parents and the prime minister has labeled Blackwater's conduct as "criminal" and spoke of "the killing of our citizens in cold blood." While details remain murky and subject to conflicting versions of what exactly happened, this situation cuts much deeper than this horrifying incident. The stakes are very high for the Bush administration because the company involved, Blackwater USA, is not just any company. It is the premiere firm protecting senior State Department officials in Iraq, including Ambassador Ryan Crocker. This company has been active in Iraq since the early days of the occupation when it was awarded an initial $27 million no-bid contract to guard Ambassador Paul Bremer. During its time in Iraq, Blackwater has regularly engaged in firefights and other deadly incidents. About 30 of its operatives have been killed in Iraq and these deaths are not included in the official American death toll.
While the company's operatives are indeed soldiers of fortune, their salaries are paid through hundreds of millions of dollars in US taxpayer funds allocated to Blackwater. What they do in Iraq is done in the name of the American people and yet there has been no effective oversight of Blackwater's activities and actions. And there has been absolutely no prosecution of its forces for any crimes committed against Iraqis. If indeed Iraqi civilians were killed by Blackwater USA last Sunday, as appears to be the case, culpability for these actions does not only lie with the individuals who committed the killings or with Blackwater as a company, but also with the entity that hired them and allowed them to operate heavily-armed inside Iraq--in this case, the US State Department.
While the headlines of the past week have been focused on the fatal shootings last Sunday, this was by no means an isolated incident. Nor is this is simply about a rogue company or rogue operators. This is about a system of unaccountable and out of control private forces that have turned Iraq into a wild west from the very beginning of the occupation, often with the stamp of legitimacy of the US government.
What happened Sunday is part of a deadly pattern, not just of Blackwater USA's conduct, but of the army of mercenaries that have descended on Iraq over the past four years. They have acted like cowboys, running Iraqis off the road, firing indiscriminately at vehicles and, in some cases, private forces have appeared on tape seemingly using Iraqis for target practice. They have shown little regard for Iraqi lives and have fueled the violence in that country, not just against the people of Iraq but also against the official soldiers of the United States military in the form of blowback and revenge attacks stemming from contractor misconduct. These private forces have operated in a climate where impunity and immunity have gone hand in hand.
Active duty soldiers who commit crimes or acts of misconduct are prosecuted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the court martial system. There have been scores of prosecutions of soldiers-- some 64 courts martial on murder-related charges in Iraq alone. That has not been the case with these private forces. Despite many reports--some from US military commanders--of private contractors firing indiscriminately at Iraqis and vehicles and killing civilians, not a single armed contractor has been charged with any crime. They have not been prosecuted under US civilian law; US military law and the Bush administration banned the Iraqi government from prosecuting them in Iraqi courts beginning with the passage of Coalition Provisional Authority Order 17 in 2004. The message this sends to the Iraqi people is that these hired guns are above any law.
US contractors in Iraq reportedly have their own motto: "What happens here today, stays here today." That should be chilling to everyone who believes in transparency and accountability of US operations and taxpayer funded activities-- not to mention the human rights of the Iraqis who have fallen victim to these incidents and have been robbed of any semblance of justice.
The Iraqi government says it has evidence of seven deadly incidents involving Blackwater. It is essential that the Congress request information on these incidents from the Iraqi authorities. What we do know is that in just the past nine months, Blackwater forces have been involved with several fatal actions. Last Christmas Eve, as Katy mentioned, an off-duty Blackwater contractor allegedly killed a bodyguard for the Iraqi Vice President. Blackwater whisked that individual out of the country. Iraqi officials labeled the killing a "murder" and have questioned privately as to why there has apparently been no consequences for that individual. Blackwater says it fired the individual and is cooperating with the US Justice Department. To my knowledge no charges have yet been brought in that case.
This past May, Blackwater operatives engaged in a gun battle in Baghdad, lasting an hour, that drew in both US military and Iraqi forces, in which at least four Iraqis are said to have died. The very next day in almost the same neighborhood, the company's operatives reportedly shot and killed an Iraqi driver near the Interior Ministry. In the ensuing chaos, the Blackwater guards reportedly refused to give their names or details of the incident to Iraqi officials, sparking a tense standoff between American and Iraqi forces, both of which were armed with assault rifles.
The actions of this one company, perhaps more than any other private actor in the occupation, have consistently resulted in escalated tension and more death and destruction in Iraq--from the siege of Fallujah, sparked by the ambush of its men there in March of 2004, to Blackwater forces shooting at Iraqis in Najaf with one Blackwater operative filmed on tape saying it was like a "turkey shoot" to the deadly events of the past week.
Colonel Thomas Hammes, the US military official once overseeing the creation of a new Iraqi military, has described driving around Iraq with Iraqis and encountering Blackwater operatives. "[They] were running me off the road. We were threatened and intimidated," Hammes said. But, he added, "they were doing their job, exactly what they were paid to do in the way they were paid to do it, and they were making enemies on every single pass out of town." Hammes concluded the contractors were " hurting our counterinsurgency effort."
Brigadier General Karl Horst, deputy commander of the 3rd Infantry Division said of private security contractors, "These guys run loose in this country and do stupid stuff. There's no authority over them, so you can't come down on them hard when they escalate force.... They shoot people, and someone else has to deal with the aftermath. It happens all over the place." Horst tracked contractor conduct for a two month period in Baghdad and documented at least a dozen shootings of Iraqi civilians by contractors, resulting in six Iraqi deaths and the wounding of three others. That is just one General in one area of Iraq in just 60 days.
The conduct of these private forces sends a clear message to the Iraqi people: American lives are worth infinitely more than theirs, even if their only crime is driving their vehicle in the wrong place at the wrong time. One could say that Blackwater has been very successful at fulfilling its mission--to keep alive senior US officials. But at what price?
It is long past due for the actions of Blackwater USA and the other private military firms operating in Iraq--actions carried out in the names of the American people and with US tax dollars--to be carefully and thoroughly investigated by the US Congress. For the Iraqi people, this is a matter of life, and far too often, death. In the bigger picture, this body should seriously question whether the linking of corporate profits to war making is in the best interests of this nation and the world. I would humbly submit that the chairs of relevant committees in both the House and Senate use their power of subpoena to compel the heads of the major war contracting companies operating on the US payroll in Iraq to appear publicly before the American people and answer for the actions of their forces. I am prepared to answer any questions. Jeremy Scahill is the author of the New York Times bestseller Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. He is currently a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at the Nation Institute.
© Copyright 2007 Jeremy Scahill
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30 Comments so far
Show AllImagineusa: So sorry to hear what happened to you and your family. Democracy is coming to a halt in the U.S. and the beginning of the police state is fast approaching. Please don't look to the Democrats to help. The Republicans are criminals beyond reproach, but the Democrats flaunt their hypocrisy and contempt for the United States Constitution and the first ten amendments to it, called 'The Bill of Rights.'
Unfortunately, most Americans are more concerned with sports and entertainment and are easily conned by the corporate monopoly to do their bidding. 'Ignorance is not bliss, it is unforgivable', because when the vast majority let a small minority do the thinking for them, tyranny sets in.
"Wars are seldom caused by spontaneous hatreds between people, for peoples in general are too ignorant of one another to have grievances, and too indifferent to what goes on beyond their borders to plan conquests. They must be urged to the slaughter by politicians who know how to alarm them.".......H.L. Mencken
Do these prophetic words ring a bell?
Jeremy speaks truth to power! Is there an unedited video version of this testimony out there? I'd love to see it...it needs to be widely disseminated.Hopefully this testimony will help bring these antidemocratic thugs to justice.
I am truly disgusted with the hypocrisy of this and so many issues surrounding the "war" in Iraq, the "war" on terror, and anything and everything that the bush administration has done on both the domestic and international front.
That said, I ask the question on such a hypocrisy: What is the difference between "Private Security Contractors" aka: mercenaries, motivated by Money, unaccountable to US, Iraqi and international law, and an "Unlawful Enemy Combatant" motivated by ideology??? It's already been said time and again that most of those caught in Afghanistan and held in Guantanamo are not "terrorists" but were unwittingly turned in to settle grudges, sold to US forces, or in the wrong place at the wrong time...
Lift a gun and point it an American who just blew away your family and occupies your land and your labeled a terrorist or insurgent. Lift a 50 cal machine gun and blow away carloads of families and you're a well-paid contractor doing a job.
Here is but one example of how the United States is being represented in Iraq by taxpayer backed mercenaries:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11157.htm
Beyond the fact that these are American terrorists paid for with our tax dollars, we must understand that these home grown terrorists will eventually be returning to this country to potentially treat each and every one of us the same way they are treating the Iraqi people.
In an article in The New York Times this past week on Blackwater it stated, "Passing Blackwater convoys sometimes intimidates even Westerners, who fear coming under attack if they make a wrong move."
If the U.S. Congress does not put an immediate halt to the activities of these terrorist mercenaries and forbid them entry into this country we must realize that the Congress is aiding and abetting terrorists.
Please, someone help me here. How is it that thousands of private mercenaries roaming around a foreign county killing innocent civilians at will without accountability (Black Water) are not labled as terrorists?
Has anyone other than myself noticed that local law enforcemen has become very militant. Where's that polite beat cop who cares about the community. Trust me, When the killing in Iraq is no longer profitable and the Black Water mercenaries begin to return home, your local law enforcement will be recruiting them. They will becoming to a "theater" near you and your family soon!
We reap what we sow… we become what we export… what's O.K. for our foreign enemies becomes O.K. for domestic enemies.
What will we have become when all this is over? Smarter? I doubt it!
imagineusa: How can any thinking person not notice the 'militant' actions of local law enforcement. We need to go back to the 60's when 'citizens review boards' came into being when black Americans were unfairly treated by white policemen ( I'm being nice ) and held accountable for their actions, but lately, many black policemen are doing the same thing.
Blackwater mercenaries are American versions of fascist Italy's blackshirts, and nazi Germany's brownshirts.
abbybwood: Good post and I hope other folks see the ICH video.
aCurious1: Very well stated...I agree.
roblang: Can't answer your question but keep looking. Jeremy has done an outstanding job in reporting and has been one of my heros ever since he reported from Yugoslavia after 'slick willie' ( I voted for him twice ) and Nato bombed the hell out of that country. Scahill is a man's man! He doesn't beat around the bush.
Randi Rhodes has been saying, for quite some time now, that this is the biggest heist in the history of the United States, in that we taxpayers have been taken to the cleaners by the Bush regime.
It sickens me so much. All we can do, as citizens, is hope for the 2008 elections. Nothing else that we do seems to matter. My representatives give me the proverbial middle finger; they don't want to be bothered.
This is, indeed, a privatized "war". I will never stop pointing accusatory fingers at the corporations in this country that brought us this occupation. They are too rich and powerful to stop.
Dover,
The taxpayers of the United States just haven't been taken to the cleaners--we are being strip mined. Everything of value is being stolen and then fenced to the highest bidder.
Peaceman, I ran for Sheriff in the last election in a wasted effort to take back our local law enforcement through civilan oversight and a civilan review board. My home was invaded at night, at gun point by 9 deputies. We were held for hours and our home was ransacked. My daghter was arrested and booked without any charges being filed. I was arrested and procecuted without cause. After $10,000 in attorney fees and months of being terrorized by law enforcement, and after the election, everything was drop. Yes, we are suing the county, but I still lost the election and we still have the same Sheriff that orchestrated the harassment. So Good luck!
believe or not,this coincides with the use of electromagnetic tasers in america..tasers are a form of torture and their usage is 'softening'up americans,to believe that torture is acceptable.when the international laws against torture were ignored or changed,the trickle down effect reaches home.blackwater and other 'security'companies are already hiring more killers from other countries,to join their ranks.what happens when these units are hired here,domestically ??it could turn into a killing(and torture)field,for foreignermercenaries under the canopy of blackwater or triple canopy or etc.......i have read too many blogs at commondreams,that say it cant happen,here.blackwater is already slated to handle domestic"disaster"i sincerely hope the iraq's are successful in their investigation of blackwater and i hope they can oust all of them.we need to do the same.i implore mr.scahill to investigate the high number of our regular soldiers who have died after speaking out against the war(too many to be coincidence)i have heard credible rumours,that the mercenary soldiers covertly infiltrate the ranks of regular soldiers,blending in and reporting the ones who vocalize disgust with this bushwar.it is time to investigate,under this new light.
whitewatersally wrote:
"i implore mr. scahill to investigate the high number of our regular soldiers who have died after speaking out against the war (too many to be coincidence). i have heard credible rumours, that the mercenary soldiers covertly infiltrate the ranks of regular soldiers, blending in and reporting the ones who vocalize disgust with this bushwar. it is time to investigate, under this new light."
i recently heard a rumor that the soldiers who were involved in that military transport plane that got the whistle blown after it "accidentally" moved five (or six) "decommissioned" cruise missile nuclear warheads to Louisiana last month have been dying mysterious deaths. Anyone else heard this rumor? Any sources we can check?
I am sure the camps will be staffed by Blackwater, that the "black vans" that will pick up people with dissenting opinions in the dead of night to be disappeared will be Blackwater, and I am sure that Secret Service will eventually be replaced with Blackwater, to guard officials of the new Reich, er Administration, whoever it may turn out to be. Caesar wants a praetorian guard that will be faithful to the ones who pay them. Mercenaries are good at that. Of course, when we run out of money and the Administration cannot pay, well, remember what happened to Caligula. The new highest bidder will take over.
As has been pointed out, these hard eyed, close cropped young men we see in police uniforms nowadays are not the same breed as those who brought little Lucy home when she strayed to the corner candy store.
this guy, author Jeremy Scahill, is a burning bright light of hope in the otherwise tattered business of journalism these days.
he is well spoken, he has guts and he has put his feet on the ground in iraq and knows what is going on there.
we should listen to what he is saying about these murderous hired guns from blackwater - and then we should do something.
while we still can.
Dear Jeremy Scahill,
I hope you get to read this because I very much want you to know that I respect you very much. I will get your book shortly, and thank you for all that you do to make this world a better place.
Peaceman: right on, Democracy can only exsist in an open and transparent environment. Our enemies are not on the battle field in Iraq, they are right here at home and we elected them! We are rotting from within and unless the people wake up soon, the party will be over. The only surge America needs is a surge of accountability by our elected officials.
Have a good evening.
From the Blackwater web site.
"BLACKWATER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
VISION
To support security, peace, freedom, and democracy everywhere.
MISSION
Blackwater is committed to supporting national and international security policies that protect those who are defenseless and provide a free voice for all. We dedicate ourselves to providing ethical, efficient, and effective turnkey solutions that positively impact the lives of those still caught in desperate times.
We further are committed to the foot soldiers; the men and women who daily stand on the frontlines of the global war on terror and say, "not today" and who believe in a peaceful future for their communities and nations. Whether they serve in uniform or out, we will provide them the very best in training and tactical support to ensure they are fully prepared to meet current and future global security challenges."
Just makes your heart swell with pride, doesn't it.
You get 3 Ds as results of liberation by the US
: Death, Destruction, Despair.
With a mercenary force, hired by the thieves who are ripping off the US taxpayer with GWB's blessings, that is larger than the US military force, I don't see why we can't just pull our GIs and leave the mess from which GWB and his team can extricate themselves. Blackwater can provide cover as our troops exit. Is there a flaw in this strategy?
JH, the flaw...
GWB is the representative and leader of the American people. Any fault, culpability, illegality by GWB is equally that of the American people. After all, GWB was elected twice and even after his known lies impeachment is "off the table" - take responsibility.
One point that cannot be overemphasized:
" . . .culpability for these actions does not only lie with the individuals who committed the killings or with Blackwater as a company, but also with the entity that hired them and allowed them to operate heavily-armed inside Iraq–in this case, the US State Department."
Even worse: All the information on the contracts with the mercenaries--who supposedly operate on behalf of the US taxpayer--is denied to the US taxpayer, and Scahill has to file FOIA requests to obtain it.
!! Maliki Fools The American People !!
The Bush Administration is now engaged in the De-DeBaathification of Iraq. But they forgot to tell you.
Maliki is frustrating that effort by interfering with the private security firms that enable the movement of military officers and diplomats throughout Iraq. (That's why Secretary Rice is frustrated with Maliki.)
While securing Baghdad Sunnis from the genocide being conducted by Maliki's Shiites, General Petraeus and US diplomats have been negotiating with the Sunnis in Anbar. But they forgot to tell you.
The Bush Administration forgot to tell you they have been fighting the wrong war in Iraq; the DeBaathification of Iraq, the DeSunnification of Iraq, was a mistake.
The invasion of Iraq was a mistake. But they forgot to tell you.
The Bush Administration hasn't told you they are still fighting the wrong war in Iraq; the DeMalikification of Iraq, the DeShiitefication of Iraq, is also a mistake. But they haven't told you.
The Bush Administration also hasn't told you it's the best mistake they have at the moment.
The Bush Administration knows this; the GOP knows this; the Congress knows this; the Media knows this.
Why don't the American people know this? Did they forget to tell themselves?
The privatization of the military is a measure of how far along our society as a whole has been criminally privatized. The Blackwater phenomenon is just the latest wrinkle in the history of US war crimes. American arrogance has attained new heights as expressed by the rampaging of our mercenaries. The death squads that the US have sponsored in faraway places are coming home to roost.
> Historical lessons, current events, and rational interpretation of intellegence had normally precluded egotism &; theocracy for major decisions in our republic. Unfortunately, this is not the case now.
>
> The current administration is manipulated by ego, the energy cartel,& the radical religious right wing to extents never before experienced in our history. The ill conceived invasion of Iraq, the plans to provide arms to some Middle East Countries, current suggestion to invade Iran, & the dreadful war on our environment are only some examples.
>
> The current use of private mercenaries by this ill guided administration is reflective of their arrogance toward the principles of our republic and their disconcern for the dangers they pose.
>
> Unless Americans begin reacting to logic rather than rhetoric, and take back our country from this illegally placed administration now, the rights that we have enjoyed for two centuries may evaporate--and Americans we can blame themselves for this
Jeremy is an excellent investigative reporter and I hope he continues his investigation of Black water and other mercernaries hired by our government. Remember Katrina and how these mercernaries brandished their hi-tech weapons on civilians. Some of the citizens were even forced to give up their right to arms and their guns were confiscated. I believe these mercenaries should be outlawed and that we refuse to grant any more money suppporting these outlaws. Yeah, as if we have any control over the spending on military affairs.
Therein is the problem. Judi is right. "We have no power of the purse." We cannot starve the Seven-headed Hydra because taxes are withheld before we even see the money. The only way to deprive this military monster of funding is to cut off the supply at a lower level: The Fortune 500. (which is really the same thing as the U.S. government is now.) If we Boycott all merchandise except the bare necessities, falling earnings will rout the current corrupt crop of American CEO's and we'll just have to take our chances with the next crop.
These must be your objectives. To hold accountable the real culprits in this horrible Gawddamed Greek Tragedy: Megacorporation CEO's.
pacplyer
I saw Mr. Scahill on Democracy Now! just this morning and have seen his presentation on Free Speech TV. He is to be admired for having the focus and tenacity to do this research and present it to the public.
If I could contact him directly, I'd like to ask about the 64 courts marshall of US servicemembers and ask if any had to do with the many non-combat deaths in the past four years. I'd like to have a lead as to how to obtain this type of information.
One non-combat death, of Christopher Monroe, was due to a private contractor, who worked for Enrys, running him over at a road block. See his story at http://non-combat-death.org
This is the sort of incident which is kept out of public news to protect the vast mercenary army employed by our country and its "allies."
fpal---hey wait a minute! GWB was not elected either time! Al Gore was elected in 2000, but GWB was appointed by the GOP majority Supreme Court. The 2004 election was stolen from John Kerry in Ohio with the help of the GOP Ohio Sec'y of State Blackman. This is how coup d'etat is accomplished in America...
dear mr.scahill,the official slogan of bush"youre with us or youre with the enemy"blackwaters orders in iraq and afganistan..to eliminate ALL 'subversives"a u.s.military soldier would not be exempted by blackwater,were he to fit the definition of a 'subversive'pat tillman,omar mora,yancy gray and the attempt on jeremy murphy(and a number of other soldier deaths)should be investigated under a new light.could it be,that blackwater is following the orders of their mission ?to eliminate ALL SUBVERSIVES?