Blackwater Security Consulting Banned in Iraq

[daftandbarmy]

Okay reference the above -- on all DOS convoys and MDS agent (DS SA from DSS) was riding anyway with the principle.  Camera's had been in - and then where removed at DOS instruction after the Aegis "Elvis" video hit the net. 

  The issue will just be adding a MDS to the TMST (which does not stand for Templar Mission Support Team     - or not anymore ;D and to the AirOps missions (which in the LittleBirds will be awkward due to the Space and weight for an oxygen theif (not accusing MDS of being that - but on a 4 crew LB - 2 pilots and 2 gunner - if your not one of the four your stealing air there)

The hook up with .mil was a no brainer and that has been State's fault in the DOD-DOS power struggle.  Recording of radio traffic was alreayd happening - now it will be done with a clearer intent.

No-one from BW is against these changes -- and Triple Canopy and DynCorp (the other two WPPS providers) will be in complaince soon - but their AO's are not like BW's and so the rush is not as immediate for percieved changes.



An aside I notice no-one here though to demonstrate at Eric Prince and BW dont care about cash or assets - as BW's Little Brids landed and evac'd the Polish Ambo when his convoy was ambushed  http://youtube.com/watch?v=6y8Q_ww7k2Q


From a BW guy... it's always easy to criticize the guys at the sharp end, contractor or other wise.


I believe its the 3rd video down.  The media loves to talk about how Blackwater are a bunch of maniacs who cause more problems than solve.  Yesterday the Polish Ambassador was attacked by 2 ied's.  BW Heliocopters showed up and evacuated the Ambassador back to the Green Zone.  This contractualy wasn't BW Responsability.  It would have taken the Army forever to get there and by that time he probablly would have been killed.  This isn't the first time something like this has happened. See how much press this gets??????!!!!!!!!!! LOL


http://www.tvn24.pl/-1,1523419.1,wiadomosc.html

 

[KevinB]

Can you fix the quote please - you've included your commentary.

 

[GAP]

Iraq to Blackwater: Pay US$8 million per victim
Updated Mon. Oct. 8 2007 10:04 PM ET The Associated Press
Article Link

Iraqi authorities want the U.S. government to sever all contracts in Iraq with Blackwater USA within six months. They also want the firm to pay $8 million in compensation to families of each of the 17 people killed when its guards sprayed a traffic circle with heavy machine gun fire last month.

The demands -- part of an Iraqi government report examined by The Associated Press -- also called on U.S. authorities to hand over the Blackwater security agents involved in the Sept. 16 shootings to face possible trial in Iraqi courts.

The tone of the Iraqi report appears to signal further strains between the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the White House over the deaths in Nisoor Square -- which have prompted a series of U.S. and Iraqi probes and raised questions over the use of private security contractors to guard U.S. diplomats and other officials.

Al-Maliki ordered the investigation by his defense minister and other top security and police officials on Sept. 22. The findings -- which were translated from Arabic by AP -- mark the most definitive Iraqi positions and contentions about the shootings last month.
More on link

 

[KevinB]

  :  Heavy Machine Gun Fire  - well BW does not have M2 .50's right now (DOS was looking at procuring them after the Jan ambushes)

Al-Maliki would be better off getting a grip of his MOI Death Squads.  Heck his parliament is not even really legit anymore as they refuse to hold another election...

8mil per victim -  :-*  Where an avg wage a month here is $100...
  Yeah that proportional even given BW has not been proven at fault.

People wonder why we hate a lot of the media when they spread tripe like this article.

 

[1feral1]

 
People wonder why we hate a lot of the media when they spread tripe like this article.

Exactly!

Cheers,

Wes

 

[Old Ranger]

Most insurgents are dressed in civvy attire. Take off thier chest webbing, and remove their AKs, you've got dead civvies, and instant bad press.

Wes,
I quoted you today when tossing an idea to Blackwater about cameras on their primaries and vehicles.
They already have them in trials....
(Maybe the OPP should put them on their sniper rifles to prove the ....... had an AK, not a broomstick.)

Cheers,
Ben

 

[Big Red]

Wes,
I quoted you today when tossing an idea to Blackwater about cameras on their primaries and vehicles.
They already have them in trials....
(Maybe the OPP should put them on their sniper rifles to prove the ....... had an AK, not a broomstick.)

Cheers,
Ben

You were giving ideas to BW?

Camera's on weapons? :

 

[KevinB]

BW, DynCorp and Triple Canopy ALL used to run cameras in their vehicls.

Department of State forced the teams to remove them after the infamous Aegis "Elvis vid" hit the news.
  Its nothing new.

I forsee a large use of helmet cam's - as some entities already mandate them.

Several companies make a see thru screen for sniper rifle scopes -- primarily to be used as a trainign feedback tool, however they do offer a decent liability protection for the Dudley George incidents of the world...  Fine in a static scenario - but not much use in a fluid environment.

 

[tomahawk6]

I would much rather have State tell the Iraqi government to get a handle on the pro-Iranian killers operating under the protection of certain Iraqi government officials. They should have the stones to stand by BW. Its convenient that IP were in the neighborhood acting as a blocking force for the bad guys. This is very similar to the taliban attack on the MARSOC company in Afghanistan.

 

[Old Ranger]

You were giving ideas to BW?

Camera's on weapons? :

If a camera on your primary can prove your integrity and show the world what your really up against, why not?
After the media plasters pics of dead civi's, and you can show pics with weapons in the hands of these "civis", where would sympathy and more support go?  I'm not looking at it as a Big Brother idea, just an idea that could go towards supporting the "Peace Machine".

Ben

 

[Retired AF Guy]

Just a little off topic, but remember a few months ago when the Garda personnel were kidnapped? Since then I haven't heard anything as what finally happened to them - were they killed, released, ransomed?

 

[KevinB]

Still missing - this was the same IP that abducted them - that put a block on BW and claim that BW opened fire indiscriminately.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

Still missing - this was the same IP that abducted them - that put a block on BW and claim that BW opened fire indiscriminately.

Thanks for the update.

 

[retiredgrunt45]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21352794/

Blackwater will probably leave Iraq, officials say
Official: Likely firm won't compete for Iraq job after contract expires in May

WASHINGTON - A State Department review of private security guards for diplomats in Iraq is unlikely to recommend firing Blackwater USA over the deaths of 17 Iraqis last month, but the company probably is on the way out of that job, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Blackwater’s work escorting U.S. diplomats outside the protected Green Zone in Baghdad expires in May, one official said, and other officials told The Associated Press they expect the North Carolina company will not continue to work for the embassy after that.

It is likely that Blackwater does not compete to keep the job, one official said. Blackwater probably will not be fired outright or even “eased out,” the official added, but there is a mutual feeling that the Sept. 16 shooting deaths mean the company cannot continue in its current role.

State Department officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has not yet considered results of an internal review of Blackwater and the other two companies that protect diplomats in Iraq.

Department officials said no decisions have been made and that Rice has the final say.

They gave admiring appraisals of Blackwater’s work overall, noting that no diplomats have died while riding in Blackwater’s heavily armed convoys.

President Bush did not directly answer a question Wednesday about whether he was satisfied with the performance of security contractors.

“I will be anxious to see the analysis of their performance,” Bush said at a news conference. “There’s a lot of studying going on, both inside Iraq and out, as to whether or not people violated rules of engagement. I will tell you, though, that a firm like Blackwater provides a valuable service. They protect people’s lives, and I appreciate the sacrifice and the service that the Blackwater employees have made.”

Announcement expected soon
A panel that Rice appointed to review the contractors will report to her as soon as Friday, and Rice’s announcement of what to do next probably will follow quickly, one department official said.

A transition from Blackwater would take time.

The company employs more people and has more equipment than its two competitors in Iraq. Any outside company that might replace Blackwater would have to provide trained U.S. citizens, with security clearances. That may mean that if Blackwater leaves, competitors hired some of its workers.

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said, “We will follow the lead of our client. If they want us to stay we will stay. If they want us to leave we will do so.”

It would seem that someone got cold feet.