Blackwater: Fallujah Deaths Unavoidable
By Chris Jones Posted in War — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Heavier guns and sturdier trucks would not have saved a team of Blackwater USA guards brutally killed in March 2004 after being lured by corrupt Iraqi forces into a well-planned ambush, the embattled private security contractor contends in a report to Congress.
This conclusion sharply contradicts the findings of a congressional investigation led by House Democrats and a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families of the four slain guards. Blackwater is cast in both as an incompetent, penny-pinching outfit that sent an undermanned and poorly equipped detail through Fallujah, a known insurgent stronghold 40 miles west of Baghdad.
While calling the deaths "a tragic event," Blackwater says the incident was unavoidable and the guards—former Navy SEALs and Army Rangers—understood the risks of their mission and could have refused to go.
While Blackwater may not be perfect, they're still the best Private Military Contractor in the world. Any clear thinking person can see that the vilification of Blackwater is 100% pure Washington politics.
Blackwater was hired to keep Diplomats alive as they go about their business in Iraq. To this day not a single Diplomat has been injured or killed while under the protection of Blackwater. Ironically, many of the Democrats who call Blackwater contractors "cowboys" and "criminals" neglected to mention those feelings while they were being guarded by them.
There's no doubt that civilians have been killed in Iraq by both Blackwater and the U.S. military. As tragic as that is, Iraq is a war zone and that sometimes happens in war zones. While the safety of Iraqi civilians is important, the safety of our personnel is even more important. I don't expect a Blackwater contractor to wait until he gets shot, before shooting back.
The media coverage of Blackwater has been grossly inaccurate and completely ridiculous. Smearing Blackwater is just another way for the chicken shit liberals in the media and the Congress to try and damage the Bush administration.
When visiting Iraq in the future, I'm calling on Democrats to stand on their principles and refuse Blackwater protection. To accept protection from a bunch of lawless mercenaries might appear to some as a de facto endorsement of that companies criminal activities.
-Chris Jones
The Hot Joints
I look at this whole thing as a result of how Blackwater manages risk. They could possibly make two types of errors; Type A and Type B.
Type A - They are overly cautious. They fail to zap a potential resistor or terrorist fast enough. Their clientele dies of .556 lead poisoning.
Type B - They are overly zealous. They unload on someone who looks suspicious but who really had either benign or disintrested intentions towards the individual they were protecting.
In most systems, minimizing Type A errors completely will usually cause more Type B errors to occur. Blackwater has successfully protected a lot of people. I've heard no accounts of a political figure protected by Blackwater dying. Thus, it doesn't surprise me that Blackwater is accused of shooting more civilians. It logically follows that they would.
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men."
their principles". Democrats standing on principles, don't think you'll see that anytime soon.