Another Trigger-Happy Mercenary Firm Kills Unarmed Iraqis

Vicious and Trigger-Happy

Gulf News

Another security firm is under the spotlight in Iraq. Two women were killed by members of the Australian-owned Unity Resources Group. According to witnesses, the shooting was unprovoked. The Iraqi government has demanded answers and called for a crackdown on private bodyguards used by the US.

Blackwater, the biggest of the mercenary militias, was recently investigated and under threat of being moved out of Iraq after its panic-stricken guards killed 17 Iraqis. These groups provide security to foreign diplomats and VIPs. The number of their personnel is estimated at around 70,000, making them the second largest foreign force in Iraq after the US. However, the firms have encouraged a cowboy-like mentality which makes its personnel "more likely to violate or stretch the existing rules", according to US officials.

But most shocking is that they operate virtually with impunity. They follow US laws and not Iraqi which frustrates even the Iraqis who once believed the US invaded their country to install democracy and the rule of law. The United Nations has called for the prosecution of private guards who commit crimes - like those of Blackwater and Unity - but that is unlikely as it will open a huge can of worms.

The issue of the mercenaries is typical of the way the US has handled things since the invasion. The blunders just keep coming and no one is ready to accept responsibility. Meanwhile, the situation in Iraq gets worse and life becomes unbearable.

The latest UN report says that even the 100,000 Iraqis who try to escape the terrorism every month no longer can. There is no place for them to seek shelter as they are barred from entering some 11 provinces.

The question is how long can the Iraqis put up with the mercenaries and fanatic suicide bombers? Obviously, not very long.

Iraqi Families in Lawsuit Against Blackwater in US

Middle East Online

A US rights group announced Thursday it was filing a lawsuit against private security contractor Blackwater on behalf of a survivor and the families of three victims of a deadly September 16 shootout in Baghdad.

The suit in a Washington federal court accuses Blackwater of murder and war crimes and seeks unspecified damages, the Center for Constitutional Rights said.

Filed by Talib Mutlaq Deewan and the estates of three men killed -- Himoud Saed Atban, Usama Fadhil Abbass, and Oday Ismail Ibraheem -- the suit says Blackwater "created and fostered a culture of lawlessness amongst its employees, encouraging them to act in the company's financial interests at the expense of innocent human life," the center said in a statement.

"This senseless slaughter was only the latest incident in a lengthy pattern of egregious misconduct by Blackwater in Iraq," said lawyer Susan Burke.

"At the moment of this incident, the Blackwater personnel responsible for the shooting were not protecting State Department officials. We allege that Blackwater personnel were not provoked, and that they had no legitimate reason to fire on civilians," said added.

An Iraqi government report released on Sunday said 17 people died in the unprovoked shooting and 22 were wounded when Blackwater guards opened fire on civilians on September 16 in Baghdad in Nisoor Square.

Blackwater, one of the biggest security firms working in Iraq with around 1,000 staff, protects US government personnel in the country. It maintains its men were responding to an ambush while escorting a US State Department convoy.

The US embassy in Baghdad has been tight-lipped on whether those involved in the killings would be handed over for prosecution in a case that has thrown the spotlight on the murky world of private security operators in Iraq.

"Blackwater's repeated and consistent failure to act in accord with the law of war, US law, and international law harms our nation and it harms Iraq. For the good of both nations, as well as for countless innocent civilians, the company cannot be allowed to continue operating extra-legally, providing mercenaries who flout all kinds of law," said the CCR's Michael Ratner.