Private Guards Repel Attack on US Headquarters

[cb88]

Private Guards Repel Attack on U.S. Headquarters

By Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 6, 2004; Page A01

Excerpt:

An attack by hundreds of Iraqi militia members on the U.S. government's headquarters in Najaf on Sunday was repulsed not by the U.S. military, but by eight commandos from a private security firm, according to sources familiar with the incident.

Before U.S. reinforcements could arrive, the firm, Blackwater Security Consulting, sent in its own helicopters amid an intense firefight to resupply its commandos with ammunition and to ferry out a wounded Marine, the sources said.

The role of Blackwater's commandos in Sunday's fighting in Najaf illuminates the gray zone between their formal role as bodyguards and the realities of operating in an active war zone. Thousands of armed private security contractors are operating in Iraq in a wide variety of missions and exchanging fire with Iraqis every day, according to informal after-action reports from several companies.

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Full Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...-2004Apr5.html

[Hoss68]

Aren't these men from the same company of the men that were killed in Fallujah?

[Caldric]

Who are these people working for? Surely not the US government.

[odannyboy]

TONIGHT'S FOCUS: They protect American installations, they're armed, they go into combat, and they pay the ultimate price. But they're not soldiers, they're private citizens. And there are more of them in Iraq than there are British soldiers.

The Kosovo-Albania border, 1999. NATO troops were massed on the border, ready to move into Kosovo within hours. They were lined up on the main road into Kosovo, waiting for the word to cross the border. I was there with a Nightline team. We walked up to the border. In the very front, as they usually were, were Gurkhas, the famed soldiers who were then part of the British army. They were all sharpening their famous knives, getting ready for action. We told them that we had just heard that Russian troops had entered Kosovo and taken the airport. It seemed that news made them even more eager to go. Just seeing them, and talking to them, it was clear that they are, without exception, the toughest men I have ever seen. They deserve their reputation.

Baghdad Airport, 2004. On our last trip into Iraq, Ted and I and the Nightline team were driving into the airport. There, manning the roadblocks, were Gurkhas, now wearing hats that said "Security" in big letters. Having been cut loose by the British, apparently many of them had been hired as private security. There are estimates of as many as 15,000 civilians working as private security in Iraq. They guard facilities, escort convoys, act as body guards, and in the case of a handful of them last Sunday, protect the headquarters of the CPA in Najaf against attack for several hours. Those men came from the same company as the four men who were killed and whose bodies were so mutilated in Falluja last week. Isn't that the job for the military? In most cases, these men are former soldiers, many of them veterans of special operations. And they are not all American, they come from many countries. In fact, the demand is getting so high that the military is concerned that too many Special Operations soldiers, who are so valuable, will leave the military for the higher-paying jobs with private firms. But as we saw last week, they face the same dangers, and sometimes pay the same high price as the military. Correspondent Mike Cerre will take a look at this somewhat shadowy world today. Meanwhile, the situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate. As I write this, there is fighting all over Iraq, and the casualty toll continues to climb. We'll get the latest from correspondent John Berman in Baghdad, who, along with the ABC team there, has been going virtually around the clock for several days. Ted will anchor tonight, I hope you'll join us.

They are basically Soldiers of Fortune, and they are "contracted", so to speak, to the highest bidder (which of course is the U.S. supplying the money)

[Caldric]

It is kind of scary to spend hundreds of billions per year on defense and then spend billions more on mercenaries and “consultants”. Or just stupid or perhaps someone’s buddy owns Blackwater.

[Hoss68]

Have you checked out who works there? The person who owns it either loves the code or lived by the code...

[1CAV]

This is definately a tough subject to take sides on. Most of these "contractors" are ex-military professionals, very able and ready to do the job. And yes they are often times in a much better and more streamlined position to do the job than the military. i.e. providing personal security for some high official freeing up troops to fight the day-to-day battles. But at the same time it definately borders on the whole "mercenary" aspect. Part of what our country was founded on, and part of all the various "world agreements" is that you do not use "mercanaries" to fight a countries war...It definately is a very murky area to tread!!!