Observations from a Contractor

This article was submitted to The Issue by a contractor who recently returned from Iraq. Due to the sensitivity of his work, the author asked to remain anonymous.

I left the US to work in Iraq just following the bombing of the Shi’ite mosque in Samara February 2006, sparking the wave of sectarian violence that has lasted more than eighteen months. In my year working as a civilian contractor trying to help establish a central government in Iraq, I had frequent encounters with Personal Security Detachments (PSDs) such as Blackwater. Even as the Surge was picking up and more American combat troops came pouring into the country, the US Army was still hard pressed to be able to farm out soldiers for escort and convoy missions instead of their standard patrols, policing and anti-insurgency operations. Due to the necessity of having security for these “side” operations, and the lack of manpower to fill that need – the coalition in Iraq has turned towards private security groups to fill this void.

I have very mixed emotions about security contractors as a whole. I relied on them to protect my compound and deliver me safely back and forth from the Iraqi Government offices in the Red Zone of Baghdad. I was impressed by the professionalism of many of the PSD’s and their willingness to protect their clients in a difficult and fluid environment – but in my view Blackwater was a different breed from many of the other PSD’s. There was always an air of arrogance around many of them and the way they would fly around the Green Zone ordering cars out of the way with threatening gestures and assault weapons (that were supposed to be in a “green” or unloaded status). On several encounters with Blackwater personnel during a security operation, I overheard them as they would joke with each other about other missions where “hajji” might have gotten in their way. There was even on one occasion when a couple of them offered some of my fellow employees the “opportunity” to go up in one of the Blackwater helicopters and take a “few shots.”

If the Red Zone of Baghdad is the Wild West, many of these Blackwater convoys would be the posses claiming to bring law and order but yet often times creating more violence than they deterred. It seems that the US Government has largely struggled with determining what rules these security contractors fit under; consequently they have often operated with impunity disregarding any notion of winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis and instead portraying a sense of cold occupation. Even considering some of the operational tactics of some of the PSD’s, like it or not, the US Mission in Iraq is completely reliant on PSD’s to continue operations across the country. There is a general reluctance to try and reel any of these mercenary groups in who are operating on the fringe of generally accepted humanitarian behavior due to their importance in the overall coalition battle plan.

Now the US State Department is saying that Blackwater will be under investigation for the shootout in west Baghdad on Sunday that reportedly killed eight and wounded another fourteen. There are two primary outcomes for this North Carolina based company right now, it will either have its license to operate permanently revoked and will have to slim down due to its sinking credibility and loss of a major contractor or the license will be reinstated. It seems highly unlikely that Blackwater will have its license to operate in Iraq revoked permanently – for the basic reason that Blackwater is in too deep with the US Government and plays such a major roll in the US Mission. The US State Department will put back channel pressure on the Government of Iraq to come forward with results from an investigation that say this was an act of self-defense with a regrettable outcome. It might go as far as a few key people in the Iraqi Government being paid off if political pressure isn’t enough and Blackwater leadership will receive a slap on the wrist.

The real damage has already been done, the people of Iraq feel like they have clear proof that they are under direct fire by the US. Instead of passing on a feeling of reconciliation that the coalition is hoping to spread amongst Iraqis, the message being said loud and clear is that the US will operate by its own rules and, when convenient, will disregard the Iraqi sovereignty it’s trying to build. If Condoleezza Rice and other top US officials want to send a strong message to the Government of Iraq and the Iraqi people – they will crack down on Blackwater and other security contractors that act with such callous disregard for human life. Only in this circumstance will the US Mission start to regain some credibility and at least give the appearance that rules and laws we are trying to build in Iraq are good enough not just for Iraqis – but Americans too..