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| Iraq-Jordan | |
| Private guards repel Mahdi Army attack on US HQ in Najaf | |
| 2004-04-06 | |
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.
In Sunday's fighting, Shiite militia forces barraged the Blackwater commandos, four MPs and a Marine gunner with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 fire for hours before U.S. Special Forces troops arrived. A sniper on a nearby roof apparently wounded three men. U.S. troops faced heavy fighting in several Iraqi cities that day. The Blackwater commandos, most of whom are former Special Forces troops, are on contract to provide security for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Najaf. With their ammunition nearly gone, a wounded and badly bleeding Marine on the rooftop, and no reinforcement by the U.S. military in the immediate offing, the company sent in helicopters to drop ammunition and pick up the Marine. The identity of the Marine and two other wounded men could not be established, but their blood was still fresh hours later, when the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, and spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt arrived to survey the battle zone. Without commenting at a news conference yesterday on the role of the Blackwater guards, Kimmitt described what he saw after the fighting ended. "I know on a rooftop yesterday in An Najaf, with a small group of American soldiers and coalition soldiers . . . who had just been through about 3 1/2 hours of combat, I looked in their eyes, there was no crisis. They knew what they were here for. They'd lost three wounded. We were sitting there among the bullet shells -- the bullet casings -- and, frankly, the blood of their comrades, and they were absolutely confident." During the defense of the authority headquarters, thousands of rounds were fired and hundreds of 40mm grenades shot. Sources who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of Blackwater's work in Iraq reported an unspecified number of casualties among Iraqis. A spokesman for Blackwater confirmed that the company has a contract to provide security to the CPA but would not describe the incident that unfolded Sunday. A Defense Department spokesman said that there were no military reports about the opening hours of the siege on CPA headquarters in Najaf because there were no military personnel on the scene. The Defense Department often does not have a clear handle on the daily actions of security contractors because the contractors work directly for the coalition authority, which coordinates and communicates on a limited basis through the normal military chain of command. The four men brutally slain Wednesday in Fallujah were also Blackwater employees and were operating in the Sunni triangle area under more hazardous conditions -- unarmored cars with no apparent backup -- than the U.S. military or the CIA permit. One senior Blackwater manager has described those killings to U.S. government officials as the result of a "high-quality" attack as skilled as one that can be mounted by U.S. Special Forces, according to a copy of a report on the incident obtained by The Washington Post. The four victims of that attack, according to Blackwater spokesman Chris Bertelli, were escorting trucks carrying either food or kitchen equipment for Regency Hotel and Hospitality. Regency is a subcontractor to Eurest Support Services (ESS), a division of the Compass Group, the world's largest food service company. ESS provides food services to more than a dozen U.S. military dining facilities in Iraq, according to news accounts. Blackwater, a security and training company based in Moyock, N.C., prides itself on the high caliber of its personnel, many of whom are former U.S. Navy SEALs. It has 450 employees in Iraq, many of them providing security to CPA employees, including the U.S. administrator, L. Paul Bremer, and to VIPs visiting Iraq. | |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #20 My whole point in trying out the term privateer was that as long as a company is conducting security tasks in a war zone, they cannot by definition be considered to be mercenaries, and while security consulting and providing security is their business, I would think the gentleman at the CPA HQs gunfight don't consider whether they are in offensive or defensive operations. They are providing security in lieu of available military forces, and that makes them privateers. Once the shooting starts, the word security takes on an entirely different connotation. And in the event of letters of marque being granted by Congress or DOD, having the prospect of capturing and using enemy beans and bullets to me would be a definitive disincentive to conduct active offensive military operations. You gotta admit, this considerable feat of arms is unlike what I would consider a security team's task even if it is in a war zone. Not trying to start an argument, but do you understand what I mean? |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-04-06 6:14:12 PM |
| #19 mea culpa (duh). try http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4672324/ |
| Posted by: mercutio 2004-04-06 5:07:26 PM |
| #18 here's a pic of these guys... just another day at the office....... |
| Posted by: mercutio 2004-04-06 5:05:04 PM |
| #17 here's a pic of these guys... just another day at the office....... |
| Posted by: mercutio 2004-04-06 5:04:38 PM |
| #16 Hmmmm... perhaps the NGO's out to be stocking up on dual purpose mealie bags. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-04-06 4:19:13 PM |
| #15 I believe it should be "Roarke." |
| Posted by: Infidel Bob 2004-04-06 12:53:52 PM |
| #14 A privateer is a state sanctioned pirate,who siezes/disrupts the enemy line of supply.Part of the profit incentive is the contractor keeeps all or part of the sieziure of enemy supplies and goods. When you think privateer think of Sir Francis Drake. Using the above deffinition Blackwater employees are not privateers. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2004-04-06 11:07:47 AM |
| #13 Any of these 8 guys have the last name "Rourke"? I get your drift... |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-04-06 10:52:09 AM |
| #12 I always thought contractors drove bulldozers. It's nice to see them branching out into pest removal. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-04-06 10:48:42 AM |
| #11 I would like too have that book they are going to write lucky |
| Posted by: smokeysinse 2004-04-06 10:43:32 AM |
| #10 Sounds a little like one of my favorite movies: "It's a miracle." "If it's a miracle, Colour Sergeant, it's a short chamber Boxer Henry point four five caliber miracle." "And a bayonet, sir, with some guts behind." |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-04-06 10:31:06 AM |
| #9 So the U.S. contracts a private company to provide security in a dangerous area. Sounds like a win/win for the U.S. and the company. And in my economics class that what we called supply and demand. The people hired by Blackwater are not dumb kids off the streets or economic misfits they are professionals. That is why eight guards can defend against 100 zealots. FYI companies like Blackwater also keep pressure on Narco-terrorists in South America. Again it’s a win/win for the U.S. and a company. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2004-04-06 10:22:30 AM |
| #8 Beware R-Burgers, the website for Blackwater is http://www.blackwaterusa.com , not just blackwater-dot-whatever. A pop-up from one of those sites gave my work computer a nasty Trojan horse, had to ghost my whole system. |
| Posted by: Bodyguard 2004-04-06 9:49:06 AM |
| #7 Blackwater Guards Not a bad name for a quasi official shooter unit. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-04-06 8:47:24 AM |
| #6 Not at all sure what you mean badanov. A privateer is someone who goes out and seizes or kills, wages war as a private entity for the state. Offensive operations seem to be clearly needed to satisfy that requirement. Offering defensive capabilities does not make one a privateer in any sense I can see. Being effective at self defense also is no reason to class these guys as either privateers, or mercenaries. |
| Posted by: Ben 2004-04-06 6:05:50 AM |
| #5 A Small Oops...the link to this story is WP, while the image I refered to is over at msnbc, but it is the same story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4672324/ |
| Posted by: Traveller 2004-04-06 1:43:24 AM |
| #4 I speak without actual knowledge or experience but it seems that Blackwater is operating as a traditional privateer, showing what motivated firms can do in the war on terrorism. |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-04-06 1:37:35 AM |
| #3 Damn! I was just going to post this. Still, I recommend people hitting the link for the picture of the guys on the parapet...it is almost like John Wayne at Fort Apache, or at the Alamo. Or Gary Cooper in the Hidu Kush. I suppose I an still a little torn on the "Contractor," question...though probably not for the reasons most people give. The pay differential between the Contractors and regular soldiers is I think a real concern...but beyond this, I suppose that I don't want them guarding food convoys, I want them doing what they are doing in this story...major combat. I'd actually like to see Contractors working much more closely with the military and with some coordination of efforts. The thought being, It the talent is there, and you’re paying for it, use them as effectively as possible. |
| Posted by: Traveller 2004-04-06 1:37:07 AM |
| #2 Someday somebody is going to write the book. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-04-06 1:20:54 AM |
| #1 8???? hundreds v. 8???? That's what happens when we're pissed off. |
| Posted by: Anonymous2U 2004-04-06 1:20:14 AM |