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| Iraq |
| Blackwater will not allow arrests |
| 2007-10-17 |
| A defiant Blackwater Chairman Erik Prince said yesterday he will not allow Iraqi authorities to arrest his contractors and try them in Iraq's faulty justice system. "We will not let our people be taken by the Iraqis," Mr. Prince told editors and reporters at The Washington Times. At least 17 of 20 Blackwater guards being investigated for their roles in a Sept. 16 shooting incident are still in a secure compound in Baghdad's Green Zone and carrying out limited duties. Two or three others have been allowed by the State Department to leave the country as part of their scheduled rotation out of Iraq and are expected to return. "In an ideal sense, if there was wrongdoing, there could be a trial brought in the Iraqi court system. But that would imply that there is a valid Iraqi court system where Westerners could get a fair trial. That is not the case right now," said Mr. Prince. Mr. Prince also expressed his disappointment that the State Department has not come to the company's defense, even though it has never lost a State Department client in years of protecting them. "For the last week and a half, we have heard nothing from the State Department," said Mr. Prince. "From their senior levels, their PR folks, we've heard nothing — radio silence. "It is disappointing for us. We have performed to the line, letter and verse of their 1,000-page contract," he said. "Our guys take significant risk for them. They've taken a pounding these last three years." A number of Blackwater contractors, most of whom come from military and law-enforcement backgrounds, have been killed in action or grievously wounded in Iraq while running more than 16,500 security missions in the past three years. The State Department has since ordered that cameras be placed in Blackwater security vehicles and that Diplomatic Security agents accompany Blackwater staff on missions. Mr. Prince said his company had recommended both those steps in 2005 and that the proposals were "buried" by the department. Mr. Prince, a 38-year-old former Navy SEAL, said if there was any evidence of wrongdoing, his employees could be tried in the United States by a jury of their peers under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He said the hostility toward Blackwater was partly driven by partisan politics from the Democrat-led Congress and the news media. "The far left was unsuccessful in attacking [Army Gen. David H.] Petraeus and defunding the war, forcing a pullback of the U.S. troops," he said. "I think part of the strategy might be to undermine some other part of the support infrastructure, and that would be contractors that are an important part of the supporting package there in Iraq." He said the scrutiny by Congress, which Democrats say is aimed at better oversight, may have backfired. "What has happened in the last six to nine months is we've seen the U.S. government, [Department of Defense] in particular, awarding a lot more work to non-U.S. companies ... because it is harder to drag those guys before Congress," Mr. Prince said. "And there is less oversight, there is less accountability, there is less visibility into those operations." Mr. Prince has been caught in a partisan crossfire since shortly after last year's election, when a trial lawyer targeting Blackwater lobbied then-House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, for hearings on the "extremely Republican" company. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #12 "In an ideal sense, if there was wrongdoing, there could be a trial brought in the Iraqi court system. But that would imply that there is a valid Iraqi court system where Westerners could get a fair trial. That is not the case right now," said Mr. Prince. Congratulations, Mr. Prince. You seem to understand how any judicial system that incorporates shari'a law is hopelessly compromised and utterly incapable of dispensing true justice of any sort. Not even to Muslims, let alone foreign military contractors. Iraq can go piss up a rope. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-10-17 23:28 |
| #11 just another front in the Donk/Lefty war against the war in Iraq. Verlaine, have you been following the protests against the propoposed BW facility in Potrero? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-10-17 20:06 |
| #10 Fairly unsurprising, and utterly disgusting, performance by State on this one. Though I am a bit surprised that Diplomatic Security, which oversees Blackwater and the other PSD contractors, hasn't insisted on saying something. Could be that they feel it really is best to hold fire until our formal investigation is completed. As I've said from the beginning, while of course possible, it's never been very plausible that a team would just open up on people for no reason, as alleged. And the NYT story with Kurdish witnesses saying so doesn't impress me. The press has been obsessed with their incorrect or grossly unfair memes WRT Blackwater and other security contractors for years. I used to field the calls for this at the embassy. The underlying idea - unspoken and usually not even recognized by the reporters, very few of whom would ever be confused with smart, worldly people - is that alone of all the actors in Iraq, which is a battlefield populated by barbarians who are definitionally war criminals ("insurgents," AQI), Iraqi security forces of varying professionalism, and Coalition soldiers and security contractors (all highly trained and professional), the security contractors must be held to a perfection standard. I'm sick of being sick of this crap. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2007-10-17 19:59 |
| #9 :-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-10-17 19:30 |
| #8 TW: Yes, it's something akin to membership in an Oldsmobile auto club, but I too am a nastalgic southern democrat. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-10-17 19:27 |
| #7 Some of us are registered Democrats, Besoeker. Separately, look who's representing the Iraqis suing Blackwater here in the U.S.:link HERE'S a new twist in the Blackwater story: A legal group with a four-decade record of aiding and abetting terrorists, spies and cop-killers is suing the company. Joining it is an Egyptian attorney who has been representing what the U.S. Treasury Department calls a fund-raising operation for al Qaeda. The Sept. 16 incident in Baghdad's Nisoor Square resulted in at least 17 deaths. Three families of the Iraqi victims, plus one injured survivor, are suing the "contract-security" firm. But their choice of attorneys is remarkable. The legal team includes attorneys from the Philadelphia firm of Burke O'Neil LLC - plus the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, as well as CCR's president, Michael Ratner - plus Shereef Hadi Akeel of Akeel & Valentine PC. Lots more at the link, for those who are interested. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-10-17 19:23 |
| #6 then-House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, for hearings on the "extremely Republican" Rantburghers ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-10-17 19:12 |
| #5 Not signs that it's over. Signs that the Dems are trying to attack the war in new ways. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2007-10-17 18:58 |
| #4 The Armenian vote isn't going to happen. NPR interviewed a Congressman from Georgia who had been for it, but is now against, and he explained that he changed his mind when he realized that the threatened Turkish response would put our troops at risk. Not acceptable, the honourable gentleman explained, for something that happened ninety years ago. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-10-17 17:08 |
| #3 This and the Armenian vote are signs that the Dems believe the "war is over and won". When it was "lost" and "tough" and "dangerous", when they would have to travel there and be put in jeopardy, their only recourse was to be protected by the Blackwaters of the world. But its safer now, better security, the surge is working, etc. The Dems can NOW afford to take shots at Blackwater [they aren't as important as they used to be to the Dems security]. The same with the Armenian vote. How can they tip the apple cart - vote for Iraqi Federalism [which in the USA they would reject with howls and pumping fists] and agitate the Turks. All of this tells me that its basically over and we have won - there and here |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-10-17 16:12 |
| #2 All the more reason for Blackwater to move offshore. At this point, it is almost inevitable that they are going to be persecuted as a company by the Democrats. They will start with congressional dog and pony shows, then they will get prosecutors to file criminal, and criminals to file civil charges against them. Unless they move their headquarters out of the US now, they will be shut down, and possibly outlawed. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-10-17 16:01 |
| #1 Mr. Prince also expressed his disappointment that the State Department has not come to the company's defense, Traitors by their very nature tend to be ungrateful. |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2007-10-17 14:33 |