I stand by my assertion that the "Iraqi government" is about to find out that it has no control whatsoever as to whether or not Blackwater stays or goes.
We used the USMC to pound an entire city FLAT(fallujah) in 2004 because 4 Blackwater employees got snuffed there. Aint no way Bush/Cheney are gonna make their bully-boys dance to Iraqi music over this.
Of course they do. They are a sovereign nation. I'm sure that any blackwater mercenaries that try to go there in the future will be stopped by the new, more pc sounding "darkstream freedom force" or whatever the new, improved, and completely different replacement company is..
/Bets 90% of them dont even change the name on their shirts.
"They're famous for being very aggressive. They use their machine guns like car horns. But it's not the goal to kill people."
Casually firing a machine gun isn't intended to kill people? So where do the bullets go?
Also, why do people keep referring to them as a security firm? These guys drive around more heavily armed than the US troops (better Humvees but no tanks). They're mercenaries, not security guards.
Because, by the strict letter of the law, they're not:
Concerning a legal definition of mercenary, the report notes that the currently accepted meaning or use of the term primarily focusses on professional services that are paid to recruit soldiers to intervene in an armed conflict in a country other than their own.... The SR stated that a revision of the legal definition of mercenaries should embody a concept that is broad enough to take into account the various types of crimes that are included in mercenary activities.
It's a technicality of the definition. Blackwater is hired, at least by the letter of their contracts, to protect private or foreign diplomatic persons and property. Bodyguard and high-risk transport service don't fall under the current definition of "mercenary" under international law.
-- Steve's thinking that'll probably change, given the "privatising" of tasks formerly performed by the US Army and Marine Corps in Iraq. And the notable abuses there perpetrated by "private security contractors".
According to the NPR report I just heard, mercenaries sell themselves out to the highest bidder, while Blackwater nobly sells itself out to the State Department. Perhaps we will come to learn that they are the military wing of the Republican party.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-17 07:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-17 10:33 pm (UTC)We used the USMC to pound an entire city FLAT(fallujah) in 2004 because 4 Blackwater employees got snuffed there. Aint no way Bush/Cheney are gonna make their bully-boys dance to Iraqi music over this.
It'll just be another fucking footnote.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-18 08:01 pm (UTC)/Bets 90% of them dont even change the name on their shirts.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-18 08:10 pm (UTC)I'll betcha dollars to donuts that not even that happens.
*loves me some pastries*
When I hovered
Date: 2007-09-17 07:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-17 09:41 pm (UTC)Casually firing a machine gun isn't intended to kill people? So where do the bullets go?
Also, why do people keep referring to them as a security firm? These guys drive around more heavily armed than the US troops (better Humvees but no tanks). They're mercenaries, not security guards.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-17 11:44 pm (UTC)Taken from this UN report.
It's a technicality of the definition. Blackwater is hired, at least by the letter of their contracts, to protect private or foreign diplomatic persons and property. Bodyguard and high-risk transport service don't fall under the current definition of "mercenary" under international law.
-- Steve's thinking that'll probably change, given the "privatising" of tasks formerly performed by the US Army and Marine Corps in Iraq. And the notable abuses there perpetrated by "private security contractors".
(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-18 12:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-17 09:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-17 11:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-17 11:29 pm (UTC)