Blackwater blamed for guard deaths (Fallujah)

[Barrett808]

Source: Associated Press

Blackwater blamed for guard deaths
By RICHARD LARDNER and MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Blackwater USA triggered a major battle in the Iraq war by sending an unprepared team of security guards into an insurgent stronghold, a move that led to their horrific deaths and a violent response by U.S. forces, according to a congressional investigation released Thursday.

The private security company, one of the largest working in Iraq and under scrutiny for how it operates, also is faulted for initially insisting its guards were properly prepared and equipped and for impeding the inquiry by the Democratic staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The results of the staff inquiry come less than a week before Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL and Blackwater's founder, is scheduled to testify before the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., a longtime critic of Blackwater.

The March 2004 incident involving Blackwater was widely viewed as a turning point in the Iraq war after images of the mutilated bodies of the four guards were seen around the world. Four days after the Blackwater guards were killed, a major military offensive, known as the Battle of Fallujah, began.

...

In a statement, Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell called the report a "one-sided version" of a tragic incident. She said the committee has documents that show the Blackwater team was "betrayed" and steered into "a well-planned ambush."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070927/ap_on_go_co/blackwater_iraq

[Dhalgren]

1. The "team was betrayed"? What was the General doing there?

[Robbien]

2. With everything Blackwater mercs can do without fear of punishment

I really wonder what those guys were doing before they were caught and killed.

[Trillo]

3. Who was in the black limousine?

The article mentions a diplomatic convoy on Sept. 16. Who was in the black limousine?

Whoever it was surely witnessed the incident. Executive Privilege?

[neweurope]

4. "The Battle of Fallujah"... the first your troops hit was the

hospital outside of town on the other side of the river... That CANNOT have been a mistake. I'll never forgive that.


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Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[yardwork]

5. I'll never forget Fallujah. I was on DU the day and night we firebombed it.

It was horrible.

[neweurope]

8. I was here then, too, franticaklly searching for news, and

got sicker and more horrified by the minute. I'll never forgive.

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Remember Fallujah
Bush to The Hague!

[Barrett808]

7. But the hospital was the source of insurgent propaganda, don't ya know

Which made it a military target, see? And those patients undergoing surgery when the attack occurred were, um, insurgents, or sympathizers at least. So really, it was a defensive operation, totally justified under Geneva.

Etc.

[neweurope]

9. Yes, I know. I also know that Saddam had WMD.

I know, furthermore, that Iran wants to nuke the whole world to hell. So would Chavez, given half the chance.

:puke:

Our grandchildren will rue it.

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Remember Fallujah
Bush to The Hague!

[neweurope]

6. "At least 36 U.S. military personnel were killed...

along with 200 insurgents and an estimated 600 civilians..."

36 : 800...

SIX HUNDRED DEAD CIVILIANS (and it was probably more, not counting those wounded and crippled for life) to 200 "insurgents" and 36 "good boys".

For Blackwater.

:puke:

By the way it is my opinion that Blackwater was supposed to provoke some incident there...

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Remember Fallujah
Bush to The Hague!

[neweurope]

10. k & r - this deserves to be discussed. Fallujah was

a turning point in the war and remains an example of how the US Army and the contractors treat the civilians.

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Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[saigon68]

11. Yes and a Few of those Blackwater thugs got a rose petal parade

[neweurope]

12. I'm not sure what you're trying to say. Are you suggesting

that what happened to the whole population of Fallujah was just and right?

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Remember Fallujah
Bush to The Hague!