Blackwater Faulted In Military Reports From Shooting Scene: Iraqi government corroborated

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: WP, Page One

By Sudarsan Raghavan, Joshua Partlow and Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, October 5, 2007; Page A01

BAGHDAD, Oct. 4 -- U.S. military reports from the scene of the Sept. 16 shooting incident involving the security firm Blackwater USA indicate that its guards opened fire without provocation and used excessive force against Iraqi civilians, according to a senior U.S. military official.

The reports came to light as an Interior Ministry official and five eyewitnesses described a second deadly shooting minutes after the incident in Nisoor Square. The same Blackwater security guards, after driving about 150 yards away from the square, fired into a crush of cars, killing one person and injuring two, the Iraqi official said.

The U.S. military reports appear to corroborate the Iraqi government's contention that Blackwater was at fault in the shooting incident in Nisoor Square, in which hospital records say at least 14 people were killed and 18 were wounded.

"It was obviously excessive, it was obviously wrong," said the U.S. military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident remains the subject of several investigations. "The civilians that were fired upon, they didn't have any weapons to fire back at them. And none of the IP or any of the local security forces fired back at them," he added, using a military abbreviation for the Iraqi police. The Blackwater guards appeared to have fired grenade launchers in addition to machine guns, the official said....

***

Many U.S. military officials are critical of Blackwater because its guards have a reputation for reckless behavior that officials say reflects poorly on American troops in Iraq. Iraqi citizens often do not distinguish between U.S. soldiers in Humvees and Blackwater guards in armored vehicles. "They tend to overreact to a lot of things. They maneuver around town very aggressively, they've got weapons pointed at people, they cut people off, of course their speeds -- I mean a whole bunch of things they do fairly consistently. But when it comes to shooting and firing, they tend to shoot quicker than others," the U.S. military official said....

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/04/AR2007100402654.html?nav=hcmodule

[Tarheel_Dem]

1. Get 'em the hell out of there....

They're making the situation for our enlisted men and women much more difficult & dangerous. I wish we had a Congress and a Sec of State that would call for these guys to be pulled from theater immediately. If Iraqis can't distinguish the asshole contractors from our military men and women, how is this helping us win hearts & minds?

[killbotfactory]

2. We leveled Fallujah for these assholes

God damn them.

[Aviation Pro]

3. Payback is a bitch, Prince....

...now it's time to peel back all the layers of the rotten onion.

[Doctor_J]

4. Yup, and when we finally extricate ourselves from Iraq, what will

Blackwater do? Hmmm. :tinfoilhat:

[gratuitous]

5. Oh okay, that's settled then

Excessive force, overreaction, deadly results. Yup, all in all a most regrettable incident. But it's in the past and there's really no sense in going over old ground. We're movin' forward in Iraq now, so let's look to the future.

This blatherfest brought to you as a public by your friendly neighborhood gratuitous so that it won't be quite so shocking when you hear these very words (or sentiments) expressed by some high government official. But it will still piss you off.

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. Undermining the mission.

There is a big difference between the soldier of WWII and the soldiers of fortune we've had fighting Republican skirmishes. Do you know what that is? In World War II, there was more emphasis on discipline, teamwork and mission. There was also an understanding that the idea was not to do anything that would increase your chances to get killed. Take at look at the old Combat t.v. shows, and compare them to today's Rambo or Chuck Norris movies.

All of a sudden, we're feeding our kids through t.v. and cinema to be super soldiers. A lot of individualistic heroics. You almost never see anyone in a position of leadership controlling the passions. In fact, the leader, today, is either giving them a silent order to do the wrong things, then looking the other way; or is holding them back from completing the mission.

What happened to the traditional "Combat" type military discipline and objective? YOu know what it feels like is going on? We're stirring up racial hatred here, and letting them take it out on any dark skinned country that whe don't like.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. That is an interesting point, and, I think, valid. Thanks for posting. nt

[maddezmom]

8. Blackwater to blame for Iraq shooting, US military says

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Blackwater security guards involved in a Baghdad shootout last month that left up to 17 Iraqi civilians dead were "obviously wrong," a senior US military official was reported as saying.

The unnamed official told the Washington Post newspaper that the US military reports from the scene of the September 16 incident suggested the US private security firm was to blame for the deaths, and that its employees in Iraq were trigger-happy.

"It was obviously excessive, it was obviously wrong," the official told the newspaper.

"The civilians that were fired upon, they didn't have any weapons to fire back at them. And none of the IP (Iraqi police) or any of the local security forces fired back at them," he said.

more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071005/wl_afp/iraqusunrestblackwatermilitary_071005142415;_ylt=Akod_3G5yUbB_XhPY8sGxfeQOrgF