Baghdad to Investigate Role of Blackwater in Deaths

[Hissyspit]

Source: Independent UK

Baghdad to investigate role of Blackwater in deaths
By Patrick Cockburn
Monday, 25 October 2010

The Iraqi government says that it will investigate whether employees of the Blackwater security company were involved in hitherto undisclosed killings that emerged from the Wikileaks documents.

In addition to a notorious case in Baghdad in 2007, when Blackwater guards killed 17 and wounded 18 civilians, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism says that it has discovered a further 14 cases when Blackwater personnel allegedly opened fire on civilians. The information comes from the war logs made public by Wikileaks and allegedly shows that a further 10 civilians were killed and seven wounded by Blackwater, a US-based private security company now known as Xe. In one third of cases, the Blackwater guards were protecting US diplomats under a $465m (£300m) contract when they opened fire.

The war logs reveal repeated cases when they shot at civilian vehicles that came close to their convoys, on one occasion even shooting dead the driver of an ambulance who had attended the scene of a bomb attack.

Sunni politicians in Baghdad say that the US military reports confirm and give credibility to their claims over the years that members of their community were being tortured by Shia-dominated security forces.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/baghdad-to-investigate-role-of-blackwater-in-deaths-2115636.html

[OrangeGrapes]

1. They shot an ambulance driver?

Really? That's low. That's just pitiful.

[boppers]

3. Here's the report in question:

*BLUE (BLACKWATER) ON WHITE IN BAGHDAD (ZONE 25): 1 CIV KILLED, 0 CF INJ/DAMAGE

JCC REPORTS THAT IP REPORTED THE IED STRIKE ON CF CIV VIC MB 4265 9065. IP CLAIM THAT 1X LN AMBULANCE DRIVER WAS KILLED BY UNCONTROLLED SMALL ARMS FIRING BY THE CF CIV CONVOY AFTER THE IED STRIKE (SEE ASSOCIATIONS FOR DETAILS OF IED STRIKE). JCC NOTIFIED 4/101AA AND REQUESTED THAT THE CF PATROL AT THE SITE INVESTIGATE.

UPDATE: BDE MiTT REPORTS THAT IA FORCES ARRIVED ON LOCATION AND THE ONLY THING ON SCENE WAS THE WHITE SUBURBAN THAT HAD STRUCK THE IED. FURTHER INVESTIGATION IS BEING CONDUCTED AS TO WHERE THE AMBULANCE DRIVER WAS TAKEN AND IF THE AMBULANCE DRIVER WAS A FIRST RESPONDER.

UPDATE 1013: BDE MiTT REPORTS THE IA ON SITE TALKED TO LOCAL NATIONALS ON THE GROUND AND THE
LN*s ARE SAYING THAT THE AMBULANCE DRIVER WAS SHOT BY BLACKWATER. BDE MiTT CONTACTED BLACKWATER
TOC TO TRY TO CONFIRM DETAILS OF THE INCIDENT AND BLACKWATER TOC WOULD NOT CONFIRM OR DENY AT THIS TIME. THE AMBULANCE DRIVER WAS NOT A FIRST RESPONDER HE WAS ON HIS WAY TO WORK AT MEDICAL CITY. IT HAS NOT YET BEEN CONFIRMED WHETHER HE WAS DRIVING AN AMBULANCE OR NOT.

UPDATE 1036: BDE MiTT REPORTS THAT THE AMBULANCE DRIVER NAME IS ––––– –––– –––– AND HE WAS TAKEN TO MEDICAL CITY. HE WAS DRIVING AN AMBULANCE (LIC # MOH 4019) THAT WAS ALSO TAKEN TO MEDICAL CITY.

[Sonoman]

2. I was in Cabo a couple of years ago.

And there were four serious-looking mo-fos there with their wives/girlfriends talking all kinds of crap.

"Remember the old dude came stumbling out the door and (name inserted here) center-punched him?"

"Fuck yeah, and we lit the bitches up."

And on and on.

I think they were trying to impress the women.

These muscled-up clowns, drunk and cool in their retail Oakleys.

The dudes I served with (40 years ago) would never have talked like that.

That image has stuck with me ever since.

40 years ago, I would have stopped that crap-talk.

But I am old, now.

Sonoman

[creon]

4. Good

Glad to hear it.

[sabra]

5. 'Excessive force' from Blackwater

Source: aljazeera

Documents reveal more than a dozen cases of Blackwater employees shooting at civilians, often with deadly results.

An American convoy driven by Blackwater - the US private security firm now known as Xe - drove over a roadside bomb in northern Baghdad in May 2006. They started shooting after the explosion, and their "uncontrolled fire" killed an Iraqi ambulance driver.

JCC reports that IP reported the IED strike on CF CIV VIC MB 4265 9065. IP claim that 1X LN ambulance driver was killed by uncontrolled small arms firing by the CF CIV convoy after the IED strike (see associations for details of IED strike). JCC notified 4/101AA and requested that the CF patrol at the site investigate.

A US army military intelligence unit tried to contact Blackwater after the shooting to confirm the details. "Blackwater TOC would not confirm or deny at this time," the report states.

The deadliest incident involving Blackwater - the Nisour Square shooting in 2007, which left 17 civilians dead - has been widely reported. But the secret documents reveal another 14 incidents in which Blackwater shot at civilians.

At least ten people were killed, and seven more wounded, in those shootings.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/secretiraqfiles/2010/10/20101024111231222814.html

[niyad]

6. and yet the taxpayers are still paying for their services

[L0oniX]

7. I heard on Democracy Now today that the security contractors have been shooting each other too...

which I very much approve of.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/25/wikileaks_iraq_war_logs_expose_us

"The mayhem cropped up around Iraq, notably in one episode reported in March 2005 in which a small battle erupted involving three separate security companies.

"At a notoriously dangerous checkpoint on the main road to the Baghdad airport, a cement truck entered a lane reserved for Department of Defense vehicles. A guard from Global, a British company, fired a warning shot, and when a man initially identified as an Iraqi opened the door and tried to flee, guards from a tower started firing, too. The man dropped to the ground. Then members of an Iraqi private security team parked nearby also opened fire, shooting through the chest not the driver but a worker from DynCorp International, an American security company.

"When the truck driver was finally questioned, he turned out to be a Filipino named José who worked with yet a third company, KBR, the American logistics and security giant."

[OnyxCollie]

8. K&R. nt

[felix_numinous]

9. K & R

[midnight]

10. I wish this would end....

[annm4peace]

11. what will make Congress force an investigation