re: Fallujah "security contractors"

[JAbuchan08]

Has anyone else noticed that the word "contractors" is played up in all the news stories about the event. At first I was pretty appalled these people were simply trying to help rebuild Iraq and got caught in the line of fire.
It seems to me that while all deaths in Iraq provoke the sympathy and anger of most Americans the deaths of soldiers are somewhat more acceptable (especially to those who felt the war was justified in the first place) because dying is part of a soldier's duty.
It seems to me that the news channels would prefer that Americans think of the recent dead as closer to civilians than soldiers. I myself am still not sure if these guys were dinacorp mercenaries or what, but it does seem to me that selling these guys as civilians does more for the war effort on the homefront. What does everyone else think?

[Rick Myers]

1. They worked for Blackwater USA

Owners of the worlds largest paramilitary training camp in North Carolina. Sound like they were 'contractors' alright, hitmen.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

2. covert ops?

cia?

[DenverDem]

3. Mercenary soldiers.

They knew the job was dangerous when they took it.

This is where a huge chunk of that $87bil went, payouts to mercenaries that work for bushler cronies.

[Ilsa]

4. Yeah, I just got blasted on another board about this...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1325094

This is my DU post of what happened.

[JAbuchan08]

5. But do you think the news media is trying to play down

the mercenary aspect of it all - to show that the evil Iraqis are even attacking civilians? I sort of got that impression. Not that the death of anyone should be taken lightly, but it seems that "civilian deaths" plays better for Bush.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

6. they were ahem.....retired special forces....ahem...hired by security firm

[bvar22]

7. You are on the mark.

ALL of the Media coverage I've seen continually emphasize civilian or even foreign civilians.

[salinen]

8. Keeps those numbers of

dead soldiers down to an acceptable level. Pigfuckers!

[bryant69]

9. One point of disagreement

Actually, I'd say that the soldiers deaths are a little less acceptable. Since those four weren't aid workers, they were ther to make money; and, let's face it, there's plenty of money to be made in Iraq. They took a calculated risk, and they chose to be there.

But the soldiers don't have a choice about whether to go there or not and they don't have much of a chance of getting money at the end of this (frankly they are likely to have their benefits slashed).

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[theboss]

10. Tucker Carlson piece in Esquire on them

I know Tucker is hated here, but I thought this was an extremely interesting and honest piece on our use of contractors in Iraq.

http://www.keepmedia.com/ShowItemDetails.do?item_id=366991&extID=10026

[IkeWarnedUs]

11. You may be on to something

The "civilian contractors" could be described as mercenaries. The victims were employees of Blackwater and were guarding food shipments in Fallujah. Here is how Blackwater describes themselves (from their website):

Blackwater Training Center was founded in 1996 to fulfill the anticipated demand for government outsourcing of firearms and related security training. Located on over 6000 acres in Moyock, North Carolina (just south of the Virginia border), Blackwater has the finest private firearms training facility in the U.S. Blackwater has set a new standard for firearms and security training and is recognized as the industry leader in providing government outsource solutions in training, security, canine services, aviation support services, range construction and steel target equipment. Since its inception, Blackwater has trained over 50,000 military and law enforcement personnel and provided solutions to hundreds of satisfied customers.

link: http://www.blackwaterusa.com/history.html

Blackwater's president, director of training, Director of Facilities and Chief Design Officer and Director of Blackwater Security Consulting are all former Navy SEAL's and the Director of Blackwater Target Systems is a former Force Recon Marine and Recon Instructor.

link: http://www.blackwaterusa.com/staff.html

And a message from Blackwater's president:

"Blackwater USA is comprised of five companies; Blackwater Training Center, Blackwater Target Systems, Blackwater Security Consulting, Blackwater Canine, and Blackwater Air (AWS). We have established a global presence and provide training and tactical solutions for the 21st century."

Our clients include federal law enforcement agencies, the Department of Defense, Department of State, and Department of Transportation, local and state entities from around the country, multi-national corporations, and friendly nations from all over the globe.

We customize and execute solutions for our clients to help keep them at the level of readiness required to meet today's law enforcement, homeland security, and defense challenges.

Any and all defense services supplied to foreign nationals will only be pursuant to proper authorization by the Department of State.

Come to Blackwater, where the professionals train."

Gary Jackson
President

link: http://www.blackwaterusa.com/

Whether soldier or civilian, what happened was horrible. But thank you for seeing through the spin. From an Iraqi point of view, an American with a gun in Iraq is a soldier. Who signs his paycheck makes little difference.