Former Iraq security contractors say firm bought black market weapons

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Former Iraq security contractors say firm bought black market weapons
By T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, and Aram Roston 9/18/09 1:22 PM

This report produced by ProPublica.


Last spring, the U.S. diplomatic mission in Iraq got a makeover,replacing the scandal-plagued Blackwater private security company with a firm named Triple Canopy.

The new $1 billion contract cemented Triple Canopy’s status as the pre-eminent provider of private security services in Iraq, with its heavily armed employees appearing side by side with senior State Department diplomats.


Previously undisclosed documents and interviews with current and former Triple Canopy officials raise new questions about private security contractors, give a glimpse into the messy business of creating a private army on the fly in the middle of a war zone. (Click on image to view documents/ProPublica.org)


But the company’s rise to prominence followed a long, often chaotic route, marked by questionable weapons deals, government bungling and a criminal investigation that was ultimately closed without charges being filed, according to newly released investigative files.

Company employees told federal investigators that Triple Canopy swapped booze for weapons and supplies from the U.S. military. They said the company bought guns and other arms on the black market in Iraq. Some worried that the money was flowing into the hands of insurgents, records show.

The previously undisclosed documents and interviews with current and former Triple Canopy officials raise new questions about the U.S. government’s ability to oversee private security contractors in a fluid and uncertain legal environment. And they give a glimpse into the messy business of creating a private army on the fly in the middle of a war zone.

“We’re spending a lot of money on these rifles, millions of dollars — where do you think that money is going to?” Ronald Boline, a former Triple Canopy manager, said in a lawsuit deposition videotaped in June 2007. “Who are we supporting in doing that? We’re supporting people who are trying to kill Americans is the logical conclusion.”

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