Iraq to Blackwater: You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here

September 17, 2007

Following up on an item from May, we’ve known for quite a while that the ambiguous legal, political, and practical implications of Blackwater’s private security forces in Iraq can create some very awkward circumstances. Apparently, the Maliki government has seen enough and has given Blackwater an eviction notice. (thanks, tAiO, for the heads-up)

The Iraqi government said Monday that it was revoking the license of an American security firm accused of involvement in the deaths of eight civilians in a firefight that followed a car bomb explosion near a State Department motorcade.

The Interior Ministry said it would prosecute any foreign contractors found to have used excessive force in the Sunday shooting. It was the latest accusation against the U.S.-contracted firms that operate with little or no supervision and are widely disliked by Iraqis who resent their speeding motorcades and forceful behavior.

Underscoring the seriousness of the matter, the State Department said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned to call Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to express regret and assure him that the U.S. has launched an investigation into the matter to ensure nothing like it happens again.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf said eight civilians were killed and 13 were wounded when contractors believed to be working for Blackwater USA opened fire in a predominantly Sunni neighborhood of western Baghdad.

Maliki late Sunday condemned the shooting by a “foreign security company” and called it a “crime.” Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani called the shootings “a crime that we cannot be silent about.” The rhetoric was well received by Iraqis, who tend to strongly dislike the private contractors.

The next question, of course, is whether Blackwater is actually going to leave — and what the Bush administration is prepared to do about this mess.

As Spencer Ackerman explained, not only does Blackwater protect American VIPs in Iraq, but the administration is unlikely to want to establish a precedent whereby Iraqi officials can expel U.S. contractors from their own country.

Yesterday’s incident involved an insurgent attack on a State Department convoy in the Sunni neighborhood of Mansour in western Baghdad. Blackwater personnel guarding the motorcade returned fire — “to defend themselves,” according to a State Department official quoted by The Washington Post. A Post reporter on the scene in Mansour witnessed Blackwater’s Little Bird helicopters “firing into the streets.” […]

However, it’s unclear how the Interior Ministry would expel Blackwater. Unlike other private U.S. security firms in Iraq, as of May, Blackwater hadn’t registered with the Iraqi government to operate in Iraq. The Coalition Provisional Authority — the now-defunct occupational government — issued a decree in 2004 immunizing security contractors from Iraqi prosecution and placing their operations under the jurisdiction of U.S. authorities.

In the short term, Amb. Crocker and his team are being very apologetic about the incident, but will no doubt resist the expulsion of the very security teams that protects their safety.

It’s an unfortunate reminder about just how “sovereign” Iraq really is. The Iraqi government wants contractors to leave the country; the U.S. government is effectively responding, “We’re sorry about what happened, but they’re staying whether you like it or not.”

A number of words come to mind, but “sovereignty” isn’t one of them.

Why are private security firms guarding a State Department convoy in Iraq instead of U.S. military forces? Isn’t this taking the privatization of government services a bit too far?

Oh – I forgot. We’re running out of U.S. military forces.

If the Iraqi government doesn’t back down, this incident will be a turning point in the war. But Maliki will back down. He’s going to get an offer he can’t refuse.

  • Like that’ll happen. Blackwater is already picking up the slack for an overstretched Army and Marine Corps, who can’t spare enough scouts to guard convoys. Rice would perform a piano recital naked in that square where they pulled Saddam’s statue down before the U.S. will let Blackwater be forced out. Bet on some kind of compromise being worked out, where Blackwater will pay compensation to the families of the people they blew away, and promise with their hands on their hearts to be much more careful.

  • If only Maliki’s government would insist on Blckwater leaving the country and insist that “security” companies get a license and authorization from Iraq’s parliament to operate inside Iraq. Blackwater has abused their power continuously and keep in mind we are getting reports from the “Post”. It must have been blatant murder since Blackwater has been doing this kind of stuff for years…shooting Iraqis for sport…they look for an excuse to open fire. Our own military is perfectly capable of providing security…this is just war profiteering at it’s best…the Cheney boys gettin’ that contract money. If it were a democracy or anything even close, Maliki would have the right and the power to tell Blackwater to get out…and the US would have to comply.

  • Hey, the Iraquis are standing up (against mercenaries for hire), so maybe we should stand down. Wasn’t that the deal?

    And about the reason we’re there being to liberate Iraq, because God wants all people to be free and democratic. . . is there the “except as interferes with the whims of American leaders” exception to the transcendent human right to be free?

    My head hurts, and its only Monday.

  • Please! Let’s not bicker and argue about who shot the hell out of who. We are here today to witness the union of the world’s biggest oil consumer and the second biggest oil reserve in the joyful bond of holy capitalism.

    And since when is shooting a bunch of innocent people a crime when the shooters say that they were “defending themselves”? If that kind of thing was actually illegal then congress would have stopped Bush a long time ago, right?

    Oh yeah, we don’t really have that kind of congress. We have the pantomime congress. On with the atrocities then.

  • This is a real sign of progress in Iraq. That the Iraqis are taking earnest steps to throw out the stateless groups of heavily armed foreigners, such as al Qaeda and Blackwater, who are causing the deaths of Iraqis is a sign that a semblence of civility is returning. Now if only the other foreign people with guns would leave …

    As if there needs to be further evidence supporting JKap, Alan Greenspan’s interview with the New York Times revealed this little tidbit, “I supported taking out Saddam, because he was moving inexorably toward taking the world’s oil resources. Iraq was a far greater threat than Iran to the world scene.” An effete, contained and military impotent Saddam taking over the wold’s oil supplies? You’re kidding Alan …. unless Greenspan was simply covetous of the supplies Iraq had within its own borders.

  • So much for our present King George and his “Hessian Mercenaries.” I am curous, though—how long until Iraq decides that they need to defeat the Bushylvania/NeoConservia “axis” as a prerequisite to standing on their own?

    Sidenote: NPR now reports “9 dead”—and that Maliki is calling for those responsible to be handed over to the Iraqis….

  • THIS is how the Iraq war will end.
    When the private companies aren’t allowed in, teh money dries up for kickbacks and Iraq becomes a net liability.

    WTG, Maliki! (Watch for the US to call for his ousting soon.)

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  • We’re gong to launch and investigation? HAHAHAHA. I didn’t think anyone over at State still had a sense of humor.

  • Why are private security firms guarding a State Department convoy in Iraq instead of U.S. military forces?

    Because Blackwater casualties don’t make the news.

  • Let’s ask L’il Georgie Bush what he thinks sovereignty means.

    On a more sober note (heh), this looks to hasten the U.S. exit from Iraq, IMHO.

  • ol’ georgie always said if iraq asked us to leave, then we would leave. (whether to believe him or not is another matter.)

    now, if maliki asks blackhawk to leave, and we refuse, how long do you think it will be before he asks us to leave? and then what?

    just sayin’………

  • Not only did the guards in the vehicles get in the fight, but the Blackwater “Little Bird” helicopters – a special kind of attack helicopter whose only other user is Special Operations – indiscriminately machinegunned the adjoining neighborhood.

    Oh well, we didn’t execute members of the German Waffen SS – a private army that was outlawed by the Geneva Conventions and under whose rules were subject to execution upon capture as outlaws – when we caught them in WW2, so I doubt we’ll do anything about the American Waffen SS.

  • Well, maybe Iraq will do what the Democratic Congress won’t. I have thought the Dems could cancel all mercenary contracts in Iraq without having to face charges of “not supporting the troops”, leaving the troop funding as it was. EVERYTHING has depended on this “shadow army” of contractors in Iraq and if they were sent back home, we’d really see what the US military strength in Iraq is. Bush would HAVE to end the war there.

    You’d better believe that Bush plans to use them to support his attack on Iran, too.

    Maliki must be changing his mind about wanting the presence of US forces in Iraq. Very clever way of throwing a wrench in the gears.

  • Jeremy Scahill (author of ‘Blackwater’) was invited to CNN int’l during lunch hour… he took the opportunity to call for American troops to withdraw from Iraq. Awesome interview.

    Will we see that interview in Wolf Blitzer? My money is on never…

  • Yes, it’s true the Blackwater commitment in Iraq is huge, but I am speaking strictly of the instances in which they are doing jobs that would normally be the responsibility of active duty troops. Much of what Blackwater is doing consists of what would be relatively mundane guard duties anywhere but in such a hellhole. However, guarding State Department convoys and other VIP visitors who are there at the behest of the U.S. government is a military responsibility.

    Interestingly, some Blackwater operatives were reported to be doing policing during the New Orleans floods. That’s probably because the National Guard was away fighting in Iraq, but I believe using a private army for official peacekeeping in that role is illegal. I could be wrong.

  • I think Black Water should continue to explore the humanitarian market. Their image would certainly improve (along with their bottom line) by protecting humanitarian aide workers from the many thugs, raiders, etc., who attack aide workers and their convoys nearly every day, stealing aide intended for those who desperately need it.

    I don’t think companies like Black Water belong in Iraq, or any other war, on the side of those fighting the war. Anyway, the tactical situation is too confusing as it is over there, without mercenaries getting in the way (which they commonly do). I’d like to see them direct their focus to protecting those brave unarmed aide workers, who desperately need protection.

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