Posted by The Crux |
The Iraqi government has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, a security contractor that's been involved in multiple shootouts and killing some civilians (BBC News). Sunday, Blackwater was escorting a State Department motorcade, and a car bomb exploded nearby. Reportedly, Blackwater employees "opened fire randomly," killing eight civilians and wounding 13. The Washington Post reported:
"Several violent episodes involving Blackwater have infuriated Iraqi officials. An Interior Ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, said the decision meant Blackwater 'cannot work in Iraq any longer....'
"'We were shocked when we saw these fighters getting out of their SUVs and shooting randomly at people,' [said an Iraqi soldier] . 'We didn't know who they were targeting....'
"Before Sunday's shootings, Interior Ministry officials said they had received reports of at least a half-dozen incidents in which Blackwater guards allegedly shot civilians, far more than any other company....
"'I would say that Iraqi officials are no different than other Iraqi citizens: They can't stand the Western security companies which are really aggressive, which would include Blackwater,' said a second Western official knowledgeable about the Interior Ministry and who also insisted on anonymity. 'Blackwater is particularly egregious, but I guess they've been told to use those procedures by the U.S. Embassy. They're not rogue elements.'"
There is doubt over whether the Iraqi government has the authority to ban Blackwater from working in its nation because the company is under contract with the U.S. government. Though the Iraqi government wants to prosecute some Blackwater employees, the now-disbanded Coalition Provisional Authority (headed by Paul Bremer) had granted immunity from prosecution in Iraq to U.S. security companies.
Blackwater has had other trouble , including operating in Iraq without a license a few years ago, but that's not the end of the story.
In December 2006, the House Oversight Committee wrote a letter to then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, about possible overcharging by defense contractors for security work, including Blackwater. (See letter)
Blackwater was at the bottom of the subcontractor food-chain in an arrangement with Halliburton. Blackwater paid each security employee $600 per day, then charged the next subcontractor (Contractor 2) $815 per day per employee -- while charging separately for food, lodging, office space, equipment, and administrative costs. In other words, Blackwater marked up the cost of its employees by 36%, though the taxpayers were ultimately paying Blackwater's overhead.
Incidentally, Contractor-2 charged Contractor-3 $1200-$1500 per day for each Blackwater employee, who charged Halliburton an undisclosed amount, who charged the U.S. taxpayers an undisclosed amount.
With so many private middlemen slurping at the trough, is it any wonder we taxpayers have spent more so many billions on the Iraq war?
Perhaps coincidentally, former defense Department Inspector General Joseph Schmitz resigned in 2005 and took a job with Blackwater's parent company, after Senator Charles Grassley (R-ID) told Schmitz of an investigation into Schmitz's allegedly having impeded two criminal investigations involving Bush Administration officials and government contracts (Seattle Times/LA Times).
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