More About Me...
Email Me
Current Endeavor:
Sandy Matheson for Congress
Friends & Family
Middle East
- Back to Iraq 3.0
- Baghdad Burning
- DEBKAfile
- Deeds
- Hammorabi
- Healing Iraq
- Iraq & Iraqis
- Iraq at a glance
- IRAQ THE MODEL
- Kevin Sites
- Kurdo's World
- SISTANI.ORG
- THE MESOPOTAMIAN
Military
- Blackfive
- Boots on the Ground
- Dagger JAG
- Doc in the Box
- Coalition Casualties
- IRAQ NOW
- Sgt Hook
- StrategyPage
Media/Tech
- Ars Technica
- Command Post - War News
- EURSOC
- Gawker
- Gizmodo
- Media Notes-Kurtz
- Poynter Online - Romenesko
- Slashdot
- Wonkette
Humor
Liberal
- Altercation
- Daily Howler
- Eschaton - Atrios
- Greg Easterbrook
- The New Republic
- Political Animal
- Talking Points Memo
by Joshua Micah Marshall - TAP
- Wampum
Conservative/Libertarian
- Andrew Sullivan.com
- A Small Victory
- Belmont Club
- Citizen Smash
- Daniel W. Drezner
- InstaPundit
- Little Green Footballs
- Outside the Beltway
- Tim Blair
- The Volokh Conspiracy
- Winds of Change
Reciprocal Links
Archives
- Sunday, March 21
- Monday, March 22
- Tuesday, March 23
- Wednesday, March 24
- Thursday, March 25
- Friday, March 26
- Saturday, March 27
- Sunday, March 28
- Monday, March 29
- Wednesday, March 31
- Friday, April 02
- Saturday, April 03
- Sunday, April 04
- Monday, April 05
- Tuesday, April 06
- Wednesday, April 07
- Thursday, April 08
- Friday, April 09
- Saturday, April 10
- Sunday, April 11
- Monday, April 12
- Wednesday, April 14
- Thursday, April 15
- Friday, April 16
- Saturday, April 17
- Sunday, April 18
- Monday, April 19
- Tuesday, April 20
- Wednesday, April 21
- Thursday, April 22
- Friday, April 23
- Saturday, April 24
- Sunday, April 25
- Monday, April 26
- Tuesday, April 27
- Wednesday, April 28
- Thursday, April 29
- Friday, April 30
- Saturday, May 01
- Sunday, May 02
- Monday, May 03
- Tuesday, May 04
- Wednesday, May 05
- Thursday, May 06
- Friday, May 07
- Saturday, May 08
- Sunday, May 09
- Monday, May 10
- Tuesday, May 11
- Wednesday, May 12
- Thursday, May 13
- Friday, May 14
- Saturday, May 15
- Sunday, May 16
- Monday, May 17
- Tuesday, May 18
- Wednesday, May 19
- Thursday, May 20
- Friday, May 21
- Saturday, May 22
- Sunday, May 23
- Monday, May 24
- Tuesday, May 25
- Wednesday, May 26
- Thursday, May 27
- Friday, May 28
- Saturday, May 29
- Sunday, May 30
- Monday, May 31
- Tuesday, June 01
- Wednesday, June 02
- Thursday, June 03
- Friday, June 04
- Saturday, June 05
- Monday, June 07
- Monday, June 14
- Tuesday, June 15
- Wednesday, June 16
- Thursday, June 17
- Friday, June 18
- Saturday, June 19
- Monday, June 21
- Tuesday, June 22
- Wednesday, June 23
- Thursday, June 24
- Friday, June 25
- Monday, June 28
- Tuesday, June 29
- Wednesday, June 30
- Thursday, July 01
- Friday, July 02
- Monday, July 05
- Tuesday, July 06
- Wednesday, July 07
- Thursday, July 08
- Friday, July 09
- Saturday, July 10
- Monday, July 12
- Tuesday, July 13
- Wednesday, July 14
- Thursday, July 15
- Friday, July 16
- Saturday, July 17
- Sunday, July 18
- Monday, July 19
- Friday, July 23
- Monday, July 26
- Tuesday, July 27
- Wednesday, July 28
- Thursday, July 29
- Friday, July 30
- Current Posts
All opinions posted. None too pathetic or contrived. Everyone gets their say.
"...even the wicked get worse than they deserve." - Willa Cather, One of Ours
Thursday, April 08, 2004
The problems with private military corporations
Washington Post
Most do good -- but lingering issues of control, accountability and propriety remain
Most do good -- but lingering issues of control, accountability and propriety remain
Under assault by insurgents and unable to rely on U.S. and coalition troops for intelligence or help under duress, private security firms in Iraq have begun to band together in the past 48 hours, organizing what may effectively be the largest private army in the world, with its own rescue teams and pooled, sensitive intelligence.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59516-2004Apr7.html
Many of the firms were hired by the U.S. government to protect its employees in Iraq. But because the contracts are managed by the Coalition Provisional Authority and the coordination between the CPA and the U.S. military is limited, and by their accounts inadequate, the contractors have no direct line to the armed forces. Most of the firms' employees are military veterans themselves, and they often depend on their network of colleagues still in uniform for coordination and intelligence...
...There are about 20,000 private security contractors in Iraq now, including Americans, Iraqis and other foreigners. That number is expected to grow to 30,000 in the near future when the U.S. troop presence is drawn down after the June 30 handover to Iraqi authorities...
...As the security situation in Iraq has deteriorated in recent days, the security contract workers have been exposed to some of the same dangers U.S. soldiers face -- and have defended their posts as soldiers would, but without the support of the military with which they share the battlefield...
...U.S. and coalition military forces were called for help but did not respond in a timely manner, according to U.S. government and industry accounts. The private commandos fought for hours and eventually were able to "self-evacuate,"...
...On Monday, eight commandos from Blackwater Security Consulting repulsed an attack by the militiamen of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr against the Coalition Provisional Authority headquarters in Najaf. After hours of calling the U.S. military and CPA for backup, Blackwater sent in its own helicopters -- twice -- to ferry ammunition in and carry a wounded Marine to safety...
...The U.S. military does not have enough specially trained troops or Iraqi police officers to guard its civilian employees, said defense and CPA officials. As a result, the U.S. government has turned increasingly to private firms. Blackwater even provides personal security to U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer...
The Alamo is over-rated as a tourist attraction, dammit
Live Journal
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ginmar/256570.html#cutid1
We just got back on base. For a while there, I didn’t think that would happen. We got ambushed yesterday, except it was a twenty-one hour ambush. We made CNN, except of course they got it wrong.A first-hand account from a female U.S. soldier in Kut. This is what war is like when things are going right and people get out of a Bad Situation.
At about four AM the other day, the coalition force rode out the gate and took back the town. At nine thirty we rolled out, arrived at our usual destination, and by ten thirty, we were under fire. We were in a compound of five or six major buildings, large enough to be hotels, not quite large enough to be palaces, that had once been owned by Chemical Ali.
We started out on the roofs, looking for snipers. But RPGs and mortar fire forced us down and as we retreated, the shooters started hitting the building more often because they were walking their weapons closer. Eventually, our safe area was reduced to just one hallway in a central building.
I have never been so scared in my life. Scared doesn’t cover it: terrified doesn’t, either. I'd never known it was possible to be terrified and be totally calm...
...No other government building in the province was not under his control. Our little force, outmanned and outgunned, held him off for better than twenty hours, and then slipped out under his nose. He wanted to keep us there, be his bargaining chips while he tightened his fist around the province. And that fucking governor went along with it. We eventually found out the governor was contacting the command and telling them, no, no Evac behind our backs. He wanted US Marines dropped off and the civilians put in the helicopters while they secured his villa and offices. His own people were running around trying to arrange Evac, and kept counter-manding him. Then he’d go on the air and countermand them...
...All three of the other guys got wounded slightly----nothing much. I wasn’t one of them, obviously. One guy fell down when an RPG whistled too close and fell, but he’s okay. Everybody else got chipped by flying bricks and mortar, stuff like that. We had one guy who got clipped on the head a little bit closer than I did. That bullet gave him a permanent part to his hair, a real good story to tell---assuming he can ever put it into words----and took one of his nine lives. A coalition soldier died, and two were wounded.
Two Iraqi guards stayed with us. I’m very impressed with that. Everyone else fled...
...We did have choppers and the occasional F-16, but the gov wouldn’t allow them to drop any bombs. He never did explain why. All I know is, when I looked up at the chopper, and it was close enough to see the pilot’s profile in the sunset, I thought that was as close as I was going to get to getting out.
I can’t do anything but repeat myself, now, so I’m just going to go shake.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ginmar/256570.html#cutid1
Attention……. GC and Iraqi Parties
Iraq&Iraqi's (Iraqi blogger)
2004_04_01_iraq-iraqis_archive.html#108143512102533246
...are we staying home? No……Are we seeing any fights in streets? No……... Also we meet people from Sadir city and Adhamiya city every day and they are attending their jobs, and not standing against coalition forces……. Also I hade a phone call from a relative in Basrah and he said its calm and the damn media is lying as usual. We even sent an employee to Basrah to take care of a container coming to Om Qasir by sea………….And I would like to tell you about the made we have in office and she is from Sadir city. Her brother was arrested the day before yesterday morning for wearing a black shirt and was suspected to be Mahdy army member. He was released yesterday and said that the coalition forces treated them well and been told to stay home and not to resist the coalition and to tell their neighbors and relatives to do so...http://iraq-iraqis.blogspot.com/
I can feel the people of Sadir city uncomfortable with what Muqtada saying or doing, but they cant announce it for religion matters, (he is SAEED you know, and that’s mean he is a grand sun of prophet Mohamed so any one talk bad on him get cursed).
...Are we going to leave every thing for the coalition forces? And then start to criticize. What would happen if that trouble and rebel happened after June?. Then we would call for American army from its bases to help. Why turning authority to an Iraqi government then?.
...a united militia with the same uniform should be created grouping all the guards and armed people from the parties’ members and the followers of the GC members to enforce order in streets. It’s their duty and our duty would be to defend our democracy and freedom against terrorists and trouble makers and kayos lovers.
The time of negativity is gone, and no more place for one man to tell all Iraqis what to do, we should deserve our freedom by acting as civilized people or the world will let us kill each other, as it happened in Rwanda, Lebanon, Somalia, and many other countries.
We don’t want to be the land of clearing debts between any two forces in the world, and that’s also the duty of the real patriotic parties of Iraq to educate the people how to behave. It happened before in Kurdistan, and the Kurdish people deserved the prosperity they live in today, because their leaders and parties educated the people how to behave to deserve to be a state.
I beg each and every man and woman in our GC and Iraqi parties to gather as many people as they can to be members of those parties and educate them against any destructive thoughts may be spread from all those who want to delay prosperity for Iraq and Iraqis for reasons any one with a clear mind can see.
2004_04_01_iraq-iraqis_archive.html#108143512102533246
They Are Not Evil
“People can never be corrupted, yet they can often be fooled, then it will appear as if they wanted what is evil"
J. J. Rousseau