Mercenary firms fear bloodbath in Iraq

Source: Scotsman.UK

MERCENARY chiefs are urgently reviewing rules dictating when they can use force in Iraq, amid growing fears that another confrontation between private security operators and police could explode into a bloodbath.

Days after four British bodyguards and their client were snatched by bogus police from the streets of Baghdad, the bosses of private security firms have admitted there is now a "serious risk" of shoot-outs between "mercenary" officials and Iraqi security forces.

Private security companies (PSCs) protecting vital personnel and installations across Iraq claim the kidnapping has exposed the vulnerability of their staff, who are banned from bearing arms when confronted by Iraqi police and military.

Now a confidential memo to the heads of almost 200 private security companies providing bodyguard services in Iraq has laid bare the tensions between local security forces and the growing army of 'hired guns' protecting foreigners involved in reconstruction.

Read more: http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=866932007

Hired guns who whine too much

...bloodbath phase has been underway against Iraqis from almost the beginning of the war. Now neighborhoods, sectors and groups are the targets. Troops fire upon three suspected bombers and what turns up are three dead bodies of Iraqi children.

It is clear that Bush/Cheney and the U.S. military command are frustrated and are now entering the genocide stage of this bloody civil conflict.

what they really are, mercenaries. I don't see this descriptor being used in the US media any time soon, unfortunately.

When you are hired guns, you are being paid big bucks for your services so whining about the dangers is ridiculous, imo.

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about the U.S. using mercenaries. Think about this: we have our regular troops in the "theater" (God I hate that term, as if it's playing around). They are out there, at risk, targets for bullets 24/7.

In the meantime, you have a 2nd army in place AT THE SAME TIME. In fact you have several competing firms like Black Water, Titan, CACI, and other PRIVATE companies doing the fighting.

Now just imagine, these mercenaries have their own battlefield equipment. Helicopters, jeeps, humvees, tanks, trucks. All kinds of stuff. It's another army. I forget exactly how many mercs we have in Iraq, but I believe it's around 30,000 paid black-ops.

You have 2 or more armies, supposedly working together, fighting against a common enemy, the Iraqis.

We are losing badly in Iraq & Afghanistan. Is that a clue as to how the multiple armies are working?

I wounder about the same things. Just what are those mercenaries doing. I wonder if they aren't boosting up some of those militias to make sure the fighting continues unabated. I do not trust guns for hire. They can be bought and sold. They will fight for whom ever has the most money. They are not fighting for patriotic reasons. They are fighting for money. Whom ever has the most to pay is the one who can buy them. These guys can turn on you, just like a double agent. If you mess with fire you are going to get burned.

"The "their client" who was kidnapped along with his security guards was a Bearing Point contractor. My friend who is a contractor in Baghdad works for Bearing Point and had to send out a large email telling us all he is OK and was not the guy who was kidnapped. He did say they are re-evaluating the entire project. He went over in 2003 as part of some hairbrained scheme to set up a US-like banking system for Iraq. After multiple deaths, bombings and compete failure, they cancelled that project. But the government trough was still full of cash so Bearing Point has new projects which, my friend says, change frequently and accomplish little if anything."

with certain DLC personalities in charge

I figured they were mostly doing security for the suit-droids over there, the ones with enough pull.

Bearing Point knew that their scheme of setting up a banking system was doomed, yet instead of pulling their employees out, they decided to keep them in country because of all the cash the US was spending on Iraq reconstruction projects.

A responsible employer would have never gone into Iraq in the first place, or having done so, it would have left a long time ago.

First step in redeployment is to cut the funding of mercenaries.

Mercenaries are universally hated. Kind of like used car salesmen, tow-truck jockies, and repo-men.

at the very least, they deserve cavity searches.