Under Fire, Security Firms Form An Alliance

While U.S. and coalition military forces fought rebellions in a half-dozen cities yesterday, the body of a contract worker, employed to guard the power lines of the Iraqi ministry of electricity, was extracted from a rooftop in Kut by his firm's Iraqi interpreter after he bled to death, according to government and industry officials.

The dead man, a Western employee of London-based Hart Group Ltd., had been pinned down on the rooftop of the house he and four colleagues had been occupying Tuesday night when insurgents overran the house. The other four were wounded.

"We were holding out, hoping to get direct military support that never came," said Nick Edmunds, Iraq coordinator for Hart, whose employees were operating in an area under Ukrainian military control. Other sources said Hart employees called U.S. and Ukrainian military forces so many times during the siege that the battery on their mobile phone ran out.

That same night, armed employees of two other firms, Control Risk Group and Triple Canopy, were also surrounded and attacked, according to U.S. government and industry sources.

In all three instances, 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," said one U.S. official, who asked not to be named.

Asked last night to explain why U.S. and coalition forces had not responded to requests for help, a Pentagon spokesman referred the question to commanders in Iraq, who could not be reached for comment because of the time difference.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59516-2004Apr7.html

At least his didn't burn to death.

"Hoo-yah!"

In Sunday's fighting, Shiite militia forces barraged the Blackwater commandos, four MPs and a Marine gunner with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 fire for hours before U.S. Special Forces troops arrived. A sniper on a nearby roof apparently wounded three men. U.S. troops faced heavy fighting in several Iraqi cities that day.

The Blackwater commandos, most of whom are former Special Forces troops, are on contract to provide security for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Najaf.

With their ammunition nearly gone, a wounded and badly bleeding Marine on the rooftop, and no reinforcement by the U.S. military in the immediate offing, the company sent in helicopters to drop ammunition and pick up the Marine.

Sources who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of Blackwater's work in Iraq reported an unspecified number of casualties among Iraqis.

A spokesman for Blackwater confirmed that the company has a contract to provide security to the CPA but would not describe the incident that unfolded Sunday.

A Defense Department spokesman said that there were no military reports about the opening hours of the siege on CPA headquarters in Najaf because there were no military personnel on the scene.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001896454_security06.html

government. I am normally not at all cool towards others. But, when people are given the choice to make a hundred grand by engaging in an unlawful conflict,...and they choose the money over any principle,...I am less inclined to cry for them. I have compassion, but no empathy.

n\t

Mercenaries are paid for with our taxes, our GI's didn't choose to go.
:grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr:

But I do have some more that you might want to work on.
Air Scan
Military Professional Resources, Inc.
SAIC
Dyn Corp
Defense Services Ltd.
Sandline International
Vinnell Corp
Life Guard (used to be Executive Outcomes)
Omega Training Group
Saracen (another Executive Outcomes splinter)
Eagle Group
Wackenhut

There's an Easter weekend project for you, if you feel up to it.
:hi:

It is bad for morale in the regular forces. They will show an understandable reluctance to risk their lives for someone who is earning 10 times their pay, and living in nicer circumstances.

"Contractors" who carry and use weapons also blur the lines between civilian aid workers and the military, so that the resistance begins to see them all as fair game - thus the kidnappings we have seen in the last few days.

Mercenaries have been more of a problem than a solution throughout history, which Chimpy would have known if he had been paying attention at Yale. Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror", about the 13th century, gives a good example of how mercenaries eventually cause more problems for rulers than they solve.

As if Carlyle Group would help out a competitor! :eyes: