Under Siege, Blackwater Takes On Air of Bunker

Under Siege, Blackwater Takes On Air of Bunker
By PAUL VON ZIELBAUER AND JAMES GLANZ, The New York Times

BAGHDAD

The Blackwater compound here is a fortress within a fortress. Surrounded by a 25-foot wall of concrete topped by a chain-link fence and razor wire, the compound sits deep inside the heavily defended Green Zone, its two points of entry guarded by Colombian army veterans carrying shotguns and automatic rifles.

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For weeks, not a word has emerged publicly from the compound, as the FBI, the American military and the Iraqi government investigate what happened Sept. 16 and earlier Blackwater shootings in Iraq.

But in recent days, that secretive Blackwater world has begun to fray under so much scrutiny, said four current and two former Blackwater employees. They described a grating sense among many Blackwater guards, especially those with years of experience, that the killings on Sept. 16 were unjustified.

"Some guys are thinking that it was not a good shoot, that it was not warranted," said one Blackwater contractor, using military jargon for an episode that results in a wrongful death. "I don't think there was criminal intent involved. I just think it was the application of the use of deadly force gone horribly wrong." He added, "To mitigate one threat, 17 people had to die?"