http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/10/12/iraq.main/index.html

Seems the U.S. Military found no indication that Black Water was fired upon.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/10/13/blackwater.witnesses/index.html

Black Water is sinking deeper and deeper.

Exactly how are they sinking deeper and deeper? Were these military personnel who leaked this information prematurely crime scene investigators?

Just because no other casings were found doesn't mean that Iraqis did not clean the scene. Did they search rooftops of bldgs? Anything that comes from The MoI is suspect. And the "anonymous" military personnel should be reprimanded for obstructing an on-going investigation. Wonder if they would have been so eager to leak info if it was there fellow soldiers under the microscope?

It has been apparent by some of the comments that were made by some of the military personnel that they have an anti-contractor bias.

quote:

Originally posted by Infantry32:
It has been apparent by some of the comments that were made by some of the military personnel that they have an anti-contractor bias.

Comments such as?

Well if you think that I am going to sift through the last few weeks of articles to point his out you're wrong. However, the recent leak from some "anonymous" military members who investigated the scene is irresponsible.

One officer even made a statement along the lines of the contractors are destroying the progress we have made etc..etc...So I guess the recent killing of 9 women and children north of Baghdad during a raid was good, then? Hmmm...there is plenty of blame to go around and no single group bears the burden. Having said that the average compensation that has been paid by the military to the families of civilians killed during such incidents is 2,500-3000 dollars. BW has usually paid more.

The bottom line is there is a WAR happening in Iraq and civilians are being killed. It happens...Just wish that Al-maliki would demand that Al-Sadr stop killing civilians as well or risk being expelled. And he should be forced to pay too.

Coincidentally here is a good example.

They are immature shooters and have very quick trigger fingers," says an anonymous lieutenant colonel. "Why are we creating new vulnerabilities by relying on what are essentially mercenary forces?" asks a nameless intelligence officer. "They often act like cowboys over here," says an unidentified commander.
Ever since a recent shootout in downtown Baghdad, newspapers have been ablaze with charges that private security contractors in Iraq are trigger-happy.
This rush to pass judgment is hardly surprising. Frequently derided as "mercenaries" and "rent-a-cops," security contractors make an easy target for war opponents.

quote:

Originally posted by Infantry32:
They are immature shooters and have very quick trigger fingers," says an anonymous lieutenant colonel. "Why are we creating new vulnerabilities by relying on what are essentially mercenary forces?" asks a nameless intelligence officer. "They often act like cowboys over here," says an unidentified commander.

So are the above statements examples of "anti-contractor bias" or are they opinions based on first hand experience? I don't doubt that some of the current controversy over contractors is overblown but then again there is obviously something going on there that needs to be addressed before it gets out of hand.

quote:

The bottom line is there is a WAR happening in Iraq and civilians are being killed. It happens...Just wish that Al-maliki would demand that Al-Sadr stop killing civilians as well or risk being expelled. And he should be forced to pay too.

In this case civilians are being killed by civilians (PMC) who are not restrained by US, UCMJ or Iraqi laws. That's bound to cause problems. Certainly getting rid of Al-Sader and his militia would end some part of the violence but we don't control that decision. OTOH, we do have some control over the PMC.

Who knows what their opinions are based on. But we are all on the same side. Just because some people get paid more doesn't mean that we're evil. There are already ways in place to reign them in, but no one is doing anything. The DoD/DoS etc...have alot of responsibility in creating this monster as well as our politicians but what have they done to fix it? It also didn't start with GWB.

On the previous contract I was on which was DoD, we were briefed about and signed an agreement that we would be prosecuted if we screwed up. So in reality the only personnel who even possibly could get off the hook are DoS contractors.

quote:

Originally posted by Shardik:

quote:

Originally posted by Infantry32:
They are immature shooters and have very quick trigger fingers," says an anonymous lieutenant colonel. "Why are we creating new vulnerabilities by relying on what are essentially mercenary forces?" asks a nameless intelligence officer. "They often act like cowboys over here," says an unidentified commander.

So are the above statements examples of "anti-contractor bias" or are they opinions based on first hand experience? I don't doubt that some of the current controversy over contractors is overblown but then again there is obviously something going on there that needs to be addressed before it gets out of hand.

quote:

The bottom line is there is a WAR happening in Iraq and civilians are being killed. It happens...Just wish that Al-maliki would demand that Al-Sadr stop killing civilians as well or risk being expelled. And he should be forced to pay too.

In this case civilians are being killed by civilians (PMC) who are not restrained by US, UCMJ or Iraqi laws. That's bound to cause problems. Certainly getting rid of Al-Sader and his militia would end some part of the violence but we don't control that decision. OTOH, we do have some control over the PMC.