An Iraqi woman walked past a burnt car at the site where Blackwater guards opened fire, killing nine civilians and a policeman.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 — The American security contractor Blackwater USA has been involved in a far higher rate of shootings while guarding American diplomats in Iraq than other security firms providing similar services to the State Department, according to Bush administration officials and industry officials....
Part of the issue among 'Red States' is a chronic belief in aggressive military. It's where many of the military personnel come from because the southern USA has such poor economies and in the Western USA, the heartland as it's called, there are sparse economies due to vast tracks of farmland. So, the 'culture' of these states/citizens is frequently tainted with 'the idea' the USA has to be aggressive in their military content.
It becomes a way for men, young men primarily, to define their 'ego structures.'
Every person, man or woman has some kind of ego structure, okay? Social content, if you will. Just the way it is, the impoverishment, as I see it, of the Red State cultures is away from education and 'the arts' and toward areas of flag waving and 'strong men' identities. It causes problems socially as men are aggressive in their identities and end up in bar room brawls and that sort of thing. Higher levels of tobacco use, alcohol and fuel consuming vehicles with a sticker on the tailgate stating, "My best friend is my Smith and Wesson." It's a problem.
So, when a company like Blackwater moves out of the shadows of mercenary status to that of 'local hero' it brings a lot of perks to not just Blackwater, but, to 'the culture' that dictates such entities are necessary in Red States. Autonomous companies that can act as a military when 'all the wimps' of the country won't do what they will do for substantial money.
It's important that the crimes of Blackwater do receive justice. Not just for the Iraqi people but for the USA. The 'cultural' aspect regarding personal weapons and private security firms needs to be reined in as Bush and Cheney were most definately taking the 'idea' of a privatized miltiary to a new level.
I am not surprised, the private mercenary firm of Blackwater is involved in murder in Iraq. They take the 'lack' of laws as a permission to do as they please and make up their own best scenarios as they will, rather than adhering to diplomatic objectives. I mean you have to know, when a country is invaded and occupied the existing law and government structures are destroyed along with the occupation and new infrastructure has to be resurrected. During that 'gap' of authority firms like Blackwater simply carry out their own form of martial law. It's been four years in Iraq now and Blackwater is still 'freelancing' their own laws and outcomes.
No, no. I don't think so. These CEO's of private mercenary firms aren't little tin gods with the authority to 'cause' an entire citizenry of an occupied country to 'live by the gun.' No, no. That is an outrageous dictate and should have been reined in a long time ago. It's only more proof of the incompentency in the Oval Office resulting in a compromised USA military. This is more than a few deaths in Iraq. This is huge.
Regardless, Iraq is a dangerous place and when companies like Blackwater engage in providing security to diplomats in such regions of the world they need to understand the purpose of the diplomats aren't to just 'survive the day' but to move a country such as Iraq forward to sincere sovereignty and security for the people as well as diplomats. It is safe to say, Blackwater setting it's own rules and conducting it's own vigilante agenda in order to receive USA Treasury checks have most definately caused the deaths of American soldiers as well. There is no doubt in my mind, these mercenaries helped escalate any insurgency since their arrival in March of 2003 which most definately cast a huge dark shadow over the USA presence.
This is the danger of a society that 'believes' in war and pre-emption with portions of the USA economically dependant and culturally dependant on that reality. The USA should not be indulging in private security firms to provide body guards for diplomats. The USA military should be doing the job of securing any diplomats the USA is responsible for and not allow the opportunity, the mire opportunity, for such outrageous outcomes to innocent people of a country we illegally invaded.
We need to come out of Iraq and allow the region to provide whatever structure the people of a country once known as Iraq need to restructure into areas more secure to those people, which are autonmous sovereignties now recognized by the Iraq Constitution as provinces. It has to come to pass. There is far too much tension between these people at this point in history to believe they could ever be a sovereign country with one central government. The people there won't allow it. They are to afraid of the potential of another Saddam and if it were upto 'outfits' like Blackwater, the USA would have exactly that at any cost to the lives of those people.
I guarantee, the attitudes and policies of Blackwater have caused many deaths, both Iraq and throught insurgency as a result, American soldier lives as well. This needs to stop. Now !
