The suggested retail price of an Iraqi civilian’s life? $8 million. Last Tuesday, Reuters reported that the Iraqi government is asking that amount from Blackwater, the private security firm, to compensate the families of 17 Iraqis killed in a September 16 shootout.
According to an investigation initiated by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Blackwater agents “deliberately killed” innocent civilians in Baghdad on Sept. 16. The Iraqi government says the shootings were unprovoked and therefore the contractors must be tried for murder.
Politicians and policymakers can create as many investigative committees as they would like (there are already at least three underway), but it is unlikely the American and Iraqi government will ever agree on how the tragedy unfolded. A lack of accountability is the issue getting lost in this storm of he said, she said. There is no collective agreement because the shooters were not American soldiers and investigation cannot be completed as easily as it would be for an army caravan.
Upwards of 30,000 Blackwater agents are employed in Iraq, protecting diplomats and officials considered to be high-risk targets. After the U.S. Army, private military contractors are the largest non-Iraqi force in the country.
Blackwater CEO Erik Prince defended his employees during a Congressional hearing last week, arguing that those in the convoy on Sept. 16 had lawfully defended the caravan after they were attacked from the crowd. But past episodes have shown that even if Blackwater agents do kill innocents, the repercussions are few in a country where scores die every day.
Last Christmas Eve, a drunken Blackwater employee shot and killed one of Iraqi Vice President’s bodyguards. The employee was fired and rushed out of the country but he has yet to be charged. Blackwater employees cannot be prosecuted under Iraqi law, ever since U.S. Ambassador Paul Bremner issued an order giving them immunity in the aftermath in the U.S. invasion. Only after the latest incident did Congress pass a law making security contractors in Iraq subject to U.S. law. For every event that the U.S. State Department ignores, they condone Blackwater’s mistakes. These people are performing the duties of soldiers and should be treated as such—that means the same punishment and the same paycheque—but private contractors in Iraq are paid nine times as much as uniformed men and women.
With such a difference in salary, no wonder there is a growing suspicion that the company is not only getting paid to protect American officials, but also to do the dirty work so that the U.S. military can wash their hands clean. Why else would America be willing to turn their head the other way, knowing that Blackwater members are a reflection of the military and Americans in Iraq? The only possibilities are that the command was so distracted and disorganized that they were unaware of the boundaries crossed by the private company, or that they were willing to overlook the lost lives of innocents for the end result a safer environment for U.S. officials. This mindset makes the United States military no different from the terrorists who justify their means by their ends.
There’s an elephant in the investigation rooms in Washington. The reality of the situation is that American forces are heavily dependent on Blackwater. The firm’s employees are highly trained and specialized and the United States simply cannot afford to take over all operations. A report from National Public Radio said that if Blackwater was forced to leave the area, America would need to deploy another 500,000 troops in their place. In an already unpopular war, neither Democrats nor Republicans want to talk about sending more young men and women overseas. While government officials waste their time arguing over who fired the first shot, Blackwater will most likely maintain their status in Iraq because there is no clean alternative. Hopefully, public scrutiny will ensure closer supervision by the State Department, as promised by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
When almost every headline reports another casualty, it’s easy to grow numb to the cost of war. The victims in that square in September included a 20-year-old medical student and his mother, brothers, cousins, and children. They were not soldiers, but citizens holding on to every thread of hope and faith to continue with their daily lives in a war-torn country. Had this happened anywhere in West, the world would have stood still. In Iraq however, it seems the culprits can simply drive their armoured SUVs away.
