Medal of Honour 6: Private contractor

So you may remember that earlier in the year there was a bit of a fuss when some security guards from the American firm Blackwater (which is a pretty awesome name) killed 17 people.

So let's see what some of the news sources around the globe have picked up about this story then. ABC News ran with news that a Blackwater guard said he returned fire at Iraqis dressed as civilians.

Now maybe it's just me, but could an Iraqi dressed as a civilian actually be an Iraqi civilian? Way to go ABC News for running with that piece of Orwellian language.

The Washington Post quoted a US official as saying that at least one Blackwater guard drew a weapon on his colleagues and shouted at him to "stop shooting". Sounds to me like Blackwater need to change their server settings to ban friendly fire!

Iraqi eyewitnesses have said that guards moved into the roundabout stopping the traffic. They then fired on a white sedan that had failed to slow down. According to those accounts, the car burst into flames killing the occupants. One eyewitness said Blackwater operatives had fired a rocket or grenade into the car.

The reports continue, and say Blackwater guards then fired without provocation into the surrounding area as civilians and Iraqi officers tried to flee. They say the officers did not return fire.

So apparently - failing to slow down when some mercenary with a gun starts waving at you is the action of an evil terrorist. I'm pretty certain that's not entirely true. I'm also continually frustrated that we're not calling this as it is - the American government are using mercenaries, and giving them immunity from any crimes they may commit while under contract to the United States. If ever there were a set of circumstances guarenteed to lead to a fucked up situation - this is it. Take a bunch of cold blooded, financially motivated killers. Arm them, and tell them that they won't be held accountable if some brown people turn up dead. Well at least we all know why the population of Mississippi has dropped - they're all on a hunting trip.

The New York Times are quoting 'unnamed US officials' and printing that a premliminary FBI investigation found that at least 14 of the 17 shootings were 'unjustified'.

I don't know why we're worried though. The US State department is on the case. They've got an inspector general - Howard Krongard. He's investigating Blackwater, and their employee's actions and has been doing so for the last 2 months. Thank god for Mr Krongard and his investigation. He's totally excellent at investigating. For example, yesterday he discovered that his brother was part of Blackwater's advisory board. 2 months. 60 days. 1440 hours of investigating and what has Mr Krongard discovered? That his brother's a part of the company that he's investigating.

I have to say, if you ever want to get away with something, ask for Howard Krongard to investigate it. He hasn't got a fucking clue.