Quote:
Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
Blackwater has probably killed a few innocent Iraqis. So have our soldiers. I am sure there is culpability in some instances and excusable behavior in others. It is a war.
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I'm not interested in arguing about culpability for individual incidents -- that's not the point. Blackwater gets hired to provide security for, e.g., diplomats. They don't report to the same command structure. Their mission is not to support our counter-insurgency effort, so why would they? Their mission is to (e.g.) protect diplomats, and so they will err on the side of shooting up innocent Iraqis, even though that frustrates what the military is trying to do. It is a war, and using contractors is not the best of fighting it. When the Iraqi government wants to kick Blackwater out of the country for a pattern of conduct, it's clear they're not helping us win hearts and minds.
