MURDEROUS ACTS ARE BECOMING A BLACK EYE FOR U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political Activist
Last weekend, a notorious security firm called Blackwater alleged to have killed as many as 20 Iraqis–in what they claimed was a firefight with supposed insurgents; following a car bomb explosion.
As sensational as this seems, there has been some serious deception on Blackwater’s part–a trend which befits their infamous reputation as the military’s “Dirty Harry” apparat.
These people were hired by the U.S. government to provide security for the diplomat entourages coming in and out of Iraq.
But their dirty little secret had remained in contention over the tactics upon which they used to carry out their jobs: Firing at Iraqi civilians out of spite, having a complete disregard for the people and their culture, sharing an equal disdain for authority and the Iraqi people, and completely acting out of sheer recklessness.
And now it shows. They claimed to have been fired upon first, but a tape appropriated by the Iraqi government clearly shows Blackwater’s security henchmen firing unprovoked on unarmed civilians trying to escape and flee their fire.
Does it come as no surprise that Bush recently sidestepped any questions regarding Blackwater and their latest acts of attrition towards the Iraqis?
Because he had a hand in approving the hiring of these mercenary thugs. That's why.
But this debacle doesn’t end there.
In 2004, the US-led coalition passed an amendment which gives complete immunity to all security firms and US forces–in the event that they indeed killed Iraqi civilians in the same manner they conducted themselves in the Abu Ghraib escapade in 2004 and the Haditha massacre in 2005.
This clears them of any wrongdoing. The perfect “escape clause” from which they freely and openly admitted committed crimes against the Iraqi populace.
Why?
In light of a recent conviction of a 22-year-old Marine involved in the killing of an Iraq civilian in Hamdania in April of 2006, Robert Pennington expressed his squad’s frustration that they could not find a suspected insurgent.
In fact, the murderous act went far deeper than that: Many combat troops felt that too many insurgents were escaping the justice that they claimed to deserve.
Hence the plot to kill the unarmed man and make it look like he was their man. Their suspected insurgent.
And Blackwater is no different.
The problem is that both the security firms and our military has now deemed the Iraqi people as being nothing more than a minor annoyance in their continued occupation of their country-not human beings.
So it has become their mission in life to see that this annoyance is dealt with swiftly and with murderous intent.
Regardless of the consequences for our nation’s future.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.com
Labels: Abu Ghraib, blackwater, Haditha, Iraqi civilians, Iraqis, murdered, troops
posted by Schuyler Thorpe @ 8:12 PM
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