Thebastidge: Some thoughts on Blackwater's recent difficulties...

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Without commenting on the truth of the recent allegations against specific Blackwater employees:

Link 1 with my comments

Link 2 with my comments

And this was also relevant/interesting.

Barb said...: Interesting discussions all. I tend to the opinion that the contractors were attacked, and may have responded with more vigor than was necessary - or may not. Is it 'trigger-happy' to respond to force with force? I don't think so. Do terrorists hide in public crowds and shoot out of them? We know they do.

I'm sure that none of us will ever know what really happened, too many conflicting stories. But I think that the emotional 'we have to throw the Blackwater security guys out now' reaction by the Iraqi government was face-saving. They could be sweet-talked and negotiated down from that ledge, while maintaining Face with Iraqi citizens who were calling for the expulsion. Not unexpected, in fact.; 12:31 PM
Larry G said...: "I'm sure that none of us will ever know what really happened, too many conflicting stories."

I agree. It's impossible to know exactly what happened, or to really know for certain if someone exceeded authority, over-reacted, etc.

I also absolutely agree that the whole blow-up is Iraqi posturing. Maliki's convoys light people up all the time; I've nearly been shot by them before. Well, tracked closely by .50s, made me f'ing nervous, I can tell you. Iraqis are not great about trigger discipline. Of course, that was the fault of the stupid-crazy Arab guy driving the car I was in at the time. And this was in the IZ.; 9:21 PM

Thebastidge