Scoop on BW killings...

[Sinatra877]

I finally talked to one of my former co-workers. They are locked down in a secure facility in the Green Zone. The US Army is doing the job at the moment.

He said that they weren't allowed to fully elaborate on it but he did inform me that had I been there, he would've thought I would shot the ambushers and survivors would be shot again. He says it was legit...I believe it.

He basically said that the convoy was attacked by a car bomb and other targets of opportunity stepped in to join the fight against them. He couldn't elaborate more on the story or investigation. I did ask him about Dr. Rice visiting the Iraqi Prime Minister...he said again that he couldn't apologize. He did say that this is the only break he's had since he got there last December so even though he isn't charged, there are a few going through the ringer at the moment but the rest of the guys are calling their families and getting some much needed rest.

The news today mentioned that a investigation is under way and that BW's license is merely suspended until further notice but it is only temporary. So all is not lost. If it weren't for contractors willing to do it for the high pay. I think it may force the military to invoke the selective service/draft.

[RiverFisher]

Thanks for providing this info. I was kind of wondering what the feeling was inside BW, since the media reports are all one sided.
Keep us posted if possible.

[Sinatra877]

Thanks for providing this info. I was kind of wondering what the feeling was inside BW, since the media reports are all one sided.
Keep us posted if possible.

One of my buds emailed me about the goatfuck. He wasn't there. There are alot of BW teams throughout Iraq. This particular team was assigned in Bagdad. There was a carbomb IED that attempted to knock out the convoy/protectee. What I call the "dogpile" stage is when your brain kicks into a quick "threat asessment". It's kinda like when you hear a mortar tube "blooping" nearby or knowing you're about to get into a car wreck. Your brain just flashes an "Aw Shit!" assessment.

Anyway, after the car bomb went off the Blackwater drivers do what they are trained too do. They floor the car to get out of the kill zone area but this time things got very squirrely. I'll elaborate...

The convoy attempted to get out of the area because Hadji's like to stay around the AO (Area of Operations) to knock off any survivors in case they score with a hit. Usually it's the back up arms team that exfiltrates the injured team so a secondary ambush with small arms is expected in MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain). The convoy tried to boogie out but they were stuck in a small area and it was jammed up with traffic. While this is going on, some of the BW PSD's (Protective Service Detail) started to throw concussion grenades ahead of them to get the attentions of the drivers that an armed escort is coming through and make a hole for us to exfiltrate from the area.

Here's where the goatfuck happened. During which time, all the guys are in a +10 pucker factor trying to get the fuck out of the AO. The concussion grenades in the open are not harmful too folks. It makes alot of smoke and noise. The Iraqi Police Services responded to the area and started engaging the convoy. A traffic cop ahead was trying to get the jammed up traffic moving faster but by the time the traffic jam dispersed...BW had engaged the Iraqi Police and anyone holding a weapon. My buddy says that the ones that this team engaged came out of the woodwork and didn't have the distinctive "chocolate chip" desert BDU's (Battle Dress Uniform) or Iraqi Police uniforms...besides, the Iraqi Police has lost alot of uniforms or someone working inside the infrastructure "lost" a lot of uniforms.

So the Iraqi Ministry is claiming that BW killed twenty folks and injured about thirty others but preliminary investigation has only come out with eleven confirmed dead and twenty wounded.

A car also came out and refused to back off after being warned many times. We have basically a five step rule:

1. Verbalize Stop in Farsi and make the closed fist/thumb on the outside of the hand once they breech a certain measured radius.

2. If the suspicious car still continues. We fire a few rounds into the air and point the weapon towards them. During which, we still verbalize in Farsi too stop.

3. If the threat continues, a burst in shot into the ground about five too ten feet in front of it. Rounds will ricochet off the ground and into the engine.

4. If the threat still continues, a good burst is shot into the engine to incapacitate the vehicle if possible.

5. If the threat still continues, we aim for the driver but some rounds always misses and folks inside the car will get killed with the driver.

As the first three steps are taken, loud verbal orders are still given too the car but after step three...and the driver still doesn't get the idea...verbalization is moot and you'll have to take this car as a really serious threat. This car's occupants were killed. A kid and his Mom & Dad were killed along with other folks in the AO.

About a quarter of the BW employees are staff and liason folks so they still work. This particular BW Team had around seven too nine folks. It was a State Department dignitary protection detail or armed escort. I was told that the threat too the team was dire and that all criteria for the highest level threat was met with the use of our Use of Force Matrix/Guidelines.

Unfortunately all BW employees are to stand down except for the investigating officers in BW and their command staff. As for the regular guys that weren't involved, all team movements and duties are currently suspended until further notice. From what I understand, it is only a temporary setback and the Teams all have a nice slow day in the compounds throughout the entire country. I'm sure they are all just cleaning weapons, doing physical inventory and catching up on sleep and contacting their families.

The papers said that BW guys out there are less trained and are more aggressive than all of the other companies out there. As far as the aggressive conduct, I can vouch for that. As far as less trained? I would take that with a grain of salt. BW personnel are by far the best trained folks out there. Companies like Dyncorp, Triple Canopy and MPRI are licking their chops and are waiting to pounce on the open contract. Most of those companies are looking for SWAT/ERT Guys but BW looks for both SWAT/ERT and former SF types.

Not to dispel the thought that SWAT qualified guys aren't good but, all they have experienced was maybe a SWAT school and a few callups that never took place. They have no military training in the Combat Arms field or SF field. The thought process is entirely different in comparison to former special operations soldiers. It's like comparing Apples to Oranges. They're two seperate animals. I'd say that 99% of all the BW contractors have military time and they have used their skills in wartime. BW guys are some of the best trained operators in theatre. Dyncorp and the rest of the security companies running out there can't compete in that field. They can't match our pay, benefits, 401k plan, medical and dental and high payout life insurance. They are just jealous.

Don't get me wrong. Someone made a horrible mistake out there but who was really culpable? BW Team's protecting their client or the Iraqi Police whom shot at them or the Jihadist's that initially planted the IED? We'll see what happens but I'll leave on this note...I don't think anyone in Blackwater would risk slaughtering their lucrative cash cow unless they had very good reasons to do so. There were a lot of mitigating circumstances out there which resulted in loss of a lot of lives.

[Sinatra877]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/09/21/blackwater/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

[CBnL]

yep, just saw that myself...
(CNN) -- The security firm Blackwater USA is starting to resume normal operations in Iraq after a hiatus sparked by concerns among Iraqi and U.S. government officials over its actions.

[Sinatra877]

ABC news got the BW story on TV tonight. It seems that they got pinged at from numerous targets wearing Iraqi Police uniforms. They have pictures of their vehicles with bullet pings in it as well. So, with all of that in mind...who's lying? Blackwater or the Iraqi Government.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3667979

Tell me that you wouldn't shoot shit up as well. I would assume that anyone who wanted to live would have killed anything to attain that goal.