From Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater:
Last week, I spoke at a conference organized by NYU's Center on Law and Security called "Privatizing Defense: Blackwater, Contractors, and American Security." Also present at the conference were Blackwater Worldwide vice president Martin Strong and a lawyer for Blackwater, David Hammond. At the conference, I confronted Strong on Blackwater's killing of 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square on September 16, 2007. The day after our exchange, the Bush Administration extended Blackwater's Iraq "security" contract for another year.
TRANSCRIPT:
JEREMY SCAHILL, AUTHOR, BLACKWATER: My name is Jeremy Scahill. I find it very telling that nowhere on this panel do we hear a voice talking about the Iraqi victims of these companies. I find it very interesting--the way that Mr. Strong and Mr. [Doug] Brooks [president of the pro-industry International Peace Operations Association] talk about this, we could be at a banking convention.
The reality is that Blackwater has killed innocent civilians in Iraq. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, Mr. Strong, but the first victims in Nisour Square that day were a twenty-year-old medical student and his mother, not al-Qaeda operatives, not Iraqi insurgents. A nine-year-old boy named Ali was shot in the skull; his brains splattered in his [father's] hands. Your operatives were on the scene
that day. They opened fire on these individuals.
And if you don't want to take the word of the witnesses, what about the military that investigated it on the spot that day and found that all seventeen of the Iraqis killed by your men were killed as a result of unprovoked and unjustified gunfire? This was the military investigation. They also found that there was excessive use of force that potentially violated the rules governing contractors in Iraq. When the FBI findings were released in part to the New York Times, they found that fourteen of the seventeen were killed as a result of unjustified and unprovoked gunfire.
My question to you is, how many innocent Iraqis has your company killed? And what consequences have your men faced for those actions?
MODERATOR: Well, that's about--you answered--speak as you want to speak in response, sorry.
MARTIN STRONG, BLACKWATER VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think the third panel is about accountability, if you want to re-ask that question at that point. I'm not a lawyer. I don't know how much time you spent in Iraq or in combat, but I spent twenty years and did thirty-six combat missions, and I spent nine months in Iraq. And it's a very difficult place.
And I think the FBI, who has not issued their investigative
report, irrespective of the New York Times or any other newspaper saying that they think they know what's going on, the FBI is going to complete an official investigation, not one done by the seat of the pants. And at that time, we're going to find out exactly what they found out. We have not, as a company, had access to that information,
nor did we conduct our own little investigation so I could respond to your question directly. We have no idea what happened there by going back and forensically looking at it. We're awaiting the government's investigation.
[I then responded to Blackwater's Strong later in the day (Strong was sitting in front of me)]
JEREMY SCAHILL: I tried to raise this question with Mr. Strong during his panel, and he chose to ignore the key point that I was raising. And that was the following, that you can dismiss all you want, Mr. Strong, the testimony of the Iraqi witnesses and survivors, like the lawyer who was shot four times in his back as he fled your gunmen; you
can dismiss the testimony of a father who held his son's dying body, brain splattered all over him, returning the next day to pick up pieces of his skull to bury in Najaf; you can dismiss the words of Dr. Jawad, whose twenty-year-old medical student son was killed, [Jawad's] wife, alongside [him]; but you can't dismiss Lieutenant Colonel Mike Tarsa's investigation of the shooting by your men that day. They
concluded, contrary to the statements of your company, that there was no enemy activity involved. They labeled the killings a criminal event.
Lieutenant Colonel Mike Tarsa's men said that they found all seventeen of the Iraqis killed that day were killed as a result of unjustified and unprovoked fire by the Blackwater operatives.
BUSH AND CHENEY PUT THEM THERE.
WHEN AS AMERICANS WILL WE EVER SAY ENOUGH!
AFTER 9/11 AND MY BEST FRIEND GOT A HANDFUL OF HER HUSBAND'S REMAINS.
THE REST WERE DUMPED IN A LANDFILL CALLED"FRESHKILLS"NOT ENOUGH MONEY TO KEEP SIFTING THROUGH THE RUBBLE.
WHY, OH WHY WOULD ANY OF "THIS" SHOCK ANYONE.
BUSH AND CHENEY SHOULD BE PROSECUTED.
SHAME ON ALL OF US.
EXCELLENT DOCUMENTARY.
Here's an idea on what to do with our tax refund. We need to give a copy of Iraq for Sale to all of our delegates. If you don't understand how the delegate system works, check out this link.
http://alternativeconservative.com/caucus
These people decide who gets on the ballot for the rest of us to vote for. They have more power than the voter.
The one thing Republicans understand is taxing and spending. They are supposed to be against it. I believe by demonstrating to Republican Delegates we tax payers are being fleeced so the government can pay these ridiculous contracts we might have a chance.
There was an ongoing campaign stating the government is inherently waistful, so we need to turn services over to private contractors who can do the job more efficiently. We need to prove to them this is not the case in Iraq.
The whole time our enlisted are being given the shaft. Republicans are supposed to be loyal to our military. We need to show to them the injustice against the enlisted.
These contractors are not held to the same high standards as our military, and the contracts are not answerable to the American People.
Many Republicans do not know BlackWater confiscated guns from the people of New Orleans.
This we may be able to get across to them.
No matter what your political affiliation is, we need to work together to get both the Democrats and Republicans to do something about this situation.
Remember to be polite. When you call people names and tick them off, you break down communication. No one will listen to you if you are being a jerk to them, even if that person is totally WRONG.
I wonder if you are aware just how good IFS is. It stands apart. Urban progressives typically dislike and fear the folks in the film, keeping them at a distance. I know these people somewhat and they may be off-putting. They deserve a sympathetic portrait. If progressives reached out and made common cause we would be unstoppable.