Stripes letter: Danger security teams in Iraq (mercs)

[lebkuchen]

Consider sending this to your senators.

Dangerous security teams

The writer of “Different rules for civilians?” (letter, Sept. 26), about the Iraqi civilian being killed by the personal security detail cowboys in Iraq, is absolutely correct in what he has stated.

I see these PSD people every day in Baghdad and they are out of control. They run the highways at extreme high speed, almost crash their vehicles, run people off the road, shoot at everyone — Iraqis, Americans, it just does not matter. There is nothing professional about the services they perform.

If they are trying to impress the “principle” of the mission, then their “principle” is also guilty of this gross misconduct. I am surprised the command sanctions these “compound commandos” and their extremely aggressive behavior. They are the worst threat against U.S. personnel here, not the terrorists.

Henry Mungle
Baghdad

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=31913


Here is the referenced letter:

Different rules for civilians?

Why is it that civilian contractors do not have to follow the same rules of engagement as the military? Soldiers get paid less and we have to make the best decision possible and pray it was the right one. Otherwise, it’s an all-around pain in the butt. Contractors just don’t have to deal with the same politics that soldiers do.

Last week an innocent civilian was killed. Why? He was too close for the Department of Defense’s comfort. Instead of following our procedures, they went for the kill. As I was holding this dying man, I wondered if this was necessary. This man did not pose a threat at all. The personal security detail team pulled away laughing. Laughing — like someone just told a joke and it was on the man in my arms! That’s when I knew that soldiers are fighting a different war.

The war in Iraq is one of politics. We hurry up and wait for the worst. Soldiers are expected to be professional, look the enemy in the eye, and tell them not to shoot because of the paperwork involved. Moreover, the ROE are so frigid, that even if we are right, we are probably wrong.

I see these civilians every day and they take no responsibility for their actions. I seriously considered working with one of these companies. But I find myself wondering, do I really want to be associated with a company that does business in this manner? No. We are here to win the hearts and minds, and the civilian PSD teams are destroying all of that work.

Today is one of those days when the military needs to decide what the mission in Iraq is, and who will complete it for them — the professionals, or the cowboys.

Spc. Mike Tenhet
Baghdad

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=31824

[FreedomAngel82]

1. All of this is so horrible and disgusting

:(

[lebkuchen]

3. Those mercs are America's SA, known as the "Brownshirts"

[UncleSepp]

7. Einsatzgruppen, methinks

The SA was a domestic organization.

[lebkuchen]

9. The same mentality can't be exported?

Essentially it was, to Czecheslovakia, zum beispiel. If you want domestic, look no further than New Orleans.

The RW NRA's sole means of existence is incumbent upon the fear that the Red Army is going to bring its tanks across the border scouring the countryside for gun owners' registrations. Hell, Blackwater will be doing that all by itself. It's domestic.

[UncleSepp]

10. I think you misunderstood me - let me clarify

The tactics and purpose of the mercenaries are closer to the tactics and purpose of the Einsatzgruppen than they are to the Sturmabteilung. The purpose of the SA was to win the streets for the NSDAP, of the Einsatzgruppen to pacify occupied territories.

You seem to be arguing against a point I didn't make :shrug:

(Also I'd like to add that I don't really think that the mercenaries compare to the actual Einsatzgruppen, but they're closer to that kind of mission than to the mission of the SA. For mercenaries on domestic missions, they're closer to the Werkschutzpolizei - uniformed civilians protecting capital - than an occupation force, or like the combined SS and police battalions with better equipment.)

[lcordero2]

2. kick

:kick:

[Hawkowl]

4. Amerika

Bush and the neocons are just american Nazi's and must be impeached. Next time your congressman or weak kneed, spineless jelly fish of a senator whines "You can't impeach someone just because you disagree with them." Ask them if murder and war crimes count?

Are you listening you Senator Murray? I will not vote for you again unless you grow a spine.

[oasis]

5. A sickening state of affairs. (eom)

[Stockholm]

6. Hmm

What does Spc. Tenhet want then? Loosening of the ROE? I can´t follow his reasoning.

[krkaufman]

8. Though he appears to criticize the ROE (rules of engagement)...

... he also expresses an understanding for their existence, that we're supposedly trying to "win hearts and minds."

His point is that the mercenaries are destroying whatever progress may have been made, and should be brought under similar ROEs -- or removed from the country.

[MADem]

11. He is griping specifically about the PSDs and their efforts to impress

their PRINCIPLES (PSD=Personal Security Detail, Principle=Dignitary they are guarding). I get the sense that they go 'cowboy' in an effort to show the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Skivvie Procurement how well they are doing their job. Nothing to do with ROE, it is all a tough guy routine.

I've seen this kind of shit; you get clowns running roughshod all over people who are ON YOUR SIDE, simply because they don't feel the rules apply to them.