'Shoot For Fun'
By Mark Townsend
04 April, 2005
The
Observer
Emails
seen by The Observer reveal that employees of Blackwater Security were
recently sent a message stating that 'actually it is "fun"
to shoot some people.'
Dated 7 March and
bearing the name of Blackwater's president, Gary Jackson, the electronic
newsletter adds that terrorists 'need to get creamed, and it's fun,
meaning satisfying, to do the shooting of such folk.'
Human rights groups
said yesterday that the comments raised fresh questions over the role
of civilian contractors operating in Iraq and other world flashpoints.
'We are very concerned
about the increased use of security companies, there needs to be more
inspection and regulation of these companies,' said a spokesman for
Amnesty International.
Blackwater has already
been the subject of lobbying efforts to introduce tighter regulations
on private military operations in Iraq.
It is one of the
fastest growing private security firms in the world, and achieved global
prominence last year when four of its men were ambushed by a crowd of
Iraqis and their bodies mutilated and dragged around the Iraqi city
of Falluja.
The controversial
wording of the Blackwater bulletin appears to be an attempt to criticise
the 'righteous outcry' that followed a recent statement from a senior
US Marine general who, on returning home from Iraq, claimed it was 'fun
to shoot some people'. While the views of Lieutenant-General James Mattis
drew a frosty response from the Pentagon, others said his observations
reflected the harsh realities of war.
Blackwater's entry
to the debate appears to suggest that satisfaction can be drawn from
combat if 'the bad guys' get what they deserve.
'All of us who have
ever waited through an hour and a half movie, or read some 300 pages
of a thriller, to the point when the bad guys finally get their comeuppance
know this perfectly well,' says the opening address of the six-page
bulletin, which The Observer believes to be authentic.
Called Blackwater
Tactical Weekly, the newsletter was sent to environmental activist Frank
Hewetson as well as the firm's staff. Last year Hewetson was offered
a job by Blackwater with a salary of up to £85,000 plus health
benefits to work with its 'military crisis operations support team.'
Although he declined, Hewetson remains on the firm's database.
The 7 March bulletin
also features a plug for Blackwater's training academy which offers
potential recruits an eight-week course that includes training in various
firearms, close quarter protection, physical security as well as 'ground
fighting.'
Among its various
roles in post-war Iraq, Blackwater has guarded provincial outposts for
the Iraqi coalition provisional authority and had the contract to keep
former chief US envoy Paul Bremer alive.
The company has
been praised for its role in the rescue of a wounded soldier in Najaf.
Defence experts have described Blackwater as a major player in the field
of private arms with an important role to play in aiding American security
in the war on terror.
Other Blackwater
emails seen by The Observer, from last year, indicate the large market
for civilian contractors in war zones. 'We will probably require at
least 3000-4000 professionals above and beyond what we have in the Blackwater
employment and resource system,' states one.
There are thought
to be as many as 20,000 private enterprise soldiers in Iraq, with the
US military an advocate of their use. This system allows governments
to save money on paying permanent soldiers, and offers the political
bonus that it is unlikely to attract as much media attention as conventional
troops.
The Observer made
numerous attempts to contact Blackwater's head office in North Carolina,
but no calls were returned. There is, however, no evidence that company
staff have ever shot people for fun.
The firm is understood
to have disciplined and well-trained recruits. A number are thought
to be elite soldiers who have retired from military special-operations
units. Blackwater also offers extensive psychological counselling programmes
to combat potentially traumatic battlefield stress.
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