Local groups plan 2-day
encampment and rally at Blackwater’s
proposed Potrero site Oct. 6-7

By Miriam Raftery
The Alpine Sun

     Iraq’s Interior Ministry has canceled the license of private security contractor USA following charges by Iraqi officials that Blackwater bodyguards accompanying a U.S. State Department motorcade shot and killed eight civilians in Baghdad on Sept. 16.
     “They committed a crime. The judicial system will take action,” Brig. Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalef said, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Times article, published on Sept. 17, added, “Blackwater has become the symbol of foreign gunmen accused by many Iraqis of speeding through Baghdad’s streets and shooting wildly at anyone seen as a threat.”
     The shootings reportedly occurred following a bomb explosion, which occurred near the motorcade. The U.S. embassy has stated that the convoy came under fire. Some Iraqi television stations reported an exchange of gunfire, but some eyewitnesses have stated that the convoy was not attacked.
     U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has expressed “regret over the death of innocent civilians that occurred during the attack on an embassy convoy,” and pledged a full investigation according to the Times, which quoted U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey.

Blackwater’s troubled history in Iraq
     The shootings are the most recent of several incidents in which Blackwater or its employees have been embroiled in controversy.
     In 2003, four Blackwater employees were burned, mutilated and hanged off a bridge in Iraq, igniting the siege of Fallujah in retaliation. Families of the slain employees have filed suit alleging that the company failed to properly protect its employees.
     In December, Blackwater whisked an employee out of Iraq immediately after allegations arose accusing the Blackwater worker of shooting an Iraqi guard without provocation.
     Blackwater has denied any wrongdoing in all of these incidents, including the Sept. 16 shootings.
     “Blackwater’s independent contractors acted lawfully and appropriately in response to a hostile attack in Baghdad on Sunday,” Anne Tyrrell, director of public affairs for Blackwater Worldwide, according to an e-mailed statement forwarded by Blackwater West representative Brian Bonfiglio on Sept. 17.
     Initial press reports were inaccurate, said Tyrrell, who denied that helicopters providing aerial support fired weapons. “There has been no official action by the Ministry of the Interior regarding plans to revoke the licensing. The `civilians’ reportedly fired upon by Blackwater professionals were in fact armed enemies and Blackwater personnel returned defensive fire.”
     She added, “Blackwater regrets any loss of life but this convoy was violently attacked by armed insurgents, not civilians, and our people did their job to defend human life. Blackwater professionals heroically defended American lives in a war zone on Sunday and Blackwater will cooperate with any inquiry into this matter.”
 

Blackwater opposers have filled the Potrero Planning Group metings in recent months, many wearing "Stop Blackwater" t-shirts such as these.

Blackwater: Potrero plans unaffected by Iraq news
     Asked whether ejection of Blackwater from Iraq could alter the company’s plan to build the Potrero base, Blackwater West vice president Brian Bonfiglio replied via e-mail on Sept. 17.
     “What happened yesterday in no way impacts the proposed training camp in Potrero — or anywhere else. Our core competency for the past 10 years has been providing training and/or state-of-the-art training facilities,” he said, “and that will not change now or in the future.”
     “The State Department has initiated an investigation into the matter,” said Joe Kasper, a representative from Congressman Duncan Hunter’s office. “The investigation will help determine whether or to what extent disciplinary action is necessary. It is also important to have a clear understanding of the facts to ensure these incidents are avoided in the future. 
     “Private security companies in Iraq continue to serve a very important function, which includes providing security to U.S. and foreign officials,” he continued. “This has allowed U.S. military forces to stay focused on other areas of priority.”

Conflicting local reactions
     Locally, some area residents who have been battling Blackwater’s plans to build a private military and law enforcement training facility on 824 acres at Potrero on agricultural land adjacent to the Cleveland National Forest and Hauser Wilderness, expressed skepticism over Blackwater’s claims.
     “Is it now acceptable for Americans to murder civilians?” asked Raymond Lutz, coordinator of Citizens’ Oversight Group, a local watchdog organization. “Who is responsible? Where is the chain of command?”
     Lutz called on Congress to pull all funding for Blackwater U.S.A. and affiliated companies, including contracts for training of military or local law enforcement, until these issues are resolved.
     “We must put a stop to this lawless behavior,” he said. “This is not what America stands for, and it’s not what the American taxpayer wants to pay for.”
     Lutz questioned the company’s credibility, noting that although Blackwater has disputed descriptions of its operations as “mercenary,” Blackwater’s operations include Greystone Ltd.
     Registered offshore in Barbados, Greystone promotes itself to foreign governments and companies as an international security services company that “offers your country or organization a complete solution to your most pressing security needs” including “defensive and offensive” small group operations.
     Blackwater’s recent purchase of Brazilian military-style aircraft further casts down on the company’s claims that it is not operating mercenary armies, Lutz concluded.
     Steve Kowit, a teacher and resident of Potrero, fears that Blackwater will “promise whatever they have to to get their major use permit, even if Blackwater and their pals in the White House manage to cover up this latest incident by calling all the people killed insurgents — the usual government spin — lots of people around the country now know who these people are and the damage that a `privatized army’ in the United States can do. That our allies in Iraq despise them says everything you need to know about Blackwater!” he stressed in an e-mail sent to this reporter. “We don’t want them in Potrero!”
     Some welcomed Blackwater’s latest bout of bad publicity, believing it would bolster arguments that the company’s credibility should be an issue and that the County Planning Commission should deny Blackwater’s applications for a zoning change and major use permit. “Hallelujah!” one elated local citizen posted on a stopblackwater.net discussion board upon hearing that the company faces potential expulsion from Iraq.
     Gordon Hammers, chairman of the Potrero Planning Group facing a recall election in December for supporting Blackwater, believes that even if Blackwater is forced to leave Iraq, the company’s training programs and planned facility at Potrero would not be affected. Noting that the company trained law enforcement before the U.S.S. Cole and 9-11 tragedies, he observed, “Everybody knows that Military business is cyclic and everybody knows that Iraq is on the way out.”

Oct. 6-7 protest of Blackwater in Potrero
     Opponents of the Blackwater Potrero facility are planning a two-day encampment and rally on Oct. 6 and 7, Lutz disclosed. The event will feature educational sessions and music on Saturday followed by speakers and a one-mile march to the gates of the proposed facility on Sunday. In addition, the Sierra Club plans a hike through the Hauser Wilderness on Saturday.
     The event is sponsored by numerous organizations including the Peace Resource Center of San Diego, San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice, San Diego Veterans for Peace, Code Pink, Activist San Diego, San Diego SUN, San Diego Puppet Insurgency, the Courage Campaign, and COPS. More information is available on the event at www.stopblackwater.net.
     “Our resistance coalition will not stop until Blackwater pulls out of Potrero and the U.S. government defunds mercenary operations worldwide,” said Lutz. “A popular uprising stopped Blackwater from establishing a jungle training camp in the Phillipines. We can stop them here as well.”

Fate of Blackwater in Iraq is Murky
     An AP bulletin on Sept. 18 reported that the Iraqi government now plans to review the status of all foreign security firms.
     Private contractors are exempt from prosecution under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, since they are not U.S. soldiers. While a provision secured by the U.S. may exempt contractors from prosecution by Iraqis for any crimes that may be committed, Iraqi judge Abdul Sattar Ghafour Bairaqdar, who sits on Iraq’s highest court, suggested otherwise.
     “This company is subject to Iraq law and the crime committed was on Iraq territory,” he said, adding that the Iraqi judiciary would be responsible for any case filed against Blackwater by the Iraqi government or by relatives of the victims, according to a report by AFP, an African-Asian news service.
     Some estimates indicate that half of all U.S. forces in Iraq are private contractors, far higher than in any past war. But according to the Associated Press, Blackwater has an estimated 1,000 employees in Iraq and at least $800 million in government contracts.
     Concerned that rapid withdrawal of Blackwater forces could leave U.S. forces stretched too thin, U.S. officials are reportedly in discussions with Iraqi leaders, leaving the actual fate of Blackwater in Iraq uncertain as of press deadline.


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