Blackwater: Totally Reckless or Absolutely Necessary?
Called trigger-happy by some, Blackwater has never failed to protect diplomats.
Sept. 28, 2007 — -- Critics of Blackwater say the security firm's mistakes in Iraq while protecting U.S. nationals, including the deaths of 11 Iraqi civilians in a recent incident, are evidence that the company needs to be reined in.
But despite the public criticism of Blackwater, its main mission has been an overwhelming success. Not a single American official under Blackwater's protection has been killed, U.S. authorities maintain.
Brig. Gen. Joe Anderson said Friday from Iraq that private security firms "play a huge role…a valuable role," but that he had seen Blackwater employees "overreact" in some situations.
"Are they quicker with the trigger? Are they quicker to wave a weapon, brandish a weapon, other tactics, cutting people off? All of us have experienced -- have seen different things at different times. I have seen them, in my opinion, overreact, but that does not mean it's consistently the case," the general said.
According to a U.S. Embassy report leaked to The New York Times and Washington Post, a Blackwater security guard told his colleagues "to stop shooting" during a Sept. 16 incident that left 11 civilians dead, the Iraqi government enraged and calls for greater regulations of security firms operating in Iraq.
Blackwater refused to comment on the substance of the report, but Anne Tyrell, a spokesperson for the company, said it was "based on the account of one unnamed source and is still pending an investigation."
A private military contractor, who asked not to be named because he works for a Blackwater competitor, told ABCNEWS.com that "based on the experiences and casualties [Blackwater has] had, they are threading a difficult needle. They have a Herculean task and do an awful lot with little support."
He said Blackwater may be bound by contractual agreements to move diplomats in certain vehicles and at certain times, making it difficult for the company to keep a low profile and increasing the chance of insurgent attack.
In the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 16 incident, the Iraqi government ordered the company out of the country. Less than a week later Blackwater contractors were back at work, indicative of how much the State Department relies on the company's 1,000 employees for protection.
