Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army (76 page)
CHAPTER 4
1
Anthony Shadid,
Night Draws Near: Iraq’s People in the Shadow of America’s War,
Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2005, p. 283.
2
Alfonso Rojo, “The Gulf War: Death Comes to a Town Almost Forgotten by War—Eyewitness,”
Guardian
(London), February 18, 1991.
4
David Fairhall, Kathy Evans, and Richard Norton-Taylor, “RAF Admits Bomb Hit Civilian Area—‘50 Die’ as Laser Aimer Fails,”
Guardian
(London), February 18, 1991.
5
David White, “Britain Admits Bomb Missed Target and Hit Town,”
Financial Times
(London), February 18, 1991.
6
Finlay Marshall, “RAF Regrets Civilian Deaths In Fallouja,” The Press Association Limited, February 18, 1991.
8
“Pentagon Top Brass ‘Admit Bomb Error,’”
Courier-Mail
(Queensland, Australia), February 18, 1991.
9
This is based on the author’s time spent in Fallujah in 2002.
10
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Troops Kill Anti-U.S. Protesters; Accounts Differ; 13 Dead, Many Hurt, Iraqis Say,”
Washington Post
, April 30, 2003.
11
Interview, November 2006.
12
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Troops Kill Anti-U.S. Protesters; Accounts Differ; 13 Dead, Many Hurt, Iraqis Say,”
Washington Post
, April 30, 2003.
13
Charles J. Hanley, “U.S. Troops, Conservative Religion a Fiery Combination in Heartland Town,” Associated Press, May 1, 2003.
14
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Troops Kill Anti-U.S. Protesters; Accounts Differ; 13 Dead, Many Hurt, Iraqis Say,”
Washington Post
, April 30, 2003.
15
Charles J. Hanley, “U.S. Troops, Conservative Religion a Fiery Combination in Heartland Town,” Associated Press, May 1, 2003.
17
Anthony Shadid,
Night Draws Near
, p. 233.
18
Charles J. Hanley, “U.S. Troops, Conservative Religion a Fiery Combination in Heartland Town,” Associated Press, May 1, 2003.
19
Larry Kaplow, “U.S. Claims Defense in Killing 13, Iraqis Said Just Protesting,” Cox News Service, April 29, 2003. Also: Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Troops Kill Anti-U.S. Protesters; Accounts Differ; 13 Dead, Many Hurt, Iraqis Say,”
Washington Post
, April 30, 2003.
20
Ellen Knickmeyer, “U.S. Soldiers Fire on Iraqi Protesters After Reportedly Taking Fire; Hospital Chief Says 13 Iraqis Are Dead,” Associated Press, April 29, 2003.
21
Ellen Knickmeyer, “U.S. Soldiers Fire on Iraqi Protesters After Reportedly Taking Fire; Hospital Chief Says 13 Iraqis Are Dead,” Associated Press, April 29, 2003.
22
Among others: “US Troops Shoot Dead Three Iraqi Demonstrators,” Xinhua News Agency (China), April 30, 2003.
23
Mohamed Hasni, “US Troops Shoot Dead 13 Iraqis at Anti-American Protest,” Agence France-Presse, April 29, 2003.
24
Ellen Knickmeyer, “U.S. Soldiers Fire on Iraqi Protesters After Reportedly Taking Fire; Hospital Chief Says 13 Iraqis Are Dead,” Associated Press, April 29, 2003.
25
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Troops Kill Anti-U.S. Protesters; Accounts Differ; 13 Dead, Many Hurt, Iraqis Say,”
Washington Post
, April 30, 2003.
26
Human Rights Watch Report, “Violent Response: The U.S. Army in Al-Falluja,” June 2003.
27
These claims were very widespread and represented in virtually all on-the-ground media reports from Fallujah on the incident.
28
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Troops Kill Anti-U.S. Protesters; Accounts Differ; 13 Dead, Many Hurt, Iraqis Say,”
Washington Post
, April 30, 2003.
29
Alan Philps, “U.S. Troops Fire Into Crowd: 13 Iraqis Killed, 75 Wounded. U.S. Claims Protesters Fired First Shots,”
Daily Telegraph
(London), April 30, 2003.
31
Elizabeth Neuffer, “US, Iraqis at Odds on Protesters’ Deaths,”
Boston Globe
, April 30, 2003.
33
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Troops Kill Anti-U.S. Protesters; Accounts Differ; 13 Dead, Many Hurt, Iraqis Say,”
Washington Post
, April 30, 2003.
34
Phil Reeves, “Iraq Aftermath: At Least 10 Dead As US Soldiers Fire on School Protest; US Put Under Pressure After Civilian Shooting, As Europe Forges Ahead,”
The Independent
(London), April 30, 2003.
37
Ellen Knickmeyer, “U.S. Soldiers Fire on Iraqi Protesters After Reportedly Taking Fire; Hospital Chief Says 13 Iraqis Are Dead,” Associated Press, April 29, 2003; Mohamed Hasni, “US Troops Shoot Dead 13 Iraqis at Anti-American Protest,” Agence France-Presse, April 29, 2003.
38
Human Rights Watch Report, “Violent Response: The U.S. Army in Al-Falluja,” June 2003.
40
Ellen Knickmeyer, “U.S. Soldiers Fire on Iraqi Protesters After Reportedly Taking Fire; Hospital Chief Says 13 Iraqis Are Dead,” Associated Press, April 29, 2003.
41
“US Troops Kill 13 at Pro-Saddam Rally, Claim Self-defence,” Agence France-Presse, April 29, 2003.
42
Elizabeth Neuffer, “US, Iraqis at Odds on Protesters’ Deaths,”
Boston Globe
, April 30, 2003.
43
Phil Reeves, “Iraq Aftermath: At Least 10 Dead As US Soldiers Fire on School Protest; US Put Under Pressure After Civilian Shooting, As Europe Forges Ahead,”
The Independent
(London), April 30, 2003.
44
Human Rights Watch Report, “Violent Response: The U.S. Army in Al-Falluja,” June 2003.
46
Scott Wilson, “U.S. Forces Kill 2 More Civilians; Tensions Remain High in City in Central Iraq,”
Washington Post
, May 1, 2003.
47
Ian Fisher, “U.S. Force Said to Kill 15 Iraqis During an Anti-American Rally,”
New York Times
, April 30, 2003.
48
See, for example: Martin Sieff, “Falluja Fire-bell in the Night,” United Press International, May 1, 2003.
49
P. Mitchell Prothero, “Second Day of Fighting at al-Falluja,” UPI, April 30, 2003.
50
Ian Fisher with Michael R. Gordon, “G.I.s Kill 2 More Protesters in an Angry Iraqi City,”
New York Times
, May 1, 2003.
51
P. Mitchell Prothero, “Second Day of Fighting at al-Falluja,” UPI, April 30, 2003.
52
Ian Fisher with Michael R. Gordon, “G.I.s Kill 2 More Protesters in an Angry Iraqi City,”
New York Times
, May 1, 2003.
53
Scott Wilson, “U.S. Forces Kill 2 More Civilians; Tensions Remain High in City in Central Iraq,”
Washington Post
, May 1, 2003.
56
Ian Fisher with Michael R. Gordon, “G.I.s Kill 2 More Protesters in an Angry Iraqi City,”
New York Times
, May 1, 2003.
57
“Rumsfeld Flies Into Iraq and Declares Iraqis Free,” Agence France-Presse, April 30, 2003.
59
Phil Reeves, “Iraq Aftermath: Iraqi Rage Grows After Fallujah Massacre,”
Independent on Sunday
(London), May 4, 2003.
60
As published on
Guardian
(London) Web site, “Full text: The Saddam Hussein ‘Letter,’” translated by Brian Whitaker, April 30, 2003.
61
Charles J. Hanley, “U.S. Troops, Conservative Religion a Fiery Combination in Heartland Town,” Associated Press, May 1, 2003.
62
Niko Price, “U.S. Troops Again Fire on Anti-American Protesters; Rumsfeld Visits Baghdad,” Associated Press, April 30, 2003.
63
Charles J. Hanley, “U.S. Troops, Conservative Religion a Fiery Combination in Heartland Town,” Associated Press, May 1, 2003.
64
Sudarsan Raghavan, “Resistance Songs Urge Iraqis to Rise Up Against Occupiers,”
Knight-Ridder
, December 28, 2003.
65
Ivan Watson, “Inexpensive Propaganda DVDs Being Produced by Insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq,”
National Public Radio
Morning Edition transcript, March 31, 2004.
66
Sudarsan Raghavan, “Resistance Songs Urge Iraqis to Rise Up Against Occupiers,”
Knight-Ridder
, December 28, 2003.
CHAPTER 5
1
Some of the best information on Paul Bremer’s time in Iraq can be found in his book: L. Paul Bremer III with Malcolm McConnell,
My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope,
Simon & Schuster, New York, 2006.
2
T. Christian Miller, “War’s Aftermath: Stinging Report on Missing Funds; Audit Finds U.S.-led Coalition Managed Iraqi Money Poorly,”
Los Angeles Times,
January 31, 2005.
3
Bremer cochaired, with former Attorney General Edwin Meese, the Heritage Foundation’s Homeland Security Taskforce.
6
L. Paul Bremer, “What Now? Crush Them; Let Us Wage Total War on Our Foes,”
Wall Street Journal
, September 13, 2001.
7
Fox Special Report with Brit Hume
transcript, “Terrorism Hits America,” Fox News, September 11, 2001.
8
Naomi Klein, “Downsizing in Disguise,”
The Nation
, June 23, 2003.
11
L. Paul Bremer,
My Year in Iraq,
pp. 6-7.
12
Knut Royce (
Newsday
), “Diplomat Expected to Take Charge in Iraq; Bremer to Replace Garner as Leader of Postwar Transition,”
Seattle Times
, May 2, 2003.
13
Naomi Klein, “Downsizing in Disguise,”
The Nation
, June 23, 2003.
14
Romesh Ratnesar with Simon Robinson, “Life Under Fire,”
Time
, July 14, 2003.
15
David Leigh, “General Sacked by Bush Says He Wanted Early Elections,”
Guardian
, March 18, 2004.
16
Mike Allen, “Expert on Terrorism to Direct Rebuilding,”
Washington Post,
May 2, 2003.
17
Bremer,
My Year in Iraq,
p. 8.
18
Scott Wilson, “Bremer Adopts Firmer Tone for U.S. Occupation of Iraq,”
Washington Post,
May 26, 2003.
19
Bremer,
My Year in Iraq
, p. 4.
20
In
My Year in Iraq,
Bremer describes Defense Secretary Rumsfeld as giving him his “marching orders” regarding de-Baathification with Feith doing the groundwork, p. 39.
21
Naomi Klein, “Baghdad Year Zero,”
Harper’s,
September 2004.
22
Lara Marlowe, “Mission Impossible,”
Irish Times,
April 17, 2004.
23
Anthony Shadid,
Night Draws Near,
p. 152.
24
David Rieff, “Blueprint for a Mess,”
The New York Times Magazine,
November 2, 2003.
25
Marc Lacey, “After the War: The Military; Jobs at Risk, Ex-Iraqi Soldiers Vow Fight If Allies Don’t Pay,”
New York Times,
May 25, 2003.
26
Ilene R. Prusher, “Jobless Iraqi Soldiers Issue Threats,”
Christian Science Monitor,
June 5, 2003.
27
Edward Wong, “Beleaguered Premier Warns U.S. to Stop Interfering in Iraq’s Politics,”
New York Times,
March 30, 2006.
28
Andrew Marshall (Reuters), “Sacked Troops, Tribes Threaten U.S. with War,”
Toronto Star,
June 3, 2003.
31
Romesh Ratnesar with Simon Robinson, “Life Under Fire,”
Time
, July 14, 2003.
33
Mark Zimmermann, “Iraq Envoy Says Faith Gives Him Strength,”
Catholic Standard,
June 19, 2003.
34
Ed Sealover, “Candidates Talk Religion at Focus Forum,”
Colorado Springs Gazette,
August 1, 2006.
35
Dick Foster, “Bremer Says He Has Background Others Lack; Lawyer Running on His International Experience, Problem-solving Ability,”
Rocky Mountain News
(Denver), July 26, 2006.
37
Focus on the Family radio show hosted by James Dobson, “A Visit With Ambassador and Mrs. Bremer,” June 27, 2006.
38
Mark Zimmermann, “Iraq Envoy Says Faith Gives Him Strength,”
Catholic Standard,
June 19, 2003.
39
Naomi Klein, “Baghdad Year Zero,”
Harper’s,
September 2004.
41
Jeff Madrick, “Economic Scene; The Economic Plan for Iraq Seems Long on Ideology, Short on Common Sense,”
New York Times,
October 2, 2003.
42
Alissa J. Rubin, Mark Fineman, and Edmund Sanders, “Iraqis on Council to Get Guards,”
Los Angeles Times,
August 13, 2003.
43
Author copy, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction July 2004 Quarterly Report.
44
Bill Sizemore and Joanne Kimberlin, “Blackwater: On the Front Lines,”
Virginian-Pilot,
July 25, 2006.
45
L. Paul Bremer,
My Year in Iraq,
p. 148.
46
L. Paul Bremer,
My Year in Iraq,
p. 152.
48
Jonathan E. Kaplan, “Private Army Seeking Political Advice in D.C.,”
The Hill
, April 14, 2004.
49
Dana Priest and Mary Pat Flaherty, “Under Fire, Security Firms Form an Alliance,”
Washington Post
, April 8, 2004.
51
Chris Talor speaking at “Contractors on The Battlefield: Learning from The Experience in Iraq,” George Washington University, January 28, 2005.
54
Energy Intelligence Group, Inc., “Perspective: Doing Business in Iraq,”
Energy Compass,
October 16, 2003.
55
According to its filings with the North Carolina Secretary of State, Blackwater Security Consulting LLC was formed on September 29, 2003.
58
“In his own words: ‘The guys who do this are not money-hungry pigs,’”
Virginian-Pilot
, July 28, 2006.
63
Michael Duffy, “When Private Armies Take to the Front Lines,”
Time
, April 12, 2004.
64
Joanne Kimberlin, “Crash Course in Survival; Class Teaches Those Preparing for Iraq How to Defend Themselves Amid Danger,”
Virginian-Pilot,
June 30, 2004.
65
The full story of this incident is detailed in: T. Christian Miller,
Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq,
Little Brown and Company, New York, 2006, pp. 169-171.
66
T. Christian Miller,
Blood Money
, p. 168.
69
Robert Young Pelton, “Riding Shotgun in Baghdad,”
Popular Mechanics
, April 2005.
70
“In his own words: ‘The guys who do this are not money-hungry pigs.’”
Virginian-Pilot
, July 28, 2006.
71
L. Paul Bremer,
My Year in Iraq,
p. 151.
74
Alan Sipress, “Bremer Survived Ambush Outside Baghdad; Officials Don’t See Attack as Attempt at Assassination,”
Washington Post
, December 20, 2003.
76
Michele Faul, “Bremer Escaped Injury in Ambush on Convoy; Iraqi Woman Killed by Blast at Shiite Party Office,” Associated Press, December 19, 2003.
77
Alan Sipress, “Bremer Survived Ambush Outside Baghdad; Officials Don’t See Attack as Attempt at Assassination,”
Washington Post,
December 20, 2003.
79
Coalition Provisional Authority briefing transcript, Baghdad, December 19, 2003.
80
Sophie Claudet, “Coalition Removes First of Saddam’s Four Infamous Heads Atop Baghdad Palace,” Agence France-Presse, December 2, 2003.
82
“In his own words: ‘The guys who do this are not money-hungry pigs,’”
Virginian-Pilot,
July 28, 2006.
83
Jim Wolf (Reuters), “U.S. Tells Contractors to Bring Guards If They Use Work Sites in Iraq,”
Orlando Sentinel,
November 20, 2003.
84
“The Baghdad boom; Mercenaries,”
The Economist,
March 27, 2004.
86
James Hider, “Soldiers of Fortune Rush to Cash in on Unrest in Baghdad,”
The Times
of London, March 31, 2004.
87
John G. Roos, “1-shot killer; This 5.56mm round has all the stopping power you need—but you can’t use it,”
The Army Times
, December 1, 2003.
92
“A Better Bullet; Blended-metal Ammo Rates Realistic Testing,”
Armed Forces Journal
, December 2003 editorial.
94
John G. Roos, “1-shot killer,”
The Army Times,
December 1, 2003.