This is very, very, very not good.
In high-level meetings over the past several days, U.S. military officials have pressed State Department officials to assert more control over Blackwater, which operates under the department’s authority, said a U.S. government official with knowledge of the discussions. “The military is very sensitive to its relationship that they’ve built with the Iraqis being altered or even severely degraded by actions such as this event,” the official said.
“This is a nightmare,” said a senior U.S. military official. “We had guys who saw the aftermath, and it was very bad. This is going to hurt us badly. It may be worse than Abu Ghraib, and it comes at a time when we’re trying to have an impact for the long term.”
There are rumors of the existence of videotape of the incident that sparked this controversy. But even if they prove false - and I'll be honest, for the safety and security of our armed forces in Iraq, I hope they do - this is an enormous disaster for the United States. So far the adminsitration has reacted by trying to cover it up, going so far as to order a private company to not comply with congressional subpoenas.
The United States of America should not be in the business of hiring mercenary armies. It should not be in the business of protecting mercenary armies. It should not be in the business of covering up for mercenary armies. Using mercenary armies is a sign of weakness, not strength. Some tasks are sovereign. If the use of military force during a military occupation of a foreign nation is not a sovereign task, what is?
History shows that the use of mercenary armies always ends disastrously. Even in the age when pillage and plunder were deemed acceptable behavior, mercenary armies created more problems that they solved. Today we live in the age of "winning hearts and minds." This Blackwater fiasco wasn't just a predictable outcome of the use of mercenary force, it was a necessary one. Mercenary armies are always impossible to control. They always become a law unto themselves, because that is what they are paid to become. We may try to convince ourselves otherwise, but that is the truth.
More from WaPo:
In interviews involving a dozen U.S. military and government officials, many expressed anger and concern over the shootings in Nisoor Square, in Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood. Some worried it could undermine the military's efforts to stabilize Iraq this year with an offensive involving thousands of reinforcements.
"This is a big mess that I don't think anyone has their hands around yet," said another U.S. military official. "It's not necessarily a bad thing these guys are being held accountable. Iraqis hate them, the troops don't particularly care for them, and they tend to have a know-it-all attitude, which means they rarely listen to anyone -- even the folks that patrol the ground on a daily basis."Most officials spoke on condition of anonymity because there are at least three ongoing investigations of Blackwater's role in the shootings. There are also sensitive discussions between various U.S. agencies and the Iraqi government over the future of Blackwater and other private security firms in Iraq.
A State Department official asked why the military is shifting the question to State "since the DOD has more Blackwater contractors than we do, including people doing PSD [personal security detail] for them. . . . They've [Blackwater] basically got contracts with DOD that are larger than the contracts with State."
I know many people will attempt to write this off as the usual bureaucratic bickering, but they should not. There is nothing usual about this. This is an extraordinarily important problem in an extraordinarily important policy. Any hope of a successful outcome in Iraq may hinge on the outcome of this incident. And yet bureaucrats are bickering and passing the buck. Why?
Because there is no leadership on this. Because the President of the United States has abdicated his duty, a duty he for years proudly proclaimed, to lead the nation during a time of war. But he is not leading. If he cared he could solve this problem. He could call everyone into a room and demand the truth. He could work with Congress to demand that they be given everything they need to get to the truth. He could do this, but we all know he will not. Blackwater has put his policy at risk, but he doesn't seem to care. They have put US soldiers serving in Iraq at risk, but he doesn't seem to care. He has bikes to ride and brush to clear, so please, don't bother him with such petty details. It might upset his beautiful little mind.
Always remember: there is no bottom in Iraq. Things could always get worse. Things are getting worse. Happy talk from generals in nicely pressed suits won't change reality. Attempts to shift blame from one group to another won't undo the actions that have made blame necessary in the first place.
We have hired a mercenary army that has committed atrocities in Iraq. That is the painful truth. Either we fix this problem or we let it get worse. There are no other options.
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