Their Myth: Contrary to numerous media reports, no Blackwater contractor is paid $1,000 per day. Depending on engagement, contractors are paid between $450 and $650 per day. Blackwater contractors work temporarily and are paid only for the days they work, unlike members of the U.S. military who are paid a salary. Also unlike military members who enjoy a well deserved and rich benefits package, Blackwater security professionals receive only pay, no benefits. After paying federal taxes, including Social Security matching, and covering health care and retirement payments, private contractors’ take-home pay is often less than the full compensation package many U.S. servicemen earn when salary and benefits are included.- Blackwater USA website
My Reality: Blackwater contractors are unaccountable under U.S. and International laws.- The Geneva Convention bans the use of mercs, so of course these companies don't want to be known as "guns for hire." Here is an excerpt from an article in the Mother Jones Magazine:
When the companies do screw up, however, their status as private entities often shields them -- and the government -- from public scrutiny. In 2001, an Alabama-based firm called Aviation Development Corp. that provided reconnaissance for the CIA in South America misidentified an errant plane as possibly belonging to cocaine traffickers. Based on the company's information, the Peruvian air force shot down the aircraft, killing a U.S. missionary and her seven-month-old daughter. Afterward, when members of Congress tried to investigate, the State Department and the CIA refused to provide any information, citing privacy concerns. "We can't talk about it," administration officials told Congress, according to a source familiar with the incident. "It's a private entity. Call the company."
The lack of oversight alarms some members of Congress. "Under a shroud of secrecy, the United States is carrying out military missions with people who don't have the same level of accountability," says Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a leading congressional critic of privatized war. "We have individuals who are not obligated to follow orders or follow the Military Code of Conduct. Their main obligation is to their employer, not to their country." -Barry Yeoman
When Marine Col. Thomas X. Hammes served in Iraq in 2004 he ran into Blackwater executing a "mission". "I was in an Iraqi army civilian vehicle at the time so we were treated as Iraqis" by the Blackwater contractors, Hammes said in an e-mail interview. "... The very act of guarding a principal - forcing his convoy through traffic, keeping all Iraqis away from the vehicle - irritated the Iraqis." "The Iraqis perceived the armed contractors as being above the law," he said. "They felt if a U.S. soldier or Marine did something wrong, he might eventually be held accountable for it. They believed contractors would simply fly out of the country.... They don't seem to be held responsible by any authority."
In an article written by BILL SIZEMORE AND JOANNE KIMBERLIN:
Unlike military personnel, dozens of whom have been charged with crimes in Iraq, private contractors are not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Chris Taylor, a Blackwater vice president, said the company doesn't want its workers subjected to the military justice system because of possible "institutional biases" against contractors.
Under an order issued by Bremer that remains in effect, contractors are also generally immune from Iraqi law for acts performed while carrying out their jobs. Contractors might or might not be covered by civilian U.S. law, depending on which agencies they work for.
According to the Raleigh News & Observer, which reviewed voluntary reports filed with the government during a nine-month period in 2004-05, contractors fired into 61 Iraqi civilian vehicles.- The Virginian-Pilot
Accountable? To themselves.
EXCERPT FROM "ONLY THE JAILERS ARE SAFE"
Published: December 20, 2006
nytimes
On Monday, Michael Moss wrote about a U.S. contractor who was swept up in a military raid and dumped into a system where everyone is presumed guilty and denied any chance to prove otherwise.
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