Blackwater News
December 25, 2007
Eagles! Here’s a firsthand account from a retired USMC colonel about our friends at Blackwater. I choose to believe his account over those provided by the mainstream media.
Larry Bailey
I was asked recently by a WW II veteran if I had an opinion on the activities of the men under contract with Blackwater in Iraq. Having no personal knowledge, I asked a person who I believed had ‘been there and done that.’ The reply from Don Kropp, Colonel USA (retired) follows. Don and our son Mike completed ROTC and graduated together from the University of Georgia. Subsequently they both earned commissions in the regular Army and were stationed together in Korea, Ft. Bragg and elsewhere. Don’s response:
As you know, I spent nearly a year working as a security contractor in Iraq. My son, Chris, spent 2 years (and was wounded on the job). I worked for DynCorp and Chris worked for a British company called Aegis.
All of the Blackwater security contractors who support the US Embassy live in a compound right next to the Embassy run by DynCorp. DynCorp and Backwater have a 50/50 split of the Embassy diplomatic protection contract.
So, I’m speaking from firsthand experience.
These attacks on Blackwater are politically motivated. Iraqi politics and US politics:
Iraqi Politics: The Iraqi government is trying to exercise some sovereignty by using an incident involving Blackwater employees as the centerpiece of their outrage. The sad fact is that the Iraqi police and military are guilty of far more indiscriminate violence than any security contractor. Their government chooses to ignore their own security shortcomings in a bid to take political advantage of an unfortunate incident involving Americans. The Iraqi politicians want to look strong by standing up to the Americans and they are using Blackwater to do it. In reality, the last thing they want is for Blackwater to leave the country.
US Politics: The American Media and Democratic Party do not support this war and have done their best to depict our soldiers as incompetent or criminal. Since the US public has rallied in support of our troops, the media (and Democrats) have selected Blackwater as their new (corporate) target.
The fact is that these Blackwater security men are all former US military Officers and NCOs. Just to get on that contract, an individual has to be a former Special Forces or Navy SEAL operator with at least 10 years of ‘A-team time.’ These men are among the best trained and most disciplined soldiers in the world. Any depiction of them as amateurs or ‘trigger happy’ is false.
Moreover, if Blackwater went away tomorrow all travel by US Embassy personnel would essentially stop. There are not enough trained soldiers to do the very dangerous missions that Blackwater (and other contractors) do every day. Both the Iraqi government and US government know that. Hence, this whole episode is for show with no real substance behind it.
Additionally, we have a false accusation that Blackwater does not pay tax on the people it hires. The fact is that people who work for security companies in Iraq are hired as independent contractors on an ‘At-Will’ contract. The reason for the ‘At-Will’ arrangement is so that Blackwater can immediately terminate any contract employee who does not perform to standard (I fired at least 20 people) . Conversely, any contract employee can literally walk away from the job at any time. This is a good arrangement in an environment where people don’t have time to argue over labor law. Since the security men are independent contractors, it is their responsibility to pay the taxes on their wages. Speaking from personal experience, those taxes are quite high and they do get paid (just try not paying them).
In summary, I would like to point out that Blackwater, DynCorp and Aegis send their security men out into the most dangerous environment in the world every day. So far, over 30 Blackwater men have been killed on the job and no US Embassy person under their care has ever been killed or injured.
These men are brave professionals doing a job that 99% of the American people would never consider doing. They deserve that same thanks we bestow upon our active duty soldiers.
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Great piece LB. Once again the liberal news media distorts and fabricates the truth, but then what else is new!
Semper Fi,
LH
I have shared this letter with many in my address book and asked that they share it with others. Hopefully, we can get the truth out via the Internet so that these power-hungry, anti-America Congressional disgraces don’t get elected again. Their disgraceful deeds need to be made public. It’s the least we can do for our troops and their families.