EDITORIAL – Blackwater issue making U.S. look bad

Blackwater USA, a private American security company with 1,000 employees stationed in Iraq,… Blackwater USA, a private American security company with 1,000 employees stationed in Iraq, has been the subject of much controversy these past few weeks. According to the Washington Post, Blackwater has been involved in numerous “escalation of force” incidents, including a bloody Sept. 16 incident that resulted in the deaths of 17 innocent Iraqi civilians.

Following the Sept. 16 deaths, the Iraqi government decided to take action against the company, revoking Blackwater’s license and essentially demanding that the company leave Iraq.

At a Congressional committee on Tuesday, Blackwater’s chief executive, Erik D. Prince, defended the company’s mercenaries, saying, according to the New York Times, “We have 1,000 guys out in the field. People make mistakes; they do stupid things sometimes.” He also said that the company fired or punished those employees who violated Blackwater rules.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting an investigation into Blackwater. However, U.S. officials have not said whether Blackwater could be criminally charged, now that the FBI has taken over.

This is a very disturbing manifestation of the Iraq War. But it’s hard to confidently say, at this point, whether or not Blackwater is in the wrong. We do, however, doubt that Blackwater employees acted out of complete negligence for the law. We also doubt that a company responsible for protecting civilians and diplomats intended to fire bullets at innocent civilians or their surroundings without just cause.

But at the same time, we can’t help but think that if Blackwater employees were truly responsible, they would not be embroiled in such a mess to begin with. Blackwater employees are trained to protect and to ensure security. They are trained to be conscientious, to examine a situation before they take action. In other words, they are trained to be better than this.

We are also uncomfortable with how our government sends private companies to Iraq to protect civilians and diplomatic envoys. The fact that private companies are responsible for duties similar to the military’s job tends to take away from the idea of an all-volunteer army.

Furthermore, a private company does not fall under the umbrella of U.S. punishment. If Blackwater truly did something wrong, charging them would be difficult.

And while Blackwater is a private firm, it is still representing the United States. We may not know for sure if Blackwater has acted out of negligence, but this issue is still making the United States look bad on the world stage. As if the Iraq War itself wasn’t enough to instigate contempt from other nations, the Blackwater controversy has been added to it – making the United States seem as careless with the war as President Bush is with words.

And so, the FBI is obligated to get to the heart of this matter. If Blackwater employees deserve to be criminally charged, they should be without exceptions.

Meanwhile, if the Iraqi government is certain about revoking Blackwater’s license, no one should stand in its way. The very fact that they have shown concern about this incident and are taking action against it shows that they can be a responsible, independent and functioning government – something the Bush administration has always said it hoped to achieve in Iraq.