Private Security Contractor Behavior in Iraq is Dangerous and Aids Insurgent Recruitment

U.S. Officials traveling all over Iraq, via ground transportation, are always transported and escorted by either U.S. Army soldiers, or Private security contractors like Black Water Security, Aegis Security, Armor Security Corporation and other security companies contracted by the U.S. Government to work in Iraq.

For the most part the conduct of the U.S. Military escorts, based on my personal experience, is usually mindful of the welfare of Iraqi drivers and pedestrians who may be in their path as they travel throughout the city of Baghdad. Using hand gestures, sirens, vocal commands and large signs (in Arabic) hanging on the fronts and backs of their vehicles, the U.S. Military Security escorts communicate clear instructions to the vehicles and pedestrians in their vicinity. Consequently, in the capital city, there are few incidence of U.S. Military Security escort harmful, or fatal encounters with the non-hostile Iraqi population they may come in contact with who are doing nothing more than living their daily lives in Baghdad.

I will acknowledge that traffic jams, minor fender benders, inconvenient delays and occasional shouting matches do occur as the direct result of U.S. Military convoys needing to transit the already crowded and confusing Baghdad streets, but dangerous and serious encounters are few. That is partly due to the confusing conditions which normally exist on the streets of Baghdad anyway. The Iraqis have long been used to traffic problems in Iraq. The point being that the U.S. Military Security convoys transporting U.S. Officials do make an effort to consider who they are and where they are while transiting the city by ground.

Traveling with Civilian Security Contractor escorts is a very different experience than when being escorted by U.S. Military Security escorts; Very different indeed. The rules of engagement and protocol do not apply to Private Security Contractors in Iraq. I am going to share the events of two occasions when I was being escorted by Private Security escorts in the cities of Baghdad and Kirkut. I could share a dozen or more similar experiences, but I will refrain from making this article into a book and write about two separate experiences I personally had while being escorted by Private Security Company escorts who were contracted to the U.S. Government at the time of the occurrences. On one of these two occasions I filed an official report with the U.S. State department Security Officer at the Embassy in Baghdad. With the other, I was just glad to walk away from the experience in one piece.

First incident: In 2005 while being transported by Private security Contractors from the Baghdad International Airport to the Green Zone, where the U.S. Embassy is located, the three vehicle convoy I was in was approaching an Iraqi controlled check point. The Iraqi soldiers at the checkpoint were signaling the convoy to stop. (I was familiar with this check point and knew it to be a legitimate and official Iraqi checkpoint). The closer we got the more convinced I was that we were not going to stop. I asked the driver why he was not slowing down for this checkpoint. (We were in armored vehicles). The driver very sharply told me to shut up and stay low in the event they should start shooting at us. As expected, we did run the checkpoint and, as expected again, the Iraqi military began shooting at us, hitting my vehicle at least twice. The Private security Contractors risked their own lives, that of the passengers and the Iraqi soldiers simply because they knew that the security protocols which applied jointly to the U.S. Military and Iraqi forces did NOT apply to them. Private Security Companies in Iraq do not fall under the direct responsibility or authority of the U.S. Government who employs them. Although the Iraqi Government requires Private security Companies to register with the Minister of Interior and be certified, many, like Black Water Security, have never bothered to do so according to the Ministry of Interior records.

Second incident: In early 2006 while being transported by Private security Contractors just outside of Kirkut, north of Baghdad, the traffic in the city began to slow. I knew, from listening to the radio conversations, that the driver and the other front seat security contractor were in a hurry to finish the trip because they were going to be allowed to travel by air to Baghdad’s green zone, where they would be able to relax for a few days.

When they evidently determined that the traffic was not going to get any better the lead vehicle made a sudden jump over the median dividing the traffic and began to accelerate into the oncoming traffic lane. As a result, he drove at least five vehicles into the ditches along side of the road and caused several cars to crash into each other. They never looked back. Why should they? They had no legal liability.

Now try to think of yourself as an average Iraqi citizen simply trying to get home to his family after a days work and then coming face to face with American Private Security people who are pointing a gun at you and maybe even shooting at you in order to get you to move. In many cases these Security Company people have wounded and even killed civilians with impunity. They are not even required to submit incident reports to any particular Military or Government office or agency. (They are allowed to conduct their own internal reviews).

We have allowed so many things to simply get out of hand in Iraq. At times it all seemed mindless, useless and is achieving the exact opposite of our stated intent there. It all seemed so insane, so unnecessary and uncontrolled.

If you were an Iraqi, and you could see what they see, I am wondering what you would be thinking about the Occupation by American Forces. The Iraqi population makes no distinction between “Private” mercenaries and U.S. Forces. To the Average Iraqi, they are the same, they are Americans.

The numbers I have been told are about 170,000 U.S. Military personnel in Iraq. There are also about 160,000 Private security contractors in Iraq either directly or indirectly on the U.S. Government payroll.

American taxpayers are bankrolling 160,000 of the greatest recruiting tools for the Iraqi insurgencies. Hatred and revenge are powerful recruiting tools and the Private Security Contractors in Iraq are instilling both into the hearts and minds of the Iraqi population.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marshall Adame served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 22 years as an Aviation Logistician and retired in 1991.

He became an aviation management & logistics consultant in 1992.

Marshall worked in the Kuwait recovery of 1992-93 and was an Aviation Logistics support representative in several areas throughout the United States.

He was the senior aviation logistics manager for Kaman Aerospace in their Egypt US Government Aviation programs from 1998 until late 2002.
Marshall came to Iraq in 2003 where he was the U.S. Coalition Airport Director for Basrah International Airport.

Later he was VP for Aviation development with The Sandi Group Int’l in Iraq where he lived and worked in the “red Zone” of Baghdad.

In 2005 Marshall received a U.S. State Department appointment in Iraq and was a U.S. Logistics Advisor to the Iraqi Minister of Interior.

Later, as a State Department Official in Iraq, Marshall was promoted to Department of State Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) where he was on the staff of the National Coordination Team (NCT) in Baghdad, Iraq. He returned to the United States in August 2006 and became a Senior Analyst for a DoD contractor.

Marshall and Becky Adame reside in Jacksonville, North Carolina where Becky is a 3rd grade teacher in a local Christian School.

Marshall and Becky have four children, Paul 37, Veronica 35, Billy 28 and Benjamin 26. They also have eleven grandchildren.

Billy and Benjamin are presently serving in the US Army and are both Iraq veterans. Billy was wounded in Battle about 20 miles North of Baghdad on July 2, 2006 (He is still recovering in Colorado.
Benjamin Adame returned to Iraq on July 14th 2007 for his second (15 month) tour. He is now in Tikrit, Iraq

http://MarshallAdame4Congress2008.com