Western Contractors kill two Women in Baghdad

In the latest of a series of tragic incidents involving security contractors in Iraq, two Christian Iraqi women were killed in their car as they drove down the streets of Baghdad. It is unclear which company the contractors were working for, but Iraqi Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh has said that they do not believe Blackwater USA, the company allegedly responsible for the shooting deaths of as many as seventeen Iraqis on September 16, 2007. Blackwater has denied any part in this latest incident.

At the moment details are unclear as to why the guards opened fire on the women, but it is almost certain that the guards belonged to a Western security firm. According to a police officer at a nearby checkpoint, three white gray SUV ’s and one gray one were part of a convoy that had stopped about 100 yards from the Oldsmobile belonging to the women. One of the guards threw a smoke bomb at the Oldsmobile, apparently in an attempt to get the car to stop. The officer said that it looked like the driver attempted to stop, but before she could two of the guards opened fire, riddling the car with bullets and killing the two women. Then the convoy sped away, leaving the clean-up for Iraqi police.

This is yet another example of what is wrong with the unchecked aggression exhibited by security contractors in Iraq, and it only serves to enrage Iraqis: “These are innocent people killed by people who have no heart or consciousness. The Iraqi people have no value to them,” said a man who was part of a group of relatives gathered with a Christian priest at the local police station.

How can you argue with that? It is not hard to sympathize with the man, nor is it hard to see his point. At this moment in time, this act of aggression just seems like murder. It does not seem justifiable in a ny capacity, and since the alleged contractors sped off so quickly, it is unlikely that answers to who did this and why will come anytime soon.

The women were identified as Marou Awanis and Geneva Jalal. Awanis had three daughters who now face the terrible fact of living the rest of their lives without their mother. “May God take revenge on those killers,” Anahet Bougous, Awanis’s sister in law said, asking who would take care of her children.

Undoubtedly, there will be people who recognize that this incident was tragic, but will still try and defend the mission of contractors in Iraq. They will say that these people are needed and essential. Security supporters will say that the guards over there perform vital work and duties and that America will not stand a chance of winning in Iraq if contractors’ roles are reduced. There might even be some people out there who claim that this was not the work of security contractors, but insurgents dressed up as contractors.

There may be some validity to that claim (at least it is worth the proper authorities looking into) but it is too conspiracy theorist for me. In order for insurgents to pull this off they would have had to come across American made armored SUV’s somehow, and while that is possible, I find it unlikely that it would have happened without anyone knowing. Besides that, though; it would not really matter if this was the work of insurgents. Sure, the anti-American sentiment-ism aimed at contractors might be a little misplaced in this case if it was true that insurgents were responsible, but it would not change the fact that these companies need oversight. They need to be regulated. Authorities need to know who is in Iraq, and what they are doing there. Until this happens, the Iraqi people will continue to pay the price with civilian casualties, and America will continue to pay in terms of mistrust by the Iraqi people, and it is only a matter of time before that mistrust turns even more hostile.

If you’ll recall, the siege of Fallujah in 2004 was sparked by the brutal slaying of four Blackwater security contractors. Those men were killed, beheaded, and hung from bridges as a warning to other contractors. A few days later the US military moved into Falluja and began some of the most intense fighting the war had (and has still) seen.

If the US government does not do something to reign in the cowboy contractors, the insurgency will only have more fuel for its fiery rhetoric. Hopefully they will take this tragedy and implement real, purposeful legislation that will make contractors liable and accountable for their illegal actions.