Blackwater : The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army by Scahill Jeremy

Author:Scahill, Jeremy [Scahill, Jeremy]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Profile Books UK
Published: 2011-05-25T16:00:00+00:00

“Whores of War”

Regardless of the controversy that later erupted over the various contractual relationships, the original contract between Blackwater/Regency and ESS, signed March 8, 2004, called for “a minimum of two armored vehicles to support ESS movements” [emphasis added] with at least three men in each vehicle because “the current threat in the Iraqi theater of operations” would remain “consistent and dangerous.”74 But on March 12, 2004, Blackwater and Regency signed a subcontract, which specified security provisions identical to the original except for one word: “armored.” It was deleted from the contract. “When they took that word ‘armored’ out, Blackwater was able to save $1.5 million in not buying armored vehicles, which they could then put in their pocket,” alleged another lawyer for the families, Marc Miles. “These men were told that they’d be operating in armored vehicles. Had they been, I sincerely believe that they’d be alive today. They were killed by insurgents literally walking up and shooting them with small-arms fire. This was not a roadside bomb, it was not any other explosive device. It was merely small-arms fire, which could have been repelled by armored vehicles.”75

Before Helvenston, Teague, Zovko, and Batalona were sent into Fallujah, the omission of the word “armored” was brought to the attention of Blackwater management by Helvenston’s friend John Potter, who was supervising the ESS contract, according to the lawsuit. Potter “insisted that the sub-contract include armored vehicles, not only to comply with the primary contract, but more importantly to protect the security contractors who would be working in the area. However, obtaining armored vehicles would not only be an expense to Blackwater, but would also cause a delay in commencing operations. Thus, on March 24, 2004, Blackwater fired Potter as Program Manager and replaced him with another Blackwater employee, Justin McQuown,”76 the man Scott Helvenston identified as “Shrek,” with whom he had allegedly clashed in both North Carolina and Kuwait.77

The suit alleged that there were six guards available for the Fallujah mission but that Blackwater managers ordered only the four to be sent “in direct violation of all of Blackwater’s policies and agreements.”78 The other two contractors were allegedly kept behind at Blackwater’s Baghdad facility to perform clerical duties.79 A Blackwater official later boasted that the company saved two lives by not sending all six men, the suit alleged.80

Blackwater’s Andrew Howell later said, “the vehicle that they went out in that day was believed appropriate based on the mission by everyone involved or … I don’t believe the [the mission] would have been carried out at that point.” Regarding the allegation that there should have been six men on the mission instead of four, Howell said, “The mission they were on that day, at that point in time, given the threat as it was known on the ground in Iraq, the norm was not to have the third person.”81 But a Regency official later told Congressional investigators that “although these vehicles included an armor plate behind the back seat, that level of protection was below the armor protection kit called for by the contract” between the companies.

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