I’m not sure how many officers there are in the Iraqi police with the rank of brigadier general, but I’m guessing they are almost infinite:
(Lt. Gen. Hussein Kamal, the deputy interior minister who oversees the private security industry on behalf of the Iraqi government) said addressing Blackwater’s alleged actions was also a matter of preserving Iraq’s dignity and honor. Seated in his spacious office, he recalled an incident two months ago when Blackwater guards threw a water bottle at a traffic policeman. The officer was so furious that he submitted his resignation, but his superiors turned it down, Kamal said.
“This is a flagrant violation of the law,” Kamal said. “This guy is an officer with a rank of a brigadier general. He was standing in the street doing his job, regulating traffic. He represents the state and the law, and yet this happened.”
Officers with the rank of a brigadier general stand in the street and direct traffic? What does everyone below that rank do?
That being said, let’s talk about this water bottle thing. What’s up with that?
From an eyewitness account of the latest Blackwater USA shootings, AFP, September 23:
As they often do, guards from the US firm — the largest private security operators in Iraq — hurled water bottles at cars to stop traffic as they drove through.
Blackwater USA seems to have made quite a name for themselves in Iraq by the throwing of water bottles.
“Blackwater has no respect for the Iraqi people,” the Interior Ministry official said. “They consider Iraqis like animals, although actually I think they may have more respect for animals. We have seen what they do in the streets. When they’re not shooting, they’re throwing water bottles at people and calling them names.
Blackwater has long operated off the U.S. military’s radar, answering instead to the embassy’s security staff. Military officials express resentment at what they view as renegade behavior by private security contractors, including running Iraqis off the road, throwing water bottles and a quick trigger finger.
And it’s funny how people seem to be almost equally offended by shootings or quick trigger fingers and the throwing of water bottles.
The funniest part is that throwing water bottles seems to be the U.S. military’s idea and is an officially recommended crowd control mechanism:
Blackwater’s rules of engagement “are set by State and are different than other security contractors who use the Military Rules of Engagement and Rules of Force,” (Robert Young Pelton, author of Licensed To Kill) says via e-mail. “State went from a kinder, gentler Rules of Force (they were told to shoot flares, throw water bottles or wave a flag to warn off motorists) to shoot if a threat is imminent with no warning shots required.