Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of theWar on Terror (50 page)

Teague wrote to our staff
: Author’s copy of the email.

Our security contract stipulated
: “Article 2: Regency Responsibility,” Blackwater-Regency Agreement for Security Services, http://oversight-archive.waxman.house.gov/documents/20061207151614-43671.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

“Blackwater was able to save”
: Jeremy Scahill, “Blood Is Thicker Than Blackwater,”
Nation
, April 20, 2006.

The contract explicitly stated
: “Appendix B: Schedule of Rates, Supplies and Services,” Blackwater-Regency Agreement for Security Services, http://oversight-archive.waxman.house.gov/documents/20061207151614-43671.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

“There is no order”
: “E-mails Related to Private Security Contracting—Iraqi Reconstruction: Reliance on Private Military Contractors,” www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/congress/2007_hr/070207-emails.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

That waiver stated
: “Iraqi Reconstruction: Reliance on Private Military Contractors and Status Report,” Hearing Before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, February 7, 2007.

Some of the Fallujah families
: Mike Baker, “Judge: Defense Insurance Act Bars Suits Against Subcontractor Blackwater,”
Insurance Journal
, February 12, 2009.

“by binding arbitration”
: “Iraqi Reconstruction: Reliance on Private Military Contractors and Status Report,” Hearing Before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, February 7, 2007.

“the right any of them may have”
: Ibid.

That closed-door policy was crucial
: Mike Baker, “Iraq Security Contractor Countersues,”
Washington Post
, January 19, 2007.

my company paid both our side
: Peter Krouse, “Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Former Blackwater USA Dismissed,”
Plain Dealer
, January 26, 2011.

emailing the arbitrators directly
: “Blackwater Liability Case Axed for Fee Nonpayment,” Courthouse News Service, www.courthousenews.com/2011/01/25/33608.htm, captured August 9, 2013.

“While the record shows”
:
Helvenston et al. v. Blackwater Security
dismissal, www.gvsu.edu/cms3/assets/A710F777-E74C-F8BD-F645CFB2BE41D80C/blackwater.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

“It’s pretty much destroyed my life”
: “Blackwater Suit Tossed 7 Years After Grisly Deaths,” Associated Press, January 25, 2011.

PR firm that proudly boasted
: “What We Do: Settlement Negotiations,” Levick.com, http://levick.com/practices/litigation-communications, captured August 13, 2013.

two overarching options for potential customers
: “What We Do,” Levick.com, captured September 12, 2012.

“To be sure,” Levick later explained
: Richard Levick, “A Long-Term Struggle: How a Media Campaign Helped Turn the Guantánamo Tide,” WorkinPR.com, http://jmw.typepad.com/files/pr-perspective-levick-2.htm, captured August 9, 2013.

Levick, whose firm
charges
: Brenton Henry, “Gaming Operators to Pay for PR,”
Antigua Observer
, September 28, 2012.

“deserved open-minded coverage”
: Richard Levick, “A Long-Term Struggle: How a Media Campaign Helped Turn the Guantánamo Tide,” WorkinPR.com, http://jmw.typepad.com/files/pr-perspective-levick-2.htm, captured August 9, 2013.

“literally thousands of news placements”
: Ibid.

“Nonsense!”
: Ibid.

drove a pickup truck
: Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “A ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ Goes Off,”
Washington Post
, February 23, 2009.

detonated a bomb that killed
: Ibid.

A “Drive the Narrative” section
: “Drive the Narrative,” Levick.com, captured September 12, 2012.

Callahan told eager reporters
: Nick Schou, “Fallujah Strikes Again!,”
OC Weekly
, June 13, 2007.

Blogs posted stories with headlines
: Russ Wellen, “Blackwater Plumbs New Depths of Shame in Fallujah Contractors Case,” OpEdNews.com, June 8, 2007.

It was headlined
: Daniel J. Callahan and Marc P. Miles, “Blackwater Heavies Sue Families of Slain Employees for $10 Million in Butal Attempt to Surpress Their Story,”
AlterNet
, June 7, 2007.

The piece asserted
: Ibid.

referred to as the “Speech or Debate Clause”
: “Article I,” Illinois General Assembly, www.ilga.gov/commission/lrb/Article1.htm, captured August 9, 2013.

received a letter from Callahan
: Callahan and Blaine letter to Nancy Pelosi, http://online.wsj.com//files/21/17/22/f211722/public/resources/documents/blackwater010907.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

“precedent-setting lawsuit”
: Ibid.

“lack of accountability for private security”
: Ibid.

Callahan concluded with this request
: Ibid.

“work tirelessly”
: “About the Committee,” Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, http://oversight.house.gov/about-the-committee/, captured August 9, 2013.

That February 7, 2007, hearing
: “Iraqi Reconstruction: Reliance on Private Military Contractors and Status Report,” Hearing Before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, February 7, 2007.

“Today four family members”
: Ibid.

Lynn Westmoreland
 . . .
wrote
: Lynn A. Westmoreland letter to Henry Waxman, http://rsc.scalise.house.gov/doc/ca_021207_westmorelandblackwater.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

“One question I have”
: “Iraqi Reconstruction: Reliance on Private Military Contractors and Status Report,” Hearing Before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, February 7, 2007.

CHAPTER 13 :
NISOUR SQUARE

Inside that fortified complex
: Steven R. Hurst and Qassim Adbul-Zahra, “Pieces Emerge in Blackwater Shooting,”
USA Today
, October 8, 2007.

The ten-year USAID veteran
: “Ms. Kerry Pelzman, HLC Member,” USAID India, http://mbph.in/health-leadership-council/members.html, captured August 9, 2013.

“I believe that there are essentially four”
: Mark Mazzetti and David Stout, “Intelligence Report Predicts Spiraling of Violence in Iraq,”
New York Times
, February 2, 2007.

“I and others were yelling”
: Sworn Statement of Paul Slough, http://abcnews.go.com/images/Blotter/Gunner_blackwater_abcnews_071114.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

standard sound bite
: Robert Fisk, “New Iraq? Hooded Protest and Masked Statistics,”
Independent
, March 20, 2004.

“There are no rules of engagement”
: Transcript, Nazareth College Conference on Globalization and Culture, http://rochester.indymedia.org/node/6961, captured August 9, 2013.

“escalation of force” policy
: “Private Security Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan: Statement of Ambassador Richard J. Griffin,” U.S. Department of State, http://2001-2009.state.gov/m/ds/rls/rm/93191.htm, captured August 9, 2013.

“Principles on Use of Deadly Force”
: “Mission Firearms Policy: American Embassy—Baghdad,” State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2006: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate, www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-109shrg99878/pdf/CHRG-109shrg99878.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

“permissible uses”
: Ibid.

second point acknowledges
: Ibid.

the issue of warning shots
: Ibid.

my company had 195 documented episodes
: John M. Broder, “Chief of Blackwater Defends His Employees,”
New York Times
, October 3, 2007.

“We shot to kill”
: Steve Fainaru,
Big Boy Rules
(Cambridge, MA: Da Capo, 2009), p. 183.

An Iraqi police report
: Steve Fainaru, “How a Blackwater Sniper Fire Felled 3 Iraqi Guards,”
Washington Post
, November 8, 2007.

internal State Department review
: Ibid.

“could undermine a lot”
: Steve Fainaru and Saad al-Izzi, “U.S. Security Contractors Open Fire in Baghdad,”
Washington Post
, May 27, 2007.

“at a high rate of speed”
: Andrew E. Kramer, “Security Contractors Shoot at Taxi, Wounding 3 Iraqis,”
New York Times
, October 19, 2007.

The contractors ultimately fired
: Steve Fainaru and Amit R. Paley, “Private Guards Fire on Taxi; Three Iraqis Hurt, Police Say,”
Washington Post
, October 19, 2007.

“obviously condoned by State”
: Steve Fainaru, “Where Military Rules Don’t Apply,”
Washington Post
, September 20, 2007.

Slough fired a single bullet
: Sworn Statement of Paul Slough, http://abcnews.go.com/images/Blotter/Gunner_blackwater_abcnews_071114.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

the woman in the white sedan
: Sudarsan Raghavan, “Tracing the Paths of 5 Who Died in a Storm of Gunfire,”
Washington Post
, October 4, 2007.

sprinted to the vehicle and reached
: James Glanz and Alissa J. Rubin, “From Errand to Fatal Shot to Hail of Fire to 17 Deaths,”
New York Times
, October 3, 2007.

continued to roll toward Blackwater’s convoy
: Sworn Statement of Paul Slough, http://abcnews.go.com/images/Blotter/Gunner_blackwater_abcnews_071114.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

Iraqi security forces were so corrupt
: James L. Jones, “The Report of the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq,” September 6, 2007.

“Contact! Contact! Contact!”
: Jim Hanson, “The End of the Warrior Witch Hunt,”
Washington Times
, January 7, 2010.

“I then engaged the individuals”
: Sworn Statement of Paul Slough, http://abc news.go.com/images/Blotter/Gunner_blackwater_abcnews_071114.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

a second traffic cop ran
: Sudarsan Raghavan, “Tracing the Paths of 5 Who Died in a Storm of Gunfire,”
Washington Post
, October 4, 2007.

More Blackwater men joined in
: Sworn Statement of Paul Slough, http://abc news.go.com/images/Blotter/Gunner_blackwater_abcnews_071114.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

The blast ignited
:
United States of America v. Jeremy P. Ridgeway
, November 18, 2008.

“Blackwater air support advised”
: Matt Apuzzo and Lara Jakes, “Blackwater Radio Logs: Guards Took Incoming Fire,”
Tucson Citizen
, December 18, 2008.

Incoming AK-47 shots
: Ibid.

detail that has been absent
: Blackwater incident report.

the truck refused to start
: Sworn Statement of Paul Slough, http://abcnews.go.com/images/Blotter/Gunner_blackwater_abcnews_071114.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

“The team returned defensive fire”
: “Spot Report—091607-01,” Bureau of Diplomatic Security, U.S. Embassy Baghdad, http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/images/09/16/17sept07.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

The convoy radioed Pelzman’s evac team
: Matt Apuzzo and Lara Jakes, “Blackwater Radio Logs: Guards Took Incoming Fire,”
Tucson Citizen
, December 18, 2008.

A blue Volkswagen sedan
: Sudarsan Raghavan and Josh White, “Blackwater Guards Fired at Fleeing Cars, Soldiers Say,”
Washington Post
, October 12, 2007.

The vehicle careened
: Ibid.

Nick Slatten, a Blackwater sniper
:
United States of America v. Paul A. Slough, et al.
, Criminal Action No. 08-0360 (RMU), December 31, 2009.

From the rear vehicle
: Ibid.

Heard switched to his grenade
: Ibid.

Raven 23 headed for the northwest
: “Spot Report—091607-01,” Bureau of Diplomatic Security, U.S. Embassy Baghdad, http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/images/09/16/17sept07.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

Blackwater’s men estimated
: Ibid.

More than three dozen Iraqi civilians
: “Iraq: Blackwater Shootings Killed 17,” Associated Press, October 7, 2007.

any Blackwater personnel involved
:
United States of America v. Paul A. Slough, et al.
, Criminal Action No. 08-0360 (RMU), December 31, 2009.

were covered under the Garrity
: Ibid.

That warning read
: Ibid.

DipSec agent Ted Carpenter
: Ibid.

Carpenter found the case files
: Ibid.

those blue shirts had been joined
: Ibid.

Tarsa, the battalion commander
: Sudarsan Raghavan and Josh White, “Blackwater Guards Fired at Fleeing Cars, Soldiers Say,”
Washington Post
, October 12, 2007.

“It had every indication”
: Ibid.

“I did not see anything”
: Ibid.

“no enemy activity involved”
: Renee Montagne and Jackie Northam, “Blackwater Guards Given Immunity in Iraq Shooting,” NPR, October 30, 2007.

a “criminal event”
: Sudarsan Raghavan and Josh White, “Blackwater Guards Fired at Fleeing Cars, Soldiers Say,”
Washington Post
, October 12, 2007.

confidential sworn statements from convoy members
: Sworn Statement of Paul Slough, http://abcnews.go.com/images/Blotter/Gunner_blackwater_abcnews _071114.pdf, captured August 9, 2013.

Headlines blared
: Ian Thompson, “Blackwater Massacre Spotlights Mercenary Role in Iraq,” PSLweb.org, September 21, 2007.

Bloggers wondered
: “Speed Bump: Will Mass Murder in Nisoor Square Slow the Growth of Blackwater?,”
Winter Patriot
blog, http://winterpatriot.blogspot.com/2007/10/speed-bump-will-mass-murder-in-nisoor.html, captured August 9, 2013.

“No! No! No!”
: James Glanz and Alissa J. Rubin, “From Errand to Fatal Shot to Hail of Fire to 17 Deaths,”
New York Times
, October 3, 2007.

D.C. Circuit judge would rule
: Barbara Leonard, “High Court to Consider Sealed Blackwater Filing,” Courthouse News Service, November 14, 2011.

“We searched in these areas”
:
United States of America v. Paul A. Slough, et al.
, Criminal Action No. 08-0360 (RMU), December 31, 2009.

“a fact-finding mission to determine”
: David M. Herszenhorn, “House’s Iraq Bill Applies U.S. Laws to Contractors,”
New York Times
, October 5, 2007.

forensic scientists were unable to determine
: “No Forensic Match for Ammo in Blackwater Shooting,” Associated Press, April 1, 2009.

“FBI scientists were unable to match bullets”
: Ibid.

Justice Department eventually charged
: Donna Leinwand, “Blackwater Charges: 14 Counts of Manslaughter,”
USA Today
, December 9, 2008.

pleaded guilty to one count
: Jason Ryan and Brian Ross, “Blackwater Guard in Secret Deal to Testify in Massacre Case,” ABC News, December 8, 2008.

I released a statement
: Pete Williams, “Blackwater Guards Charged,” NBC News, December 8, 2008.

We remained fully behind the indicted men
: Ibid.

“While it is important to hold these individual”
: Jan Schakowsky, “Schakowsky Statement on Indictment of Blackwater Guards,” December 8, 2008.

Price said at the time
: David Johnston and John M. Broder, “F.B.I. Says Guards Killed 14 Iraqis Without Cause,”
New York Times
, November 14, 2007.

“unintended and intolerable consequences”
: “House Passes Bill That Would Hike Penalties for U.S. Security Contractors in Iraq,” Associated Press, October 4, 2007.

withering on the legislative vine
: Ibid.

Security Contractor Accountability Act of 2007
: “S.2147 (110th): Security Contractor Accountability Act of 2007,” GovTrack.us, www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/110/s2147, captured August 10, 2013.

Transparency and Accountability in Military and Security Contracting Act of 2007
: “S.674: Transparency and Accountability in Military and Security Contracting Act of 2007,” OpenCongress, www.opencongress.org/bill/110-s674/show, captured August 10, 2013.

Stop Outsourcing Security Act
: “S.2398 (110th): Stop Outsourcing Security Act,” GovTrack.us, www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/110/s2398, captured August 10, 2013.

Clinton’s office said in a statement
: David Isenberg, “Dogs of War: Round Laws, Square Holes,” UPI, March 7, 2008.

The thirty-five-count indictment against my men
: Department of Justice, “Five Blackwater Employees Indicted on Manslaughter and Weapons Charges for Fatal Nisur Square Shooting in Iraq,” www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2008/December/08-nsd-1068.html, captured August 10, 2013.

“The Iraqi government is responsible”
: John Daniszewski and Tarek El-Tablawy, “Al-Maliki: Shootings ‘Cannot Be Accepted,’”
San Diego Union-Tribune
, September 24, 2007.