US mercenaries in Iraq

Private security mercenary contractors in Iraq quickly earned a reputation as cowboys, the kind that shoot first and never have to answer any questions afterward. They went largely unnoticed outside Iraq until Sept. 16, when a Blackwater security convoy shot and killed 17 civilians at a major traffic intersection in western Baghdad.

Blackwater has more than 1,000 men under arms in Iraq, but it is just one of dozens of security companies there. The mercenary contractors — and they are almost all men — tend to be former soldiers and come from the U.S., as well as Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Nepal, Fiji, Russia, Australia, Chile and Peru.

Mercenary contractors can make up to $12,000 to $33,000 a month. Some security convoys keep a low profile, using cars and dress that blend into the bustling streets of the city. Others — especially Blackwater — "roll heavy" in large convoys of big, armored SUVs.
In crowded Baghdad streets it's not always possible to swerve out of the way. All too often, accidents turn fatal. (There are no reliable statistics on the number of Iraqis killed or hurt in such incidents.)

Some mercenary security men carry the aggression too far, treating all the Iraqis they encounter as potential enemies, using hostile body language and verbal abuse — and sometimes worse.

Many uniformed American soldiers regard the mercenary contractors with disdain, describing them as reckless and trigger-happy. Since Iraqis don't always distinguish between private and military convoys, soldiers say, bad behavior by contractors only deepens Iraqi antagonism toward the military.

They behave like Iraq is the Wild West and Iraqis are like Injuns,' to be treated any way they like," one soldir said, asking to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity.

"They're better-armed and -armored than the military, but they don't have to follow military rules, and that makes them dangerous." The men he was describing worked for Blackwater. So much for winning hearts of minds of the relatives of innocent women and children killed by these mercenaries.