Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans

BLACKWATER MERCENARIES DEPLOY IN NEW ORLEANS
By Jeremy Scahill and Daniela Crespo
TruthOut
Saturday, September 10, 2005

NEW ORLEANS - Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater
private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq, are openly
patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the mercenaries say they have
been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor; indeed some are wearing gold
Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and Blackwater photo
identification cards on their arms. They say they are on contract with the
Department of Homeland Security and have been given the authority to use
lethal force. Several mercenaries we spoke with said they had served in Iraq
on the personal security details of the former head of the US occupation, L.
Paul Bremer and the former US ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte.

"This is a totally new thing to have guys like us working CONUS (Continental
United States)," a heavily armed Blackwater mercenary told us as we stood on
Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. "We're much better equipped to deal
with the situation in Iraq."

Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers in
the world and they are accustomed to operating without worry of legal
consequences. Their presence on the streets of New Orleans should be a cause
for serious concern for the remaining residents of the city and raises
alarming questions about why the government would allow men trained to kill
with impunity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here. Some of
the men now patrolling the streets of New Orleans returned from Iraq as
recently as 2 weeks ago.

What is most disturbing is the claim of several Blackwater mercenaries we
spoke with that they are here under contract from the federal and Louisiana
state governments.

Blackwater is one of the leading private "security" firms servicing the
occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. It has several US government contracts
and has provided security for many senior US diplomats, foreign dignitaries
and corporations. The company rose to international prominence after 4 of
its men were killed in Fallujah and two of their charred bodies were hung
from a bridge in March 2004. Those killings sparked the massive US
retaliation against the civilian population of Fallujah that resulted in
scores of deaths and tens of thousands of refugees.

As the threat of forced evictions now looms in New Orleans and the city
confiscates even legally registered weapons from civilians, the private
mercenaries of Blackwater patrol the streets openly wielding M-16s and other
assault weapons. This despite Police Commissioner Eddie Compass' claim that
"Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons."

Officially, Blackwater says it forces are in New Orleans to "join the
Hurricane Relief Effort." A statement on the company's website, dated
September 1, advertises airlift services, security services and crowd
control. The company, according to news reports, has since begun taking
private contracts to guard hotels, businesses and other properties. But what
has not been publicly acknowledged is the claim, made to us by 2 Blackwater
mercenaries, that they are actually engaged in general law enforcement
activities including "securing neighborhoods" and "confronting criminals."

That raises a key question: under what authority are Blackwater's men
operating? A spokesperson for the Homeland Security Department, Russ Knocke,
told the Washington Post he knows of no federal plans to hire Blackwater or
other private security. "We believe we've got the right mix of personnel in
law enforcement for the federal government to meet the demands of public
safety." he said.

But in an hour-long conversation with several Blackwater mercenaries, we
heard a different story. The men we spoke with said they are indeed on
contract with the Department of Homeland Security and the Louisiana
governor's office and that some of them are sleeping in camps organized by
Homeland Security in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. One of them wore a gold
Louisiana state law enforcement badge and said he had been "deputized" by
the governor. They told us they not only had authority to make arrests but
also to use lethal force. We encountered the Blackwater forces as we walked
through the streets of the largely deserted French Quarter. We were talking
with 2 New York Police officers when an unmarked car without license plates
sped up next to us and stopped. Inside were 3 men, dressed in khaki
uniforms, flak jackets and wielding automatic weapons. "Y'all know where the
Blackwater guys are?" they asked. One of the police officers responded,
"There are a bunch of them around here," and pointed down the road.

"Blackwater?" we asked. "The guys who are in Iraq?"

"Yeah," said the officer. "They're all over the place."

A short while later, as we continued down Bourbon Street, we ran into the
men from the car. They wore Blackwater ID badges on their arms.

"When they told me New Orleans, I said, 'What country is that in?,'" said
one of the Blackwater men. He was wearing his company ID around his neck in
a carrying case with the phrase "Operation Iraqi Freedom" printed on it.
After bragging about how he drives around Iraq in a "State Department issued
level 5, explosion proof BMW," he said he was "just trying to get back to
Kirkuk (in the north of Iraq) where the real action is." Later we overheard
him on his cell phone complaining that Blackwater was only paying $350 a day
plus per diem. That is much less than the men make serving in more dangerous
conditions in Iraq. Two men we spoke with said they plan on returning to
Iraq in October. But, as one mercenary said, they've been told they could be
in New Orleans for up to 6 months. "This is a trend," he told us. "You're
going to see a lot more guys like us in these situations."

If Blackwater's reputation and record in Iraq are any indication of the kind
of "services" the company offers, the people of New Orleans have much to
fear.

............

Jeremy Scahill, a correspondent for the national radio and TV program
Democracy Now!, and Daniela Crespo are in New Orleans. Visit
<http://www.democracynow.org> for in-depth, independent, investigative
reporting on Hurricane Katrina.