What appears to be a trophy video has appeared on the internet, which apparently shows contractors driving around Iraq randomly killing innocent civilians:
The video has sparked concern that private security companies, which are not subject to any form of regulation either in Britain or in Iraq, could be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent Iraqis.
The video, which first appeared on a website that has been linked unofficially to Aegis Defence Services, contained four separate clips, in which security guards open fire with automatic rifles at civilian cars. All of the shooting incidents apparently took place on “route Irish”, a road that links the airport to Baghdad.
[…]
Capt Adnan Tawfiq of the Iraqi Interior Ministry which deals with compensation issues, has told the Sunday Telegraph that he has received numerous claims from families who allege that their relatives have been shot by private security contractors travelling in road convoys.
He said: “When the security companies kill people they just drive away and nothing is done. Sometimes we ring the companies concerned and they deny everything. The families don’t get any money or compensation. I would say we have had about 50-60 incidents of this kind.”
I felt sick while watching the video, which is available here.
why in heavan’s name would you watch such a thing?
Snuff said!
I’m always really wary of these things, since they often turn out to be hoaxes and there’s nothing in the video that couldn’t be pretty easily faked. I will wait and see. Still, if it is a hoax its an incredibly sick one and someone should be held accountable for that anyway..
Relatedly is this tragic story involving contractors …
“why in heavan‚Äôs name would you watch such a thing?”
Err, to see if it stands up to the media hype and/or a bit of Amanda-like scepticism. Obvious, really.
Oh, and also to guage what other people’s idea of “deplorable” “unacceptable” and “barbaric” is.
Also the intrinsic worth of primary sources.
For shame, harry.
An unknown primary source has no intrinsic worth independent of context. Who produced it? Who mediated and edited it? Who is publishing it?
[runs around the room banging a saucepan]
Foot-note! Foot-note! Foot-note!
Sorry Liam, propensity or coincidence evidence under the Uniform Evidence Act. (Cth) Strong case for admissability of evidence of all COW forces and assorted criminal garbage to use extreme violence ever since the Iraqis did not greet said warmongers with flowers. Footnotes not a requirement of criminal law of evidence ie all is circumstantial evidence in this case with expert evidence indicating that the video is not concocted—which reports from the Aegis people appear to confirm per:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/112805A.shtml
”Security companies awarded contracts by the US administration in Iraq adopt the same rules for opening fire as the American military. US military vehicles carry a sign warning drivers to keep their distance from the vehicle. The warning which appears in both Arabic and English reads “Danger. Keep back. Authorised to use lethal force.” A similar warning is also displayed on the rear of vehicles belonging to Aegis.”
Shorter Iraq COW and associates: ”Gooks” and ”Ragheads”? Shoot first, don’t even bother asking any questions later.
Why did I watch it? I think Harry summed it up.
It was originally posted
There’s some interesting background here:
And even the US military doesn’t like the way they behave:
The video initially appeared on an unofficial Aegis website, which, it says, “belongs to the men on the ground who are the heart and soul of the company”. The video was removed at the company’s request.
Interestingly, the website’s message board is now down for maintenance — yeah, right. More likely it’s hiding from media scrutiny. Fortunately, some people have found direct links to the message board content, which reveals some serious issues.
You have to wonder what’s going on when the Iraqi PM says the situation is approaching Saddam’s record of human rights abuses…
I’m sorry to burst the bubble here, but the background behind this video doesn’t seem quite right.
The company had this video on it website and only took it off after the outcry, is that right?
Let me get this right the firm is actively displaying a video on its website showing cold blooded murder. And we are supposed to believe at face value that there people stupid enough to do that.
Peter Kemp:
Private security firms would be hired even if the US left Iraq. Seeing Iraqis don’t trust Iraqis even the Iraqi leadership is protected by non-Iraqi personnel.
They serve a useful function. That’s why they are hired.
There you go, showing all the symptoms of Tourette’s Syndrome. Whenever America is mentioned you seem to foam at the mouth.
Firstly Joe it wasn’t a company website, it was the employee’s website.
Secondly, I’m obviously lumping the Brits in with the Yanks as war criminals, something that seems to make you foam at the mouth whenever illegal war is mentioned? Wouldn’t that be ”Bush Arse Crawling Syndrome” just like Howard’s affliction?
Joe, as I pointed out before your comment and Peter pointed out afterwards, it was an unofficial website, run by employees. If you read it, they are very critical of each other and their employer. The boss warned them not to post their “happy snaps” but there is always a temptation to show off and it seems that’s what happened here.
Now, we don’t know precisely what happened in these videos, or what the mercenaries’ orders were. But we do know that they do this as standard practice, that they make no effort to clean up the mess or even report the incident, that they blame the Army for their shootings, and that they have shot at military personnel before. That tells us that they are being pretty darn cavalier about the whole thing, and we shouldn’t stand for it.
Peter:
So your spiteful Anti-Americanism has migrated to the British as well? That’s new. I guess the syndrome can get worse if left untreated. It didn’t take long to bring Bush into it, right? That’s clearity of logic, when we are talking about private contractors.
Robert:
None of us know the the true provenance of the video. I think that a video showing multiple murders or attempt needs to be treated with some doubt and suspicion. I don’t think a person making a snuff movie is gunna transmit it over the web in hurry. We’ll see.
duh Joe, its a war Bush started, you know contractors wouldn’t be there if ….Never heard of the principles of causation? but then you always were a selective reader as your assertion above on the ownership of that website demonstrates.
Shorter Joe C: Anti-war goes against every spiteful warmongering principle I believe in.