Blackwater aids military with armed support
Thursday, April 1, 2004 Posted: 0209 GMT (1009 HKT)
 |  Flames engulf one of the two civilian vehicles gunmen attacked in Fallujah. |
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 Deadly day in Iraq
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 CIA's new chief weapons inspector saying he does not rule out finding WMD in Iraq.
 Within weeks of coming into office, President Bush approved the secret 'Operation Desert Badger' for Iraq.
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MOYOCK,
North Carolina (AP) -- The four civilians who were killed and dragged
through the streets of an Iraqi town Wednesday worked for a North
Carolina subcontractor that is providing security in a hostile area of
Iraq.
Blackwater Security Consulting provides security
training and guard services to customers around the world. It is one of
five subsidiaries of Blackwater USA, based in northeastern North
Carolina about a half-hour's drive from the world's largest naval base
in Norfolk, Virginia.
The company referred calls to a spokesman
in suburban Washington who declined comment beyond a prepared statement
that said Blackwater was a government subcontractor providing security
for the delivery of food in the Fallujah area.
The United States
has denounced the slayings as "horrific." Jubilant Iraqi residents
dragged two of the charred corpses through the streets and hanged them
from a bridge.
The names of the victims were not immediately released because family members had yet to be notified.
Privately
owned Blackwater USA's range of services include providing firearms and
small-groups training for Navy SEALs, police department SWAT teams and
former special operations personnel.
Blackwater President Gary Jackson and two other company leaders are former Navy SEAL commandos.
"We're
very proud of the work that we do. We feel that we support a just
cause," assistant training director Chris Epperson said during a visit
last month.
On a typical day, a Navy SEALs team practiced
shooting in odd positions through doors and windows and cadets from the
U.S. Coast Guard Academy learned how to storm through doorways during a
room-by-room search. Plainclothes operatives practiced how to escape
from a disabled sport-utility vehicle while under fire from attackers.
The
company's security-consulting business connects former special forces
troops with jobs that may involve protecting people or places, or
training foreign militaries.
Epperson said the company's contractors provide protection to Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq.
Other
Blackwater USA subsidiaries train dogs and handlers for security work,
and train pilots to land airplanes and helicopters on dirt landing
strips.
Faye and Howard Forbes of Moyock said the deaths brought
the war home to the community best known for being on the route to
North Carolina's Outer Banks beaches.
"With what's been going on
in Iraq I'm not surprised at anything," 72-year-old Howard Forbes said
while eating at a diner in Moyock. "But I was surprised at what they
did to the bodies."
Five soldiers from Fort Riley, Kansas, were
killed Wednesday in a separate attack. The soldiers, whose names were
not immediately released, died when a bomb exploded under their M-113
armored personnel carrier in Malahma.
"It's an incredible tragedy
when life is lost and we in Kansas take it even more personally when
we're talking about soldiers based in Kansas," Gov. Kathleen Sebelius
said.
Copyright 2004 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
