“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.”
Overkill: Feared Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans
By Jeremy Scahill and Daniela Crespo
via IPA
That “New Orleans” line could be irony, but it doesn’t exactly look as though these Blackwater people are smart enough to have been any sort of special soldier.
(And nothing I’ve heard suggests that the US government has been hesitating to recall reservists.)
I’d offer he’s a dumbass psychopath. Who else would consider murder-for-hire a noble or thrilling occupation. Geography skills are irrelevant.