Security Contractor: Blackwater Buck-Wildness Bad For Business

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It may not be the most compelling argument to an Iraqi civilian, but it surely resonates within the private-security industry. One of Blackwater’s competitors, the London-based ArmorGroup, anticipates a lackluster quarterly profit report — something the company blames, in part, on the Iraqi government’s hostility to private security contractors after the Nisour Square shootings.

ArmorGroup International PLC, a British private security company, warned Tuesday that profits will fall this year because of the fallout from competitor Blackwater Worldwide’s involvement in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians.

The news sent the company’s share price plunging 40 percent on the London Stock Exchange.

ArmorGroup also announced that David Seaton was stepping down as chief executive, effective immediately, as the company reorganizes.

“The award and mobilization of a number of major contracts in Iraq has been severely affected by the Blackwater incident in Baghdad on 16 September,” the company said in a trading update to the London Stock Exchange.

Imagine that: shooting civilians is bad for business.

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