The Nation has a chilling new story up about how the U.S. security contractor Blackwater cut corners on the safety of its men in Iraq, at the same time it was rabidly overcharging its clients.
Among other shockers, the magazine reveals that Blackwater removed language in one of its contracts that would have ensured all its personnel would travel in armored vehicles. Families of four slain employees are suing the company because of the change.
“When they took that word ‘armored’ out, Blackwater was able to save $1.5 million in not buying armored vehicles, which they could then put in their pocket,” an attorney in the suit tells the magazine.
The four murdered Blackwater contract guards whose bodies were so graphically abused and hung up on an Iraqi bridge were driving an unarmored car when they were attacked. Small-arms fire, which would have been repelled by auto armor, instead pierced the men’s vehicle, killing the passengers.
Before the incident, the changed language in the contract was flagged by a senior company manager in the region, but the company wouldn’t change it. When the manager continued to make noise, he was removed from his position.
