Iraq Central Criminal Court – US DOD photo
Late last month, two American men were killed in the Green Zone – one by mortar fire, one “found bound, blindfolded and fatally stabbed in a car in the district.” At the time, there was a lot of speculation about increasing violence in Iraq (which of course always leads to discussion of US forces staying longer) and concerns that “bad guys” were breaching the Green Zone now that Iraq has taken over security from the US.
Today the story looks quite different. The man found dead in a car was James Kitterman who owned a construction company, the suspects in his murder – “five American security contractors.” So far, the company the contractors worked for has not been named.
The five were arrested on Friday by “Iraqi and US personnel” and are being held by Iraqi forces but in a prison in the Green Zone. If charged, they will be tried in an Iraqi court.
This may be the first time we see contractors actually answer for their actions in Iraq – though you have to wonder if the same would be done if the contractors were accused of murdering an Iraqi.
Related posts:
- Changing of the Guard: US Troops Withdraw from Iraqi Cities; Maliki Declares “Sovereignty Day”
- DPC to Continue Drive for Oversight, Accountability for Iraq and Afghanistan Contractors
- Blackwater Bribed Iraqi Officials After Nissour Square Massacre
- Do ABC This Week Panelists George Will et al Support Murder If It Works?
- Leon Panetta: I’ve Got to Protect the Contractors from Unwarranted Invasion of Privacy
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Wow! Surprised this didn’t happen earlier.
Stay tuned…
There’s more to this story…
Is this part of the SOFA agreement?
I wonder how many women those 5 raped in Iraq before committing murder? Oh wait! Dick Cheney tells us that raping, killing, and torturing are American values. Nevermind.
Wow. This will be interesting to watch.
There were always “bad” behavior around military installations, Rape in Okinawa, doing drugs in drug free countries but never the brutality I have heard going on in Iraq.
Is it the culture of the military now?
Did something pervert the military behavior?
So many people in my family were in the military, I know for a fact that none of them would of done such horror….
Rape, theft including antiquities, random shootings, total lack of respect for human life…..and they will be coming home and integrating info American life…..
These are private contractors not military. The military has some bad actors to be sure, especially since the military has waved some of its previous requirements to keep enlistments up. However what constitutes the ranks of the private contractors? Is it money and machismo? Are they the ones who reject the lines of authority that the military insists on?
Can you see the handwriting on the wall? This is deja vu all over again. There is a real risk that Americans will turn against our soldiers in the same way they did to Vietnam vets. Prolonged war has it’s consequences and one of them is that there will be attrocities and horrid behavior. We need to end these wars and bring everyone home….pronto.
good point, there’s a big difference between the two. Would be interesting to read a study on those differences.
We have seen crimes committed by the military in Iraq but there appears to be for the most part a difference between the military crimes and the contractor crimes. The military crimes in many instances (notable exceptions being Abu Graib and the current murder rape trial underway) were crimes by people pushed beyond their limits of coping with war. The contactor crimes appear to be out of control thugs.
Hmmm. So the Green Zone Five were arrested by both Iraqi and American military personnel? I assume since the latter were involved, that torture, or rather ”enhanced interrogation,” will begin post-haste. Isn’t that the best way to get to the truth?
I haven’t been able to find out much about James Kitterman, the victim, but I did find out a couple of things about the Feeney’s and their company.
Feeney’s company,
Sorry. I hit enter by accident.
Feeney’s company is Corporate Training Unlimited, and they were hired by Kellogg, Brown, and Root to guard their personnel in Irag and Afghanistan. Feeney, who was a Delta Force member, was also the Chief Security Consultant for Shell Oil in Bogata. It just gets thicker and thicker, doesn’t it?