Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of theWar on Terror (48 page)

Iraqi minister of health estimated a far smaller number
: Ibid.

threatened to resign unless the ambassador initiated a cease-fire
: Carter Malkasian, “Signaling Resolve, Democratization, and the First Battle of Fallujah,”
Journal of Strategic Studies
, June 2006.

They pulled out of the city entirely three weeks later
: Ibid.

Fallujah grew into a staging ground for insurgent attacks
: Bill Roggio, “Iraq by the Numbers: Graphing the Decrease in Violence,”
Long War Journal
, December 17, 2007.

largest urban battle since Hue in Vietnam in 1968
: Jim Garamone, “ScanEagle Proves Worth in Fallujah Fight,” American Forces Press Service, January 11, 2005.

Operation Phantom Fury soon became
: Gerri Hirshey, “Wounded, and Sharing War Stories,”
New York Times
, November 11, 2007.

between the two assaults on Fallujah, they unloaded
: Ann Scott Tyson, “Increased Security in Fallujah Slows Efforts to Rebuild,”
Washington Post
, April 19, 2005.

military officials announced that U.S. forces controlled
: “Operation Phantom Fury,”
USA Today
, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/graphics/phantom_fury/flash.htm, captured August 4, 2013.

More than ninety soldiers died
: Dwight Jon Zimmerman and John D. Gresham,
Uncommon Valor
(New York: Macmillan, 2010), p. 240.

U.S. forces left a bombed-out wasteland
: Ibid.

unrelenting toxicity in the flattened city that appears to have led to a staggering rise in birth defects
: “10 Years After the Iraq War: Innocent New Lives Are Still Dying and Suffering,” Human Rights Now, April 2013.

Marines with 3rd Battalion
: “31 U.S. Troops Killed in Fallujah,” Associated Press, November 14, 2004.

“It’s symbolic because the insurgents closed the bridge”
: Ibid.

“Fuck you”
: “‘The Warrior Class’: The Blackwater Videos,”
Harper’s
, http://harpers.org/blog/2012/04/the-warrior-class-the-blackwater-videos/, captured August 4, 2013.

CHAPTER 9:
BLACKWATER VERSUS THE MAHDI ARMY

Shias made up roughly 60 percent
: Sharon Otterman, “Iraq: The Sunnis,” Council on Foreign Relations, December 12, 2003.

Muqtada al-Sadr, the frumpy thirty-year-old
: “Iraq’s Muqtada Al-Sadr: Spoiler or Stabilizer?,” International Crisis Group, July 11, 2006.

al-Sadr is the son of Ayatollah
: Ibid.

The third of four sons
: “Muqtada al-Sadr, Back in Business,”
Economist
, www.economist.com/node/18652167, captured May 5, 2011.

gunmen working for the Iraqi secret police
: Amit R. Paley, “Al-Sadr Getting Ready to Lead Iraq?,”
Washington Post
, May 28, 2008.

While initially dismissed by fellow religious leaders
: “Iraq’s Muqtada al-Sadr: Spoiler or Stabilizer?,” International Crisis Group, July 11, 2006.

allegedly going so far as to orchestrate the murder
: Ibid.

“The most puzzling aspect of Muqtada’s ascent”
: Ibid.

“His critics, and even a few of his allies”
: Ibid.

“In the Najaf-Kufa area, al-Sadr’s militia”
: Francis X. Kozlowksi, “U.S. Marines in Battle: An-Najaf,” August 2004.

“most dangerous accelerant of potentially self-sustaining”
: Reid Smith, “An Iraqi Time Bomb,”
American Spectator
, June 28, 2011.

“Bremer Follows in the Footsteps of Saddam”
: Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Anthony Shadid, “Fallujah and Shiite Cleric Represent a 2-Front War,”
Washington Post
, April 10, 2004.

transcribed a fiery sermon from al-Sadr
: Dick Camp,
Battle for the City of the Dead
(Minneapolis: Zenith, 2011), p. 27.

U.S. soldiers escorted the newspaper staff
: Ibid.

They held portraits of al-Sadr and chanted
: Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Anthony Shadid, “Some Say U.S. Miscalculated in Recent Iraq Moves,”
Washington Post
, April 12, 2004.

“important constituencies in both the Shia and Sunni”
: Ali A. Allawi,
The Occupation of Iraq
(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 266.

“The Iraqi political system was on the brink”
: “Interview: L. Paul Bremer III,” PBS
Frontline
, http://archive is tpm 3Wp.

“The fledgling Iraqi police”
: Patrick Cockburn,
Muqtada al-Sadr and the Battle for the Future of Iraq
(New York: Scribner, 2008), p. 146.

“Iraq was center stage; I wanted to contribute”
: Philip Kosnett, “My Reasons for Volunteering in Iraq,” U.S. Department of State official blog, November 28, 2007.

only to be fought off by his El Salvadoran escorts
: Denis Gray, “El Salvadoran Soldiers Honored for Bravery in Iraq,” Associated Press, May 7, 2004.

“Our union is fond of saying”
: Transcript,
Lou Dobbs Tonight
, May 3, 2004.

One of those National Guardsmen
: Paul Huggins, “Showing the Spirit of America,”
Decatur Daily
, June 26, 2005.

Corporal Lonnie Young, a burly twenty-five-year-old
: Kate Wiltrout, “Norfolk Marine Tells Story of Rooftop Fight in Iraq,”
Virginian-Pilot
, September 19, 2004.

The Guardsmen heard reports of potential unrest
: Paul Huggins, “Showing the Spirit of America,”
Decatur Daily
, June 26, 2005.

They headed for the roof
: Kate Wiltrout, “Norfolk Marine Tells Story of Rooftop Fight in Iraq,”
Virginian-Pilot
, September 19, 2004.

members of al-Sadr’s army reportedly
: Claude Salhani, “America’s Intifada?,” UPI, April 5, 2004.

“One of the Iraqis quickly dropped”
: “A Real-Life Account of Combat Readiness,”
America’s North Shore Journal
, http://northshorejournal.org/a-real-life-account-of-combat-readiness, captured August 4, 2013.

“I was up there within thirty seconds”
: “Contractors in Combat: Firefight from a Rooftop in Iraq,”
Virginian-Pilot
, http://hamptonroads.com/2006/07/contractors-combat-firefight-rooftop-iraq, captured August 4, 2013.

“I stopped for a second”
: “A Real-Life Account of Combat Readiness,”
America’s North Shore Journal
, http://northshorejournal.org/a-real-life-account-of-combat-readiness, captured August 4, 2013.

This is too surreal
: Paul Huggins, “Showing the Spirit of America,”
Decatur Daily
, June 26, 2005.

“You look at these people and you know”
: Ibid.

Eliminate the threat
: Ibid.

suddenly collapsed on the rooftop
: “A Real-Life Account of Combat Readiness,”
America’s North Shore Journal
, http://northshorejournal.org/a-real-life-account-of-combat-readiness, captured August 4, 2013.

The sniper had hit Eddy sideways
: Ibid.

Young grabbed gauze pads
: Ibid.

“We came up with a plan”
: Ibid.

Young dashed across the base
: Kate Wiltrout, “Norfolk Marine Tells Story of Rooftop Fight in Iraq,”
Virginian-Pilot
, September 19, 2004.

Blood shot out
: “A Real-Life Account of Combat Readiness,”
America’s North Shore Journal
, http://northshorejournal.org/a-real-life-account-of-combat-readiness, captured August 4, 2013.

“Using my index finger”
: Ibid.

had hit him on his left shoulder just outside
: Ibid.

“I knew that I heard the unmistakable”
: Ibid.

“And if three people got shot”
: Paul Huggins, “Showing the Spirit of America,”
Decatur Daily
, June 26, 2005.

the question began to pound
: Ibid.

“All hell is breaking loose”
: L. Paul Bremer III,
My Year in Iraq
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006), p. 318.

“Muqtada’s people are really swarming”
: Ibid.

“Spanish put out an idiotic statement”
: Ibid., p. 319.

The ambassador became livid
: Ibid.

Together, they unfastened
: “A Real-Life Account of Combat Readiness,”
America’s North Shore Journal
, http://northshorejournal.org/a-real-life-account-of-combat-readiness, captured August 4, 2013.

“before we put all the personal weapons”
: “SimplyDynamic,” AR15.com message board, August 5, 2005, captured August 4, 2013.

“I felt very nervous”
: “A Real-Life Account of Combat Readiness,”
America’s North Shore Journal
, http://northshorejournal.org/a-real-life-account-of-combat-readi-ness, captured August 4, 2013.

In the footage
: Author copy of video; also available online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7TRP-d5h2Q, captured August 4, 2013.

“[insurgents] were just coming straight on”
: “Danpass,” AR15.com message board, October 13, 2008, captured August 4, 2013.

In the video
: Author copy of video; also available online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7TRP-d5h2Q, captured August 4, 2013.

“You could sit there”
: “Danpass,” AR15.com message board, May 15, 2009, captured August 4, 2013.

“That’s Mahdi Army!”
: Author copy of video; available online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7TRP-d5h2Q, captured August 4, 2013.

“they’re shootin’ back”
: Ibid.

“Terrorize your enemy”
: John F. Burns, “7 U.S. Soldiers Die in Iraq as a Shiite Militia Rises Up,”
New York Times
, April 5, 2004.

Sanchez says he raced
: Ricardo S. Sanchez,
Wiser in Battle
(New York: HarperCollins, 2009), p. 339.

“Without commenting at a news conference”
: Dana Priest, “Private Guards Repel Attack on U.S. Headquarters,”
Washington Post
, April 6, 2004.

In his book, the general writes
: Ricardo S. Sanchez,
Wiser in Battle
(New York: HarperCollins, 2009), p. 337.

“Fighting everywhere”
: Ibid.

“Those Blackwater and CPA guys”
: David Isenberg, “Dogs of War: Blackwater, Najaf—Take Two,” UPI, May 16, 2008.

“Those [Blackwater] civilians were not providing”
: Ibid.

“Although the Ambassador didn’t want to believe”
: Ibid.

“An attack by hundreds of Iraqi militia”
: Dana Priest, “Private Guards Repel Attack on U.S. Headquarters,”
Washington Post
, April 6, 2004.

described it on his
Intel Dump
blog
: Phil Carter, “Blackwater Commandos in Najaf Battle,” Antiwar.com, April 6, 2004.

“a whole new issue in military affairs”
: David Barstow, “Security Firm Says Its Workers Were Lured into Iraqi Ambush,”
New York Times
, April 9, 2004.

July 2004 report by the Army’s inspector general
: “Detainee Operations Inspection,” Department of the Army Inspector General, July 21, 2004.

“the key reason, the sole reason”
: “Iraq Commander: Abu Ghraib Ruined My Career,” Associated Press, November 2, 2006.

CHAPTER 10:
THE RULES OF THE ROAD

“thirteen years since the American flag”
: “Ambassador Negroponte’s Speech on the Occasion of the Flag-Raising Ceremony,” U.S. Embassy Baghdad, June 30, 2004.

“a thousand people hunkered behind sandbags”
: Jane C. Loeffler, “Fortress America,”
Foreign Policy
, September 1, 2007.

Americans had overseen the creation
: Richard L. Armitage, “Prepared Statement Before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations,” May 18, 2004.

“develops and implements effective security”
: “About Diplomatic Security: Overview,” U.S. Department of State, www.state.gov/m/ds/about/overview/, captured August 4, 2013.

only about a thousand special agents
: Michael J. Courts, “Testimony Before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs,” November 15, 2012.

“first used PSCs in 1994”
: Jennifer K. Elsea, Moshe Schwartz, and Kennon H. Nakamura, “Private Security Contractors in Iraq: Background, Legal Status and Other Issues,” Congressional Research Service, August 25, 2008.

In June 2004, the State Department issued
: “Joint Audit of Blackwater Contract and Task Orders for Worldwide Personal Protective Services in Iraq,” Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, June 2009.

That “indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity” deal
: Samuel P. Cheadle, “Private Military Contractor Liability Under the Worldwide Personal Protective Services II Contract,”
Public Contract Law Journal
, March 22, 2009.

“The Government requires a favorable image”
: “Blackwater, Triple Canopy and DynCorp—Contract with the U.S. State Department: Worldwide Personal Protective Services (WPPS) Contract,” author copy.

“high-visibility deterrent”
: Ibid.

more than five hundred U.S. servicemen had been killed
: “Iraq Coalition Casualties: Fatalities by Year and Month,” iCasualties, www.icasualties.org/Iraq/ByMonth.aspx, captured August 3, 2013.