Foreign contractors killed as US pursues offensive

[Judi Lynn]

Foreign contractors killed as US pursues offensive
Mon Nov 14, 2005 10:51 AM ET

By Paul Tait
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Roadside bombs killed nearly a dozen people in Iraq on Monday, as U.S.-led forces launched the latest phase of an offensive, killing 37 insurgents near the Syrian border, in a bid to secure the nation for December polls.

In the first roadside bomb attack, two South African private security contractors were killed by a roadside bomb near the heavily fortified "Green Zone" in central Baghdad, the U.S. embassy spokesman's office said.

Three others, an American, an Iraqi, and another South African, were wounded in the attack, two of them seriously. Earlier Iraqi police had said three people were killed.

The contractors work for Dyncorp, a U.S.-based firm that has a range of security operations in Iraq, including employing Westerners to protect convoys and reconstruction projects.
(snip/...)

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-11-14T155058Z_01_KNE453454_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ.xml&archived=False

[400Years]

1. Mercs

They got what they asked for.

[0007]

3. Private Security Contractors? Why not call them what they are?

Mercenaries any color one paints it.

[cliss]

2. What's the right term here -

There's always a good old saying for just about every situation that comes up. 'Throw the baby out with the bath water', or maybe the modern-day "Kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out". Or what about the RumsFeldian "Collateral damage".

It's obvious here that the U.S. is being indiscriminate when it comes to "terrorists" or "insurgents" or local rebels. We just aim, and shoot. Let there be no doubt as to why we are so hated there.

[fshrink]

4. The good old times

of colonialism seem to be gone.