Correspondence
Correspondence Warriors' Mantle Regarding Mark Hemingway's "Warriors for Hire" (Dec. 18): First, neither Tim Spicer nor Aegis was involved, in any capacity, with Simon Mann's coup attempt in...
...In reality, Aegis contractors apply tighter rules for the use of force than they are legally required to do...
...made possible the referendum and general election in Iraq...
...Third, the "audit in 2005" was not "damning...
...Yet Hemingway says, "the larger question for Erik Prince and Blackwater has to be [ . . . ] how can they convince the world that they are 'committed to supporting humane democracy' when everyone else in their industry has been eager to sell it out...
...The audit's two important substantive criticisms were already addressed by the time the report was published...
...The reality is that all of these compa-nies—and many others—are just as committed to supporting humane democracy as Blackwater...
...The items listed "not being performed" were excluded from the contract at the outset...
...MPRI built the armed forces of Balkan democracies emerging from civil war...
...Mark Hemingway responds: As I reported, Tim Spicer was suspected of being involved with Simon Mann's failed coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea (Spicer, in fact, was questioned by the British government...
...Kristi M. Clemens Executive Vice President, Aegis Washington, D.C...
...Regarding Aegis's resources or lack thereof, the company was less than two years old and without a single employee in Iraq when it was awarded a $293 million PMC contract...
...Global and Control Risks undertook the voter registration that made possible Afghanistan's first ever democratic elections...
...All strive to be professional, ethical, and legitimate...
...This is unfair to the whole industry, including Blackwater...
...Accordingly, DoD has renewed it three years in a row...
...Fifth, Blackwater may be a highly professional, ethical firm dedicated to providing the best possible service for its clients, but we would be surprised if any of its executives quoted thought the company had a monopoly on those qualities...
...Even if there is some context that could explain the actions of the contractors in the video, if that kind of defensive fire is routinely necessary, it would suggest to me that Aegis needs drastically to rethink things from an operational standpoint...
...18): First, neither Tim Spicer nor Aegis was involved, in any capacity, with Simon Mann's coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea...
...Dyncorp is doing similar work for the newly elected president of Liberia...
...Finally, the so-called "trophy videos" are available on YouTube, and it sure looks to be a bunch of contractors firing into civilian vehicles without making much of an effort to warn them...
...Given Mann and Spicer's close working relationship and the questionable nature of some of Sandline's activities, it seems perfectly understandable that some suspicion would fall on Spicer...
...Aegis not only coordinates reconstruction in Iraq on behalf of the U.S...
...As I understand it, the Army investigation simply decided further investigation of the video wasn't warranted, and that was amid public criticism that the investigation had ignored key witnesses...
...Additionally, many of the problems raised in the Aegis audit report, released in April 2005—such as whether Aegis was properly vetting and training employees, particularly ones being given security clearances and weapons—seem to go far beyond "administrative" in nature...
...In fact, Aegis is eager to see the private security industry regulated by government...
...Fourth, a U.S...
...Since then, the DoD has been entirely complimentary, and Aegis has traveled more than three million miles in Iraq without any of its clients killed or wounded...
...Aegis's problems fulfilling the contract were well documented in the audit, which noted the company was short-staffed...
...government, but it also identifies and implements low-cost, high-impact community projects throughout Iraq, paid for by donations—including from Blackwater contractors—to the charitable Aegis Foundation...
...And Aegis's support for the U.N...
...The edited videos were void of context and posted on the web by a disgruntled former Aegis contractor who wanted to damage the company...
...Second, Aegis had and has the resources to fulfill its contract with the Department of Defense to coordinate reconstruction in Iraq...
...Blackwater is a good outfit, and so is Aegis...
...Our mission is simple: to assist governments and legitimate multinational organizations with winning the war on terrorism...
...Actually, the audit was in 2004, and its criticisms were largely administrative and often irrelevant...
...Army investigation of the shootings in the "trophy videos" deemed that they were not "indiscriminate" and cleared Aegis of any wrongdoing...
Vol. 12 • January 2007 • No. 18
