5 Joanne Kimberlin, “Iraq ‘Operators’ Perform Duties in the Line of Fire,” Virginian-Pilot, April 15, 2004.
6 Michael Stetz, “War Against Terror Gives Former SEALs the Chance to Resurrect Their Skills,” San Diego Union-Tribune, June 3, 2004.
7 Ibid.
8 Joanne Kimberlin, “Iraq ‘Operators’ Perform Duties in the Line of Fire,” Virginian-Pilot, April 15, 2004.
9 Unless otherwise noted, all biographical information on Scott Helvenston is from the author’s interviews with his mother, conducted throughout 2006, as are her quotes in this book.
10 Matt Crenson, “Military Experts Envision Lightning-Fast Special Forces Attack as Next Move in Afghanistan,” Associated Press, October 11, 2001.
11 Samuel Lee, “War Is Hell, But It Makes for Good TV,” Straits Times (Singapore), January 21, 2002.
12 Mark A. Perigard, “‘Missions’ Accomplished—USA Reality Series Crowns a Champion Tonight,” Boston Herald, April 17, 2002.
13 Jay Price and Joseph Neff and Correspondent Charles Crain, “Series: The Bridge”; Chapter 5: “‘Scotty Bod’ Grows Up,” News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), July 30, 2004.
14 Andrea Perera, “Mom Mourns Her Fallen Son; Leesburg Woman Saw TV Reports, Then Got Call; Ex-Seal Was Pentathlon Champ, Actor in Movies,” Orlando Sentinel, April 2, 2004.
15 Abby Goodnough and Michael Luo, “Amid Grief, They Focus on Pride; Iraq Ambush Victims’ Kin Recall How Their Loved Ones Lived,” New York Times, April 4, 2004.
16 Andrea Perera, “Mom Mourns Her Fallen Son; Leesburg Woman Saw TV Reports, Then Got Call; Ex-Seal Was Pentathlon Champ, Actor in Movies,” Orlando Sentinel, April 2, 2004.
17 Jonathan Franklin, “US Contractor Recruits Guards for Iraq in Chile,” Guardian, March 5, 2004.
18 Ibid.
19 Author copy, Scott Helvenston e-mail; subject: extreme unprofessionalism, March 27, 2004.
20 Ibid.
21 Ibid.
22 Kathy Potter e-mail; subject: shared Conversations with Scott, April 13, 2004.
23 Ibid.
24 Joseph Neff and Jay Price, “Contractors in Iraq Make Costs Balloon; Extensive Paramilitary Work Earns Profit on Several Levels,” News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), October 24, 2004.
25 Ibid.
26 Ibid.
27 Transcript, “Hearing on Iraq Private Contractor Oversight,” House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, February 7, 2007.
28 Author copy of contract.
29 Richard P. Nordan v. Blackwater Security Consulting, LLC et al., filed January 5, 2005.
30 Jay Price and Joseph Neff, “Security Company Broke Own Rules; Four U.S. Civilians Ambushed and Killed in Fallujah, Iraq, Lacked Some Protection Their Contract Promised,” August 22, 2004.
31 Ibid.
32 Ibid.
33 Richard P. Nordan v. Blackwater Security Consulting, LLC et al., filed January 5, 2005.
34 Author copy, Scott Helvenston e-mail; subject: extreme unprofessionalism, March 27, 2004.
35 Ibid.
36 Ibid.
37 Ibid.
38 Richard P. Nordan v. Blackwater Security Consulting, LLC et al., filed January 5, 2005.
39 E-mail to author April 14, 2006.
40 Author copy.
CHAPTER 7 1 Human Rights Watch Report, “Violent Response: The U.S. Army in Al-Falluja,” June 2003.
2 Department of Defense Transcript, “82nd Airborne Division Commanding General’s Briefing from Iraq,” January 6, 2004.
3 Anthony Shadid, Night Draws Near, p. 235.
4 Patrick Graham, “23 Killed as Iraqi Rebels Overrun Police Station,” Observer, February 15, 2004.
5 L. Paul Bremer III, My Year in Iraq, pp. 314-15.
6 Associated Press, “A Year After Invasion, Some Iraqis Allege More Insecurities,” March 20, 2004.
7 CNN, “General: It’s ‘Fun to Shoot Some People,’” CNN.com, February 4, 2005. See: www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/03/general.shoot/.
8 Hamza Hendawi, “Marines Seek to Pacify Fallujah With Show of Force, Residents Are Skeptical,” Associated Press, March 30, 2004.
9 Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Anthony Shadid, “U.S. Targeted Fiery Cleric in Risky Move; As Support for Sadr Surged, Shiites Rallied for Fallujah,” Washington Post, April 11, 2004.
10 Ibid.
11 Christopher Torchia, “13 Killed in Iraq, Including US Marine,” Associated Press, March 26, 2004.
12 “Four Killed, Seven Wounded in Iraq Battle: Hospital,” Agence France-Presse, March 26, 2004.
13 Hamza Hendawi, “Marines Seek to Pacify Fallujah With Show of Force, Residents Are Skeptical,” Associated Press, March 30, 2004.
14 Stephen Farrell and Richard Beeston, “Out of the Desert Darkness Came Hellfire,” The Times of London, March 23, 2004.
15 Nayla Razzouk, “Iraqis Fear ‘Resistance Leader’ Yassin’s Killing May Fuel Terrorism,” Agence France-Presse, March 22, 2004.
16 Ibid.
17 Hamza Hendawi, “Marines Seek to Pacify Fallujah With Show of Force, Residents Are Skeptical,” Associated Press, March 30, 2004.
18 Dexter Filkins (Associated Press), “2 Civilians Killed in Mosul Gunbattles,” Houston Chronicle , March 27, 2004.
19 Hamza Hendawi, “Marines Seek to Pacify Fallujah With Show of Force, Residents Are Skeptical,” Associated Press, March 30, 2004.
20 Ibid.
21 Transcript, NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, PBS, March 31, 2004.
22 Thomas E. Ricks, Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, Penguin Press, New York, 2006, p. 331.
23 Transcript, press briefing, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, Baghdad, Iraq, March 30, 2004.
24 Unless otherwise noted, all biographical information on Jerry Zovko, as well as the comments of his mother, Danica Zovko, is from interviews conducted by the author, Summer 2006.
25 Joseph Neff and Jay Price, “A Private Driven man; A 1995 Tour in Bosnia Matured Jerry Zovko and Steered Him to the Contracting Business That Would Take Him to Iraq,” News and Observer, July 28, 2004.
26 Interview, Summer 2006.
27 Joseph Neff and Jay Price, “Army Molds a Future; During His 20 Years in the Service, Wesley Batalona Built Skills That Would Come Into Play Later for the Tough Former Sergeant,” News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), July 27, 2004.
28 Ibid.
29 “Slain US Security Agents Once Served With Navy Seals, Special Forces,” Agence France-Presse, April 2, 2004.
30 Ibid.
31 Jay Price, Joseph Neff, and Charles Crain, “Mutilation Seen Around the World,” News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), July 25, 2004.
32 Bill Powell, “Into the Cauldron: The Murder of Four American Civilians in Fallujah Provokes a Vow of Retaliation. But Can Anything Defuse the Rage in Iraq?” Time, April 8, 2004.
33 Ibid.
34 The description of this mission and the details of it come largely from three sources: various Blackwater contracts obtained by the author; the lawsuit filed against Blackwater by the families of the four men in January 2005; and the groundbreaking investigative reporting done by Jay Price and Joseph Neff of the News and Observer newspaper.
35 PBS Frontline Web site, “Private Warriors: Contractors: The High-Risk Contracting Business, ” www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/contractors/highrisk.html, posted June 21, 2005.
36 Jay Price and Joseph Neff, “Families Sue Over Fallujah Ambush: Relatives Contend an N.C. Company Denied Necessary Equipment to Four Men Who Were Killed in the Iraqi City,” the News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), January 6, 2005.
37 Jay Prince and Joseph Neff, “Security Company Broke Own Rules; Four U.S. Civilians Ambushed and Killed in Fallujah, Iraq, Lacked Some Protection Their Contract Promised,” News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), August 22, 2004.
38 Jay Price, Joseph Neff, and Charles Crain, “Graveyard; The Ambush Was So Sudden That the Four Private Contractors Had Little Chance to React. The Men had
Driven Into Fallujah Rather Than Bypassing That Tinderbox in the Sunni Triangle. The City’s Barely Suppressed Fury Boiled to the Surface,” News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), July 31, 2004.
39 Jay Prince, Joseph Neff, and Charles Crain, “Ambush Kills 4 Workers in Iraq; Men Worked for N.C. Security Firm,” News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), June 7, 2004.
40 Richard P. Nordan v. Blackwater Security Consulting, LLC et. al., filed January 5, 2005.
41 Jay Prince and Joseph Neff, “Security Company Broke Own Rules; Four U.S. Civilians Ambushed and Killed in Fallujah, Iraq, Lacked Some Protection Their Contract Promised,” News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), August 22, 2004.
42 Author copy of contract.
43 Jay Price, Joseph Neff, and Charles Crain, “Graveyard; The Ambush Was So Sudden That the Four Private Contractors Had Little Chance to React. The Men had Driven Into Fallujah Rather Than Bypassing That Tinderbox in the Sunni Triangle. The City’s Barely Suppressed Fury Boiled to the Surface,” News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), July 31, 2004.
44 Ibid.
45 Joshua Hammer, “Cowboy Up,” The New Republic, May 24, 2004.
46 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Majority Staff Report, “Private Military Contractors in Iraq: An Examination of Blackwater’s Actions in Fallujah,” September 2007.
47 Ibid.
48 Bill Powell, “Into the Cauldron; The Murder of Four American Civilians in Fallujah Provokes a Vow of Retaliation. But Can Anything Defuse the Rage in Iraq?” Time, April 8, 2004.
49 As quoted in the documentary Shadow Company, released 2006, produced and directed by Nick Bicanic, Purpose Films.
50 Robert Young Pelton, Licensed to Kill, p. 134.
51 David Barstow, “Security Firm Says Its Workers Were Lured Into Iraqi Ambush,” New York Times, April 9, 2004.
52 Thomas E. Ricks, Fiasco, p. 331.
53 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Majority Staff Report, “Private Military Contractors in Iraq: An Examination of Blackwater’s Actions in Fallujah,” September 2007.
54 Bill Powell, “Into the Cauldron; The Murder of Four American Civilians in Fallujah Provokes a Vow of Retaliation. But Can Anything Defuse the Rage in Iraq?” Time, April 8, 2004.
55 Sewell Chan, “Descent Into Carnage in a Hostile City; In Fallujah, Mob Unleashes Its Rage,” Washington Post, April 1, 2004. Note: Subsequent autopsies determined that the men died immediately, disputing these accounts, but the bodies were horribly mutilated.
56 Bill Powell, “Into the Cauldron; The Murder of Four American Civilians in Fallujah Provokes a Vow of Retaliation. But Can Anything Defuse the Rage in Iraq?” Time, April 8, 2004.
57 Ibid.
58 Sameer N. Yacoub, “Insurgents Attack U.S. Convoy in Fallujah Day After Bodies of American Civilians Dragged Through Streets,” Associated Press, April 1, 2004.
59 Sewell Chan, “Descent Into Carnage in a Hostile City; In Fallujah, Mob Unleashes Its Rage,” Washington Post, April 1, 2004.
60 Ibid.
61 Ibid.
62 Ibid.
63 Michael Georgy, “Iraqis Drag Bodies Through Streets After Attack,” Reuters, March 31, 2004.
CHAPTER 8 1 Bing West, No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah, Bantam Dell, New York, 2005, p. 58.
2 Transcript, “Deputy Director for Coalition Operations Hosts News Conference on Security Operations in Iraq,” Department of Defense Press Briefing, March 31, 2004.
3 Tom Raum, “Stakes for U.S. Much Higher in Iraq Than They Were in Somalia,” Associated Press, April 1, 2004.
4 Transcript, “Deputy Director for Coalition Operations Hosts News Conference on Security Operations in Iraq,” Department of Defense Press Briefing, March 31, 2004.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Transcript, “Remarks by the President at Bush-Cheney 2004 Dinner Marriott Wardman Park Hotel Washington, D.C.,” White House News Release, March 31, 2004.
10 L. Paul Bremer III, My Year in Iraq, p. 317.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.
13 Tom Raum, “Stakes for U.S. Much Higher in Iraq Than They Were in Somalia,” Associated Press, April 1, 2004.
14 David Stout, “White House, With Support, Vows to Finish Mission in Iraq, New York Times, April 1, 2004.
15 Ibid.
16 Transcript, The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News Network, March 31, 2004.
17 Ibid.
18 Transcript, The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News Network, April 1, 2004.
19 Ibid.
20 Transcript, Scarborough Country, MSNBC, March 31, 2004.
21 Claude Salhani, “Analysis: Mogadishu Revisited?” UPI, March 31, 2004.
22 Paul McGeough, “Shocked Iraqis Wait for US Retribution,” Sydney Morning Herald, April 3, 2004.
23 Transcript, “Deputy Director for Coalition Operations Hosts News Conference on Security Operations in Iraq,” Department of Defense Press Briefing, March 31, 2004.
24 Transcript, CNN Crossfire, CNN, April 1, 2004.
25 Transcript, “Coalition Provisional Authority Briefing With Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt,” Department of Defense Press Briefing, April 1, 2004.
26 Ibid.
27 Ibid.
28 Transcript, “Coalition Provisional Authority Briefing With Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt,” Department of Defense Press Briefing, April 12, 2004.
29 Jeffrey Gettleman, “4 From U.S. Killed in Ambush in Iraq; Mob Drags Bodies,” New York Times, April 1, 2004.
30 Transcript, Larry King Live, CNN, April 1, 2004.
31 Anne Barnard and Thanassis Cambanis, “Brutality, Cheers in Iraq: Mob Drags Burned Bodies of Four Slain American Civilians Through Streets,” Boston Globe, April 1, 2004.
32 Paul McGeough, “Shocked Iraqis Wait for US Retribution,” Sydney Morning Herald, April 3, 2004.
33 Ibid.
34 Sewell Chan, “Descent Into Carnage in a Hostile City; In Fallujah, Mob Unleashes Its Rage,” Washington Post, April 1, 2004.
35 Kevin Johnson, “Fallujah Leaders Set Defiant Tone,” USA Today, April 5, 2004.
36 Ibid.
37 Jack Fairweather, “American Dead Butchered ‘Like Sheep,’” The Telegraph (London), April 1, 2004.
38 Transcript, White House Press Briefing, March 31, 2004.
39 Transcript, “Interview With Maybritt Illner of Zdf German Television,” FDCH Federal Department and Agency Documents, April 1, 2004.
40 Transcript, “Coalition Provisional Authority Briefing With Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt,” Department of Defense Press Briefing, April 1, 2004.
41 Transcript, CNN Live Today, CNN, April 1, 2004.
42 Joanne Kimberlin, “Three Slain Blackwater Workers Identified,” Virginian-Pilot, April 2, 2004.
43 Jonathan E. Kaplan, “Private Army Seeking Political Advice in D.C.,” The Hill, April 14, 2004.
44 Gerry J. Gilmore, “U.S. Firm Mourns Slain Employees,” American Forces Press Service, April 2, 2004.
45 Ibid.
46 Ben Deck, “N.C. Sheriff: Some Blackwater Workers Ex-Law Enforcement Officers,” Cox News Service, March 31, 2004.
47 Transcript, “Hearing of the Emerging Threats & Capabilities Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee,” Federal News Service, April 2, 2004.
48 D. R. Staton, “Chaplain Corner 04/05/04,” Blackwater Tactical Weekly, April 5, 2004.
49 Sonja Barisic, “Deaths of North Carolina Company’s Employees in Iraq Hit Stir Hometown,” Associated Press, April 1, 2004.
50 Thomas E. Ricks, Fiasco, p. 332.
51 Alissa J. Rubin and Doyle McManus, “Why America Has Waged a Losing Battle on Fallouja,” Los Angeles Times, October 24, 2004.
52 Ibid.
53 Thomas E. Ricks, Fiasco, p. 332
54 Alissa J. Rubin and Doyle McManus, “Why America Has Waged a Losing Battle on Fallouja,” Los Angeles Times, October 24, 2004.
56 Jon Lee Anderson, “Letter From Baghdad: The Uprising,” The New Yorker, May 3, 2004.
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