Blackwater versus the government of Prime Minister of Nouri al-Maliki. Who to root for? The controversial private contractor or the corrupt administration? I don't want to be too glib about a serious matter. But this is a face-off with no clear good guy. Blackwater--accused of using excessive violence--is run by Erik Prince, who has been an important supporter of Christian fundamentalist outfits (such as the Family Research Counsel and James Dobson's Focus on the Family) and who has generously donated to Republican causes. The Maliki government is riddled with corruption--especially the interior ministry, a stronghold of Shia militias and the department in direct conflict with Blackwater. As regular readers of this blog know, a secret draft report prepared by the U.S. embassy describes the interior ministry as a criminal enterprise, and the Jones Commission recently IDed this ministry as essentially corrupt beyond remedy.

Prince rarely talks to the media, but a source who has recently talked with him tells me that Prince is using the corruption issue to defend Blackwater. As has been much reported, Blackwater has been operating in Iraq without a license. Most private military contractors (PMCs) do obtain licenses to work within in Iraq. But who awards such licenses? The interior ministry--and it charges the PMCs tens of thousands of dollars for the licenses, which have to be periodically renewed (that is, bought again). Prince is claiming that Blackwater did not want to make payments to a ministry controlled by criminal thugs, including possible anti-American insurgents. He told my source that he didn't want any Blackwater funds to end up in the hands of people shooting at Blackwater employees (and other Americans).

Prince may well have a point. (I'd be happy to talk to him about it.) It would be absurd for his company to make payments that end up financing militias that target his employees and Iraqi and American officials. But if this is indeed the ground reality, it shows that the bigger picture in Iraq is absurd. How can the U.S. government--with or without PMCs--accomplish the mission in Iraq if the government there is in the hands of militias and corrupt thugs? If Blackwater sees the Iraqi government (at least a significant portion of it) as the enemy, what's that tell us?

Meanwhile, Al-Ahram, an Egyptian publication reports:

Four cholera cases have been reported in Baghdad this week, amid fears of an epidemic. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 1,500 cholera cases have been discovered in the country since 20 August. Polluted water supplies and poor sewage facilities are blamed for the spread of the disease. Iraq has no health minister, its last minister having fled to the US in June after being accused of involvement in sectarian violence.

No health minister? Maybe filling that post ought to be a benchmark.

Posted by David Corn at September 28, 2007 10:57 AM