[R-G] Blackwater trains Canadian troops

[Anthony Fenton]

Private firm trains Canadian troops
Forces send soldiers to Blackwater outfit under scrutiny for killings  
in Iraq

David Pugliese
The Ottawa Citizen

Saturday, September 29, 2007

The Canadian Forces is using a controversial private security firm to  
train some of its troops sent to Afghanistan.

Select Canadian soldiers have been sent to Blackwater U.S.A. in North  
Carolina for specialized training in bodyguard and shooting skills.  
Other soldiers have taken counter-terrorism evasive-driving courses  
with the private military company now at the centre of an  
investigation into the killings of Iraqi civilians and mounting  
concerns about the aggressive tactics of its workers in the field.

Critics of Blackwater label the firm as a mercenary organization and  
question why a professional military such as the Canadian Forces  
can't do its own training in specialized areas.

But Canadian officials say the company was selected because it is a  
leader in its specialty areas, which range from weapons training to  
executive protection. The company boasts on its website that its  
instructors are "ranked the best in the world."

But Blackwater has found itself under intense scrutiny since a Sept.  
16 incident in Baghdad in which 11 people, including a couple and  
their infant, were killed during a firefight. Iraqi officials put the  
blame for the killings on the private soldiers, but the company has  
denied its men fired on innocent civilians, saying instead that its  
convoy had been attacked by insurgents.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday said he sent a team  
to Iraq to see if there is enough oversight of the private soldiers  
employed by firms such as Blackwater.

On Thursday, a congressional report into the deaths of four  
Blackwater security contractors in Iraq in 2004 found that the  
company appeared more interested in cutting costs than in the safety  
of its personnel.

Canadian military police trained by Blackwater operated in Kandahar  
last year in support of coalition special forces. Members of the  
Strategic Advisory Team, which operates in Kabul, also underwent  
counter-terrorism driving training.

The Ottawa-based counter-terrorism unit, Joint Task Force 2, has also  
maintained ongoing training links to the company. For instance, in  
February 2000, JTF2 operatives went to the Blackwater skills school  
at Moyock, North Carolina, while others from the unit's 2 Squadron  
took shooting courses at Blackwater in October 2000 and enrolled in  
the firm's tactical shotgun course a month later. More recent data on  
JTF2's training with Blackwater was not available.

Canadian Forces spokesman Lt.-Col. Jamie Robertson said the military  
does not discuss its special forces training. But he said that  
Blackwater and other firms have been contracted to provide services  
for other units.

"The Canadian Forces has occasionally contracted companies to provide  
specialized training to our personnel in those cases when specialized  
training is not available within the Canadian Forces due to a range  
of factors, including the unavailability of training resources,  
expertise or specialized facilities and equipment," Lt.-Col.  
Robertson said. He said the training is adapted to Canadian Forces  
requirements and procedures.

The Canadian Forces does not use such contractors as advisers or in  
combat operations.

But Dawn Black, the NDP's defence critic, questioned the need for  
Blackwater to be involved in training Canadian troops in the first  
place. "My understanding is we have some of the best-trained forces  
in the world, and great trainers, so why do we need our armed forces  
personnel to be trained by a mercenary organization?" Ms. Black said.  
She said she was also concerned because of allegations regarding the  
firm's track record in Iraq.

Since 2002, Blackwater has received U.S. government contracts  
totalling more than $1 billion. Personnel working for Blackwater,  
which has close ties to the Bush administration, guard U.S. diplomats  
and provide helicopter services

to the U.S. State Department. In Afghanistan, Blackwater provides  
security for the State Department and is involved in counter- 
narcotics programs.

A total dollar figure on what has been spent on Blackwater training  
was not available by press time because training is contracted out  
individually on a unit-by-unit basis, Lt.-Col. Robertson said.

But he provided an example of one such contract: 18 members of the  
Strategic Advisory Team sent to Kabul went to Blackwater in June for  
a two-day course called hostile environment defensive driver  
training. The cost was $29,000, which included accommodation and  
meals, as well as extra course time for two of the team members.

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell could not be reached for comment  
about the Canadian training. The firm has denied any wrongdoing in  
the Sept. 16 killings. It has called the congressional report one- 
sided and alleges that it fails to acknowledge "terrorists determined  
what happened that fateful day in 2004."

Peter Singer, a U.S. analyst who watches the private security  
industry, said contractors can sometimes play a role in providing  
training to established militaries. Where they don't have a place,  
however, is on the battlefield, argues Mr. Singer, author of  
Corporate Warriors. In a report published Thursday, he suggested such  
firms have hurt the ongoing war on terror since their sometimes  
reckless actions undercut the U.S. campaign to win Iraqis over.