And by Iraqis:
Weeping mourners called for justice Wednesday at a funeral for two Armenian Christian women killed while driving in Baghdad — the second shooting of civilians involving a security firm linked to U.S. government-financed work in Iraq in less than a month. ...
The deaths of the two women — including one who used the white car as a taxi to raise money for her family — came a day after the Iraqi government gave U.S. officials a report demanding hefty payments and the ouster from Iraq of embattled Moyock, N.C.-based Blackwater USA for a shooting last month that left at least 17 civilians dead.
At first I figured our Left's focus on the security companies was an admission of defeat on forcing US troops out of Iraq. So instead, they are trying to harm the war effort by getting rid of the foreign contract security people who provide a substantial amount of manpower for guarding Iraq against insurgents and terrorists.
But Iraqi popular anger makes me reconsider this narrow explanation. Security companies have been putting people in the field for years (and played an important role in withstanding the spring 2004 enemy counter-offensive). The vocal opposition is new. So I think my conclusion regarding our anti-war side is too narrow. Correct, mind you. But too narrow.
This popular Iraqi anger is probably just another sign that we are winning the war. When once suicide bombings on massive scales were sometimes daily occurances in Baghdad, the current trend of lower casualties is probably leading Iraqis to reconsider whether the security companies are worth the price. Only when other more violent threats are lower do you have the luxury of worrying about the unfortunate but still relatively rare killings by security forces.
It's kind of like how public concern in this country about crime rises with the decline in the unemployment rate. But when the unemployment rate rises, public concern about crime declines in relative terms as concern over jobs takes priority.
Iraq is a sovereign country. If they feel safe enough to eject or highly regulate foreign security companies, who are we to protest too much? We should be happy that Iraq is secure enough not to need such companies. Which would, of course, mean that the Left here is focusing on a pointless target for their wrath.
