dc0de wrote:

Mike the Usurper wrote:

“We noticed that one of them was hovering right over the intersection in front of our checkpoint,” he wrote. “There was a small amount of white smoke coming up from the intersection. I grabbed my radio and asked one of the guard towers what the smoke was. He answered that it looked like one of the helicopters dropped a smoke grenade on the cars in the intersection. I asked him why were they doing that, was there something going on in the intersection that would cause them to do this. He said, nope, couldn’t see anything. Then I said, well what kind of smoke is it?

“Before he could say anything, I got my answer. My eyes started watering, my nose started burning and my face started to heat up. CS! I heard the lieutenant say, “Sir that’s not smoke, it’s CS gas.”

Just plain out of control.

Ok, let's just take a breath here. CS gas isn't deadly, it's simply a strong tear gas. I've been exposed to it on purpose during basic training in the military, and while it makes you tear, cough and your nose run uncontrollably, it's nothing that would even require medical treatment.

The reason for their CS Gas release? I don't care. It was clearly a mistake, but let's not blow this out of proportion as the author of the article did.

Actually the point is that if these were US troops, the controls would be MUCH tighter. I don't think that's at question. The problem here is the same one we've been having over there since day one, the Iraqi's don't give a damn about who are US troops and who are Blackwater mercs, and actions by Blackwater reflect on Army personnel, badly.

Using gas in situations like this, aside from it completely fucking up their mission (the convoy had to turn around because the gas clogged the road), causes problems for Army guys using smoke who now get accused of using gas even if they didn't.

Bottom line, the "contractors" are bad for getting the job done and shouldn't be there. They inflate the force levels way beyond what people actually understand to be there, and make the long term job harder.

RE: 2005 Use of Gas by Blackwater Leaves Questions - New York Times