Change.org Questions Jeremy Scahill on Blackwater Story

UPDATE: 2:00pm: During a phone conversation this afternoon, Scahill told Change.org that he did not believe (and was not told by sources) that aid organizations were knowingly complicit in any Blackwater operations. Scahill said that it was his impression that Blackwater operatives were using aidworker credentials for cover and access, without the knowledge of the aid organizations or their legitimate employees. He declined to give any further details, citing concern for the safety of legitimate employees of potentially affected aid organizations.

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Jeremy Scahill's claim that a military intelligence source close to familiar with the activities of private security firm Blackwater (now 'Xe') told him Blackwater operatives in Pakistan worked undercover as aidworkers is explosive, disturbing, and has the potential to place aidworkers in South Asia at increased risk of being targeted for violence. At the same time, it is a claim contained in a single line in the middle of a very long, single-source exposé [Correction: Scahill had three sources, not one] , and it raises serious questions that go unanswered in the rest of the article.

Change.org contacted Scahill for additional details and clarification. The following is from the email exchange between this blogger and Scahill late yesterday. (One question has been omitted, as it pertained to a different subject.)

Change.org to Jeremy Scahill:

You wrote:
"According to the source, Blackwater has effectively marketed itself as a company whose operatives have 'conducted lethal direct action missions and now, for a price, you can have your own planning cell. JSOC just ate that up,' he said, adding, 'They have a sizable force in Pakistan--not for any nefarious purpose if you really want to look at it that way--but to support a legitimate contract that's classified for JSOC.' Blackwater's Pakistan JSOC contracts are secret and are therefore shielded from public oversight, he said. The source is not sure when the arrangement with JSOC began, but he says that a spin-off of Blackwater SELECT 'was issued a no-bid contract for support to shooters for a JSOC Task Force and they kept extending it.' Some of the Blackwater personnel, he said, work undercover as aid workers. 'Nobody even gives them a second thought.'"

That floored me, and a lot of aidworkers I know. If true, it casts suspicion on all aidworkers in South Asia, places lives in danger (the Taliban already accuse aidworkers of being spies), and jeopardizes relief operations. Can you provide some additional context for that last line?

Kevin Heller at Opinio Juris explains why Blackwater operatives posing as aidworkers could be a war crime [see legal clarification below]:

"If the Blackwater employees attacked combatants while impersonating aid workers, they would be guilty of 'killing or wounding treacherously' regardless of the nature of the conflict.  If they only impersonated the aid workers while 'off-duty,' they would still be guilty of 'making improper use' as long as the aid workers were associated with the UN or the Red Cross and the conflict qualified as international."

Did your source explain which context the Blackwater employees posed as aidworkers in?

Scahill:

I don't think further comment or details from me on this would be helpful at this time. Obviously, military or paramilitary forces posing as civilian aid workers puts actual aid workers at risk, which I believe is utterly deplorable.

Change.org:

No more details than that?

Will you be providing more details in the future? The aid community is quite upset.

Scahill:

I truly do not believe it would be responsible or helpful to provide more details right now. Obviously, I think this needs to be investigated more deeply.

Scahill went on the radio program Democracy Now! and had the following exchange with host Amy Goodman about the aidworkers claim:

AMY GOODMAN: Jeremy, you say Blackwater employees maybe posing as USAID workers?

JEREMY SCAHILL: I said they may be posting as aid workers, I didn’t specify any organization. I think that we have a situation right now in Pakistan where it is very dangerous for people that actually are there to aid in humanitarian projects, and this has long been a history. When you have non-civilian forces that pose in any way as aid workers of any kind, I think you create a dangerous situation for the well-meaning individuals that go to very difficult and dangerous countries in an effort to help local populations that are suffering tremendously as a result of war and poverty. My understanding from the military intelligence source is Blackwater personnel have at times posed as aid workers.

Clarification: From Kevin Heller: "Although the mere use of distinctive emblems is a violation of IHL under the First Additional Protocol, the war crime of misuse requires the use to lead to death or serious injury.  So posing as aid workers off-duty would violate IHL but not, by itself, be a war crime."