Afghanistan: it’s fun for some.
According to the Senate investigation, Paravant employees were involved in a second, previously undisclosed shooting that happened in December 2008. Paravant program manager Johnnie Walker told committee staff the incident happened after an employee decided to get on the back of a moving car with a loaded AK-47 and “ride it like a stagecoach.” The employee accidentally discharged the rifle when the vehicle hit a bump. The round struck another Paravant team member, who was seriously injured.
..Another issue the committee probed was Bunker 22, an armory near the notorious Pol-e-Charki prison that held weapons meant for the Afghan National Police. According to the committee investigation, more than 200 AK-47s were taken out of Bunker 22 in September 2008 and signed for by a Paravant/Blackwater employee named “Eric Cartman.”
“Johnnie Walker”’s pretty good, too, in a retro dogs of war sort of way.
Steve Fainaru's Big Boy Rules comes recommended on this topic. By avoiding the well-rutted track of justifiable outrage about Blackwater and concentrating on the lower end of the market, it's a fascinating bit of reportage. (Despite some padding about the author's own life at the time.) Interesting companion piece to The Hurt Locker.
Posted by: Richard J | February 25, 2010 at 10:00 AM