Jeremy Scahill - Blackwater

For former Chilean political prisoner and torture victim Tito Tricot, the use of Chileans and other soldiers from countries with atrocious human rights records by the United States is “nothing new.” But, he says, “There is something deeply perverse about the privatization of the Iraq War and the utilization of mercenaries. This externalization of services or outsourcing attempts to lower costs—‘Third World’ mercenaries are paid less than their counterparts from the developed world—and maximize benefits, i.e.: ‘Let others fight the war for the Americans.’ In either case, the Iraqi people do not matter at all. It is precisely this dehumanization of the ‘enemy’ that makes it easier for the private companies and the U.S. government to recruit mercenaries. It is exactly the same strategy used by the Chilean military to train members of the secret police and make it easy to annihilate opponents of the dictatorship. In other words, Chilean mercenaries in Iraq is business as usual.” 80

WHILE BLACKWATERplotted out its expansion in the aftermath of the Fallujah ambush and internationalized its force in Iraq, the families of the four men killed there on March 31, 2004, looked for answers. They wanted to know how their loved ones ended up in the middle of the volatile city that morning, not to mention in SUVs, short-staffed and underarmed. All of the families considered themselves patriotic Americans, military families—Special Forces people. For the Zovko family, life since Fallujah had become consumed with a quest to understand their son’s life and death. Danica Zovko, Jerry’s mother, spent months piecing together details and memories. 1She recalled a week back in the summer of 2003, when Jerry was visiting her before heading off to Iraq. The national power crisis had left her family without electricity in their Cleveland, Ohio, home. “We had a lot of time to just spend at home—no TV, no radio, no nothing—just sitting outside and talking.” She remembered conversing with her son about his work and travels. “While we sat there, my Jerry told me, ‘The best thing that one can do in life is to sort of plant seeds and see what’s going on so that no matter where you go, you never close the doors behind you—that you always have someone to be there that you can count on.’ When I think about that now, all that talking and everything we did, that’s what that comes out to.”

At first, it didn’t seem to Danica Zovko that anyone other than the insurgents in Fallujah were to blame for her son’s gruesome death. In the immediate aftermath, she could not bring herself to read any news stories or look at the graphic images, but there was little doubt in her mind who bore the responsibility. From the start, Blackwater seemed on top of the situation. At 8 p.m. on March 31, 2004, Erik Prince showed up in person at the family home in Cleveland, accompanied by a state trooper, Danica recalled. “[Prince] told us that Jerry was one of the men killed that day,” she said. “We were numb. Just numb. He also told me that as far as he was concerned, if anyone was going to survive the war in Iraq, he thought it was going to be my Jerry. He said he saw Jerry, he met with Jerry, he was in Baghdad with Jerry, that Jerry was—you would think he really, really liked Jerry.” Danica Zovko said Prince handed them a form to fill out for $3,000 for funeral expenses, promised that Jerry’s body would be coming home soon and that Prince would attend the funeral in person.

On April 6, Paul Bremer wrote the Zovkos a letter: “I would like to personally assure you that Jerry was serving an honorable cause. The Iraqi people will be successful in their long journey towards a democratic and free society,” Bremer wrote. “Jerry was a dedicated individual and will remain an inspiration to all of us in Iraq whether civilian or military. In the line of duty, he gave his all. Rest assured that our authorities are actively investigating Jerry’s murder and that we will not rest until those responsible are punished for this despicable crime. You[r] family will remain in our thoughts and prayers as you confront this terrible tragedy in the difficult days ahead. I will do my part to ensure Jerry’s contribution to this country will be forever remembered by the Iraq people [ sic ].” 2Three days later, Jerry Zovko’s remains returned to the United States in an aluminum box at Dover Air Force base in Delaware. 3True to his word, Danica Zovko said, Erik Prince came to the wake and funeral.

In Tampa, Florida, meanwhile, Scott Helvenston’s family held a funeral at Florida National Cemetery. His godfather, Circuit Judge William Levens, eulogized Scott as “a warrior who wanted peace—peace in his heart, peace in the world.” 4In the obituary in the paper, Helvenston’s family wrote, “Scott lost his life heroically serving his country.” 5A few weeks later, Scott Helvenston’s high school buddies heard about an event in his hometown of Winter Haven, Florida, organized by Republican State Representative Baxter Troutman. The “Operation Troop Salute” event was to honor servicemen and women deployed in the war zone and would be attended by eight thousand people, among them First Lady Laura Bush and the president’s brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush. 6Helvenston’s buddies hoped that their fallen friend, the ex-SEAL, could be mentioned from the podium in honor of his service in Iraq. But Troutman, the organizer, said no—because Scott was a private contractor, not an active-duty soldier. “This was for the servicemen and -women who are not there by choice; to me, that makes a difference,” Troutman said. “If I am an employee of a company and don’t like what I am being subjected to, then I can come back home.” 7To Scott’s friends, it was devastating. “They’d be naming streets after him if he was still enlisted,” said high school pal Ed Twyford. 8

Katy Helvenston-Wettengel was finding that there were almost no resources available to families of private contractors killed in the war and decided to reach out to one of the few people she could think of who would understand what she was going through. She looked up Danica Zovko and called her. The two developed a friendship and mutual quest for the truth of what had happened to their sons. “For the first couple of months, we flew back and forth, like, every other week, and we were there holding each other up. When one was struggling, the other would pick us up and vice versa,” recalled Helvenston-Wettengel. “Those first few months after, I didn’t quit crying—for almost a year. I cried every day. I just missed him so much and he’s my baby. I know he’s a big macho man, but he’s my baby.” 9

As more details on the ambush emerged in the media, the families moved from grieving to questioning how it all happened. “Why weren’t they escorted?” wondered Tom Zovko, Jerry’s brother. “I don’t believe my brother would have done that. He was definitely not careless.” 10When Danica Zovko learned details of the mission the men had been on in Fallujah, she said, “I couldn’t believe it. I could not believe my son would be escorting trucks and protecting trucks. That was not my son. That made me believe that no, that’s not my Jerry, it must be someone else. I just couldn’t see him doing that, I just couldn’t. Even we buried his casket and I didn’t see the body and I’m going on the words of people—politicians and money-hungry people—that that’s him in there. I still sometimes dream that my Jerry is somewhere and just can’t call or doesn’t have a computer. But you know, I know it isn’t that. But you can’t help but hope.” Danica Zovko said that things started to feel strange when Blackwater returned Jerry’s belongings and some of his things were missing. She said her efforts to get these items—or information about them—were curiously stymied by the company. She started reading some articles about the incident and about her son’s mysterious employer, Blackwater. “When you want to find out things, when you start questioning yourself, when you are not content with saying, ‘It’s in God’s hands,’ when you think, well let me find out, your eyes open,” she said. “I found out there were no rules and no laws that govern what my son was doing, that it was an open place, you know. He was working for a company that could do whatever they wanted to do and however they wanted to do it.” She started thinking more about the ambush: What were they even doing in Fallujah?