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Security Contractor: Blackwater Buck-Wildness Bad For Business
It may not be the most compelling argument to an Iraqi civilian, but it surely resonates within the private-security industry. One of Blackwater's competitors, the London-based ArmorGroup, anticipates a lackluster quarterly profit report -- something the company blames, in part, on the Iraqi government's hostility to private security contractors after the Nisour Square shootings.
ArmorGroup International PLC, a British private security company, warned Tuesday that profits will fall this year because of the fallout from competitor Blackwater Worldwide's involvement in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians.The news sent the company's share price plunging 40 percent on the London Stock Exchange.
ArmorGroup also announced that David Seaton was stepping down as chief executive, effective immediately, as the company reorganizes.
"The award and mobilization of a number of major contracts in Iraq has been severely affected by the Blackwater incident in Baghdad on 16 September," the company said in a trading update to the London Stock Exchange.
Imagine that: shooting civilians is bad for business.
Comments (4)
Gary Pool wrote on November 27, 2007 1:13 PM:Perhaps, in the not so distant past, it was the case. Now it seems like it's the disclosure that is not good for business.
anonymous wrote on November 27, 2007 1:50 PM:Yep, it's a left-wing (read: commie pinko) conspiracy to undermine the profitability of major American corporations by tricking them into shooting unarmed civilians without provocation (hmmmm . . . reminds me of the circumstances of Bush's initial ivasion of Iraq - unprovoked) and then leaking it to their accomplices in the media which then beyond all reason pumped up the idea that its bad to shoot unarmed civilians to be something that it really isn't.
After all, getting shot in a city square isn't any worse than many fraternity drinking rituals that result in fatal alcohol poisoning and probably a lot less painful way to go!
nikto wrote on November 27, 2007 3:08 PM:Food 4 thought...
Does Blackwater=America's Future SS?
will o dwisp wrote on November 27, 2007 4:33 PM:the nature of corporation -it only cares about civilian casualities when it starts hurting the bottom line -civilians were just in the way before. In fact statisically speaking civilian deaths were GOOD for the bottom line -less sorting of who's bad and who's good = expidited product flow -like a manufacturer producing parts that don't have go through quality inspection -the sky's the limit