US Contractors in Iraq claim abuse....

If you have been following the story of the American Contractors in Iraq that were held for suspected shooting at Iraqi civilians and military personnel this is the best article out there I've seen as far as full details:

Corp Watch

It presents the Contactors side:

Late one Saturday afternoon in May, a group of armed American private security guards in white Ford trucks and an Excursion sports utility vehicle barreled through the battle-scarred streets of Fallujah, Iraq. The group was a security convoy from Zapata Engineering, a company hired to destroy enemy ammunition, such as shells and bombs, in Iraq. As they swerved through traffic, the men heard gunfire they could not identify.

Snipers still regularly attack civilians and troops patrolling Fallujah, despite the fact that the US bombed the city heavily in April and November 2004 to flush out suspected rebels.

According to the Zapata contractors, one of their vehicles veered left on a road leading to a Marine checkpoint. It ran over the spike strip in the road near the guard house and the tire went flat. The anxious contractors jumped into action and put on a spare. Within minutes, they began rolling again.

A Marine captain brought the convoy to a halt. Had anyone in the convoy shot at the guard tower, he asked. Negative, said a convoy member.

The Military side:

Earlier that day, May 28, the soldiers recounted, "receiving small arms fire from gunman in several late-model trucks and sport utility vehicles" at approximately 2 P.M. "Marines also say witnessed passengers in the vehicles firing at and near civilian cars on the street," the Marines' report continues.

According to a Marines press statement, "Three hours later, another Marine observation post was fired on by gunmen from vehicles matching the description of those involved in the earlier attack. Marines saw passengers in the vehicles firing out the windows." This second account coincides with the arrest of the Zapata men.

The article also provides details on information about problems US Contractors have had, security issues and legal issues. I highly recommend you read it in full. I think it very important to also point out quite a few of these contractors are former US Marines, so when they do finally make it back to the States? Will be interesting to see what they say at that time.