From: "FRONTLINE Bulletin" <lists at frontline.org> To: <leighcmeyers at yahoo.com> Subject: FRONTLINE - Private Warriors Tuesday, Jun. 21 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings) Date: Sunday, June 19, 2005 1:33 PM
FRONTLINE http://www.pbs.org/frontline/
- This Week: "Private Warriors" (60min.),
Tuesday, Jun. 21 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings) - Inside FRONTLINE: A first encounter with the private side of the
Iraq war - Live Discussion: Chat with producer/correspondent Martin Smith this
Wed. at 11 am ET
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+ This week
There is a story in Iraq that I'd call 'the elephant in the room' - the huge role of private contractors in the war effort. There are as many as 100,000 civilian contractors and approximately 20,000 private security forces in the country. In "Private Warriors," our report this Tuesday, you will get an eye-opening look behind the scenes at the Halliburton subsidiary, KBR, the largest company running U.S. military supply lines and operating U.S. military bases. You'll also enter the world of the private security firms that are performing many military functions. The tension between these security teams and the military is just one simmering and largely unreported problem in the private side of this war. The problem is reflected in an incident that didn't make it into the film, but which producer/correspondent Martin Smith shared with me:
"It didn't take long for our story to slap us in the face. We had just arrived in Kuwait and were driving to Camp Arijan, southwest of Kuwait City. It's a major staging area for the Iraq war. Captain David Tippett would be greeting us somewhere outside the first checkpoint to clear us in. Tippett's a guy a lot of journalists know well as he has helped hundreds move through Kuwait and over the border into Iraq ever since the early days of the war. He's a savvy public affairs officer, and I knew we were in good hands.
But, just outside the main base gates we hit a long line of trucks. Tippett is on the phone telling us to skip the line and meet him at the gate. We pull out of the line-up and move down the left lane. But, out of nowhere, two black Suburbans with tinted windows bear down on us forcing us onto the left shoulder. Armed guards jump out.
The guards work for a Fort Worth, Texas private security company CSA (Combat Support Associates), which, I learn, has the contract to protect the base. We get Tippett on the phone to get these guys off our backs. But the fun and games were just beginning. By the time we get to the gate and shake hands with the captain, we're already late and our first appointment on the base is threatening to cancel. We get out of our car and march over deep gravel up to a small trailer park of offices to get our ID's.
Next, I hear Tippett begin to raise his voice at one of the CSA guards, "They are my guests, they are approved." Our names are not on the list of visitors. Tippett wants the guard to call an army officer on base but the guard refuses. It's an army base; Tippett is a captain.
By now, Tippett is yelling, "This is an army base! These are my guests! Call the base commander!"
"We don't do that," says the CSA guard.
"Well, goddamn it, what if a bomb went off out here? You wouldn't call the base commander?" asks Tippett.
"We don't talk with the army. We call our office," replies the guard.
There's always a silver lining. Because I'm thinking it could be part of our story. We can't even get onto an army base with an army escort. Then, in the middle of Tippett's argument, sirens go off. We're told, "You gotta go, the dog sat down." We're herded, along with hundreds of imported laborers also waiting to get onto the base, out into the desert .. a few hundred yards away from the gate. We stand for an hour or two under a rising desert sun. One of the K-9's sniffed explosives and, as trained, sat down. We never did get on the base that day."
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We hope you'll join us Tuesday night for "Private Warriors" and after,
explore our web site for more on the consequences of outsourcing the
war, a closer look at the contractors who've been hired, and "Baghdad
>From A Bullet Proof Window" -- a vivid report from producers Martin
Smith and Marcela Gaviria describing the dramatic changes they saw on
this most recent reporting trip to Iraq. Plus, watch their report again
online and, take the opportunity to express your opinion about it at
http://www.pbs.org/frontline/shows/warriors/
Finally, a note: "Private Warriors" concludes FRONTLINE's 23rd broadcast season. We'll be back in September with a new line-up of reports. Meanwhile, check your local tv listings over the summer for rebroadcasts and go to our Web site where 50 video streamed programs can be viewed online.
Louis Wiley Jr. Executive Editor -------------------------- + Live Online Discussion on Washingtonpost.com ...
Producer Martin Smith will be online this Wednesday, May 22, at 11am ET, to discuss "Private Warriors"
For details, see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/06/16/DI2005061601172.html
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Leigh http://www.leighm.net
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