« The Rolling Stones Take on Pentagon and Halliburton | Main | Video: Mercenary Sniper in Iraq »
August 16, 2005
Marines Arrest Security Convoy: A Story with Legs
It's always gratifying to break a new story: the US Marines arresting and jailing a Zapata private security convoy over Memorial Day weekend near Fallujah without charges. An investigation continues, of course, as first reported June 2 in this blog and picked up by the other media June 8.
Not only did my June 7 story set the pace for hundreds of others around the world (thanks to a kind source), it has now become a touchstone and anecdote for most of the significant stories about private security companies in Iraq ever since, including the latest piece on Triple Canopy in The New York Times.
I also enjoy the echo effect or headlines. My original story had the kicker: "Tension and Confusion Grow Amid the 'Fog of War.'" A July 10 Washington Post report on the same Zapata convoy: "Tension and Confusion Between Troops, and Contractors on the Battlefield."
Posted by davidphinney at August 16, 2005 04:30 AM