The war in Iraq has produced some insane events, but this one is making my head explode:

The Marines said the 16 Americans and three Iraqis, employed by Zapata Engineering of Charlotte, N.C., sprayed small-arms fire at Iraqi civilians and U.S. forces from their cars in Fallujah on May 28. No one was hurt.

Marine Lt. Col. Dave Lapan said Marines reported seeing gunmen in several late-model trucks fire ”near civilian cars” and on military positions.

”Three hours later, another Marine observation post was fired on by gunmen from vehicles matching the description of those involved in the earlier attack,” the spokesman said.

U.S. forces said they detained the contractors without incident and held them for three days, but no charges were filed.

Now the contractors are making serious allegations about their treatment by the Marines.  More below….
The contractors allege they were beaten by the Marines after they were taken into custody:

A group of American security guards in Iraq have alleged they were beaten, stripped and threatened with a snarling dog by US marines when they were detained after an alleged shooting incident outside Falluja last month.
“I never in my career have treated anybody so inhumane,” one of the contractors, Rick Blanchard, a former Florida state trooper, wrote in an email quoted in the Los Angeles Times. “They treated us like insurgents, roughed us up, took photos, hazed [bullied] us, called us names.”

A Marine Corps spokesman denied that abuse had taken place and said an investigation was continuing. According to the marines, 19 employees of Zapata Engineering, including 16 Americans, were detained after a marine patrol in Falluja reportedbeing fired on by a convoy of trucks and sports utility vehicles. The marines also claim to have seen gunmen in the convoy fire at civilians.

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Mark Schopper, a lawyer for two of the contractors, told the newspaper that his clients, both former marines, were subjected to “physical and psychological abuse”. He said they had told him that marines had “slammed around” several con tractors, stripped them to their underwear and placed a loaded weapon near their heads.

“How does it feel to be a big, rich contractor now?” one of the marines is alleged to have shouted at the men, in an apparent reference to the large sums of money private contractors can make in Iraq.

From the LA Times:

Mark Schopper, a lawyer for two of the contractors, said that his clients, both former Marines, were subjected to “physical and psychological abuse.”

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He also said that during their detention, the workers’ relatives in the United States received phone calls from people with American accents threatening to kill their loved ones if they talked about the incident.

From the Boston Globe:

Mark Schopper, an attorney who said he represents two of the workers who were detained, told The Charlotte Observer they were stripped to their underwear, blindfolded and handled roughly by Marines.

”Marines put their knees on the backs of their necks and ripped off religious medallions,” Schopper said. ”They asked for attorneys, they asked for Amnesty International, they asked for the American Red Cross. All three requests were denied.”

The contractors are fools for being in Iraq.  They certainly don’t merit abuse at the hands of our soldiers though.  If that Marine actually made that “rich contractor” statement, what does that say about how our soldiers feel about the compensation they receive for endangering their lives following foolish Buschco orders?  Just another layer of bizarre sadness to add to this war insanity.

The Marines deny any wrongdoing:

A Marine Corps spokesman denied that any abuse had taken place and said an investigation was continuing. No Iraqis or Americans were injured in the incident that prompted the arrests.
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On May 18, he said, a Marine patrol in Fallouja reported receiving fire from a convoy of late-model trucks and sport utility vehicles. The Marines also saw gunmen in the convoy fire at civilians in the streets of Fallouja, where reconstruction was taking place.

Three hours later, a second set of Marines at an observation post reported receiving fire from vehicles matching the description of the convoy involved in the earlier incident, Lapan said.

The Marines stopped the convoy using spiked strips in the road and took 16 Americans and three Iraqi translators into custody. Of the Americans, 14 were armed security personnel, according to the Corps of Engineers.

“The Americans were segregated from the rest of the detainee population and, like all security detainees, were treated humanely and respectfully,” Lt. Col. David Lapan said Tuesday in an e-mail confirming the incident.

How could that LT Col say that with a straight face?