In March 2004, about three months have passed since the capture of Saddam Hussein, a number of private military companies are actively operating on the territory of Iraq. At that time, Blackwater was the highest-paid PMC in the region, their first annual contract was for $21,000,000.
They guarded the top officials of the interim administration, VIPs, trained local security forces and escorted various cargo transportations.
March 31 is a day that is a black spot not only for Blackwater, but for the entire Iraqi military campaign. Escorting humanitarian cargo to the military base in Fallujah, the column was ambushed. 
The attack began from the tail, where the first shot from an RPG killed 2 operators, the front crew, trying to turn around, came under heavy fire, where both contractors were wounded and soon killed. The bodies of the four escorts were mutilated, burned and hung on the bridge over the Euphrates River, where they were dragged along the ground for several kilometers. 
The murder of 4 Blackwater employees unleashed a powerful and multi-layered reaction - both military and political. After only four days, the first battle for Fallujah began, which we will understand in the second article.
Investigating this incident, one can see how private contractors felt powerfully after an hour of the war in Iraq. In the operation to escort the convoy to Fallujah, a number of violations were revealed:
- The team consisted of 4 people, when according to the protocol there should be at least 6 of them
- The team was on ordinary civilian non-armored off-road vehicles, which also played a role
- The team in this operation was without body armor and generally worked without protective equipment
- The team was sent without preliminary reconnaissance and preparation of the route
All these omissions were regarded as negligence on the part of Blackwater's management, which eventually led to long-term lawsuits from the relatives of the victims and, as a result, reforms in the company's work.
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