Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said the the US State Department had renewed the contract of private security company Blackwater USA without the approval of the Baghdad government.
And what? He was surprised? Surely he can’t believe he’s actually in charge.
Last week in Currituck County, N.C., Superior Court Judge Russell Duke presided over the final step in securing the first criminal conviction stemming from the deadly actions of Blackwater Worldwide, the Bush administration's favorite mercenary company. Lest you think you missed some earth-shifting, breaking news, hold on a moment. The "criminals" in question were not the armed thugs who gunned down 17 Iraqi civilians and wounded more than 20 others in Baghdad's Nisour Square last September. They were seven nonviolent activists who had the audacity to stage a demonstration at the gates of Blackwater's 7,000-acre private military base in North Carolina to protest the actions of mercenaries acting with impunity -- and apparent immunity -- in their names and those of every American.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
How convenient.
Back in 2005, The New York Times reports, a Blackwater helicopter dropped tear gas (CS gas) on a checkpoint in Baghdad's Green Zone. "An armored vehicle on the ground also released the gas, temporarily blinding drivers, passers-by and at least 10 American soldiers operating the checkpoint.... A number of Iraqi civilians, both on foot and in cars waiting to go through the checkpoint, were also exposed. " The gas, which the American military itself "can use only under the strictest conditions and with the approval of top military commanders," causes burning eyes, skin irritation, coughing, difficulty breathing and sometimes even vomiting.Blackwater's explanation, by way of spokeswoman Anne Tyrell, was that "a CS gas canister was mistaken for a smoke canister and released near an intersection and checkpoint."
From the helicopter or the armored vehicle? A mistake it wasn’t; it was a coordinated gassing.
Oddly enough, Army officers told the Times that "the Blackwater convoy appeared to be stuck in traffic and may have been trying to use the riot-control agent as a way to clear a path." Now, how blinding everyone in the area would help traffic to clear isn't immediately clear to me. Nor is it clear to Capt. Kincy Clark who was hit by the gas and wrote, "Why someone would think a substance that makes your eyes water, nose burn and face hurt would make a driver do anything other than stop is beyond me.”
These Blackwater clowns certainly managed to do a lot of damage in the years they were operating apparently with impunity.
As Blackwater heads into 2008, a number of investigations, inquiries and lawsuits are still swirling around the company.[...]
[A] congressional committee released data showing that the company's contractors have been involved in nearly 200 shooting incidents in Iraq since Jan. 1, 2005.
Swirling, swirling.
A law granting immunity from prosecution to private security personnel was passed by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, which ran the country following the 2003 invasion until a government was established in June 2004.The law remains in force unless superseded by new legislation.
[...]
The Iraqi government approved [a law ending immunity for overseas security contractors] after a Blackwater Worldwide team killed 17 Iraqi civilians while guarding a U.S. State Department convoy in Baghdad. Blackwater, based in Moyock, North Carolina, has said its guards acted in self-defense during the Sept. 16 shootings.
[...]
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Cabinet approved the measure in October and Parliament has since struggled to draw enough lawmakers for a valid vote on the legislation.
Private-security contractor Blackwater Worldwide, which protects U.S. diplomats in Iraq and faces scrutiny over its role in the shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians, has ramped up its lobbying representation on Capitol Hill.Law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice was tapped by the company to lobby the government on contracting and other issues, according to the form posted online Tuesday by the Senate's public records office.
Womble Carlyle is the third lobbying firm to be hired by Moyock, N.C.-based Blackwater since October.
Blackwater Worldwide, the private security contractor which has been trying to revamp its image, is being credited with rescuing Americans stranded in Kenya. The three young women -- Brittanie, Aubrey, and Jamie -- were whisked out of the country by Blackwater.[...]
The three women, graduates of South Christian High School, were in Kenya working at an orphanage when violence broke out following the recent elections.
And just for fun, DynCorp also bought millions of dollars worth of pick-up trucks and motorcycles on the taxpayers' account.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
ABC News reports that Richard Griffin, the top diplomatic security official at Foggy Bottom, has agreed to resign after Amb. Patrick Kennedy's recommendations on overhauling State's relationship with its security contractors amounted to a tacit rebuke of his tenure.[...]
When testifying to the House oversight committee earlier this month about contractor operations, Griffin copped an attitude. As Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) pressed him on why the State Department helped Blackwater evacuate a contractor who'd drunkenly killed an Iraqi vice president's bodyguard, Griffin all but told Waxman that he wouldn't answer questions about it.
I'll tell you who the traitors are, and I don't know why they aren't brought to trial. They're companies like Dyncorp, which we are hearing has sucked up $1.2 billion military (tax) dollars that are unaccounted for. And companies like KBR/Halliburton who've bilked the military for further billions. Did you know that Blackwater is getting about $900 per day per man in Iraq? (Did you know they have 180,000 men engaged - more than the 170,000 US soldiers deployed?) And while we're at it, Dyncorp and Halliburton are directly linked to the Bush family and Dick Cheney.
How is it not an act of treason to be cheating and bilking the US military as it fights a war?
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway. And you can get away with it if you're connected.
Of course, it could be that there is no love lost between the Blackwater guards and soldiers, considering stories like this one claiming that guards had some soldiers on the ground at gunpoint.
It is rather amusing now, however, that Blackwater - the darling of the Bush Administration's State Department - is going to be connected in the public mind with Hillary Clinton. Because you know this is going to be headline news for a good while.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
"We would careen around corners, jump road dividers, reach speeds in excess of 100 mph and often cross over to the wrong side of the street, oncoming traffic be damned," she writes. "I began to wonder whether my meetings, intended to further U.S. policy goals and improve the lives of Iraqis, were doing more harm than good. With our drivers honking at, cutting off, pelting with water bottles (a favorite tactic) and menacing with weapons anyone in their way, how many enemies were we creating?"Gans describes a particularly "infuriating" incident where the lead Chevy Suburban in her convoy allegedly crashed into a sedan ferrying an older man, a young woman and three children.
"As we approached at typical breakneck speed, the Blackwater driver honked furiously and motioned to the side, as if they should pull over," she pens. "The kids in the back seat looked back in horror, mouths agape at the sight of the heavily armored Suburbans driven by large, armed men in dark sunglasses. The poor Iraqi driver frantically searched for a means of escape, but there was none. So the lead Blackwater vehicle smashed heedlessly into the car, pushing it into the barrier. We zoomed by too quickly to notice if anyone was hurt."
"Where do you all expect them to go?" she allegedly cried. "It was an old guy and a family, for goodness' sake. Was it necessary for them to destroy their poor old car?"
"Ma'am, we've been trained to view anyone as a potential threat," she says the driver, who she did not identify, replied. "You don't know who they might use as decoys or what the risks are. Terrorists could be disguised as anyone."
I wonder why she didn't report these things back when she was there.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
Under orders issued by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, video cameras will be mounted in Blackwater vehicles and federal agents will ride with the security contractors who escort diplomatic convoys.
Notably, there is no mention of coming round to the House approved bill to make State Department contractors accountable to the same laws that govern Defense Department contractors .
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
The New York Daily News reported yesterday that Blackwater personnel would be protecting the FBI agents. That prompted Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who chairs the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees State Department operations, to urge Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to bar Blackwater employees from the investigation.
I have no idea why she chose to be reasonable.
State Department contractors are immune from Iraqi law, and none has been prosecuted under U.S. law.Also yesterday, the White House said it is opposed to a House bill that would extend current federal law covering Defense Department contractors overseas to those working for the State Department. A statement from the Office of Management and Budget said the bill was too vague and would have unspecified "intolerable consequences for crucial and necessary national security activities and operations."
State Department contractors need more immunity than Defense Department contractors, because frankly, Defense Department contractors are not shooting up Iraqi civilians – they’re too busy getting kidnapped and shot up themselves.
The bill, which has bipartisan support, is also backed by a trade organization of private security contractors that includes Blackwater and other firms working in Iraq.
The contractors themselves back the bill, but the White House opposes it.
Well, you can only be just so reasonable and then you have to revert.
....and hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
You shouldn't need background, but if you do...it's all here.
In high-level meetings over the past several days, U.S. military officials have pressed State Department officials to assert more control over Blackwater, which operates under the department's authority, said a U.S. government official with knowledge of the discussions.[...]
"This is a nightmare," said a senior U.S. military official. "We had guys who saw the aftermath, and it was very bad. This is going to hurt us badly. It may be worse than Abu Ghraib, and it comes at a time when we're trying to have an impact for the long term."[...]
"This is a big mess that I don't think anyone has their hands around yet," said another U.S. military official. "It's not necessarily a bad thing these guys are being held accountable. Iraqis hate them, the troops don't particularly care for them, and they tend to have a know-it-all attitude, which means they rarely listen to anyone -- even the folks that patrol the ground on a daily basis."
But, for their sake, Falluja was destroyed and a surge in anti-American sentiment spread throughout Iraq.
And Waxman is claiming that Rice is trying to impede the investigation. That wouldn't be like her, would it?
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry revoked their license to operate in that country, since the Iraqi courts don't have jurisdiction over US private contractors and can't bring anyone to trial.
Corexit: More toxic than the oil
IVAW: Iraq Veterans Against the War
