Blackwater

Very interesting article that deserves a good reading. It shows how Blackwater is throwing their hat into the political ring in order to keep some seats in the hands of the GOP. Morale of the story? Republicans will let Blackwater go on with their reckless killing of Iraqis.

Blackwater sure is quick on fixing damage:

Blackwater Worldwide repaired and repainted its trucks immediately after a deadly September shooting in Baghdad, making it difficult to determine whether enemy gunfire provoked the attack, according to people familiar with the government's investigation of the incident.

Damage to the vehicles in the convoy has been held up by Blackwater as proof that its security guards were defending themselves against an insurgent ambush when they fired into a busy intersection, leaving 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

Because shiny vehicles are the most important part of their work. I am sure they weren't trying to cover anything up.

Considering how much the right defends them, I guess this is also their method of supporting the troops:

The helicopter was hovering over a Baghdad checkpoint into the Green Zone, one typically crowded with cars, Iraqi civilians and United States military personnel.

Suddenly, on that May day in 2005, the copter dropped CS gas, a riot-control substance the American military in Iraq can use only under the strictest conditions and with the approval of top military commanders. An armored vehicle on the ground also released the gas, temporarily blinding drivers, passers-by and at least 10 American soldiers operating the checkpoint.

“This was decidedly uncool and very, very dangerous,” Capt. Kincy Clark of the Army, the senior officer at the scene, wrote later that day. “It’s not a good thing to cause soldiers who are standing guard against car bombs, snipers and suicide bombers to cover their faces, choke, cough and otherwise degrade our awareness.”

Continue reading »

(on a personal note - I wasn't able to blog yesterday because I decided to take the plunge and move to Vista. I will post about that experience on my tech blog later for those interested).

Following yesterday's news that the State Department decided to give Blackwater immunity, today we find out a new battle is brewing between the Iraqi government and our's over immunity for all contractors:

The Iraqi government on Tuesday approved draft legislation lifting immunity for foreign private security companies, sending the measure to parliament, a spokesman said.

The question of immunity has been one of the most serious dispute between the U.S. and the Iraqi government since a Sept. 16 shooting involving Blackwater USA guards that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

The government's decision followed reports that the State Department has promised Blackwater bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its investigation of last month's shooting.

So if this legislation ends up passing in Iraq, what will we do? Will we honor the sovereignty of Iraq and allow it (I mean real sovereignty - not some Bush definition)? If we don't, then the interesting question will be where it goes from there. The U.N. is already looking into the issue, so there is a chance this could end up being argued at the Hague. Of course any ruling against the U.S., or any action taken against us will meet a veto in the Security Council. Remember - this is how the Bush regime considers democracy to work; do what I want and I will say you got democracy.

Because cronyism and profits always trumps life and pure ethics:

The private security firm Blackwater USA, which has faced mounting criticism following an incident earlier this month in which armed guards from the group purportedly killed 11 unarmed Iraqi civilians, has numerous links to the White House as well as many current and former Republicans.

The connections include the firm's chief operating officer Joseph Schmitz, who was tapped by President Bush in 2002 to "oversee and police the Pentagon's military contracts as the Defense Department's Inspector General."

And the Republicans think the Congress should allow the administration to investigate. Something about a wolf in a hen house comes to mind. Of course we also got Republicans issuing veiled threats against the investigation by Congress. As Atrios points out, Darrell Issa had this to say on C-Span this morning:

If Henry Waxman today wants to go to Iraq and do an investigation, Blackwater will be his support team. His protection team. Do you think he really wants to investigate directly?

If a Democrat said anything similar then you could bet the house on the fact the Republicans would be screaming about threats. But that doesn't matter now. All the does matter is the money the GOP makes - no matter how many lives are lost getting it.

The party of life - unless it involves corporations. Then the true meaning of the GOP comes out; the party of greed:

Seven House Republicans have urged Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) to postpone a hearing about Blackwater USA until the State Department and a separate commission report on the most recent incident involving the North Carolina-based security firm in which Iraqi civilians were killed.

The Republicans sent Waxman a letter Friday, urging him to reschedule a Tuesday hearing into Blackwater's role protecting U.S. government officials in Iraq.

They want Waxman to postpone the hearing until the State Department and the U.S.-Iraq Joint Commission unveil their own separate reports about a Sept. 16 shooting in the Mansour district of Baghdad in which nine Iraqi civilians were reported killed and another 15 were wounded.

Of course they want you to believe that this should be delayed so the State Department can investigate. Like this administration has been good at investigating anything. If these members of Congress do not want to do their constitutional job of oversight then they need to quit. They are violating the simple oath they took when they were elected.

Yup - we replaced Saddam with George Bush. One brutal dictator for another:

The US security firm Blackwater has resumed limited operations in the Iraqi capital Baghdad four days after a deadly shootout involving the company.

The company provides security to all US state department employees in Iraq.

It had been ordered by the Iraqi government too halt operations while a joint US-Iraqi inquiry was held.

A US embassy spokeswoman said the decision to allow Blackwater to resume work had been taken in consultation with the Iraqi government.

The spokeswoman, Mirembe Nantongo, said Blackwater operations would be limited to essential missions only outside Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone.

See - we don't listen to the "sovereign" government of Iraq. Our dictatorship does whatever they feel in the country. Our contractors can kill innocent Iraqi civilians (which is the conclusion of one investigation), and our country says "so what".

What I find interesting is the timing in all this. A lot of attention has been given to Ahmadinejad saying Bush should be tried as a war criminal. Well if people don't like the Iranian leader saying that, then perhaps they should urge Bush to stop acting like one. And yes - the fault in this does lay on him. He is in charge of the government, and the buck does stop there. If he wanted to, he could order the State Department to comply with the demands of the Iraqi government.