Security firm Blackwater has had its contract to protect US diplomats in Iraq extended.The move comes despite the continuing FBI investigation into the killing of 17 Iraqis by Blackwater staff guarding US officials in Baghdad last September.
Blackwater says its guards acted in self-defence. An Iraqi inquiry concluded the shooting was unprovoked.
The security company's contract was due to expire in May, but the government of Iraq said it had now set new criteria.
State department head of security Gregory Starr said on Friday the contract had been extended for another year.
Iraq's government said requests for tighter controls on Blackwater's activities had been met.[snip]
"The demands of the Iraqi government have been taken into consideration and Blackwater will follow the Iraqi government's laws," said Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.
However, the Iraqi government's political opponents called the move a "violation of the Iraqi judicial system".
"The government should have shown its influence and authority by taking the initiative," a spokesman for the mainly Sunni Arab Accordance Front bloc told Reuters.
"But the Americans want to show that Iraq is under their control."
Saturday, April 05, 2008
How can you fire thugs?
Especially when you've given them free rein in a war with tons of cash and no accountability....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Disregard for the law is the hallmark of the Bush regime, in Iraq as surely as here at home.
What will it take to get Americans' attention: 17 Americans blown away on the street by Blackwater thugs? It is dismaying but hardly surprising that many Americans do not value Iraqi lives as highly as American lives... but is that what it must come to, before Blackwater is sent packing?
We had Blackwater roaring about down in New Orleans and very few people seem to have registered that we had a mercenary group trying to take over a city within the US.
Have we become so indifferent that we won't react to innocents dying unless it's in large numbers, Americans, and white?
I have no idea what it will take.
We need to stop using the approved language of the State Department, calling Blackwater Mercenaries, "security guards". This is doublespeak. We have to be more intelligent about these matters and be careful using this deliberately deceptive language. Call them what they are. Mercenaries.
Mercenaries fits exactly. Also the Praetorian Guard. Quoting a definition from an earlier post:
Although its name has become synonymous with intrigue, conspiracy, disloyalty and assassination, it could be argued that for the first two centuries of its existence the Praetorian Guard was, on the whole, a positive force in the Roman state. During this time it mostly removed (or allowed the removal of) cruel, weak, and unpopular emperors while generally supporting just, strong, and popular ones. By protecting these monarchs, thus extending their reigns, and also by keeping the disorders of the mobs of Rome and the intrigues of the Senate in line, the Guard helped give the empire a much needed stability that led to the period known as the Pax Romana.
Only after the reign of Marcus Aurelius, when this period is generally considered to have ended, the guard began to deteriorate into the ruthless, mercenary and meddling force for which it has become infamous.
Just read how many emperors were killed by these guards and how they began to reign themselves.
Just what we need in a democracy: Palace coups.
unless Blackwater starts appearing on Dancing with the Stars -- no one will care or notice
signed
i have given up hope
When Blackwater's guns are finally turned on white American middle class citizens, people will notice. But of course, if it has actually come to that scenario, it will be too late.
Hope we wake up in time.
I'll keep on ringing the alarm bell.
Post a Comment