Blackwater Banned
Sep 17th, 2007 at 9:28 am by Susie
UPDATE: Larry Johnson says it ain’t gonna happen - and why.
Pretty big news. Wonder how long until we, uh, “intercede” on their behalf?
Iraq has cancelled the licence of the private security firm, Blackwater USA, after it was involved in a gunfight in which at least eight civilians died.
The Iraqi interior ministry said the contractor, based in North Carolina, was now banned from operating in Iraq.
The Blackwater workers, who were contracted by the US state department, apparently opened fire after coming under attack in Baghdad on Sunday.
Thousands of private security guards are employed in lawless Iraq.
They are often heavily armed, but critics say some are not properly trained and are not accountable except to their employers.
The interior ministry’s director of operations, Maj Gen Abdul Karim Khalaf, said authorities would prosecute any foreign contractors found to have used excessive force.
“We have opened a criminal investigation against the group who committed the crime,” he told the Agence France-Presse news agency.
All Blackwater personnel have been told to leave Iraq immediately, with the exception of the men involved in the incident on Sunday.
They will have to remain the country and stand trial, the ministry said.
oh shit. that’s gonna smart.
WTF do we do now? If we object, Maliki has already said he can go find other friends. And who do you think those friends might be?
Law of Unintended Consequences.
Yeah, this is going to play out beautifully. Not.
Can we ban them here?
Couldn’t help but remember the base take over scene
in Dr. Strangelove…why not use our own military
to shut these crackpots down?Since they’re obviously
counting on nobody doing anything,why not start to
make some calls to say,the g.a.o.?or maybe even our
congressional reps?
ROFL…CNN posts “wounded iraqis say nobody provoked Blackwater” umm, ya right, lol.