Surge ON! But stay in the Green Zone: Reports that Blackwater killed innocents
By John Amato Tuesday Sep 18, 2007 2:44pm
The Blackwater affair has Iraqis a bit pissed off:
The United States on Tuesday suspended all land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq outside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, amid mounting public outrage over the alleged killing of civilians by the U.S. Embassy’s security provider Blackwater USA.
Just as I thought---the Iraq government has backed down from their early statements about the private wingnut security firm:
“We are not intending to stop them and revoke their license indefinitely but we do need them to respect the law and the regulation here in Iraq,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told CNN.
The Iraqi Ministry of Defense said that 20 Iraqis were killed, higher than the 11 dead reported before.
They aren't subject to any laws. That was the point of Order 17. There were many witnesses to this attack on civilians and Al-Sadar has come out throwing hay-makers:
Al-Sadr’s office in Najaf said the government should nullify contracts of all foreign security companies, branding them “criminal and intelligence firms.”
Will John McCain take to the streets of Baghdad for a photo-op sometime soon in his "No Surrender" bus?
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Erik Prince and Al Clark's bloodthirsty company needs to be sued into bankruptcy
jr @ 1:
that's the american way
"If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country, I never would lay down my arms--never--never--never". Lord Chatham To Parliament 1777
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May I ask a simple question?...
Why does the President have his own Private Army? Would SOMEBODY in the Washington Press PLEASE ask the President?
Watch very closely as the lines are blurred and this is successfully covered up (just like Haditha and dozens of other incidents - actually hundreds of similar scandals). Iraq is not run by the Iraqi puppets. When are people going to wake up to that? The US determines every damn important thing that happens there. Blackwater will be 'curtailed' for a few weeks. Meanwhile notice that it is in the press only - on the ground everything is proceeding as usual. Then there will be hearings and it will be determined that the Blackwater boys were in a confusing situation and "did the best they could". Meanwhile, the Iraqi victims will be paid off one by one. It's all about the money. Blackwater will actually get MORE contracts out of this and pull in record profits this year. as the war profiteering continues non-stop. This isn't even a blip on their financial sheet.
No different than the lawlessness here in the U.S. going on by the Bush Administration.
Peace @ 5:
And to further emphasize this point, When will bush decide to use them on Americans? The Wing-nuts might want to stay in office so bad that they start here at home.
Does anyone put it past the present administration?
damnit...Peace above asked my question, or one of them....the other question I have WHO is paying for them, is it coming out of the pentagon budget or State Dept.? I would love to submit a FOIA and find out how much this is costing- to provide" security" ?
jr @ 1:
Isn't the Prince feller a devout ultra conservative fundamentalist Christian?
One day I want to get a hold of their bible. Somehow on all my years of Catholic school I managed to miss that chapter where Jesus said: "Blessed are them who profit from war, especially those who use mercenaries to advance the interest of corporation while killing innocent civilians." They must also have a chapter about how "if ye enemy slaps you on the cheek, thou must kill yet enemy's olde arse on both cheeks until it bleeds." They chapters about whoring and abusing kids must also be a sight to behold.
Their bible would explain so much about their actions, because as I said at least from my catholic education/upbringing I fail to see how all these conservative Christian can justify what seems to be a deafening cognitive dissonance when it comes to the teachings that were in the Catholic bible.
Employees of Blackwater have now represented themselves as legitimate targets of the Resistance.
Iraqi's realize that these mercenaries are not just dangerous but emotionally challenged.
May all Blackwater employees pay dearly for their mental incapacities.
NO*8...POP..asked about using them on Americans- they already have NOLA...had Blackwater present-- they have FEMA contracts- shoot- Another FOIA to do...
Peace @ 5:
so that when he goes into exile outside of the US we can't drag him back for the war crime trials that will ensue. Could be DubYa in Dubai
[Deleted. Your mother wears army boots-Sitemonitor]
In light of the surge positive news, I have planned my Spring vacation to Baghdad. I'll be sure to send post cards.
Pissed-American @ 8:
He has. They were walking around NOLA after Katrina. We paid $950 per each day they were there. They got paid, NOLA residents didn't. Thanks GW.
Peace @ 5:
Since Roman emperors had the Praetorian Guard, Emperor George I thought it fitting to have Blackwater. Even the name Blackwater sounds sinister--how appropriate for the Bushcovite Mafia.
Pissed-American @ 8:
Dusco @ 14:
Bring them to trial. Put them in jail. Do it the American way. The way we did after the 93 World Trade Tower attack. (The "successful" counter attack.) We are not goose-stepping jackbooted thugs, at least we weren't.
bob @ 16:
Whose orders does Blackwater follow? The President's? Erik Prince's? The Congress?
Since Blackwater is a business and therefore exists to make a profit, will they be used (again) on us here in the USA when they finally return from Iraq?
Dusco @ 14:
Blackwater is too busy murdering innocent civilians to "save us from a terrorist attack", but 100% of you reich-winger GOPigs a bunch of terrorists loving nazi reich-wingers to see the reality.
"...law and regulation in Iraq..." That's a good one!
Peace @ 20:
More importantly, who is Blackwater accountable too? Which chain of command do they fall under and who's laws are they accountable to?
Pissed-American @ 8:
If they think they have a hard time with Iraq, let them try their methods with the US citizens. The greenzone will be the wh. It shows that blackwater will do anything for money. If congress stop funding this unjust war, blackwater will be the one short on bullets. Do you believe blackwater will continue if they weren't getting paid?
BTW -- Why do some people believe that one of the reasons to invade and and occupy Iraq was for a military presence in the Middle East? The US has that already, it's called Israel.
Thanks Dusco,
I neeed a good laugh!
"99% of you guys here are a bunch of terrorists loving pinko leftist"
That comment really is just-too-funny. The pinko part, especially. I haven't heard that term in years...
I'm still laughing...
#8, isn't me. Just wanted to set the record straight :)
(MSM Blackwater Smokescreen)Who cares about Blackwater? The important thing is OJ is out on bail!
You know that the bushies slammed down hard on the iraqi "gov." and told them to chill the fuck out.
Like they can afford to lose that many troops? Don't think so.
I don't think the military could even function without black waters presence at this point. It's probably part of the reason bush is always so cocky. He knows he has a force almost as large as the army running around that can do whatever the hell they want.
Dusco @ 14:
Well, of course .. why would we be pissed at them for doing the RIGHT thing..
The point is, they are doing bad things, so therefore ...
is this too deep for you?
richard roe @ 25:
One day we are hippies, the next day it's tree huggers, the next day it's pinko commies, the next day it's peaceniks, the next day it's fascists....do these home schooled dopes realize that these definitions are not compatible?
"Whitewater" to "Blackwater" in only 4 years. Wow! The Bush progressive agenda never stops.
Dusco @ 14:
And you are a whiteo, bloodthirsty, cry baby, nut. Thanks to your your decider he loves terrorists, remember he posted on the internet step-by-step instructions on how to make a nuke, just in case they couldn't read English, he supplied pics.
Now go and enlist.
An Average Joe @ 27:
Bullsh*t, the most important thing is the moveon ad. We must spend ever day discussing an ad.
Because, if you can't take criticism, how are you suppose to kill terrorists?
Dusco @ 14:
I think if Blackwater was saving innocents from terrorist attack they wouldn't exactly need Order 17 would they? The big issue in case you didn't miss it is that they are accountable to no one. That makes it really bad when they are killing innocents and not saving us from the terrorists. I shouldn't be feeding trolls gad dang it ...
LongTooth @ 3:
and neither would i!
Saddam couldn't outrage the Iraqi population enough to cause an uprising, but we have managed to do it. Is this what success looks like?
Peace @ 5:
you may know the answer to that on november 08
Kryptman @ 28:
blackwater is larger that the military.
'[Deleted troll post-Sitemonitor]'
Since the only time the World even HEARS about Blackwater is when they randomly kill innocent Iraqi civilians, perhaps you can point to some of the benefits of having a lawless, mercenary army, numbering into the hundreds of thousands, answerable to no one, unfettered by any adherence to the rule of law, who are being paid by unwitting taxpayers like you?
Their only purpose is to protect the oil executives and high profile diplomats who are now conspiring to steal every last drop of Iraqi oil, to further enrich the likes of Exxon, Shell and BP, not to mention Dumbya, Dead-Eye Dickless Cheney, Confoundaleeza Rice, Donald Dumbsfeld and a host of others.
Makes you proud to be an American doesn't it?
Get bent.
Pissed-American @ 8:
He has one because it's fun and profitable for his cronies. And no, I don't put it past him which is why you'd better be
armed to the teethprepared to defend yourself.Dr. Matt @ 23:
Under the laws handed down by Paul Bremer, the US Military and it's contractors are not subject to any Iraqi laws.
>Since Roman emperors had the Praetorian Guard, Emperor George I thought it fitting to have Blackwater. Even the name Blackwater sounds sinister–how appropriate for the Bushcovite Mafia.
Hmmmm, sounds familiar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wVT547XxK8
Dusco @ 14:
give us a kiss love!right here on the old bum
Dr. Matt @ 15:
Ooh, bring me back a t-shirt?
I already miss Dusco.
Why can't our troops protect these diplomats and other officials? In effect, Bush is attacking the competency and ability of our troops. Why doesn't Bush support our troops?
tHeGaMeOfLiFe @ 24:
yes and thier doing a heck of a good job brownie!
If no one can leave the green zone now, does that make them hostages? Are we holding our own people hostage due to the lack of security? We aren't even able to let our people move around Baghdad without the help of blackwater? I thought the surge was working. (ask McCain, the Iraqi tourist about that)
pissed off patricia @ 48:
So I can't vacation in Anbar Province for Christmas?
Fanon @ 44:
"DR MATT WENT TO BAGHDAD, AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT"
Oh sure you can, weaseldog. Just mention bush's name and you'll probably get a discount at the Anbar Hilton.
Fanon @ 44:
The one that reads, "Muhammad Happens"?
"Just as I thought—the Iraq government has backed down from their early statements about the private wingnut security firm:"
John, shouldn't that read '.....has been pressured to back down...'?
The number of American private security personnel plus the number of private contractors (that are doing functions normally done by military personnel) should be added to the number of U.S. troops in Iraq and reported by MSM. I believe that number would exceed 300,000. And the cost of privatization is much higher than if done by our military. I think the average american is probably clueless what the real numbers are. But maybe that was the purpose!
pissed off patricia @ 51:
Very punny. :)
Apparently things are not going too well in Iraq if America needs a private Army to supplement our US Army,
Fanon @ 44:
Matt: I'd much prefer, in lieu of a T-shirt, about 5 handmade carpets going for only
$1 each....or at least that was the price when McCain and Lazy Graham visited.
tyree @ 35:
Nor I.
Dr. Matt @ 52:
"I survived the surge of '07" maybe?
So nobody out side of military personnel can leave the green zone - this is not good.
You know what has worried me all along is that at some point these merch clowns were going to do something so rotten so vile that the Iraqis would forget they want to kill each other for a while and we would be faced not with a low level insurgency but a full scale revolt - it's been a long hot summer, people are despairing and angry, something like this could well be the spark. gunning down 20 people from a convoy isn't likely to win us friends and then covering up is only going up the rage seething in the streets.
I could be wrong but it can't be good over there for any American.
truthseeker @ 54:
Who know, certainly not our Congress, exactly HOW many contractors/security personnel
are in Iraq and WHAT the cost is; as admitted recently by Jan. S, Repsentative from Illinois
who just returned from Iraq. I have seen the 300K figure, I have seen figures that say
about 20K or more Blackwater mercenaries, I saw this morning on a Yahoo New report
saying about 1,200 Blackwater personnel, and the numbers jump around from day-to-day.
Not being subject to any US Code of military justice or reporting and/or accounting to
Congress, it seems that somehow these types of organization(Blackwater, et.al.) are
not required to supply you/me/public or even Congress with any specific data as to
their numbers or costs to the American taxpayers. I have often wondered also, WHO
is actually doing the training of these mercenaries at the North Carolina(and other?)
bases? This is a situation that has gotten out of hand, and no one seems to know who
is accountable for answering above questions..
Dr. Matt @ 56:
It's all a part of Busholini & the neoconmen's flurry of privatization i.e., to screw over the average taxpayer.
Who's the Faux News fem-bot in the helmet?
dan rathers sueing cbs for 75 million dollars!
We are supposedly waiting for the Iraqi government to step up. Just one more myth in the scheme of things. EVERY time al Maliki speaks up we shut him up quickly.
OT John Warner (asshole) just shit on Jim Webb and renigged on his vote to give troops more time at home. With Gates telling them how it would hurt the troops they are backing off. The had the nerve to say that it was hard to vote against the troops having more time at home but bush, who has been right about everything (gag) has convinced them to.
Dr Acula, they all look the same so it's difficult to tell one empty head from another. Bleach their hair, gunk on the makeup, and turn them loose in front of a teleprompter.
POP thank you for your kind words on my blog.
Just remember that Blackwater's contractors are every bit as good as the people fixing the plumbing in Iraq.
Janet, I just knew Warner would cave. He's one of the ones who often does. I just heard on tv that the whitehouse and the pentagon have been campaigning hard on the GOP to slap down this amendment of Webb's. What they hell are they afraid of? Can't these rats think for themselves? How does bush keep such a hold on them?
Janet, those words came straight from my heart. You are welcome :)
Doggiebobo @ 57:
jebus almighty, how much Iraqi crap do you think I can carry back? How about AK-47s for everyone...only dropped once.
How does bush keep such a hold on them?
I ask myself that question all the time. I truly don't get it. Things just get worse every day. It's so depressing.
Janet @ 72:
bush has the authority to tap the phones and read the mail of every member of the House of Congress, their family members and their family friends.
Ahhh, America loves itself some good ol' Death Squads!
Make Ronnie proud!
Truthout has a more desperate description on Blackwater's for the hell of it blowing innocent people to bits for sport for quite some time now. This latest incident a small tip of a much bigger lunatic shoot'em-up and scaring the shit out of our own troops as well as civilians.
Gone completely rogue.
I say the u.s. is deliberately fanning the flames of hell. It can't be anything else.
Dr. Matt @ 71:
O.K., I'll take an AK-47 in lieu of the rugs/carpets since I may need to protect myself
soon...and also, you probably can obtain at a BIG discount inamsuch as maybe the one
you obtain for me will be from the missing cashe of 190,000 weapons "lost".
LOL Rudy is bragging about how much he has traveled. He says he has traveled out of the country more than any other candidate. Duh Rudy, THOSE people have JOBS! You know like governor or senator.
Will someone ask him if some of those travels occured when he was supposed to be at the 9/11 commision hearings?
Doggiebobo @ 76:
Consider we progressives are "terrorists", I'll just get in touch with our contacts over there.
I can only describe this day as "Harlequin".
When's critical mass? When's BOOM! When's it gonna blow?
Pissed-American @ 8:
No, I don't put anything past these nazis. Although, most of the president's private army is in Iraq so we may be safe, at least for a little while yet.
Dr. Who @ 10:
I had the same Catholic school upbringing as you did. Their Jesus is really the anti-christ so they follow a different "bible".
Dr. Matt @ 78:
I'll just take a Blackwater t-shirt, ok?
Doggiebobo @ 57:
ROTFLMAO
You folks are WAY TOO funny |:| I swear, C & L has the most creative bloggers.
A small number of Blackwater mercinaries were actually sent into New Orleans after Katrina!
Janet @ 72:
The NSA spying wasn't really meant for ordinary citizens. It's main target is Congress and I'm sure there is some nasty, nasty dirt regarding Senator Warner. I wonder if Warner is the Senator whose name appears in the DC madam's phone book? We'll know next year when "the list" gets published by Larry Flint.
Just as I thought—the Iraq government has backed down from their early statements about the private wingnut security firm:
Yes. Predictably. Sadly. The mistake is to believe there is an Iraqi governement in the first place. They're just window dressing for the illegal occupation. No teeth. They too can be "bombed into the Stone Age" (yup even more than now.)
Coffins draped with flags @ 80:
Ditto all comments. This isn't about the war, or "winning the race", or governance. It's about POWER, hugely inflated EGOS, and MONEY MONEY MONEY. More money please.
crazylove @ 79:
Harlequin? Garr. It's speak like a pirate day. Scroll down to the blog round-up.
Blackwater and other mercanaries have been murdering innocent and non-combatants since they showed up. Some of them have been doing it for sport. I remember seeing a clip on C&L about a year ago of British mercanaries randomly shooting and killing Iraqi motorists. The clip was clearly a "trophy" film.
Blackwater is the neocon's private army funded by the taxpayer, but without any accountability to the People. Most are ex-military, many from special forces. They want to fight, they should be drafted.
The problem with creating mercanary armies is that sooner or later either the government or the people end up haveing to fight them. The government doesn't allow militias to get that well armed or powerful, even though they have a Constitutional right. Blackwater is no militia, and has No constitutional protections. And yet, they are big enough to start causing problems. Remember the popular "militia" in Sinclair Lewis' "It can't Happen Here"? Whether it answers to and does the bidding of a single demagogue or a to a shady organization like the neocons, the mercanaries turn into thugs. It's one of the required ingredients in subverting a free society into subserviant subjects of totalitarian authority. Brownshirts.
They practice and perfect their craft in Iraq where they are not held accountable, they get a nice practice session in NOLA. What's next? At what point are they given quasi-police authority to start preying upon US citizens?
If Congress has any brains(yeah, I know, hope springs eternal...), it will shut that operation down. there were already enough laws on the books pre-9/11 to do that. These mercs are being funded with our tax money. I say that gives the taxpayers exclusive say over whether they stay in business.
They want to play soldiers, recall them to uniform or draft them. At least in the military, they can be held to standards of behavior and punished if they fail to meet those standards.
I know Bush does not read or study history, because if he did he would know that mercenaries have been a issue going all the way back to Ancient Greece. Their allegeance is measured by how much they are paid, and they are not bound by the rules of war like regular military soldiers. This is just one more way for the Chimp and the neocons to privatize the American government.
Taking away the Blackwater right to stay in Iraq is a way for the Iraq government to test the improvement in violence that the White House has been telling everyone. So that any American wishing to travel, should be able to do it without any security escort.
Professor Fate @ 60:
I have the same thought.
So far, rapes, murders, invasion and occupation, the "legal" Hussein's assassination, chemical weapons, lack of the basic needs, lies, bombing, the little chimpy
fortembassy and more shit than I can imagine or have time to list are being done to these people and nothing but "al Qaeda" is defending their honor.I can't believe that or what I like to say GTFOOH.
Does this mean blackwater stays inside the greenzone too?
BTW -- chimpy is the decider for the armed forces and for his rouge thugs/goons.
The only good repug is a...(can't think of any.)
I saw the new police Emergency Service Unit vehicles today.
They are painted flat black. Flat, fascist-black. Very pretty.
The Faux News graphic above asks, "Is the Troop Surge Working?" How silly. Of course the surge working! You don't see a bullet hole in the reporter's forehead, do you? Her skull hasn't been decapitated by a mortar shell, has it? She's not dead (yet), is she? How much proof do you need that the surge is working?!!! Just your everyday Faux reporter wearing combat gear and surrounded by soldiers in that wonderful oasis called Iraq, not unlike an Indiana outdoor market in Spring.
They should change their company name from "Blackwater" to "Blackeye", as in "Out of control private mercenaries are giving Americans a black eye".
What is abhorrent is the fact that there are US military in prison for following orders at Abu Graib.
Yet 20 people killed plus wounded? Blackwater will not be held responsible by America? We know Iraq government cannot do anything about it. This is going to cause more American Military to die because of the hearts and minds that blackwater has killed. And not just this time...........
Robt @ 96 :
You should check up on who is in prison for Abu Graib.
You would really be surprised.
Blackwater is simply a way to cheat out of responsibility. If US troops slaughter innocents they and their leaders (theoretically) can be brought before a war crimes court.
Of course if you know war crimes will happen and/or actively planning them, the best would be to just 'sing out' of the whole Hague agreement.
But only an 'axis of evil' country would do that, right?
Usual US practice is, if someone does something really stupid, is to just fly out the person and leave the victims behind.
Using Blackwater you can just not have to claim responsibility.
Also, but I am not quite certain, mercenaries are not protected and do not have to abide by the GC.
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