No one is surprised. Why did it take so long??

Here is the real story.

It ain't over yet. My bet is that it's going to be open season on Blackwater from here on out. The Iraqis aren't likely to forgive this one, no matter what Maliki is pressured into.

R.I.P. United States of America

July 4, 1776 - January 20, 2001

Who's shocked?

Not me.

They Iraqis now have the right to be killed on a street corner for no reason the way that every American citizen has.

ok let me get this right...blackwater is comprised of what?180,000 mercenaries..right? Together with the 150,000 US military personel..that would make a force of 330,000....give or take a few mercs....and it's still not working......Why did it take so long for the news about the size of BW to come out....and I would consider some of them to be considered terrorists..So now we sponsor terror aswell..hell....we have our own terror army.....thanks to the Preznit...the world will view us as nothing more than an Imperialistic Empire.....and I'd have to agree with them.

That didn't take long. I wonder what they had to pay? I read there will be an investigation done by an American and an Iraqi. I wonder if the American will be an employee of Blackwater (investigating their own..?).

WTF?

mudshark @ 14:

ok let me get this right...blackwater is comprised of what?180,000 mercenaries..right? Together with the 150,000 US military personel..that would make a force of 330,000....give or take a few mercs....and it's still not working......Why did it take so long for the news about the size of BW to come out....and I would consider some of them to be considered terrorists..So now we sponsor terror aswell..hell....we have our own terror army.....thanks to the Preznit...the world will view us as nothing more than an Imperialistic Empire.....and I'd have to agree with them.

A point you have to remember is that Blackwater is one of the smaller Merc op groups operating in Iraq...

Also to note is that they are not only in IRAQ... atm.

I bet Malaki set a new world record for the shortest amount of time it took to break someones will with a waterboard ;)

At least somebody understands.mudshark @ 14:

ok let me get this right...blackwater is comprised of what?180,000 mercenaries..right? Together with the 150,000 US military personel..that would make a force of 330,000....give or take a few mercs....and it's still not working......Why did it take so long for the news about the size of BW to come out....and I would consider some of them to be considered terrorists..So now we sponsor terror aswell..hell....we have our own terror army.....thanks to the Preznit...the world will view us as nothing more than an Imperialistic Empire.....and I'd have to agree with them.

rduke @ 25:

mudshark @ 19:

Eternal Vigilance @ 15:

This just in....

WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors are investigating whether employees of the private security firm Blackwater USA illegally smuggled into Iraq weapons that may have been sold on the black market and ended up in the hands of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, officials said Friday.

what was it?190,000 weapons......and wasn't it something like 140,000 AK 47's....so now we know where they went.....and you know it all goes back to the WH.

Also to note..

Those weapons are a tiny drop in the bucket compared to what is really floating around there. Let us not forget how that ammo depo was literally emptied of its high power explosives, and munitions like 4 weeks after the war and the military supposedly had no idea .... I think the explosives alone was estimated to take 70 semi tractor loads to move.

Oh... but its all IRAN supplying the IED's...

And the White House would NEEEEEEVVVER sell or arm insurgent groups or enemy nations... Why do you hate A-merica so much?? ;)

I'm glad we have a house in Mexico........it's times like these that make me miss it.

This just goes to prove there is no sovereign country of Iraq.

rduke ...yes I remember when the military blew off the ammo dumps.....I was watching them leave and said to myself....WTF........I couldn't believe it......now....who the fuck knows what is going on over there.

Good conservative stewards of our nations fiscal policy would then act on some non-fulfillment clause and terminate the bulk of the contracts with Blackwater, right? :-)

My guess is that those consultations with the Iraqi government would be top secret, unless the Iraqi government decided to free the information.

rduke @ 13:

My only disagreement is that it was terminal and on artificial life support for at least 2 decades before 2001...

Thats just when they pulled the plug...

And what happened 9 months later was to shock us into line.... What is happening now is to slowly bleed us until we are too weak and mentally disorganized to resist...

What is going to happen next.

It's anyones guess. We're in uncharted territory now.

I don't know if that was for one year...or for multiple years.

A private military company (PMC) is a for-profit enterprise, sometimes a corporation or a limited liability partnership, which provides specialized services and expertise related to military and similar activities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_military_company

Just four months later on 10 April 2006, the President of the United States, George W. Bush, gave a speech at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). A similar question, about the control and legality of the force used by PMCs working on behalf of the United States in Iraq, was posed to the Commander in Chief of the United States. The exchange illustrates the understanding of these forces, then numbering some 120,000 in Iraq, on the part of the Commander of those forces.

Bateman: Thank you, Mr. President. It's an honor to have you here…My question is in regards to private military contractors. The Uniformed Code of Military Justice does not apply to these contractors in Iraq. I asked your Secretary of Defense a couple months ago what law governs their actions.

PRESIDENT: I was going to ask him. Go ahead. (Laughter.) Help. (Laughter.)

Bateman: I was hoping your answer might be a little more specific.(Laughter.) Mr. Rumsfeld answered that Iraq has its own domestic laws which he assumed applied to those private military contractors. However, Iraq is clearly not currently capable of enforcing its laws, much less against -- over our American military contractors…Mr. President, how do you propose to bring private military contractors under a system of law?

PRESIDENT: I appreciate that very much. I wasn't kidding --(laughter.) I was going to -- I pick up the phone and say, Mr.Secretary, I've got an interesting question. (Laughter.) This is what delegation -- I don't mean to be dodging the question, although it's kind of convenient in this case, but never -- (laughter.) I really will -- I'm going to call the Secretary and say you brought up a very valid question, and what are we doing about it? That's how I work. I'm -- thanks. (Laughter.)"

And on the subject of the update...

I just want to make a prediction on the investigation about BW selling arms to the PKK and whomever else...

Nothing will happen... except maybe a few of the investigators or their bosses receiving a little visit in the middle of the night, which naturally you and I will never hear about.

Erroll @ 37:

Mudshark

Very well said. If the Democrats had an ounce of brains, they would keep stating that the number of Americans who are occupying Iraq number at least 330,000. But that, of course, is contingent upon the Democrats actually wanting the U.S. totally out of Iraq and not occupying those 14 permanent military bases which are being built in Iraq. Jeremy Scahill, who knows this subject inside and out, did a good job on Countdown tonight [yes, Olbermann finally decided to have an anti-war activist on his program] talking about Blackwater and how these mercenaries are allowed to engage in their murderous activities without anyone being held accountable for their misdeeds.

Thank you Erroll....knowing you...I take that as a big compliment....thank you very much.........every once and awhile I do ok...

L.A. Confidential @ 40:

Just four months later on 10 April 2006, the President of the United States, George W. Bush, gave a speech at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). A similar question, about the control and legality of the force used by PMCs working on behalf of the United States in Iraq, was posed to the Commander in Chief of the United States. The exchange illustrates the understanding of these forces, then numbering some 120,000 in Iraq, on the part of the Commander of those forces.

Bateman: Thank you, Mr. President. It's an honor to have you here…My question is in regards to private military contractors. The Uniformed Code of Military Justice does not apply to these contractors in Iraq. I asked your Secretary of Defense a couple months ago what law governs their actions.

PRESIDENT: I was going to ask him. Go ahead. (Laughter.) Help. (Laughter.)

Bateman: I was hoping your answer might be a little more specific.(Laughter.) Mr. Rumsfeld answered that Iraq has its own domestic laws which he assumed applied to those private military contractors. However, Iraq is clearly not currently capable of enforcing its laws, much less against -- over our American military contractors…Mr. President, how do you propose to bring private military contractors under a system of law?

PRESIDENT: I appreciate that very much. I wasn't kidding --(laughter.) I was going to -- I pick up the phone and say, Mr.Secretary, I've got an interesting question. (Laughter.) This is what delegation -- I don't mean to be dodging the question, although it's kind of convenient in this case, but never -- (laughter.) I really will -- I'm going to call the Secretary and say you brought up a very valid question, and what are we doing about it? That's how I work. I'm -- thanks. (Laughter.)"

the nitwit can't even dodge a question well....he just stumbles along and says ok that's it.....and the media does nothing...

it would appear that Blackwater has been awarded 750 mill since june 04.sonofabitch!

The hyerlink for the owner led me to discover that Blackwater had forces on the street of New Orleans post-Katrina.

These armed mercenaries patrolling American city streets? What exactly are there powers and to whom do they answer? Aren't private armies (Militias) prohibited by state or federal law? What Karl Rove apparachik thought of putting these guys on our streets?

The GOP hates Iraqi civilians.

We're arming them over there so we can fight them over there?

I'd like to exclaim after reading the AP story just now, "man, that is unreal".
Only it's not.
Not in the new world order of GWB..

ferrofluid @ 51:

mudshark @ 21:

hmmmmm I wonder if that's going to be the link that breaks the chain......and all hell breaks loose....I sure hope so.Sometimes it's the strangest things that topple govt's......

the Opium link will blow the lid off it.

Damn straight. People need to connect those dots. There is are several reasons why we went to Afganistan. There is a reason why their Opium crops are a record levels each year since we took over. Also Look at how much opium they produce in 2000. Virturally nothing 90% reduction from 1999 because the Taliban was burning the fields. Look at why we had the Bosian Kosovo war. IT WAS OVER OPIUM trade. KLA opium trade from Afganistan.

In most cities the municipal water districts have three classifications of water. First, there's potable drinking water, second, there's gray water, usually rainwater run-off, etc., and third, there's black water, the shit you flush down the toilet.

Too early to determine clearly on the outside what the status of these weapons were on the inside; if they were the legit weapons meant for the police and Army that went missing in Iraq, then they wouldn't have been getting smuggled in by moonlighting Blackwater goons. Still, the story suggests the two events are linked, or at least the investigations are.
And are we to believe Condi's investigation is honestly a.) restricted exclusively to the Blackwater shootout, or b.) any more than an administrative lap-dance to appease Maliki that the American Mil-Indust Complex gives a shit about innocent Iraqis beyond shooting them for sport?

Damn this AP 'stream-of-consciousness' reporting style.

Our puppet Maliki is making some noise but we got him back in line.

Wonder what they threatened/bribed him with.

This is truly very, very bad. I've been watching Jeremy Scahill do his rounds with the talking heads and when he tied Blackwater with Cheney, amd Rumsfield's ideology on privatization, I got a very bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. These guys have no problem attaching a profit motive to war and peoples ... families lives!

Anacher Forester @ 63:

...Bear in mind that Blackwater is only one the merc contractors in Iraq boosting our Armed Forces by an estimated 150,000+...

This is why they shit canned Shenzeki! He said it would take min 300K troops, Rumsfield and Cheney told the boy who would be King - "No one says they have to be U.S. Forces ... there might be times it may be advantageous to operate outside the constrictures of US Law or the Uniform Code Military of Justice".

Msnbc is reporting that Blackwater fired first:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20921619/

SckofFknLiarz @ 57:

I'm glad to see that many of you are waking up to some of the truth.

I've tried to tell you guys this months ago but my posts are edited to be conspiracy theories.

You need to look at who really bombed the "golden dome" masque in Iraq.

Is it starting to make since now? Bush and Co. want to split the country into 3 parts and use Iraq (or what is left of it) as a launching pad to attack Iran amond other things.

Learn the truth no matter how painful it is.

I second your comment. The mosque was heavily guarded and there was only one way to get into the mosque. Anytime you continuously hear GOP leaders and others continue to bring the bombing of the mosque up, your red flag has to go up and start checking things like this out. Despite what many think, there was not a spike in violence right after it happened. The tribal leaders managed to show a lot of constraint. As for Cheney's Blackwater mercenary...If I were a soldier, I would be just as tempted to fire on Blackwater scum just as much as I would a terrorist.