Iraq demands Blackwater’s ouster

October 8, 2007

Under pressure from Democratic lawmakers and Iraqi officials, the State Department announced late Friday that it would expand its oversight of Blackwater private security forces dramatically. The efforts include cameras being installed in Blackwater vehicles and diplomatic babysitters joining every Blackwater convoy.

Iraq isn’t satisfied.

Iraqi authorities want the U.S. government to sever all contracts in Iraq with Blackwater USA within six months and pay $8 million in compensation to each of the families of 17 people killed when the firm’s guards sprayed a traffic circle with heavy machine gun fire last month.

The demands — part of an Iraqi government report examined by The Associated Press — also called on U.S. authorities to hand over the Blackwater security agents involved in the Sept. 16 shootings to face possible trial in Iraqi courts.

The tone of the Iraqi report appears to signal further strains between the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the White House over the deaths in Nisoor Square — which have prompted a series of U.S. and Iraqi probes and raised questions over the use of private security contractors to guard U.S. diplomats and other officials.

Al-Maliki ordered the investigation by his defense minister and other top security and police officials on Sept. 22. The findings — which were translated from Arabic by AP — mark the most definitive Iraqi positions and contentions about the shootings last month.

This isn’t going away.

Someone is surprised this is what happens when you give Bubba a gun, a pick-em up truck and corn likker, without the presence of the county Sheriff??

  • Without knowing what happened there and without jumping to conclusions about the individual Blackwater employees, I think that our gov’t will let a few of the Blackwater guys hang in Iraq without getting to the bottom of the policy or who ordered it – just like the prosecution of the handful of “bad apples” in the military. We’ll never get to the bottom of the torture policy or who ordered it, much less prosecute those who set the stage and ordered it all to happen. The “Bubbas” will be on their own… Anything to make the dust settle so people can go on making profits at the expense of everyone.

  • This isn’t going away.

    Pfff. This is standard operating procedure for the Bush Cabal. There is no accountability whatsoever, and there will be no accountability whatsoever, no matter the scandal. Hell, look at 9/11.

    How’s those Contempt of Congress charges coming along for Miers and Bolton? How about Fredo lying through his teeth? How about the missing RNC emails? How about an iota of propriety?

    That’s funny. All of that has sort of gone away…

  • Hey, look at that! The Iraqi government pulled together and came to a decision about fighting terrorists in their country. The surge is working.

  • This isn’t going away.

    No, but Maliki might. We already know that BushCo regards anyone who contradicts them as terrorfascists. And BushCo will need a nice safe hidey-hole outside of the US once 2009 rolls around.

    It all comes down to who Il Deciderator decides will make the best scapegoat.

  • Wow. The disfunctional Iraq puppet gov-mint has the cajones to demand removal of State’s Thugs. I submit we need to send the Donkeys over there to take notes.

  • This isn’t going away. — CB

    Wanna bet? It’s not as if Maliki’s govt was a *real* govt, or Iraq an independent country. The Shrub will decide what happens, not Maliki. Just like he does here (as JKap reminds us)

  • Maybe if Maliki uses oil as a weapon Bush and his buddies may listen. But then we the taxpayer will probably get stuck paying off the Blackwater contract for those knucklheads to get drunk and get in fights stateside instead.

  • Whoa, #10 isn’t me. Watch out as there’s a “Swan”-name-stealer around. FYI I didn’t have any other comments anywhere today besides one on the mini-report post a couple of minutes ago, as I was out all day.

  • I see Bush tossing off this Blackwater thing like a henpecked husband tossing off his wife’s complaints:

    Al-Maliki….sweetie, I didn’t really mean for you to really run Iraq. I mean, that is so adorable and is soooo 2001. And Cheney made me hang that last guy who we paid to do a job and decided didn’t like it any more. What was his name again? I think he to kill my Dad. Ah well it’ll come to me another time.

    Awww, Al-Maliki. You’re so cute when you’re mad. But you’re still a brown guy who talks funny even if, technically, you are kind of the leader of your country. But darlin’, you know I respect you even if we can’t act like we take you seriously in public.

    Look, if this Blackwater thing is that important to you, we’ll have the media beat the drums about it stateside for a while, but we’re coming up on the holiday season and our PR campaign only has room for soldiers in Santa hats dangling Iraqi kids from one knee and handing out presents (no amputees please).

    I know you’re upset honey, but I’ve got a lot of work to get done. We still don’t have full control of your country’s oil yet; the suicide bombers and insurgency are a martini migraine all their own. Then there’s this trillion dollar base to finish. Do you know how hard it is to do something like that and still keep telling the American people that we won’t have a permanent presence in Iraq? I mean, dear, I’m swamped.

    All right honey, don’t pout. Tell you what, if it means so much to you, we’ll get those Blackwater guys who were responsible on the back end. We can’t publicize it, but we’ll get them and make sure you know about it.

    Happy now?

  • This looks like a catch 22 for Bu$h and his handlers. Their whole argument for the surge was to empower the Iraqi government. Now, the Iraqi government is asserting itself in rightfully demanding that what THEY see as a terrorist orginaization, Blackwater, be removed from their country. Now, will Bu$h and his handlers acquiesce to the sovereignty of the Iraqi government and sever Blackwater contracts, remove the outfit from Iraq, pay reperations, and hand over the murderers? Or will the simply refuse, thus making the obvious statement that the Iraqi government is in fact NOT in control of their country, and is simply a puppet of the Bu$h regime?
    (Not that that has ever been in any doubt!)

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  • Nobody seems to be analyzing the current Blackwater flap in terms of the power dynamics of the Bush Admin.-Maliki Admin. relationship.

    The Shiite politicians in control of the Baghdad government have won every round of their fight with Washington so far, and now they’re moving in to finish off their unworthy opponent.

    What the Maliki government can say about Blackwater today it obviously can start saying about the U.S. military tomorrow. Any time he wants, Maliki can have the National Assembly on the brink of adopting resolutions demanding the immediate departure of all foreign forces and/or imposing unacceptable (to our free-firing forces, anyway) “rules of engagement” on any foreign forces remaining in Iraq.

    Until recently, the Shiite powers-that-(thanks to us)-be have not been sure how soon they might want us to leave. Since the new SecDef gave our military more of a free hand to employ (locally) effective anti-insurgency tactics, and we thus began empowering Sunnis, Daawa, SCIRI & Co. have found that they may be able to dispense with our presence sooner rather than later.

    Iraqis being Iraqis, the crisis will be a long, serpentine time coming. But Maliki is clearly holding all the cards.

    One thing you can be sure of: Nuri won’t be bored by any more lectures from W or Condi about “benchmarks,” “reforms” or any such nonsense.

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