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Iraq Bars Blackwater, Tarnished by Civilian Deaths
BAGHDAD - Iraq said Thursday it will bar Blackwater Worldwide from providing security protection for U.S. diplomats because its contractors used excessive force, sanctioning a company whose image was irrevocably tarnished by the 2007 killings of 17 Iraqi civilians.
Erik Prince, chairman of the Prince Group, LLC and security firm Blackwater USA, testifies before a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, October 2007. Blackwater and its founder Prince maintain its guards were responding to fire and acting in self-defence duriong a shooting in Baghdad in 2007 which left several civilians dead. (AFP/File/Tim Sloan) The move will deprive American diplomats of their main protection force in Iraq.
The decision not to issue Blackwater an operating license was due to "improper conduct and excessive use of force," said Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf.
Iraqis are bitter over the September 2007 killing of 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad's Nisoor Square. Five former Blackwater guards pleaded not guilty Jan. 6 in federal court in Washington to manslaughter and gun charges in that shooting. A sixth is co-operating with the government.
The Iraqi government has labelled the guards "criminals" and is closely watching the case.
But even before the shooting, Blackwater had a reputation for aggressive operations and using excessive force in protecting American officials, an allegation the company has disputed.
Neither General Khalaf nor a U.S. Embassy official gave a date for Blackwater personnel to leave the country and neither said whether they would be allowed to continue guarding U.S. diplomats during the interim.
Anne Tyrrell, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina-based company, said the company had not yet been notified of the Iraqi decision.
"I can tell you that we have received no official communications from the government of Iraq on this matter," she said.
The Iraq decision came just months after a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement approved in November gave the government the authority to determine which Western security companies operate in Iraq.
A joint U.S.-Iraqi committee is drawing up procedures for licensing and regulating security companies under the security agreement and it is unclear when it will finish the process.
"We have followed the procedures to apply for and secure operating licenses in Iraq," said Ms. Tyrrell, the Blackwater spokeswoman. "Any further questions about that the licensing process should be directed to our customer."
Gen. Khalaf said Blackwater employees who have not been implicated in the 2007 shooting have the right to work in Iraq but must find a different employer.
"We sent our decision to the U.S. Embassy last Friday," Gen. Khalaf told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "They have to find a new security company."
When President Barack Obama was campaigning in 2007, he announced a plan to force Iraq war contractors to follow federal law.
"We cannot win a fight for hearts and minds when we outsource critical missions to unaccountable contractors," he said at the time.
The State Department relies heavily in Blackwater because it is the largest and best-equipped security company in Iraq. The U.S. extended Blackwater's contract for a year last spring, despite widespread calls for the company to be expelled because of the Nisoor Square shooting.
But the company has become a lightning rod for Iraqi complaints about the behaviour of Western security companies, whose employees were immune from prosecution under Iraqi law until the security agreement took effect this month.
The U.S. Embassy official confirmed it received the government's decision, saying that U.S. officials were working with the Iraqi government and its contractors to address the "implications of this decision."
The official made the statement on condition of anonymity under embassy regulations.
In the Sept. 16, 2007 shooting, Blackwater maintains its guards opened fire after coming under attack after a car in a State Department convoy broke down.
The shooting took place around noon in a crowded traffic circle in west Baghdad where U.S. prosecutors said civilians were running errands, getting lunch and otherwise going about their lives.
Prosecutors said the guards unleashed a gruesome attack on unarmed Iraqis, with the dead including young children, women, people fleeing in cars and a man whose arms were raised in surrender as he was shot in the chest.
Twenty others were wounded, including one injured by a grenade launched into a nearby girls' school. Another 18 Iraqis were assaulted but not wounded, prosecutors said.
Iraqi witnesses said the contractors opened fire unprovoked and left the square littered with blown-out cars.
But the Blackwater guards insist they were ambushed by insurgents. One of the trucks in the convoy was disabled in the ensuing firefight, the guards say.
Blackwater radio logs made available to The Associated Press by a defence lawyer in the case last month raised questions about prosecutors' claims that the guards' shooting was unprovoked. The log transcripts describe a hectic eight minutes in which the guards repeatedly reported incoming gunfire from insurgents and Iraqi police.
The Blackwater guard co-operating with the government in the case, Jeremy Ridgeway of California, pleaded guilty to one count each of manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and aiding and abetting.
In his plea agreement with prosecutors, Mr. Ridgeway admitted there was no threat from a white Kia sedan whose driver, a medical student, was killed and his mother, in the front passenger seat, was injured.
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49 Comments so far
Show AllIf only the US government had the audacity of hope to follow Iraq's lead and bar Blackwater from operating on US soil. Unfortunately, Blackwater is needed to protect the few corporate johns and their stable of whores in Congress who have stolen democracy from the dangerous rabble majority which is wising up. They will do anything to put down the upwising.
Wikipedia Blackwater and see who the leadership of Blackwater is aligned with. Mit Romney. I always thought it was Dick Cheney.
yer thinking of the mercenary group KBR (Kellog, Brown and Root or someting to that effect)also killing folks in iraq. they are a spin-off of Haliburtan, Tricky Dicks company.
About time.
Its reputation was "tarnished"? That implies they had a good reputation in the first place. They are a group of mercenaries and thugs. They serve no Public Good.
Lets not give them the benefit of believing they ever had a reputation to tarnish.
We are in complete and total agreement.
So true, North!
Blackwater is an organization of dirtbags from the word go. It was born of the utterly cynical belief that killing and warfare are a business, just like any business, cuz', well, everything can be a business in Amerikkka, can't it?
Yeah, GWNorth, what reputation! That is like saying Bush and Cheney's reputation was tarnished; an oxymoron if I ever heard one!
Hooray for the Iraqi government! There may actually be one after all.
Now our government needs to follow suit. Using mercenaries is corrupt.
A law ought to be framed and adopted that would forbid organizations of mercenaries such as Blackwater.
Amen!
SOOOO true!
To expand on Abenland's thoughts, we should consider how the power flows to and from these corporations that contract to do jobs the gov't wants done.
Halliburton, Blackwater and their parasitic ilk first fatten on taxpayer dollars; they then inject some of the loot back into furthering the careers of sympathetic political candidates, who in turn enact laws that benefit their contributors---the republic, the planet and its citizens be damned.
It's the ultimate vicious circle, and it's got to be stopped.
Salaheddin sez: "The State Department relies heavily in Blackwater because it is the largest and best-equipped security company in Iraq."
***
Uh, the State Department MADE Blackwater the largest and best-equipped "security company" in Iraq, with the funds of U.S. taxpayers and their progeny.
This is Dr. Frankenstein "relying" on his own monster.
Just like the Defense Department made the military rely on corporations for everything from vehicle and weapon maintenance to cooking to cleaning toilets.
Goebbels
"Uh, the State Department MADE Blackwater the largest and best-equipped "security company" in Iraq, with the funds of U.S. taxpayers and their progeny."
An excellent point.
Blackwater, the "security company" that makes a business out of spreading the murderous insecurity of Empire throughout the world.
"We cannot win a fight for hearts and minds when we outsource critical missions to unaccountable contractors,"
The commander-in-chimp wants to fight for the hearts and minds of those living on top of the oil he wants to steal. US soldiers can blow the hearts and minds out of them. God Bless the United States of America! Steal that oil!
One man's security contractor is another man's henchman.
If they throw them out and they come back here, they can replace the domestically deployed US Army Division in Georgia. Then the US security force will be completely invisible.
What if they simply refuse to leave? Just ignore the Iraqi "government"? It is entirely conceivable. What then?
Remember when Obama went to the Middle East before the election - guess who guarded him? And remember when he was directly asked about Blackwater and other mercenary groups and he responded by saying he thought they were necessary given our lack of troops? I called his campaign and called them on this - they gave a very evasive answer: there was no one else to guard him, he had to have security.
The more things CHANGE, the more THEY STAY THE SAME . . . .
Go to other websites - only the company name has to leave, and those under hire who were specifically named in criminal activity. And that, of course, will be minimal as US imperialist regime in Iraq - including State Department officials - refused to even investigate most instances of criminal behavior. So - all those others who got away with their crimes simply switch companies and are allowed to stay - AND THE PRIVATIZATION CONTINUES - WITH NO OVERSIGHT - NO ACCOUNTABILITY.
I am still waiting to see what Obama will do - do you just keep getting this sinking feeling in your gut . . . . .
Those Iraqis, they just don't appreciate America despite all it's done for them!
I mean, all those Blackwater men, fine, upstanding, moral Americans who selflessly came in large numbers to help Iraq achieve freedom and democracy.
Sure they had guns but, well, all Americans have guns, you know. They have arsenals of them hanging on their walls, under their pillows. It doesn't mean that they are warlike, that they would actually use them.
All right, they did use them on occasion but they didn't mean to. No, the gun just went off it did, accidentally, and an Iraqi man or child got in its road. Accidents like that can happen to anyone.
And now the Blackwater men will have to return home, their mission underachieved. They might be given jobs helping old ladies across the street or guarding school crossings or serving out meals on wheels.
But they will never be forgotten. Especially by the Iraqis.
www.dangerouscreation.com
final days..push him off the cliff in the wheelchair.
"Blackwater" is an interesting brand name.
One kind of water goes into your house, but two kinds leave: "gray water" from sinks and showers, and "black water" from the toilet.
Ha ha!
Rodger that!! Welcome to AmeriKKKa!!!
Outsourcing is proving more and more to be a bad business decision. Outsourcing our military is an even worse one. I expect that Blackwater, Halliburton and Kellog Brown and Root have been very poor ambassadors for our national interests as well as making the job of our military that much harder.
"Most people would sooner die than think, in fact they do so. Bertrand Russell
I think a mercenary gunman is the lowest form of life on the planet. When encountered it should be crushed out of existence.
Sophie Scholl-The Final Days
Blackwater founder, Erik Prince, says Blackwater is ready to leave Iraq within 72 hours. Don't let the door hit you in the ass, Erik.
George C. Brown - Based on the article and the comments to it that have been submitted, anything I would to say would probably seem to be superfluous, so I will just add a question: Is nayone in officialdom listening or paying attention? And if so, when will there be any action taken to rid us from the ugly spectre of such horrible organizations and attitudes that are represented by Blackwater, KBR, Halliburton and the myriad "private contractors" hired by the past administration and their ilk?
Now, how do we get Blackwater to leave the US?
wheelchairs by cheney for all
Not so fast.
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/01/blackwater-bann.html
"The State Department has a contract for "Worldwide Personal Protective Services" with three firms: Blackwater, DynCorp, and Triple Canopy. If Blackwater is no longer allowed to operate in Iraq, a lawyer steeped in the field tells Danger Room, there's no legal reason why the other two firms can't scoop up Blackwater's employees. "State simply issues a new task order to DynCorp or Triple Canopy, who turn around and hire some or all of Blackwater's employees," he says."
Excellent link, Joe. I especially like the "Praetorian Guard" comment in the second paragraph. Made me chuckle.
State Department: "we welcome our entirely new security contractor, WackBlater..."
Damn ingrates. Ya' can't make an omlette without breakin' eggs and you can't have a liberation without losin' a few lives, just ask Che!!!
The unarmed people trapped in their cars, blocked in at Nisoor Square, as BW shot down onto them from the rooftops above deserved a little better.
Bring Blackwater to El Toro and let the recruits use them for live fire drills.
R&R is an integral component of a successful boot camp tour.
azjoe.
Blackwater is Americas AQ
Same as Mossad is Israels AQ
Same as SS was Germanys AQ.
Wake up people every country of any power needs Gov paid terrorist to do their dirty work.
mercenary: adj. 1. working or acting merely for money or material reward. n. 2. a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army.
Let's go back and recall a few incidents from the early years of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Back to when Blackwater was first thrust into the limelight.
The killing of four Blackwater mercenaries in Fallujah, Iraq on March 31, 2004, and the major offensives launched against that town of 250,000 people by U.S. military forces is reminiscent of the recent slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza by the Israelis.
The U.S. military TWICE attacked Fallujah - in April and in November of 2004.
April 2004:
"Today the Iraq Body Count (IBC) website has published its analysis of the civilian dealth toll in the April 2004 siege of Falluja. This analysis leads to the conclusion that betweeen 572 and 616 of the approximately 800 reported deaths were of civilians, with over 300 of these being women and children."
November 2004:
"But there is hard evidence that white phosphorus was deployed as a weapon against combatants in Falluja. As this column revealed last Tuesday, US infantry officers confessed that they had used it to flush out insurgents. A Pentagon spokesman told the BBC that white phosphorus "was used as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants."'
Behind the Phosphorus Clouds are War Crimes Within War Crimes - November 22, 2005. See http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1122-31.htm
"People from Saqlawiya village, near Falluja, told al Jazeera television, based in Qatar, that they helped bury 73 bodies of women and children completely charred, all in the same grave.
Yesterday Bill Taylor, responsible for the reconstruction of the Department of State, said that the United States government will spend more than 100 million dollars for the reconstruction of Falluja. The money will be invested in public buildings, private houses, shops, infrastructure. A destruction which could be avoided, if a different solution had been chosen for Falluja, as it was wished by many Iraqis.
And what about all the civilians killed, of which the number is not known and probably never will? Will 100 million dollars be enough to gain back the trust of those who live in Falluja?"
GIULIANA SGRENA, da "il manifesto" - 23 November 2004.
Do you remember what happened to Italian reporter Giuliana Sgrena?
February 12, 2005: On the front pages of major Iraqi papers across the land in recent days, one headline: "Free Her!"
And to see how she was treated upon her release - Targeting Giuliana, see http://www.counterpunch.org/fresia03112005.html .
"Cameras aren't allowed in Falluja; neither are journalists. If they were then we would have first-hand proof of America's greatest war crime in the last 30 years; the Dresden-like bombardment of an entire city of 250,000. ...The truth about Falluja is far different than the bogus reports in the AP and (New York) Times. The fact that even now, a full 6 months after the siege, camera crews and journalists are banned from the city, tells us a great deal about the extent of America's war crimes."
April 18, 2005. See http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney04182005.html
The preceding were examples of the American Empire protecting its own. Frustrated Iraqis made examples out of four Blackwater mercenaries, and the Empire leashed a living hell on the whole town of Fallujah.
It's about time these thugs got thrown out of Iraq on their ears! I won't say I don't know what possessed Bush in even hiring this bunch of terrorists. Because I do understand. It's the Republican's favorite way of wasting money and destroying an healthy economy. Let big business take over unregulated and watch the place go up in smoke.
Erik, why don't you just become a full time evangelist.
Eff'n Christian crusaders of death and destruction -- and of course, big profits!!
"Iraqis are bitter over the September 2007 killing of 17 Iraqi civilians..."
bitter? I guess the parents of the dead kids at columbine are just "bitter" too? what about the relatives of the 2800 or so who died at the WTC? just a bunch of bitter folks, eh?
It is a crying shame that "we" did not pull Blackwater long before the Iraqi's ordered us to do so. Oops. That presumes that "we" are the "shining beacon on the hill". Get used to it. "We" are not. "We" are the greatest killers of people in other countries after WW2.
Erik Prince--such a cutie. Too bad his face is beginning to settle into that arrogant, smug countenance that typifies the middle aged billionaire.