U.S., Iraq discusss Blackwater expulsion, list of demands non-negotiable

[babylonsister]

U.S., Iraq discusss Blackwater expulsion

By STEVEN R. HURST and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA


BAGHDAD (AP) -- U.S. and Iraqi officials are negotiating Baghdad's demand that security company Blackwater USA be expelled from the country within six months, and American diplomats appear to be working on how to fill the security gap if the company is phased out.

The talks about Blackwater's future in Iraq flow from recommendations in an Iraqi government report on the incident Sept. 16 when, Iraqi officials determined, Blackwater guards opened fire without provocation in Baghdad's Nisoor Square and killed 17 Iraqi citizens.

The Iraqi investigators issued five recommendations to the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which has since sent them to the U.S. Embassy as demands for action.

Point No. 2 in the report says:

"The Iraqi government should demand that the United States stops using the services of Blackwater in Iraq within six months and replace it with a new, more disciplined organization that would be answerable to Iraqi laws."

Sami al-Askari, a top aide to al-Maliki, said that point in the Iraqi list of demands was nonnegotiable.

"I believe the government has been clear. There have been attacks on the lives of Iraqi citizens on the part of that company (Blackwater). It must be expelled. The government has given six months for its expulsion and it's left to the U.S. Embassy to determine with Blackwater when to terminate the contract. The American administration must find another company," he told AP.


more...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_BLACKWATER?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[aquart]

1. Rip them out, don't "phase" them out.

Declare them persona non grata and make them GO.

[gateley]

2. Unfortunately they are performing some legitimate and needed services there,

so we'd be putting a lot of our people in jeopardy if we piled them all on planes and made them leave tomorrow.

Just another fucked up complication of this invasion.

[robinlynne]

3. "48,000 private security wor kers in Iraq in 2006" according to GAO

"In June 2006 the U.S. Government Accountability Office said there were 181 security companies with 48,000 employees in Iraq."

[malaise]

4. Will they ever find out who blew up the famous mosque

My tin foil hat has a few suggestions.

[daninthemoon]

5. I wonde what kind of contract blackwater has. Will the US gov be

required to pay them even if the Iraqis wise up enough to kick em out? Would the neocons find "work" for them to do here in the states?

[datadiva]

6. I'm sure this administration will find a nice place for them

Probably in the United States. We've been working hard to keep them out of California. But you know how these people are. What we think doesn't count. Laws mean nothing. Honesty and Integrity are not something they are famous for.