Iraq to Deny New License To Blackwater Security Firm

[struggle4progress]

Source: Washington Post

U.S. Embassy's Preferred Contractor Accused of Killings

By Ernesto Londoño and Qais Mizher
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, January 29, 2009; Page A12


MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 28 -- The Iraqi government has informed the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that it will not issue a new operating license to Blackwater Worldwide, the embassy's primary security company, which has come under scrutiny for allegedly using excessive force while protecting American diplomats, Iraqi and U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Iraq's Interior Ministry conveyed its decision to U.S. officials in Baghdad on Friday, in one of the boldest moves the government has made since the Jan. 1 implementation of a security agreement with the United States that sharply curbed American power in Iraq.

Blackwater employees who have not been accused of improper conduct will be allowed to continue working as private security contractors in Iraq if they switch employers, Iraqi officials said Wednesday ...

"When the work of this committee ends," Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said, private security companies "will be under the authority of the Iraqi government, and those companies that don't have licenses, such as Blackwater, should leave Iraq immediately" ...

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/01/28/ST2009012803363.html

---

Iraq ends licence of US security firm Blackwater

... Blackwater, a major State Department contractor in Iraq, is being expelled over the deaths of the Iraqi civilians at a busy Baghdad intersection on September 16, 2007, in a case that infuriated Iraqis, Khalaf said ...

An Iraqi investigation found that 17 civilians were killed and 20 injured in the incident, in which Blackwater guards opened fire while escorting an American diplomatic convoy through Baghdad. The firm says its guards were acting in self-defence.

Five former Blackwater guards have gone on trial in Washington over the incident. They have pleaded not guilty to killing 14 Iraqi civilians and wounding 18 others by gunfire and grenades.

Their trial is expected to begin on January 29, 2010 ...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hgJyHq07KJAo08e4yLAT-9wu6ZvA

[dipsydoodle]

1. That is serious

NOT. :rofl:

[struggle4progress]

4. What's amusing here?

:shrug:

[dipsydoodle]

6. They should've been kicked out ages ago

along with all other contractors not working on recontructing utilites etc.

[struggle4progress]

7. I'd guess many Iraqis agree with that point of view but felt helpless

to do much about it -- since Blackwater not only was armed itself but was supported by a country which spends as much on its military as the rest of the world combined -- and since the last time Iraq said Blackwater, get out! the US basically said Aw, STFU!

[HowHasItComeToThis]

21. IF THEY SEND THEM BACK TO THE U.S., STREET CRIME IN THE SOUTH WILL BALLOON

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[struggle4progress]

2. No Contract for Blackwater in Iraq (NYT)

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Published: January 29, 2009

BAGHDAD -- ... The Iraqi government has sought in the past to expel Blackwater, but American officials in Iraq .. said they had no alternative but to continue using the North Carolina-based security contractor.

Unlike many security contractors in Iraq, Blackwater had been operating without an Iraqi government license, although it recently applied for one.

The request was turned down during the past few weeks by the Iraqi government, officials said ...

Security contractors working in Iraq lost their immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law on December 31 as part of the Status of Forces Agreement signed between the United States and Iraq ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/world/middleeast/30blackwater.html?hp

[struggle4progress]

3. US security firm Blackwater faces expulsion from Iraq (Guardian)

Decision not to renew licence prompted by shooting of 17 people by guards in 2007, Iraqi official says
Mark Tran
Thursday 29 January 2009 10.27 GMT

... An interior ministry spokesman, Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf, said that the decision was prompted by what he called the guards' "improper conduct and excessive use of force" in a shooting that killed 17 Iraqi civilians and injured dozens of others, in September 2007 ...

The interior ministry revoked Blackwater's licence after the shooting, and threatened to expel its employees, but the US ignored the order and renewed the company's contract the following April ...

Blackwater, which has earned more than $1bn (£708m) from the US government in the last nine years, has a bad reputation in Iraq, as it has been involved in nearly 200 shootings since 2005, according to a congressional report ...

Blackwater, which has earned more than $1bn (£708m) from the US government in the last nine years, has a bad reputation in Iraq, as it has been involved in nearly 200 shootings since 2005, according to a congressional report ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/29/iraq-licence-blackwater

[DUlover2909]

5. Now that's a company from which I wouldn't mind seeing some big lay-offs.

Maybe bankruptcy? One can only hope. Also, let's end KBR and Halliburton's operations in Iraq and replace US workers with Iraqi contractors.

[DailyGrind51]

8. And Condi isn't there to talk them out of their position, this time!

[harun]

11. Hillary will tell them "Don't let the door hit yah where the Lord split yah"

[biopowertoday]

17. Hillary has always said she would pull Blackwater out of Iraq.

[salguine]

9. Actually, now that there's a new administration in Washington,

Blackwater needs to be disarmed and disbanded. A private army with its own aircraft, armored vehicles and thousands of "soldiers" with automatic weapons has no business existing within our borders.

[AlbertCat]

19. Yeah! And get their friggin' HQ outta my home state!

[Lint Head]

10. Blackwater should be bankrupted. They support corporate

fascism.


Blackwater scans a neighborhood.

:dem:

[rosesaylavee]

12. This is very good news.

However, how will this effect our troops?

[dixiegrrrrl]

25. Good question.

I read somewhere a few months ago that private contractors are the 3rd largest group of
"The Coalition of the Willing" force used in the Middle East.
Huge number, huge huge huge amount of money being paid to them.
If we de-couple from contractors, we could save billions.

[rosesaylavee]

34. But would that put our troops in jeopardy?

Or cause us to deploy more? I hope not to either.

Time to bring them all home.

[SIMPLYB1980]

13. They need to be shut down soon.

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2007/10/obama_goes_after_blackwater.html

"IOWA CITY –Sen. Barack Obama charged today that a private security firm operating in Iraq has acted "with reckless disregard to Iraqi life," as he called his proposals to better monitor such contractors the toughest reforms offered by any candidate in the presidential race.

Although Obama has previously mentioned Blackwater USA, the Illinois Democrat drew greater attention to the firm's actions in an extended discussion on the University of Iowa's campus.

"Most contractors act as if the law doesn't apply to them," he said. "Under my plan, if contractors break the law, they will be prosecuted."

In announcing his "Security Contractor Accountability Plan," Obama said he would like to see greater transparency on contractor hiring and costs."

[katandmoon]

14. YEEHAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lasher]

15. Some things are not done better in the private sector.

Jerkwater is a prime example.

[defendandprotect]

31. MOST things are not done better in the private sector . . . in fact, few . .

[Wapsie B]

16. I'm sure that with the new administration Eric Prince could see this coming.

Blackwater is no doubt on to bigger and better things where they can still operate without public scrutiny.

[pjt7]

18. Blackwater is morphing into

many other areas & while this is good news & one head of the snake has been cut-off.

There needs to be about 10 more cuttings.

[aquamarina]

20. It's about time. And for that matter their biz license should

be yanked in this country as well.

[The Wizard]

22. A rightful use of our military

would be to disarm Blackwater and all of its imitators, seize their assets and jail their corporate executives. Public horse whippings are in order here.

[Myrina]

23. I cheered outloud when I heard this in the car this morning!

FINALLY.

[NM Independent]

24. Layoffs for Blackwater?

Now, there are some greedy shithead "soldiers of fortune" that damn well deserve to be eating noodles for a while.

[Bette Noir]

26. Wow. The economy is so bad even mercenaries can't get work.

[BonnieJW]

27. Just sent a suggestion

to Whitehouse.gov. I urge everyone to do the same. These people are clearly dangerous. If they lose that large contract, they'll "find" trouble right here to warrant their services.

[StarryNite]

28. A headline I would love to see...

Blackwater in Foreclosure

[AllyCat]

29. What???!!! What kind of democracy is that?? Time to invade!

Oh wait, we are already there. Good for them. I'm glad to hear they are standing up to these emperors of the MIC.

[defendandprotect]

30. Basically this says that Iraqi govt isn't as crazy as we are . . . !!!

and probably less corrupt than Bushco --

or anyone else advocating we keep Blackwater in our military dealings --

and/or privatization of military after ALL of these experiences!

[Union Yes]

32. RELAX! BUSHCO will fix this........wait.....uh oh..

Nov 4th and Jan 20th musta been 2 painful days for these Fascist TYRANTS.

BUSHCO HALLIBURTON BLACKWATER - A 100,000 acre ranch in Paraguay isn't big enough to contain that much tyranny.

Line up every one of these Fascist fuckers and march them 1 by 1 before the Hague.

Time for Bush to learn exactly what 'Murikan justice and the Geneva Convention are all about.

[Two Sheds]

33. While I think Blackwater should be shut down and Erik Prince kicked out of the country...

you need to be careful how you go about this. This is a group of rich, well-armed, murderous psychopaths (thanks, Pentagon!) and you don't want them running around this country. If you cancel all their contracts and forget about them, you could have some serious blowback. The most serious kind of blowback. There's nothing more dangerous than an underemployed mercenary.

To kill Blackwater will require the spending of millions and millions of tax dollars. As much of their US personnel as possible should be given government jobs or good retirements with some specific do's and don'ts. Their foreign personnel (and they have a lot of that) could be given some smaller settlement. Then you ban them from entering the country ever again and from having any contact with their old chums.

The real way to kill Blackwater and their ilk is to discontinue funding and training all Special Forces units in our armed forces. The training for these programs and the aura attached to these units attracts some real borderline types. It also drains away a lot of your best NCO talent as a lot of really intelligent and motivated soldiers want to see if they've "got what it takes." What they get is a dangerous sense of exceptionalism. They also acquire a set of very specific and frightening skills which have only destructive uses in the world. You train spies and assassins for the world and either you use them or someone else will.

[pinniped]

35. Show me the old license.

They can't, because there was no fucking license.