18 September 2007

Blackwater worse than civil war?

Iraq to review security firms after shooting - Yahoo! News
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq will review the status of all security companies working in the country after a shooting incident involving guards from the U.S. firm Blackwater, the government said on Tuesday.
In fresh violence, four car bombs in Baghdad killed 17 people and wounded 50, police said.
The government said the cabinet supported an Interior Ministry decision to "halt the license" of Blackwater, which provides security to the U.S. embassy and its diplomats, and launch an immediate investigation into the shooting.
"Cabinet affirmed ... the need to review the situation of foreign and local security companies working in Iraq, in accordance with Iraqi laws," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.
"This came after the flagrant assault conducted by members of the American security company Blackwater against Iraqi citizens," Dabbagh said after the cabinet meeting.
Iraq's Interior Ministry said 11 people were killed when Blackwater contractors opened fire at random after mortar rounds landed near the convoy.


So it's OK when Iraqis kill 17 and wound 50, and it's shrugged off by the government as part of doing business. But US contractors whack 11 in a reaction to an actual firefight, and it's time to throw the bums out of the country. How do you know it's OK when the Iraqis blow each other up? The government hasn't done a damn thing to stop it themselves.

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