Blackwater

A couple days ago, the mercenary company Blackwater was at the center of a rather large incident in Iraq allegedly involving a dozen or two dead Iraqi civilians. There are conflicting reports, depending on who you want to believe, from the US State Department, the Iraqi government, and eyewitnesses at the scene. Some say the Blackwater employees were fired on first, some say they were responding to an exploded bomb, some say the bomb was too far away for that to be the reason, some say that it was because a civilian car (mother and child) ignored an order from police to stop and was slowing moving into the intersection, prompting the firefight. I have my preferences on who and what to believe, you have yours.

In the end, it doesn’t matter. What it all boils down to is that the Iraqi government has ordered Blackwater out of Iraq. It’s their country, so it should be up to them, no? Evidently not. The US government and Blackwater are basically saying that the Iraqi government has no jurisdiction to kick Blackwater out. I think this is really going to blow up into a much larger issue than it already is.

Imagine if an Iraqi mercenary group were in Washington D.C. protecting Iraqi officials, and they were ordered out of the country by the US government and refused. Imagine the uproar that would ensue. Fortunately for the US government, we get what we want and those folks would be out of here and/or imprisoned faster than you can say quagmire.

For some really great entertainment, listen to or watch yesterday’s Democracy Now. Blackwater expert Jeremy Scahill has a debate, about halfway through the show, with a security/mercenary firm trade group representative. For some decent reading on the issue, I found today’s NY Times article to be quite good (page A12, or I am guessing on their website).