Blackwater in Iraq
Unintended consequences - Iraq division.
On September 16th, some employees of Blackwater shot and killed a number of Iraqi non-combatant citizens.
Now they are being asked to leave by the Iraqi government. From
CNN:
Iraqi adviser: Blackwater shooting unprovoked, guards must go
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki asked the U.S. State Department to "pull Blackwater out of Iraq," after an Iraqi probe concluded that the private contractors committed unprovoked and random killings in a September 16 shooting, an adviser to al-Maliki told CNN.
But in Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the department has received "no specific request" from Iraq to withdraw the company's contractors.
Al-Maliki adviser Sami al-Askari told CNN the Iraqis have completed their investigation into the shooting at Nusoor Square in Baghdad.
Al-Askari said the United States is still waiting for the findings of the American investigation, but al-Maliki and most Iraqi officials are "completely satisfied" with the findings of their probe and are "insisting" that Blackwater leave the country.
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Natango told CNN by telephone that the Iraqi-U.S. joint commission met and is proceeding with its work on the matter.
I find it wonderful that the flack from State Department hadn't heard about this. The State Department is broken so it seems there are alternate channels of communication opening up.
If it's broke, work around it.
This is just what a sovereign nation should do - something that Iraq was not up until a year or two ago.
Posted by DaveH at October 16, 2007 7:09 PM