A puppet state has no say in such matters, obviously.

they may well be expecting them to wind down contracts for handovers.

 

why would you think that they don't have a say when they've got SOFAs in place and have evicted people in the past??

 

as a PMC they are subject to common law - and that means that the iraqis are well within their legal right to arrest anyone who they think is in breech of national laws and declarations.

 

The fact that BW still have people in Iraq seems to indicate that there was a loss in media story translation rather than BW acting like a  21st Cent version of the East India Company.

It's just political grandstanding. The Iraqi government wants to try to assert some authority and show independence, but they ain't winning this one. And they shouldn't want to. Blackwater is still a highly professional bunch, or should say a higher than average soldier professional bunch.

It's just political grandstanding. The Iraqi government wants to try to assert some authority and show independence, but they ain't winning this one. And they shouldn't want to. Blackwater is still a highly professional bunch, or should say a higher than average soldier professional bunch.

sounds like mough and blackwater are best of friends

anyway, i thought blackwater was one of the nicknames for the shakies' selection (am i wrong?)

It seems to me that Iraq is actually exercising proper due diligence and is exercising all its rights as a sovereign entity?

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Iraqi Government says US Security Firm Suspended, Not Expelled

(Source: Voice of America news; issued Sept. 19, 2007)

BAGHDAD --- Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says the company that provides bodyguards to U.S. diplomats in Iraq has been suspended while the government investigates a deadly shooting incident involving the firm last Sunday. The government said earlier it was expelling the private security firm.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says his country will not tolerate the cold-blooded killing of its citizens.

Iraq's Interior Ministry has suspended the license of security company Blackwater, and has said it is reviewing all security companies working in the country.

Mr. Maliki says Sunday's shooting is the seventh troubling incident involving Blackwater, which provides armed escorts for U.S. government civilian employees in Iraq.

A U.S. embassy official, Mirembe Natongo, has urged journalists and others to wait until an investigation is complete before drawing conclusions. "Both the Iraqi government and the American government are working closely in this incident, and also to address the security companies that work in Iraq. Again the United States expresses its deep condolences, for the casualties," Natongo said.

Iraqi officials have said at least 11 people died after Blackwater guards began shooting in a busy part of Baghdad.

A news report in The New York Times says a preliminary Interior Ministry investigation found Blackwater guards fired at a car that ignored a police order to stop, killing two adults and an infant.

The company has a different version of events, saying there was an attack on the convoy it was protecting and Blackwater guards responded in a lawful and appropriate fashion.

Meanwhile, U.S. diplomats and civilian officials are not supposed to travel by land out of Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. Natongo says the travel restrictions are hurting some U.S. programs and will be reviewed frequently to see if they are still necessary. (ends)

US, Iraq, Set Up Panel to Examine Role of Security Contractors

(Source: Voice of America news; issued Sept. 19, 2007)

STATE DEPARTMENT --- The U.S. and Iraqi governments are setting up a joint commission to examine the controversial role of private security companies operating in Iraq. The action follows a lethal incident Sunday involving the American security contractor Blackwater USA.

Officials here say the joint commission will not investigate the Sunday shooting incident, which is already the subject of parallel U.S. and Iraqi inquiries. But they say the panel will use any findings of those probes to try to develop new policies to govern the military contractors, who have been frequently accused of acting with impunity in their roles in Iraq which include protecting U.S. diplomats.

At least 11 Iraqis were killed Sunday in the incident involving Blackwater contractors protecting a U.S. diplomatic convoy moving through a Baghdad neighborhood outside the fortified international zone.

Iraqi officials say the Blackwater guards fired indiscriminately after mortar rounds fell near th

Kid don't buy into BW's sales pitch that every guy is an ex- SEAL, or SF or SAS or whatever, those guys are in a minority in BW now, they take anyone, hell BW will charge you a shit load of money to take some of their courses then hire you, no previous experience in anything even medium speed slightly draggy needed...plus BW have something of a dubious history, they like to gun and run at times

If you read their website or anything in most books/magazines, it will basically build them up as almost an all exclusive ex-SOF force. However, I have heard that these large PMC's like to hire fijin's (sp?) and such because of their low cost and "warrior culture" background. So these guys hire people who take their courses? That seems sort of unprofessional, as these courses aren't what I'd consider proper training for such a task as a Iraq deployment.

PMC, Paramilitary and UN Policing is the largest single revenue raiser for the Fijian Govt (via direct revenue + taxes)

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