BAGHDAD, Oct. 7, 2007
U.S., Iraqis Review Blackwater Operations
Joint Commission To Examine Role And Conduct Of Private Security Contractors In Iraq
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(AP)
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An Iraqi police officer holds his weapon as Iraqi medical workers protest in Baghdad's Sadr City, Oct. 7, 2007. Medical staff demanded better pay and working conditions for those in conflict areas, as well as denouncing accidental shootings of staff members by U.S. and Iraqi soldiers. (AP Photo/Adil al-Khazali)
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Play CBS Video Video Insider's View Of Blackwater "Only On The Web": Kelly Capeheart is a former employee of Blackwater, a private security firm in Iraq. Capeheart says he's standing by the firm, because it has been unfairly portrayed in the media.
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Video What's Behind Blackwater Blackwater seems irreplaceable in Iraq, and it's costly too. Bob Orr reports on how the company got to Iraq in the first place.
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Video Blackwater Closely Monitored Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice ordered that Blackwater, a private security firm in Iraq, be closely monitored by cameras and audio recordings. David Martin reports.
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In The Spotlight Under Fire A look at Blackwater USA, the State Department's top private security contractor.
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Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
The joint commission, chaired by Iraq's defense minister and the American embassy's No. 2 diplomat, expressed "mutual commitment of the Iraqi government and the U.S. government to work together to evaluate issues of safety and security related to personal security detail operations in Iraq," the brief embassy statement said.
The commission is expected to issue recommendations to both Baghdad and Washington on improving Iraqi and U.S. security procedures, with the "goal of ensuring that personal security detail operations do not endanger public safety" and prevent similar incidents in the future.
It is one of at least three investigations into the Sept. 16 shooting in which Blackwater guards are accused of opening fire on Iraqi civilians in a main square in Baghdad. The Moyock, N.C.-based security company contends its employees came under fire first, but the Iraqi government and witnesses dispute that.
On Saturday, the Los Angeles Times published an Op-Ed by a former U.S. official in Iraq who witnessed Blackwater operatives' brazen disregard for the safety of civilians, even children and the elderly. Janessa Gans, who was in Iraq from 2003, to 2005, wrote of her Blackwater driver careening through the streets and intentionally smashing a slower car driven by an older Iraqi man with a woman and three children off the road and into a barrier.
When she complained, her driver remarked that he has been trained to view anyone as a potential threat: "Terrorists could be disguised as anyone."
"Well, if they weren't terrorists before, they certainly are now," she replied.
A former Army captain hired by Blackwater to serve as a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. State Department in Iraq will take a break from his position to seek the Republican nomination for Congress in Indiana's 2nd District (a seat now held by Democrat Joe Donnelly).
Thirty-nine-year-old Chris Minor of Kokomo said he can't discuss Blackwater or the general use of contractors in Iraq; the terms of his contract with the company prevent him from speaking publicly about it.
Bombings Claim Nine Lives
Sunday's attacks in Baghdad started with an early morning explosion near a minibus carrying workers into central Baghdad. Three people were killed and four wounded in roadside bombing, which apparently targeted a police patrol, according to a police official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The inside of the mangled minibus was soaked in blood, the metal hulk was pummeled by shrapnel and the windows were shattered, according to AP Television News footage.
A half-hour later, in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Dora in southern Baghdad, a second roadside bomb targeting a U.S. patrol missed its target, killing three Iraqi civilians and wounding three others, police said.
And in the downtown commercial area of Salihiyah, a bomb planted in the back of a car parked near the Iranian Embassy exploded about 8:30 a.m., killing three Iraqi passers-by and wounding five others, according to police.
In Other Developments:
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Add a Comment See all 35 Comments
- According to BBC World News: The US invasion of Iraq has effected the greatest civilian displacement in the Middle East since the Palestinian displacement caused by Israel''s founding. Interesting statistic?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E08uwRZL8rw - Reply to this comment
- Obviously Blackwater''s armed employees have earned their bones. Bring them here to repel invaders with extreme prejudice all along our southern border.
- Reply to this comment
- Top Iraqis Pull Back From Key U.S. Goal
Reconciliation Seen Unattainable Amid Struggle for Power
By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, October 8, 2007; Page A01
BAGHDAD -- For much of this year, the U.S. military strategy in Iraq has sought to reduce violence so that politicians could bring about national reconciliation, but several top Iraqi leaders say they have lost faith in that broad goal.
Iraqi leaders argue that sectarian animosity is entrenched in the structure of their government. Instead of reconciliation, they now stress alternative and perhaps more attainable goals: streamlining the government bureaucracy, placing experienced technocrats in positions of authority and improving the dismal record of providing basic services.
"I don''t think there is something called reconciliation, and there will be no reconciliation as such," said Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, a Kurd. "To me, it is a very inaccurate term. This is a struggle about power." - Reply to this comment
- Posted by brianbwb at 01:21 AM : Oct 08, 2007,,,
The beauty of the United States Constitution is that its written so that everyone is accountable, everyone has a boss, no one and no branch of the U.S. Government can do its own thing without answering to something, someone, some Law. The U.S. President, U.S. Congress and U.S. Supreme Court are all equal branches of Government, all equal in power and serve as checks and balances against each other. In order for the United States to work the way its suppose to, each powerful branch of Government must not let any other branch get too powerful, upset the balance and thus take over. If there is a loophole or glitch in the U.S. Constitution that inherently allows one branch of Government to take control and upset the traditional balance of power the Bush administration has found it, and thats the power of the Executive Branch when the U.S. is at War, when the U.S. President has War Powers. Based on our experience with these War Powers and how they have been used or abused, take your pick, there needs to be an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to prevent this in the future, the U.S. needs an "OFF SWITCH" when the majority of Americans want one and Vote for one! - Reply to this comment
- For some of you CBS newbies who may be thinking %u201Cwho is this demented seven-pesos person and why does he hate the South so much?%u201D: He%u2019s to be pitied, rather than debated, so please do yourself and all of us a favor and ignore him. Thanks!
Posted by robertkjjj at 11:10 PM : Oct 07, 2007
Most posers also are aware of you robertkjjj and after all the disgusting comments you made about Ron Paul yesterday you have no room to warn others about sevenpesos.
BTW, the thread about Ron Paul was removed after all the positive comments and support Paul received from voters of various political leanings right, left, middle etc, CBS was hoping for nothing but a bunch of robertkjjj commenting but it didn%u2019t work out because most Americans know Paul is a better choice than either Hilary or Rudy - Reply to this comment
- Ex-CIA Robert Baer Questions Use of Torture, Official 9/11 Story
You Tube
Saturday October 06, 2007
From last night''s Countdown with Keith Olbermann:
Robert Baer spent 20 years working for the CIA. He was a field officer in the Middle East and has seen it all. He says torture is useless - it leads to false confessions. And he doesn''t believe the official story about 9/11. If CIA agents are questioning 9/11, then maybe you should be too. Do you even know the story of Building 7? What about the military drills going on that day - can you name them? Don''t bother looking in the 9/11 Commission Report for this information. They conveniently left out all the many suspicious details that point to 9/11 being an inside job. - Reply to this comment
- I guess the video I downloaded was real after all...it sure appeared absolutely real. Wow, those sociopath government contractors shooting out of the back window of their small SUV were having fun killing other drivers while listening to some U.S. rock music. They were laughing and having the time of their lawless lives. Sociopaths don''t like laws which I suppose is why republicans have hated government. Privatize it and they can run the country in a corrupt state that enforces laws selectively....yes, Bush pointed out dictatorships are more efficient...and as he said "so long as I''m the dictator". How did this country sink so low?
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- Bu$h/Cheney''s Blackwater thugs are the lowest form of terrorist. Unfortunately, they are the top dollar earners in the Middle East. Our troops barely make minimum wage compared to the mercenary soldiers-of-fortune that work for Cheney. Scum is scum.
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- Since the atrocities committed by Blackwater cannot be totally covered up, they will come to light. even the military can provide eyewitness accounts of human rights violations, and breaches of international law.
The problem is since Blackwater is "connected" and many of the investigators on both sides of the aisle have vested interests, or have received bribe money, or have been suitably informed of the personal consequences of probing too deeply, at best we will see a scapegoat or two get wrist slaps, but the real perpetrators will not even be mentioned, much less held responsible. - Reply to this comment
- Posted by robertkjjj
Seven-pesos is a mentally disturbed person who, for reasons only known to him, hates the South.
Actuyally, most americans agree with Seven-Pesos, You Southern Fascists need to leave the USA and get your own country. After that you Scumbags will immediatley be declared the number on terrorist state on earth. Economic sanctions will soon follow.
Who is your real mommy, anyway? Perhaps a gorgeous slave girl raped by your great, great, great grand-daddy? You southern cons are not welcome in the USA! Get OUT. GOPigs! - Reply to this comment
- For some of you CBS newbies who may be thinking %u201Cwho is this demented seven-pesos person and why does he hate the South so much?%u201D: Seven-pesos is a mentally disturbed person who, for reasons only known to him, hates the South. Perhaps his ex-wife was from there. Perhaps someone from Atlanta sold him a lemon car. Who knows? In any case, he%u2019s already prepared about 25-30 pre-written rants about the South. All are lower-case, all look like they were written by a small, illiterate, special-needs child. Seven has learned to master the art of %u201Ccut and paste%u201D. He wanders onto every story on CBS that allows posts, and randomly pastes his anti-South rants on each forum. He%u2019s to be pitied, rather than debated, so please do yourself and all of us a favor and ignore him. Thanks!
- Reply to this comment
- REPIGLICONS = DAMAGED SCUMBAGS
Who in their reicht mind would vote Repiglicons in 2008?
Reicht winged FASCISTS, thats who! - Reply to this comment
- Your tax dollars are funding TERRORISTS !!
Yes the Blackwater Civilian-Killing Terrorists are being funded ($1,200 per day for each hired Blackwater mercenary) by YOUR tax dollars.
An you are funding the Bush/Cheney Iraqi Terror with $200 BILLION each year.
For every single innocent civilian that Osama has murdered, Cheney/Bush has caused the death of at least 100 innocent Iraqi civilians. Cheney/Bush LIED about WMDs and fake Saddam links to Al Qaeda, while Saddam actually told the truth!
By LYING their way into a needless first strike ''Shock and Awe'' war, against a nation we KNEW was not of any immediate threat, Bush and Cheney are GUILTY of mass manslaughter, of death and destruction on a scale far greater than Osama!
These are the ugly facts, if you have the courage to face the truth squarely without bias.
America, how does it feel to know we are ruled by lying, murderous thugs? - Reply to this comment
- If anyone is intrested in how to fight terrorism, & how Bush & Company is fuelling al Qaeda,,, This is an article you might want to read.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071007/ts_nm/britain_iraq_afghanistan_dc - Reply to this comment
- Don''''t worry, Sarge. After Iraq they''''ll all get jobs on Wisconsin township''''s police departments.
Regards,
Posted by Nancy_Naive at 06:38 PM : Oct 07, 2007
Or become full time Cheney hunting buddies.... - Reply to this comment
- Posted by hungry1968 at 07:09 PM : Oct 07, 2007
Yes. And approximately 33% of us are. - Reply to this comment
- Back in June, Bush announced that General Petraeus would be reporting on the situation in Iraq to Congress, in September, and that would determine our "next step" and / or our "way forward".
Everyone with a brain, knew at that time, that Petraeus was going to come back in September and recommend that we "stay the course".
Does anyone have any doubt that this "review" will find no wrong doing? Of course they will be exonerated - why do they even pretend to care? Do they really think were that stupid? - Reply to this comment
- You have to wonder how long it will take this nation to live down the disgrace, world wide, of this Administration. We have no idea just how deep and how far reaching that disgrace is until the slime is out of our White House and a Democrat is in. Sieg Heil Bush
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- If a Democrat is inaugurated in 2009, you''ll hear Republicans screaming to the heavens concerning the dangers of Blackwater. Republicans are more about tribe than country.
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- patriotic9 at,,, Yep, Haliburton, KBR, Blackwater, ENRON, Cheveron & everything conneceted with the Bush GOP including private insurance companies for privatized healh care companies that support Bush
Did you read the NY Times article on Medicare Audits Show Problems in Private Plans ??? More theft by Bush on our American citizens, corruption run amuck no doubt about it. - Reply to this comment
