Security Guards Feared Suicide Attack
Australian Firm Confirms Its Guards Involved In Shootings That Killed 2 Iraqi Women
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An Iraqi woman looks inside a blood stained car of two women, allegedly shot dead by private security guards in central Baghdad on Oct. 9, 2007. (ALI YUSSEF/AFP/Getty Images)
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A woman and a child inspect a car with blood splattered on the door after two Christian Iraqi women were shot to death in central Karradah, Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007. (AP Photo)
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Iraqi pedestrians run moments after a car bomb exploded in Baghdad's central al-Khulani square during the hours of intense car traffic on Oct. 9, 2007. (ALI AL-SAADI/AFP/Getty Images)
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Plainclothes contractors working for Blackwater USA take part in a firefight as Iraqi demonstrators loyal to Muqtada Al Sadr attempt to advance on a facility being defended by U.S. and Spanish soldiers in Najaf on April 4, 2004. (AP Photo/Gervasio Sanchez)
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Weeping mourners, meanwhile, demanded justice at a funeral for Marou Awanis and Geneva Jalal, the two Armenian Christian women who died Tuesday in the second shooting of civilians involving a security firm linked to U.S. government-financed work in Iraq in less than a month.
Unity, which provides protection for USAID contractor RTI International, said the security team was "approached at speed by a white car" and used "graduated and escalated" warnings, including signs, strobe lights, hand signals and a flare to try to get it to stop.
"The vehicle did not heed these warnings and failed to halt," the company's chief operating officer Michael Priddin said in a statement. "Fearing a suicide attack, only then did the team use their weapons in a final attempt to stop the vehicle."
Priddin said the area where the shootings occurred in the central Baghdad district of Karradah had been subjected to suicide car bombings in recent weeks and the guards were on alert.
It also confirmed that two people had been killed in the shootings. "We deeply regret the loss of these lives," the statement said, adding that the company was cooperating with Iraqi authorities in the investigation into the incident.
Relatives and friends of the victims as well as the Iraqi government claimed the use of force against the car was excessive and said those responsible should be held accountable.
"What is the use of the word 'sorry?"' Nora Jalal, Awanis' daughter and a student at Baghdad's Technology University, cried.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said an initial site investigation showed the guards were wrong to use their weapons.
"The use of force in that incident was unjustifiable," he said. "We cannot say that the guards shot at random, but rather we would say that they used force in a situation that they should not have done this. The preliminary investigation has shown that there was no threat to the convoy."
Al-Dabbagh said the families would be invited to file a lawsuit against the company, but he did not elaborate.
The shootings occurred as outrage was still fresh over the killings of 17 Iraqi civilians allegedly at the hands of Blackwater USA as it was protecting American specialists working under USAID contracts on development projects in Iraq. The North Carolina-based company has said its guards were responding to an attack by armed insurgents.
An Iraqi investigation of the Blackwater shooting on Sept. 16 was ordered by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and called for the company to pay $8 million in compensation to the families of each of the 17 victims. The commission also said Blackwater guards had killed 21 other Iraqis since it began protecting American diplomats.
The Rev. Kivork Arshlian urged the government to punish those responsible despite the immunity that has generally been enjoyed by foreign security contractors in Iraq.
"This is a crime against humanity in general and against Iraqis in particular. Many other people were killed in a similar way," he said. "We call upon the government to put an end to these killings."
"This security company should leave the country. Those who committed this crime should be punished because they claimed the lives of two people," he added. "We do not want a trial in Australia, which we would know nothing about."
Arshlian celebrated the funeral Mass, which was held at the Virgin Mary Church. Awanis' three daughters cried and other female relatives wailed over the caskets, adorned only with a golden cross.
In other developments:
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See all 109 CommentsThe Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;.......
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;.......
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;.......
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;uniform throughout the United States;.....
Our Constitution instills in Congress the power to fund and regulate war. This power was usurped by George Bush, with the help of a Republican Congress. The present Democratic Congress must have some Republican votes to reclaim our Constitution. If you do not want fourteen months of the status quo, contact your Congresspeople now.
So USAID, a well-known CIA front, needs to hire Aussies now to kill women and little children. What, not enough Yanks who still want to do the wet work? This is what happens when "liberals" take over the public school system. Our children must be taught that the highest calling in America is to be a hit man for the security forces protecting Hunt Oil and Halliburton--er--our diplomats!
Secret Service
The Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency with headquarters in Washington, D.C. and more than 150 offices throughout the United States and abroad. The Secret Service originally was established in 1865, solely to suppress the counterfeiting of U.S. currency. Today, the agency is mandated by Congress to carry out dual missions: protection of the nation''s leaders and criminal investigations.
Blackwater-if you can hire them then ANYBODY can !
Posted by glossypan at 08:25 AM : Oct 10, 2007
No they don''''t."
The Senate is presently made up of 49 Republicans and 49 Democrats with two Independents who caucus with Democrats. Lieberman will break caucus ranks on funding. At least four Democrats will do the same. To cut off primary funding will require some Republican votes. Any other stop the war vote requires Republican votes to get past a possible filibuster. A recent book claims that 11% of the popular vote can stop a bill in the Senate.
Posted by tuckerndfw
Too true, but since the republicans have long since embraced the most virulent racist segment of the population, and has let them enunciate the party''s direction, I cannot even begin to think about considering the possibility that I might give them my vote.
Rubber-stamp Congress
Fascist Administration
Torture
Pre-emptive Invasion
Republican calling cards...
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
FOX NEWS .com
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
FOX NEWS .com
Posted by telecom_1 at 09:23 AM : Oct 10, 2007
Good news, if it can be authenticated by an unbiased source with a history of veracity.
"Voting for a Dem is no different than voting for a Repub."
It definitely seems that way these days.
Given the choice, my vote will go for the person who I believe truly understands the situations that we Americans have caused through our not despicable foreign policy.
That person is Ron Paul - and even though he is a Republican, he just happens to be less "Republican" then most of the Democrat contenders out there.
The Congress shall have Power ...and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;.......
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;.......
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;.......
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;uniform throughout the United States;.....
Our Constitution instills in Congress the power to fund and regulate war. This power was usurped by George Bush, with the help of a Republican Congress. The present Democratic Congress must have some Republican votes to reclaim our Constitution. If you do not want fourteen months of the status quo, contact your Congresspeople now.
Posted by glossypan at 08:25 AM : Oct 10, 2007
impeach this Bush Cheney administration!
Posted by telecom_1 at 09:23 AM : Oct 10, 2007
Good. The SOB can rot.
That being said, it will have no effect in Iraq whatsoever because we are staving off a civil war. The administration likes to play up the al-Qaeda angle of course, but indications are that they are not our primary foe there.
The same kind of news was always being reported in Vietnam. We killed x number of Vietcong. We killed some top commander. We took this hill or that. It made no difference in the end.
"Voting for a Dem is no different than voting for a Repub."
I think our government is playing us for fools. They know there is no chance a republican will win, but they are going through the proceedure anyway. The thing the Dems. are trying to play is, they know the majority of people are going to vote for them because of the corruption right now and the war. Voting fraud is the norm. but if 70% of the population votes dem and the gov. puts a repub. in, the game is up.
So dem''s are saying vote for us because we (publicly) state we are against the war and corruption. But behind the scenes these few thousand people in D.C. are making the same money the GOP are, especially Hillary.
Basically, the thin line is making the people believe you are for them while stabbing them in the back behind closed doors. Now you just have to control what the media reports.
Terrorists endorse Hillary in ''''08
Mideast jihadi leaders say she''''s best hope for victory in Iraq
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57970
sounds good to me
hire them or draft them if they do not volunteer lol
Why is this the only article with an "In Other Developments" Section at the bottom of the first page?
Neither of these "other developments" are related to the story and there is no metion of either "other development" on page 2. Please read these "other developments" carefully and ask yourself why they may have been placed where they are. How do they make you feel about the story? Do the "other developments" have any impact on your opinion of independent contractors in Iraq?
Now, why are these "other developments" placed here?
PS as proof remember when Bill Clinton stopped the GOP from passing the biggest pork bill in American history and Newt started going down the toilet. You all neocons in disguise can''t fool us again.
This is Bush''s idea of winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis.
No wonder the vast majority of Iraqis want us to leave and don''t mind if we do so in body bags.
Iraq insurgency: People rise against al-Qa''eda
Damien McElroy spent a week in the heart of the insurgency in Anbar province in Iraq. In the second of seven exclusive reports he describes how peace and prosperity have returned to a town formerly riven by sectarian killings.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/08/wanbar308.xml
Why is this the only article with an "In Other Developments" Section at the bottom of the first page?
Neither of these "other developments" are related to the story and there is no metion of either "other development" on page 2. Please read these "other developments" carefully and ask yourself why they may have been placed where they are. How do they make you feel about the story? Do the "other developments" have any impact on your opinion of independent contractors in Iraq?
Now, why are these "other developments" placed here?
Posted by FuQ24 at 12:11 PM
`````````
The answer to your question is because CBS has an agenda. They like stirring up the kooks.
Not the same because those that put us there need to be removed before we can go forward. You rant and rave but if you don''t remove the enablers then we will stay. So that means you must remove the current administration and not support those that have a current history of supporting this war.
Any way you look at it under excellent circumstances it will still take about 5 years to get out of Iraq. So the real question is why blame those that are trying and then twist the words to make it sound as though it is the Democrats fault when fault is those that sent us there to begin with. Nancy and Harry have to take it slow until the idiots that sent us there are out of office.
Nice try but blaming someone who didn''t cause the problem doesn''t hold water anymore. The internet is too fast and has a mind of its own. You can rant and rave all you want but it won''t do any good.
----- Most of us come here to read the articles & to make appropriate comments on the issue,, not to slam the media for presenting it.
God help the USA, it appears we are in our final days. And, I don''''t mean Armageddon, I mean the total collapse of the US as an independent, free nation.
Yep, the legend of the dumbing of Americans, a GOP trademark, may never be undone. The beginning of all this autrocity was when the Reagan appointed judges began to allow unmitigated drug testing in the workplace, which continues to this day. I am so glad that I own a second home in the Ukriane! I will soon gladly undo any reamaining ties that I have with this disgraceful nation known as the USA.
.... You want to keep living in a fantisy land,,,, Go ahaead but don''t spin what''s going on, just put in a Cinderella Movie in your T.V.
terrorislam1o,,,, Change your screen name to Tinkerbell, it''''s more fitting
She is Lars08. Can''t you tell by the braindeadedness of her posts?
Posted by rohink at 02:06 PM : Oct 10, 2007
+ report abuse
Really? Now what would that agenda be there Swastika Breath? Who would you suggest we get to determine what WE the People hear and see anyway? You hate the free press and obviously want someone or something to slant the reporting to suit you so who''s it going to be? The Gestapo? Cheney''s office? How about Rove, he''s looking for something to do? Sieg Heil Bush!!
---- This administration has sold out our country & it''s national assets -- Bush''s Foreign Investment Committee is working hard to kill our National Secruty as fast as they can.
But leave it to the anti-American, un-American, unpatriotic liberal media to BLAME AMERICA FIRST.
It''''s getting really old, and I think CBS, NBC, CNN and the NY Times know it. They are increasingly unbelievable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted by ddhinnyc at 01:16 PM : Oct 10, 2007
+ report abuse
OH PLEASE!! You FASCIST are getting so desperate it''s funny. The Reporter tells the TRUTH the WHOLE Truth and you, with your swastika glaring, attack the citizen. What''s wrong with the TRUTH there Sparky... There''s not ONE WORD of what was printed that is FALSE, like the LIES your fuhrer has told us. NOT ONE WORD but WE aren''t supposed to hear the truth are we huh? Sieg Heil Bush!! Come on you pathetic Nazi... you hate everyone who doesn''t support the Party so shout it out!! SIEG HEIL!! SIEG HEIL!! Good little nazi!!
Neither of these "other developments" are related to the story... "
---
In the daily ebb and flow of news about Iraq, every editor must "package" items is a coherent fashion. Just as every major newspaper once featured an "International" news section, news about a minibus bombing in Iraq fits most closely with the Unity shooting, also from Iraq and to most readers interested in Iraq developments, belongs in the same section.
Since each miniscule item does not merit a story of its own, it is sensible to place each small story at the end of today''s main story out of Iraq. This is the way CBS usually presents Iraq news-- as a "wrapup"-- and suggests no grand conspiracy to most readers who also are critical thinkers.
In the same logic, the minibus story might have been the lead on a slow news day in Iraq, had Unity not contributed a major item of its own-- another security contractor shooting in Baghdad, this during a tense period following Blackwater''s Nisour Square shooting that killed 17 Iraqi civilians.
BTW-- If you are looking for an agenda-swollen outlet, try Faux Network News. These bozos actually editorialize their news stories with colored adjectives and implications. Faux demonstrates what professional news should not do, and has become essentially a spin factory for Bush and the GOP.
AUSTRALIAN COMPANY BASED IN DUBAI".
Just because the company is - Australian - does Not - Mean the Company is - Not - Sub Contracted ! ! !
The Vast Majority of - Foreign Companies - In Iraq are Sub contracted by ; American Companies - " Cheap Labor "
Anyone who posts a comment - Condemning the News Media - for Free Reporting - on the Murders - of Unarmed Civilians
Definitely has - Strong - Direct Ties to - " Blackwater "
In Addition - They themselves Condone - The act of - Murder - Against any person in the World
How would you like one of these - Idoits - Like ddhinnyc -
Living in your neighborhood ! ! !
Free Ticket for - Murder - of any Unarmed Civilian in the World -
Brought to you by :
Criminal Corporate (Nazi) America - The Republican (Nazi) Party
Blackwater and - ddhinnyc
Lastdance
OH PLEASE!! You FASCIST are getting so desperate it''''s funny. The Reporter tells the TRUTH the WHOLE Truth and you, with your swastika glaring, attack the citizen. What''''s wrong with the TRUTH there Sparky... There''''s not ONE WORD of what was printed that is FALSE, like the LIES your fuhrer has told us. NOT ONE WORD but WE aren''''t supposed to hear the truth are we huh? Sieg Heil Bush!! Come on you pathetic Nazi... you hate everyone who doesn''''t support the Party so shout it out!! SIEG HEIL!! SIEG HEIL!! Good little nazi!!
Posted by MCVet at 02:54 PM : Oct 10, 2007
Dude, I can''t believe the *** that comes from you! Nothing the poster said that you are replying to is a lie, either, is it? But you have to go on your tired little rant about "swastikas glaring" (a lie), the "lies our fuhrer has told us" (a lie), calling someone a Nazi (a lie), accusing them of hating everyone that doesn''t support the party (a lie). You seem very defensive, like you''re struggling with your own ideas. You can''t make a point without spewing insults and garbage, and you''re making yourself look like someone who is completely intolerant of anyone that disagrees with you.
Last letter from doomed Al Qaida chief: "We are so desperate for your help"
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2007/ss_iraq_09_30.asp
Iraq insurgency: People rise against al-Qa''''eda
Damien McElroy spent a week in the heart of the insurgency in Anbar province in Iraq. In the second of seven exclusive reports he describes how peace and prosperity have returned to a town formerly riven by sectarian killings.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/08/wanbar308.xml
Definitely has Strong Direct Ties to "Blackwater"
In Addition They themselves Condone The act of Murder Against any person in the World
How would you like one of these Idoits Like ddhinnyc
Living in your neighborhood!!!
Posted by lastdance2 at 03:19 PM : Oct 10, 2007
First of all, what''s with all the hyphens? Trying to read your posts is like trying to listen to someone with incurable and frequent hiccups.
Second, nobody condemned the media for reporting this story, yet you accuse "anyone" that would of having "Strong and direct ties to Blackwater" and "condoning the act of murder against any person in the world." What???? First, what does Blackwater have to do with ANY of this story? Nothing, but that''s the impression the article gives, and the impression it seems that you attached yourself to.
I would much rather have an "idoit" like ddhinnyc living in my neighborhood than some accusatory, paranoid, intolerant, conspiracy driven, irrational person such as you seem to be living there. Come to think of it, it might be very profitable having people like you or MCVet as a neighbors from all the libel lawsuits I would win. Keep calling me a Nazi!
Posted by ConDumism at 02:29 PM : Oct 10, 2007
That''s the best news I''ve heard all day. Is there a place we can send donations for a plane ticket?
Posted by s1ckd09 at 04:18 PM : Oct 10, 2007
He sounds like OBL or some other Muslim extremist.
Too bad he refuses to become a martyr.
Posted by tuckerndfw at 04:37 PM : Oct 10, 2007
Someone give him a turbin. SHAMEFUL
let us welcome these threats stateside..let the liberals feel the full heat of the furnace of reality..
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