250 Blackwater personnel kicked out (by Iraqi gov't)

Source: Voice of Iraq

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A total of 250 employees working for the U.S. security firm Blackwater have been dismissed and given seven days to leave Iraq, the Iraqi minister of interior said on Wednesday, according to the semi-official al-Iraqiya TV.

A U.S. federal judge had dropped all charges against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians in a crowded Baghdad intersection in 2007.

Citing repeated government missteps, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina dismissed a case that had been steeped in international politics.

The shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and inflamed anti-American sentiments abroad. The Iraqi government wanted the guards to face trial in Iraq and officials there said they would closely watch how the U.S. judicial system handles the case.

Read more: http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=126792

the Iraqis , giving them 7 days notice. They could've just rounded them up and dumped them over Iran's border in far less time.

out immediately.

i thought all the blackwater mercs were thrown out of the sandbox...multiple times?

Alright!!! ...it's about time. This company is scuuuum.

error

Who's going to protect "our" oil? This is a tragedy of epic proportions, somebody had better pull some diplomatic (ie extort, terrorize or blackmail) these ungrateful Iraqis into letting our valiant defenders of democracy remain to do their jobs.

Oh woe is us.

The men that murdered those innocent civilians should have went to trial.
They will not even get their hand slapped..

Thanks for the thread, sabra.

Good for Iraq.

just as mercenaries have throughout history, money is their primary motivation.

they're in Iraq because the U.S. wants them there. This action by the Iraqi government doesn't change that.

His Exxon-Mobil dividend will be ten cents less in 2010.

And how much longer till we find out?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/10/AR2010021001262.html?hpid=moreheadlines

The Justice Department now is investigating whether Blackwater tried to bribe Iraqi officials with about $1 million to allow the company to keep working there after the Baghdad shooting, according to U.S. officials close to the probe.


So they just change a patch on their arm and carry on?

As far as I'm aware the ban by the Iraqi government extends not only to Xe but also to any other company for which Balckwater's past employees subsequently work.

What took them so long?

Kudos to the Iraqi government for holding those Blackwater fools accountable. Responsibility is clearly something missing from privatization. Think about that whenever you hear a Republican calling to lease out government duties to businesses.

takes care of our hired guns.No wonder Americans have a fear of traveling abroad.

I call it 'Not enough flights out of Iraq'...

The Blackwater guys are supposedly being evicted, but what about the Xe dudes?


There are probably thousands of those dudes around.

Definitely Good News for the Iraqi's who have been through so much getting "DEMOCRACY" going in their Country that was Invaded.

I'm sure the NeoCons are celebrating with Martini's around their Fire Pit...on this news. It's gotta be good for Bush!

Loose on the streets of Homeland America.

America loves them some Mercenaries..They put the oooomph back into the killing and torture.