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State to "Review" Blackwater Operations
Looks like Condi Rice is taking a cue from her inspector general.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday she had ordered a "full and complete review" of security practices for U.S. diplomats following a deadly weekend incident in Iraq involving private guards protecting a U.S. embassy convoy in Baghdad.Rice said she had directed the State Department to examine "how we are providing security to our diplomats."
To recap, while the Iraqi prime minister says Blackwater killed Iraqi civilians "in cold blood," the State Department is promising to "review" its security procedures -- with details on the scope of that review to come later -- and already has Blackwater back to work. Very diplomatic.
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Comments (11)
MikeC wrote on September 21, 2007 2:39 PM:It seems that what really needs to be investigated are Blackwater's rules of engagement. No diplomats were injured in this incident were they?
chisholm wrote on September 21, 2007 2:43 PM:This should really incense the average Iraqi. They can't even tell this group to leave their own country? It makes Maliki look like even more of an impotent puppet.
randy wrote on September 21, 2007 2:55 PM:Well, if Condi is on it then I feel like we will get to the bottom of it pretty quickly.
Randy
Philip Wright wrote on September 21, 2007 3:00 PM:Actually, they love it. Hey, wouldn't you? No more boring commutes. And too, wouldn't going for a Sunday drive be a real adventure? Instead of listening to the children whine and the wife tell you that you're lost, you could be planning your evasive manuevers.
Of course, you would need some of that cool Dragonskin by OshKosh for the kiddies and it would be wise to uparmor the old station wagon. You and your wife would be brought closer together as you planned new, safer routes up to the lake. She looks so fetching in that Kevlar helmet you got her. But no time for that, is that a convoy up ahead?
JamesCA wrote on September 21, 2007 3:02 PM:So the State Department is so unfamiliar with the terms and practices of the contractors that they need to review it? Why does that sound bogus on it's face?
Read "Disaster Capitalism" by Naomi Klein in this month's Harper's Magazine if you really want to be frightened for the future of this country.
Private "security" corporations are built with public-taxpayer funds, but are strictly private, highly secretive and unaccountable. They're also highly partisan and contribute large amounts of $$ to Republicans only.
Kevin wrote on September 21, 2007 3:05 PM:She is going to give it 2 thumbs up, although the action drags a bit in the middle, the director and the cinematography also did an Oscar worthy job.
Utopia wrote on September 21, 2007 3:34 PM:At least I think that is the kind of "review" she is talking about
Ask her what her definition of "full and complete" is. Trust no one.
U
steve duncan wrote on September 21, 2007 4:19 PM:Probably no chance of expanding that review to include the entire war, huh?
unpoetaloco wrote on September 21, 2007 4:22 PM:Condi can't muster the courage to admit she's a lesbian and has a partner. What makes anyone think she can stand up to Blackwater? Maybe, just maybe, if we start speaking real truth to power, we might be able to survive as a country. As it stands, everyone's reluctance -- inability, refusal -- to speak plainly and truthfully has us rapidly going down the sh*t hole.
Uncle Kudzu wrote on September 21, 2007 8:11 PM:i'm surprised that it took this long for Buckwater to resume open operation and that this incident is still a small part of the news cycle.
enjoy it while you can, folks, because this story will soon be swept quietly under the rug.
footsore wrote on September 22, 2007 10:15 AM:One only needs to watch Ms Condi's testimony before the 9/11 commission to be aware of how this incident will be parsed and equivocated away. We all know that silly Iraqi family had no business being there(in Iraq). They should have been in Syria waiting to immigrate to the US.
footsore