Posts tagged with 'blackwater'

Latest Blackwater Scandal in Iraq: A Condemnation of How this War is Fought

POSTED BY MALCOLM RAY, JANUARY 11 2008 12:50 AM | PERMALINK

The New York Times is reporting that the U.S. defense contractor Blackwater used a riot-control gas, called CS gas, in May of 2005, dropping it from a helicopter on both United States military personal and Iraqi civilians. While no one was injured, the gas, which is a highly controlled material, used by the armed forces only with the permission of top military officials, temporarily blinded many of the 20 to 25 service personnel exposed.

To read the full article click here.

I must say the...
TPMtv: Watch the Cookie Crumble

POSTED BY BEN CRAW, NOVEMBER 15 2007 01:07 PM | PERMALINK

Watch the Cookie Crumble

As in the courtroom, there aren't many real Perry Mason moments in congressional investigations. But Henry Waxman had one yesterday when he was trying to get to the bottom of why the State Department's chief private contractor watchdog (the Inspector General) was running interference for Blackwater and Dyncorp rather than the taxpayers. We bring you the key moments in today's episode of TPMtv.
- TPMmuckraker's Full Cookie Krongard Coverage
More Wash from the White House

POSTED BY RALEIGH-ELIZABETH SMITH, NOVEMBER 15 2007 07:52 AM | PERMALINK

Dana Perino on Iraq, Musharraf, opposition parties, blackwater, and the freedom of the press. Conclusion: Our rules are morals! Only they don't apply to us.
TPMtv: Military Contractors D.C. Powwow

POSTED BY BEN CRAW, NOVEMBER 07 2007 01:21 PM | PERMALINK

Military Contractors D.C. Powwow

Not long ago we told you about the IPOA, that's the lobbying organization and trade group for military contractors in Washington, DC. A week ago Monday IPOA (aka the International Peace Operations Association) had their annual summit in Washington. Blackwater, which recently terminated its membership in the outfit in the face of an IPOA ethics investigation (one of the first, apparently), wasn't there. But pretty much everyone else from the private military contractor...
Attorney General Levin Gets Waterboarded

POSTED BY BEN FISHER, NOVEMBER 06 2007 06:15 PM | PERMALINK

Former Assistant A.G. Daniel Levin was last night's hot topic on Keith Olbermann, and the muse for one of the finer rants I have seen performed by Keith's curmudgeon T.V. personality. For those of you who aren't familiar, a quick recap. Levin, while acting as Assistant Attorney General(that's one below the top spot), was so convinced that the practice known as "waterboarding" was illegal that he ordered for himself to be "waterboarded" at a military base. Levin's conclusion: "waterboarding is torture."...
Blackwater Immunity

POSTED BY RALEIGH-ELIZABETH SMITH, OCTOBER 31 2007 11:40 AM | PERMALINK

Oh, Blackwater. The FedEx of the National Security Apparatus. Immune from punishment. Immune from responsibility. And running with Mitt Romney. Just warms the cockles of your heart, doesn't it? The way this works: our government can take out their leaders as criminals (Saddam) but our criminals are protected by our government leaders when in Iraq. If Blackwater were engaging in this kind of behavior at home, we'd be brandishing balls and chains. There, we're passing Get Out of Jail Free cards....
Blackwater guards offered immunity by investigators without the authority to do so

POSTED BY KRISTIN LINDER, OCTOBER 30 2007 08:18 AM | PERMALINK

In a moment of rash stupidity, State Department investigators are reported to have offered Blackwater USA security guards immunity.

The State Department investigators from the agency’s investigative arm, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, offered the immunity grants even though they did not have the authority to do so, the officials said. Prosecutors at the Justice Department, who do have such authority, had no advance knowledge of the arrangement, they added. NYTimes

It seems the level...
Rice's New Rules - 19 recommendations that manage to avoid the central problem.

POSTED BY KRISTIN LINDER, OCTOBER 24 2007 03:54 PM | PERMALINK

After a bloody month where at least 17 civilians died at the hands of private security firms, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has announced a new set of rules dictating private security firms' operations.

Neither the U.S. military nor the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service is prepared to assume responsibility for guarding diplomats and other official U.S. civilians, according to a Rice-appointed review panel that recommended the changes. Instead, communications among the...
Joe Scarborough Wants a Pulitzer

POSTED BY RALEIGH-ELIZABETH SMITH, OCTOBER 08 2007 01:34 PM | PERMALINK

Ah, Morning Joe. The most intellectual way to break bread in the morning. A little toast, a little intolerance... breakfast of champions. "If the Iraqis think they can do a better job than Blackwater, why the hell don't they put their own people out there, protecting their own country," Joe said this morning. "I don't need lectures from Iraqi losers telling us what we're doing wrong. If they want to criticize Americans, then why don't they take their damn country back so our kids can...