anti-[everything]

Blackwater security firm banned from Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's Interior Ministry has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, an American security firm whose contractors are blamed for a Sunday gunbattle in Baghdad that left eight civilians dead. The U.S. State Department said it plans to investigate what it calls a "terrible incident."

In addition to the fatalities, 14 people were wounded, most of them civilians, an Iraqi official said.

The article refers to Blackwater and similar organizations as "security firms." The truth is, they're mercenaries.

It will be interesting to see who comes to Blackwater's defense. I doubt they will actually be banned from Iraq and that the Bush administration will pressure (i.e., force) the Iraqis to allow the corporate death squads to remain active within their borders.

Iraqi authorities have issued previous complaints about shootings by private military contractors, according to a July report from the Congressional Research Service.

"Most recently, a news article discussing an incident in which a Blackwater guard shot dead an Iraqi driver in May 2007 quoted an Iraqi official's statement that the Iraqi Interior Ministry had received four previous complaints of shootings involving Blackwater employees," the congressional service report said.

The Congressional Research Service report cited other concerns, such as "the apparent lack of a practical means to hold contractors accountable under U.S. law for abuses and other transgressions and the possibility that they could be prosecuted by foreign courts."

The reported added, "Iraqi courts do not have jurisdiction to prosecute contractors without the permission of the relevant member country of the Multi-National Forces in Iraq."

Contractors fall under Justice Department and FBI jurisdiction for alleged crimes, said a Pentagon official, who confirmed the accuracy of the congressional report.

If Iraq was a truly sovereign nation, it would throw all of these private armies out of its borders. Hell, if they were truly sovereign, they'd probably toss out the "Multi-National Forces in Iraq" too. But, no one really believes the occupied nation is actually a sovereign state, do they?

Technorati Tags: Blackwater mercenaries, Iraq

Dockworkers Protest Iraq War - New York Times:


Thousands of dockworkers at West Coast ports stayed off the job on Thursday in what their union said was a call for an end to the war in Iraq.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union said more than 25,000 members in 29 ports stayed off the job. The action came despite an order issued Wednesday by an arbitrator directing the union to tell its members to report for work as usual in response to a request from employers.

Technorati Tags: International Workers' Day, May Day