At least one Iraqi was killed and eight more were wounded in light violence. Meanwhile, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari announced that full diplomatic ties with Syria will be resumed. Also, for the first time since the invasion of Iraq, more contractors have died in the country than have U.S. troops.
Blackwater (rebranded as Xe in an effort to escape the negative publicity associated with their former name), recently received a $100 million contract from the CIA to secure its bases in Afghanistan. The State Department also awarded them $120 million to provide security for new diplomatic buildings, including consulates outside Kabul, giving the firm a total of $220 …
Continue reading “Blackwater: Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop”
Only one in nine hours billed by a contractor for running the giant military bases that house U.S. soldiers in Iraq in the first half of 2009 was for actual physical labor, according to new testimony by the Pentagon’s auditors. The company — KBR, a former subsidiary of Halliburton — is tasked with military logistics …
Continue reading “Lucrative KBR Contracts Unaffected by Iraq Troop Drawdown”
As multiple scandals involving Blackwater continue to emerge almost daily, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is preparing to introduce legislation aimed at ending the US government’s relationship with Blackwater and other armed contracting companies. “In 2009, the U.S. government employed well over 20,000 armed private security …
Continue reading “Congressman Prepares Legislation to Ban Blackwater”
except, says Jeremy Scahill, there aren’t any
Updated at 4:25 p.m. EDT, Sept. 30, 2009
The Red Cross warned that considering a death toll of 500 Iraqis every month as being “normal” was overly complacent. Meanwhile, at least seven Iraqis were killed and another 10 were wounded in today’s attacks. Back in the U.S., Vice President Joseph Biden welcomed home his son who spent the last year deployed to Iraq. Also, a U.S. Marine apologized for killing an unarmed Iraqi during the 2004 battle for Fallujah.
Updated at 8:55 p.m. EDT, Aug. 9, 2009
A British contractor apparently killed two foreign contractors today in Baghdad’s Green Zone. At least seven Iraqis were killed and 24 more were wounded across the country, including one in the contractor incident. Meanwhile, a member of parliament’s defense committee said that only 10,000 U.S. troops would remain in Iraq by the middle of next year.
Jeremy Scahill on corruption and ‘self-investigation’
Updated at 8:20 p.m. EDT, May 23, 2009
At least 13 Iraqis were killed and 11 more were wounded in light attacks. One U.S. soldier was killed in a non-combat incident in Baghdad province as well. Also, two American contractors were killed in separate attacks in the Green Zone. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki blamed Sunni ex-detainees for the recent increase in violence and is now rejecting an amnesty law that has allowed thousands of innocent Iraqis to leave jail.
