BLACKWATER LEAVING IRAQ

[lame54]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/05/07-0

Published on Thursday, May 7, 2009 by Agence France Presse
US Security Firm Blackwater Ends Iraq Operation
BAGHDAD - US security firm Blackwater ended its operations in Iraq on Thursday closing a controversial era for the company whose guards shot dead 17 civilians in Baghdad in 2007.

"The task order for security protection operations held by Blackwater comes to an end today in Baghdad," American embassy spokeswoman Susan Ziadeh said, adding that Triple Canopy will replace it.

Triple Canopy, a Virginia-based firm, was appointed at the end of March by the US State Deparment to take over the multi-million-dollar contract to protect US government personnel working in Iraq.

Linked agreements such as that for Presidential Airways, part of Blackwater that operates helicopter escorts throughout the country for secure air travel, will expire soon, Ziadeh added.

The State Department refused to renew annual contracts for Blackwater which renamed itself Xe after the Iraq government banned it in January over the killings in Baghdad's Nisur Square on September 16, 2007...

[ananda]

1. Maybe they should protect ships from pirates.

nt

[BurtWorm]

2. Heading to Michigan to rejoin the militias.

:patriot:

[spanone]

3. their free lunch is over

[stillcool]

4. What did they change their name to?

Xe? I know there are plenty more private military corporations to pick up the slack..I'm not sure if they had the bulk of the contracts..or just made the most news.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Private_military_corporation

[gratuitous]

5. Yep, some outfit called Triple Canopy

I guess I'm not sure why our non-military personnel in the area need private contractors to protect them. Since we're looking for places to cut government spending, this seems like some pretty low-hanging fruit, expenditure-wise.

[dionysus]

6. i'm sure they need people protecting them, but i wonder why they don't have regular army doing it.

are they paying these guys a fortune because there's not enough soldiers for the job?

[gkhouston]

7. If soldiers do it, how is some Bush/Cheney crony gonna get rich on the overhead? n/t

[dionysus]

8. i know that was the deal with blackwater, but i'm talkign about now. I doubt obama

has personal ties with these new guys...

[gkhouston]

11. We don't exactly have an amply supply of soldiers at the moment. Gates has

talked about lowering the amount of contracting out that the DoD does.

[dionysus]

12. that's what i figured, thx

[gratuitous]

9. That was my point exactly

As concerned as the military higher-ups are about unit cohesion and making sure that teh gay doesn't infect the troops, I wonder how they square unit morale considerations when the line military folks are supplanted on security details by the highly-paid mercenaries from Blackwater, Xe or Triple Canopy?

[dionysus]

10. we know with bush is was to line his contractor buddies pockets, what do you think it is in this

case?

[gratuitous]

13. Probably that lack of voluntary military bodies thing

But that doesn't mean I don't like it anyway.

[dionysus]

15. i agree, i couldn't see obama doing this to line anyones pockets...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. It's interesting that a singer is banned but these monsters are welcome.

Mercenaries haven't been known as "the scum of the earth" for centuries for no reason.