Blackwater

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Blackwater Guard Kept Blasting 'After Call to Stop'

First details emerge in probe of Iraq shooting

(Newser) - At least one Blackwater security guard continued firing at Iraqis, despite colleagues' call to stop during the incendiary incident earlier this month that killed at least eight civilians, witnesses have told investigators. Another guard for the private security firm is said to have pointed his gun at a fellow employee...

Blackwater Blamed for Fallujah Bloodshed

Murder of unprepared patrol sparked battle

(Newser) - Blackwater, the private security firm under investigation for a dozen civilian deaths in Iraq last week, is now being faulted for actions that led to a 2004 battle in which 36 US soldiers and 600 civilians were killed.  Blackwater is charged with sending a disorganized, unprepared four-man team into...

Blackwater 'Cowboys' Faster on Trigger

Have been in twice as many shootings as other security firms in Iraq

(Newser) - The US security firm being investigated in an Iraqi operation earlier this month that killed at least 11 civilians has been involved in twice as many shootings as other companies providing protection to American officials in Iraq, the New York Times reports. Guards working for Blackwater killed 10 and wounded...

State Dept. Stonewalls Blackwater Investigation

House panel: Firm ordered not to disclose information without White House OK

(Newser) - Documents revealed yesterday show that the State Department ordered Blackwater USA, the private security firm accused of shooting Iraqi civilians last week, not to disclose information about its Iraq operations without White House approval. The State Department order has interfered with a congressional probe into Blackwater, angering the reps investigating...

Security Guards Will Be Charged
Security Guards Will Be Charged
Sep 23, 2007 8:54 AM CDT

Security Guards Will Be Charged

US gunmen could be charged within the week

(Newser) - Iraqi officials will file criminal charges against the employees of Blackwater, the private security firm involved in the shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians last Sunday, CNN reports. How such charges would be levied and trials held remain to be seen, as the US government has claimed that the Iraqis have...

Blackwater May Have Smuggled Weapons in Iraq

Prosecutors think the company gave equipment to terrorists

(Newser) - Controversy-magnet Blackwater USA may have smuggled weapons into Iraq, the BBC reports. Federal prosecutors are investigating charges that employees of the private security firm shipped unlicensed weapons to terrorist groups. Blackwater, blamed for  civilian deaths in a Baghdad gunfight last week, confirmed that it fired two employees  for stealing company...

Blackwater Prior Shootings Show Pattern, Iraqis Say

Accuse security firm of brutality, lawlessness

(Newser) - In the ongoing controversy over Blackwater USA's role in Iraq, the Los Angeles Times details several earlier incidents in which civilians were killed by the private security firm used to guard American diplomats. One of the men wounded Sunday, when 11 Iraqis were killed at a busy Baghdad intersection, reports...

US Reinstates Blackwater in Iraq
US Reinstates Blackwater in Iraq
Sep 21, 2007 1:08 PM CDT

US Reinstates Blackwater in Iraq

Despite government opposition, State Department returns company to streets

(Newser) - American convoys began emerging from the Green Zone again today, protected by Blackwater USA  guards, just four days after an Iraqi ban on the private security firm halted all such travel. Iraqis remain outraged over the deaths of 11 civilians in a Blackwater shooting incident Sunday, but a Maliki aide...

Blackwater Shooters Were Not Provoked, Iraq Says

Hired guards guilty in massacre: Baghdad

(Newser) - A man who failed to stop for a traffic policeman and a screaming woman with a baby in her arms were shot dead as they crossed a busy Baghdad intersection guarded by private US security guards, according to a harrowing Iraqi account of the incident Sunday that left eight civilians...

Blackwater Played by Its Own Rules
Blackwater Played by Its Own Rules
Sep 20, 2007 9:54 AM CDT

Blackwater Played by Its Own Rules

State Dept exempted security firm from Iraqi and US military oversight

(Newser) - Blackwater, the private security firm involved in the shooting of 10 civilians in Baghdad Sunday, has operated outside US military regulations governing other security contractors in Iraq, the Washington Post reports. Deployed and protected by the State Department, they were exempted from oversight by the Iraqi Interior Ministry, and not...

US-Iraqi Panel to Probe Private Contractors

Private military contractors get second look following the Blackwater USA incident

(Newser) - In the wake of the shooting deaths of 10 Iraqi civilians at the hands of private security firm Blackwater last weekend, the US and Iraq are forming a joint panel to probe the war's private security contractors. Rather than conduct forensic field studies of the incident, officials say, the committee...

US Bars Travel for Officials After Iraqi Shootings

Iraqi officials blast killings by private security operation

(Newser) - Tensions are so high in the aftermath of the shooting deaths of 11 Iraqis by a private American security operation that the US has barred civilian officials from road travel outside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone for their own safety. The Iraqis were killed when contractors with security outfit Blackwater opened...

Blackwater Ban Puts US Military in a Bind

With a rep for brutality, the security firm has enjoyed 'carte blanche'

(Newser) - The Iraqi crackdown on Blackwater, the private security firm implicated in Sunday’s killing of 8 civilians in Baghdad, draws attention to the lack of control the US military exerts over the 20,000 contractors who work for them in the country.  Blackwater guards are the most feared of...

Iraq Considers Expelling Security Firms

Blackwater incident sparks outrage at Western contractors

(Newser) - Private security firms have never been popular in Iraq, but after Blackwater USA’s fatal shooting of civilians Sunday, national rage may be strong enough to drive them from the country. The Iraqi government announced today that it would review the status of all private security companies, and explore rescinding...

After Attack, Iraq Bans US Security Firm

Baghdad blames civilian deaths on Blackwater, threatens prosecution

(Newser) - The Iraqi government has revoked an American security contractor's license to do business in the country and is weighing criminal charges against employees who allegedly opened fire on civilians yesterday, the AP reports. Blackwater USA personnel were escorting a State Department convoy through Baghdad when they opened fire, killing eight...

Contractors in Iraq Trigger Two Shootings

Two incidents ignited by Blackwater raise questions about quasi-miliary role

(Newser) - Contractors from private security firm Blackwater USA set off two firefights in Baghdad in as many days last week. On Thursday, a Blackwater guard shot and killed an Iraqi driver who trailed a convoy suspiciously, and Wednesday a Blackwater convoy escorting State Department officials was ambushed—sparking a battle between...

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