September 18, 2007

fox-baghdad.jpg The Blackwater affair has Iraqis a bit pissed off:

The United States on Tuesday suspended all land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq outside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, amid mounting public outrage over the alleged killing of civilians by the U.S. Embassy’s security provider Blackwater USA.

Just as I thought---the Iraq government has backed down from their early statements about the private wingnut security firm:

“We are not intending to stop them and revoke their license indefinitely but we do need them to respect the law and the regulation here in Iraq,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told CNN.

The Iraqi Ministry of Defense said that 20 Iraqis were killed, higher than the 11 dead reported before.

They aren't subject to any laws. That was the point of Order 17. There were many witnesses to this attack on civilians and Al-Sadar has come out throwing hay-makers:

Al-Sadr’s office in Najaf said the government should nullify contracts of all foreign security companies, branding them “criminal and intelligence firms.”

Will John McCain take to the streets of Baghdad for a photo-op sometime soon in his "No Surrender" bus?

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