Iraq calls Blackwater "guilty"

Iraq's Interior Ministry said private security guards protecting American diplomats shot Iraqis without provocation. Like it or not, said Timothy Hsia in the Los Angeles Times, our military depends on contractors. But this proves it's time to send the mer

Iraq’s Interior Ministry concluded that Blackwater USA employees opened fire without provocation in a shootout that killed eight Iraqis on Sunday. The U.S. is still investigating the incident, which erupted as the private security firm’s guards were protecting a U.S. diplomatic convoy in mid-day Baghdad traffic. “They came under fire,” said a U.S. embassy spokeswoman, “but what is the sequence of events?”

The Iraqi government is proposing replacing dozens of foreign security firms with Iraqi companies—a move that would radically change the way the U.S. and other nations protect their diplomats in Iraq. Jawad al-Bolani, Iraq's interior minister, said Blackwater's guards were "100 percent guilty" in the case. “Citizens felt their dignity was destroyed,” he told The New York Times. The controversy has hampered embassy personnel, who are protected by Blackwater and now cannot travel outside the fortified Green Zone.

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