Blackwater is NOT invincible??? :O

Taken from guardian.co.uk.
"State Department Security Chief Resigns



Wednesday October 24, 2007 7:31 PM
By MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON
(AP) - The State Department's security chief resigned on Wednesday in
the wake of last month's deadly Blackwater USA shooting incident in
Baghdad and growing questions about the use of private contractors to
protect diplomats in Iraq.
Richard
Griffin, the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Diplomatic
Security, announced his decision to step down at a weekly staff
meeting, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, adding that
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accepted the resignation, which is
effective Nov. 1.
``Secretary
Rice is grateful to Ambassador Griffin for his record of long exemplary
service to the nation,'' McCormack said. ``He has distinguished himself
during a 36-year career with the U.S. government, serving in some of
the most sensitive and demanding posts.''
Griffin,
an ambassador-rank official who previously held senior posts with the
Secret Service and Veteran's Affairs Administration, had been in his
current position since June 2005.
His
resignation letter to President Bush and copied to Rice made no mention
of the Blackwater or other security matters involving Iraq, saying only
that he was going to ``move on to new challenges,'' according to a copy
provided to The Associated Press.
He will be replaced on an acting basis by one of his deputies, Gregory Starr, McCormack said.
Neither Griffin nor spokesmen for the department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security could be reached for comment.
His
resignation comes amid rising criticism from Iraqis and the U.S.
Congress of the State Department's reliance on private security guards
and the rules they operate under.
Just a day
earlier, Rice accepted ordered a series of measures to boost government
oversight of the private guards the department uses to protect its
diplomats in Iraq, including more explicit rules on when and how to use
deadly force.
The steps
were recommended by a review panel Rice created after a Sept. 16
incident in which Blackwater personnel are accused of killing 17 Iraqi
civilians. The panel found serious lapses in the department's oversight
of such guards, who are employed by Griffin's bureau.
``Prompt
measures should be taken to strengthen the coordination, oversight and
accountability aspects of the State Department's security practices in
Iraq in order to reduce the likelihood that future incidents will
occur,'' the panel said in its 24-page report.
The panel, however, did not single anyone or any agency out for criticism.
Arguments
on Capitol Hill over the role of private contractors in wartorn Iraq
have largely obscured the broader debate over the war in recent weeks
as majority Democrats have scrambled for new strategies designed to end
the U.S. presence there.
In
addition to clarifying the rules of engagement, Rice accepted
recommendations from the panel for private security guards to undergo
cultural awareness and Arabic-language training and to set up a board
to investigate any incidents where they use deadly force.
Rice had
already accepted interim suggestions from the panel to have Diplomatic
Security agents escort diplomatic convoys protected by Blackwater and
other private guards, install cameras in all security vehicles, improve
communications with U.S. military forces in areas where they travel,
and record and catalogue radio traffic with the embassy.
The panel
made no specific recommendations about what should happen to
Blackwater, whose guards were escorting an official from the U.S.
Embassy when the shooting occurred. Iraqi authorities claim Blackwater
guards fired unprovoked, but Blackwater's founder has said his
employees were fired on first.
The panel
recommended that when a separate FBI review of the incident is complete
the U.S. embassy in Baghdad should assess ``whether the continued
services of the contractor involved is consistent with the
accomplishment of the overall mission in Iraq.''
The killings have outraged Iraqis and focused attention on the shadowy rules surrounding heavily armed private guards.
The Iraqi
government is demanding that Blackwater be expelled from the country
within six months and that its employees be subject to Iraqi law.
The moves
announced Tuesday are among those that Rice opted to make on her own,
but further changes are likely after she meets later this week with
Defense Secretary Robert Gates."





WELL, does this mean that logic and reason and just plain old morality could possibly win out over the dictatorial Bush regime? Ray of hope or something else?

My friend I will say this for the umpteenth time. You have GOT to read Scahill's "Blackwater". It is more than an expose of the mercenary corporation. It details how the republican party has been hijacked by theocons and the diversion of war funds directly to the neocon's croney buddies, circumventing the pentagon. I am halfway through it for the second time.

Alright, Jefe, I'll get Blackwater. It's gonna be awhile before I get to it though. Damn! I just keep getting more books and they keep stacking up. Like I said before, I can't wait for Matrix-like data ports so I can absorb a book in 10 seconds!

HEY!!! VOTE ON MY DAMN TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY THREAD:!:

I was the first to vote days ago!!!!!!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007, 5:06 AM PDT

BAGHDAD (AP) An Iraqi government spokesman says the Cabinet has
approved legislation lifting immunity for foreign private security companies,
sending the measure to parliament.

I'm probably getting too happy about this. Likely not much will change in reality. But, it's a step in the right direction. And who knows, maybe this will actually mean that Blackwater can't just shoot up anything and everybody...