Blackwater still working for the Obama administration on black-ops, assassinations, planning attacks for Special Forces and Drone Bombing raids. The actions of Blackwater/Xe are seen as representing America and NATO by the Pakistanis & Iraqis.
Eric Prince is now claiming he is an agent for the CIA and so untouchable. Obama himself said he would defend the CIA and its operatives from prosecutions and not indict some of them for the abuse and torture of POWS. So is Obama giving tacit approval if not an official memo or directive that CIA, US Troops, Blackwater/Xe services and other Mercenaries are immune to prosecution.By doing so is he encouraging the abuse and torture of POWs or killing innocent civilians in their cowboy policing style or blowing up a village to get one terrorists. Americans tend to kill 30-100 civilians for every terrorist killed. Is that justice or recklessness or just another way to get revenge on these people they despise. Each soldier whether in the military or working for a private contractor has the right and the duty to refuse an illegal order. Murdering, torture are against International Law if not American law but of course there is also a case to be made for "Common Decency".
Iraq upset over U S Judge's decision over Blackwater shooting
From: FEDERALJACKD0TCOM | January 03, 2010
And the Prime Minister of Iraq vows to make Blackwater and its personnel answer for what they did.
Iraq vows lawsuits over Blackwater shootings " CBC.ca, January 4, 2010
Iraq's prime minister said he would launch lawsuits in the United States and Iraq against an American security firm whose guards are accused of killing 17 Iraqis at a busy Baghdad intersection in 2007.
Nouri al-Maliki's comments Monday were his first public reaction since a U.S. federal judge dismissed all charges against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards charged in the Baghdad shooting.
His office confirmed the Iraqi government would file a lawsuit in Iraq and the United States against the security company.
"We have done what is necessary to protect our citizens and to punish those who committed the crime," said al-Maliki.
"We won't abandon our right to punish this firm," he said.
Blackwater contractors were hired to guard U.S. State Department diplomats in Iraq. Prosecutors said the guards fired on unarmed civilians at a busy intersection in 2007 and witnesses said the shooting was unprovoked. However, Blackwater said its guards were ambushed by insurgents while responding to a car bombing.
The incident inflamed anti-American sentiment in Iraq, and drove a wedge between the U.S. and Iraq. The shootings led the Iraqi government to strip the North Carolina-based company of its licence to work in the country. Blackwater has since replaced its management and changed its name to Xe Services.
After the shooting, the guards gave statements to State Department investigators in which they admitted firing their weapons. The admission was crucial because forensic scientists could not match bullets from the shooting scene to specific weapons.
In exchange, the State Department promised the statements would not be used in a criminal case. The deal meant prosecutors had to build their case without them and, in his ruling last week, District Judge Ricardo Urbina said the Department of Justice failed to do so.
Pakistani Demonstrations Against America and BlackWater (XE Services)-Dec. 21, 2009
Pakistani movement against U.S attacks inside Pakistan. Many call for end of U.S presence and the end of private security contractors inside Pakistan.
Jeremy Scahill threatend by ADM Mullen's Office over Blackwater's Secret War in Pakistan
FEDERALJACKD0TCOM November 27, 2009
US Blackwater Nightmare for Peshawaris By Aamir Latif, IOL Correspondent,July 29, 2009
PESHAWAR — Already shaken by a spate of unrest in their homeland, people in Peshawar now have another source of fear on their city’s streets, the notorious US security firm Blackwater.
"We are deeply scared by their presence and movement as they have posed a serious threat to our lives and properties," Ahmed Yar Khan, a local businessman, told IslamOnline.net.
According to intelligence sources, the company, which gained world notoriety over involvement in dozens of unprovoked civilian killings in Iraq, has set up different stations in Peshawar and its vicinity.
Sporting black gaggles and carrying sophisticated assault rifles, Blackwater members move freely in Peshawar, the capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), and its adjoining districts.
They are often seen in their black-colored armored vehicles carrying diplomatic number plates.
"Officially, Blackwater is providing security to the US, European and Afghan diplomats and officials working on various development projects financed by the US government in federally administered tribal areas," a senior intelligence official told IOL, requesting anonymity for not being authorized to discuss the issue with the media.
But residents say that Blackwater agents spur fear and awe, with many of them openly standing guard on the streets and behaving rudely with the locals.
"If they are stuck in a traffic jam, they don’t allow any vehicle to come near them. And if someone mistakenly does that, they shout and point guns at them," fumed Khan.
Some residents have even filed complaints with the authorities over mistreatment by Blackwater members, but officials turned deaf ears.
"Nothing has so far happened despite several complaints," Khan lamented. "It seems as if these streets have been sold out to Blackwater."
More background and doubts about Blackwater
Bravenewfilms, Sept. 01, 2006
also see anti-Blackwater website XE WATCH
(DON'T BE FOOLED - XE IS Blackwater!)
and when Blackwater was in Iraq it acted like a bunch of Cowboys and very deadly:
"Security Contractors Terrorize Iraqis" IslamOnline.net & News Agencies ,Oct. 10,2007
BAGHDAD — With convoys of heavily armed sports utility vehicles, lights flashing and guards atop bristling with guns, security contractors are sowing fears in the hearts of Iraqis.
"Of course I'm afraid," an Iraqi who gives his name as Hasan told Reuters on Wednesday, October 10.
"You can't see anything but their guns pointing at people. Maybe they will open fire randomly and we will be killed."
That is exactly what happened to two Iraqi women in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood on Tuesday, October 9.
Witnesses said foreign guards working for Dubai-based Unity Resources Group (URG) opened fire at a taxi after its woman driver mistakenly got too close to their convoy.
The taxi driver and a female passenger died of gunshots to the head.
Another woman passenger was wounded in the shoulder while a child was injured.
A policeman who witnessed the shooting said that after blazing away at the car the foreign security guards sped off "like gangsters."
America's Unlawful Combatants IslamOnline.net & Newspapers,Oct. 15,2007
CAIRO — The recent unprovoked killings by US private security guards in Iraq have sparked a debate within the Bush administration about whether the hired contractors could be considered unlawful combatants under Geneva Conventions.
"I think it is an unresolved issue that needs to be addressed," a senior Defense Department official told the Los Angeles Times on Monday, October 15, requesting anonymity.
"But if that is in fact the case, what the heck are we doing?"
Lawyers at the departments of State, Defense and Justice are divided on the status of private security guards in Iraq.
Justice Department lawyers believe that the contractors could be considered unlawful combatants.
But their peers at the State and Defense departments argue that only the actions of the contractors could them unlawful combatants.
Under Geneva Convention, lawful combatants are nonmilitary personnel who operate under the military's chain of command.
Unlawful combatants are civilians who directly engages in hostilities.
The heated debate has been sparked by last month's deliberate killing of 17 Iraqi civilians by trigger-happy guards of the US security firm Blackwater.
The Iraqi government on Monday insisted that Blackwater and "other companies who commit crimes" must leave Iraq.
A recent US congressional report said that Blackwater has been involved in 195 shooting incidents since 2005, mostly unprovoked.
Pakistan officials were concerned about Blackwater operating in Pakistan for three or four years .
Blackwater in Pakistan By Aamir Latif, IOL Correspondent 2006
ISLAMABAD — The notorious US security firm Blackwater has reportedly established a presence in the restive tribal belt on the Afghan borders to help the FBI and CIA track down Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants allegedly hiding there and protect USAID projects.
"We have sent a report to the government regarding Backwater's presence in the country," an intelligence official told Islamonline.net requesting anonymity for not being authorized to discuss the sensitive issue.
Intelligence sources say that currently 20 to 25 Blackwater agents are operating in the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP), which borders Afghanistan, masquerading themselves as US intelligence and diplomatic officials.
"They are trying to establish their feet. They are hiding themselves under the diplomatic and FBI covers."
He said Blackwater has hired the services of some local security agencies to work for them.
"We are keeping an eye on the security agencies they have hired."
The intelligence official says Blackwater came to the tribal belt for two reasons.
"First, to track down Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders, which US agencies believe are hiding along the Pak-Afghan border. Secondly, to provide security to the various projects launched by USAID in NWFP, and some tribal areas."
The South Carolina-based security firm gained world notoriety over involvement in dozens of unprovoked civilian killings in Iraq.
and so it goes,
GORD.
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