Boston Globe
October 18, 2007 Maliki said to seek withdrawal before 6-month deadline
By Steven R. Hurst, Associated Press
BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has pressed US Embassy officials in recent meetings to pull the Blackwater USA security firm out of Iraq even before the six-month deadline he initially set, a top aide to the Iraqi leader said yesterday.
The aide said the Americans responded that they cannot give Maliki an answer until the FBI finishes its inquiry into the event in which Iraqi officials say Blackwater personnel killed 17 Iraqis.
FBI agents on Saturday began questioning survivors and other witnesses to the Sept. 16 shooting by guards in four Blackwater gun trucks. Iraq's government says they opened fire without provocation; the company says the guards responded to an attack.
The State Department also has teams in Iraq looking into what happened. Patrick Kennedy, the department's top management official, is said to be studying whether the agency should continue using Blackwater to provide security.
Maliki's aide, who spoke on condition he not be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said an Australian-owned security firm whose employees mistakenly shot and killed two women Oct. 9 does not face eviction from Iraq because it quickly apologized, cooperated with authorities, and offered compensation for the deaths.
Iraq's government is demanding $8 million compensation for each of the 17 people reported killed in the Sept. 16 episode involving Blackwater.
The Maliki aide said the prime minister's office also is drafting legislation that would cancel Decree 17, a measure issued by the former US occupation government that put private security companies outside Iraqi law.
Also yesterday, a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol and killed at least seven officers near Diwaniyah, in a Shi'ite area south of Baghdad that has seen fierce clashes between Shi'ite factions in recent months.
Violence in the area around Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad, also has targeted the US-led coalition. Suspected Shi'ite militiamen fired mortars at two military bases and shot at a Polish helicopter Monday, prompting a battle that killed five civilians and wounded dozens, including two Polish soldiers.
Also yesterday, the military said a US soldier was killed Sunday by small-arms fire south of Baghdad.
In the north, a suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden truck struck a checkpoint manned by Kurdish troops in Diyala province, where US commanders have decided to begin the drawdown of American forces.
The attack killed at least one Kurdish soldier and wounded more than 10, said Jabbar Yawir, a spokesman for Kurdish forces.

Originally Posted by Team Infidel

Boston Globe
October 18, 2007 Maliki said to seek withdrawal before 6-month deadline
... $8 million compensation for each of the 17 people reported killed in the Sept. 16 episode involving Blackwater...

8 mil for each- cha cha - were they some scientists or smth??? looks like a joke to me. how many men did we lose trying to save their idiotic butts ???

Originally Posted by InvasionNo1

8 mil for each- cha cha - were they some scientists or smth??? looks like a joke to me. how many men did we lose trying to save their idiotic butts ???

The men we lost were armed soldiers doing their duty, who were there because our collective Governments sent them. The civilians killed were unarmed citizens who were merely considered "colateral damage" by people who were acting outside the normally accepted bounds of reason.

Originally Posted by senojekips

The men we lost were armed soldiers doing their duty, who were there because our collective Governments sent them. The civilians killed were unarmed citizens who were merely considered "colateral damage" by people who were acting outside the normally accepted bounds of reason.

You got that right.
And, the way I see it, Blackwater needs to be removed not only from Iraq, but also from the United States of America, and I believe Bankrupting would seem to be the quickest way to accomplish that end, so, I'd say 8 Million each is too low, and should be bumped up to around 80 Million each.

Blackwater is rediculous. They're more important than American soliders at this point.

I am with the Iraqi government on this one.

Remove Blackwater from ALL areas under American or Iraqi control, and send them packing (preferably somewhere other than other overseas areas).

The "bankruptcy" idea has merit ... America and our government can not afford these "loose cannons".

Ironic that I just posted a poll on this very topic.

I happen to be very familiar with this outfit and feel that a lot of what has been put forth in the media is incorrect (what's new?). They provide security and have yet to loose a customer in the wild, wild west. I would not be surprised to find a lot more come out of this enquiry by the FBI as to what sparked the shooting.

Do I believe in PMC's - I am truly undecided. I know this though, a lot of vets find work through them and that is more than can be said concerning any other private sector.

Vets can also find work in a lot of countries, killing people for a living, killing people for the highest bidder, doesnt make it right though, and, doesn't make them any less outlaws.

How about trying to STOP people killing - for a living? That would be OK, would it not?

Point taken - however you mistake their mission for killing when its actually protecting. How many vehicles have been blown off the road in the Sunni Triangle as a result of approaching a convoy? The killing is sad after effect of the mission, but it's not what they are contracted to do... They are good at what they do - protection.
On a different tangent - should they be accountable, hell yes. Nobody should enjoy immunity when it comes to taking human life.