Didn't the Iraqi government ban Blackwater USA from operating in Iraq after the last high-profile incident in which Blackwater murdered at least eight Iraqi civilians? Is Iraq an independent nation, or not?

This passage from the article Josh cited caught my attention:

In the case of the Christmas Eve killing [in which someone from Blackwater, while drunk, killed a bodyguard for one of Iraq’s two vice presidents], the [House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform] report says that an official of the United States Embassy in Iraq suggested paying the slain bodyguard’s family $250,000, but a lower-ranking official said that such a high payment “could cause incidents with people trying to get killed by our guys to financially guarantee their family’s future.” Blackwater ultimately paid the dead man’s family $15,000.

It's good to know the U.S. Embassy in Iraq is watching out for the profit margins of our mercenaries.

How much was the Blackwater guy who killed him paid? A lot more than $15,000, I'll bet. This company is a black mark on this country. Soldiers should be soldiers, in the Army, not paid assassins in an unaccountable private hit squad.

Hey!

YEAH for the lady who did not back down in Ballard!! Our grandparent's generation did not take no shit from no one!!!

The rest of us would have rolled over in a heartbeat. Way to go Granny!!!

Maybe we can get her to run for Mayor? sounds like she has the balls that Nickels never thought of having?

The best thing about the Blackwater story is that the State Department's initial report on the incident was subcontracted out to...Blackwater. That's right, Blackwater gets hired to investigate themselves.

Re: Senate approves $150 billion to continue wars forever and ever and ever

It's the No Iraqi Left Alive Act

Can someone please push the Senate's self-destruct button?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071002/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq;_ylt=Aonjf1Nh1IDV0r6kWAPi3Y.s0NUE

Fnarf wrote:

How much was the Blackwater guy who killed him paid? A lot more than $15,000, I'll bet.

No, he only earned about $500 - $600 that day. It would take him 25 to 30 days of working as a mercenary in Iraq to earn the $15,000 Blackwater paid the family of the man he murdered.

Yeah, Phil, but being a hired gun is like being a sports star -- you're not just being paid to play the game, but to train for it. A month's wages, sure, but he earns it every time he gets fucked up and wastes some random civilians for us.

Fnarf, for once we agree. How much do you think that guy will make in endorsements?

I don't know, do shooters need special gloves or anything? Iridescent black and green fingerless gloves with just the one finger for the trigger finger, with no-slip dots on it, all the gangbangers in South Central LA will want them. Nike, are you interested?

listening to the house inquiry into black water is killing me. on the one hand you've got mr. prince of black water and everything that goes with that--shootings, money making, rambo shit. And on the onther hand you've got the idiot politicians in washington who hired him. I don't know who is worse. there should be a third party investigation that exposes the idiots who hired blackwater.

The Blackwater report makes no mention of bribes. Giving compensation to people for a shooting -- even with the goal of placating them -- is not a bribe.

A "bribe to cover up" implies a payment to a person with an agreement to not speak about an issue. These were not bribes; just sleazy payouts.

ms. macefield has a challenge if she wants to leave the land to someone who won't sell it. i don't give tha house good odds of lasting much longer than she does.

Rush makes me ill, but it has to be acknowledged that the democrats are smearing him with an out-of-context extrapolation. He was referring to imposter soldiers with an agenda -- not actual soldiers against the war.

Bullshit raindrop.

If you go to mediamatters.com and listen to the ENTIRE segment Rush originally aired, it's unambiguously clear he was referring to any currently-serving U.S. soldier in Iraq who expressed opposition to the war.

The fact that he tried to backpedal on his statement by replaying an obviously edited version of his original broadcast is just a tactic to lure gullible wingnuts into defending his own execrable, hate-filled blatherings.

Meanwhile, the new lane configuration on Stone Way is a worst-case scenario for drivers and bikers. Go get 'em, protesters.

#14, Ah, like all the "101st Fighting Keyboard" neocon Iraq invasion supporters! Like Cheney, who had many draft deferrments; like Bush, who weaseled out of his military service; like several men I know who protested the Vietnam War, and are now howling "Never forget!" at the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, as if they were great patriots, all the while making money from their investments in Haliburton. Those are the phony soldiers, and they love Limbaugh.

Some shooters do wear gloves, you do have a market there.

Trigger finger blister is a biatch yo!

Although I have only gotten the trigger finger blister from arcade video games, never from real guns, go figure.

Here's a second "Yeah!" for Edith in Ballard. She loves her house, doesn't need the money, and wants to stay put. I, on the otherhand, would have been out of there in a heartbeat for a cool mil...but then, I'm shallow. And slightly greedy.

@18 - gloves are more a matter of personal preference - I never used them unless it was too cold. But the blisters are no fun.