Private Contractors in Iraq to Lose Immunity
The folks at Blackwater and other private security outfits in Iraq encountered a dramatic setback Wednesday after an Iraqi minister announced that private guards will no longer be given immunity from U.S military and Iraqi law, ending more than five years of unregulated mercenary violence in the country.
The folks at Blackwater and other private security outfits in Iraq encountered a dramatic setback Wednesday after an Iraqi minister announced that private guards will no longer be given immunity from U.S military and Iraqi law, ending more than five years of unregulated mercenary violence in the country.
Your support is crucial...The BBC:
The US has agreed to scrap immunity for foreign security guards in Iraq, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari says.
The US embassy in Baghdad has not confirmed the announcement, which comes as the US and Iraq are negotiating a controversial security pact.
Foreign firms employing thousands of guards won huge contracts in Iraq after the 2003 US-led invasion, but were not subject to Iraqi or US military law.
Iraqi frustration became fury last year when guards killed 17 people in a day.
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The president may not want war with Iran, but he does want to push the regime into submission and tout U.S. military dominance to his base.
Meanwhile, thousands of Iraqi anti-government protesters call on both Iran and America to leave the country.
There's no justification for Qassem Soleimani's assassination, and if we avoid another war in the Middle East, we'll have Tehran to thank.
As a candidate in 2016, he praised war crimes and expressed a desire to commit some of his own. No one can claim surprise or betrayal now.
However Iran chooses to respond to the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, America's influence in the region is guaranteed to deteriorate.
Rocket falls near U.S. Embassy in Iraq hours after funeral for Qassem Soleimani at which crowd chants "Death to America, death to Israel."
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