Bush’s Advisers

Patrick Chappatte, NZZ am Sonntag Oct 9, 2007 Dig deeper

Congress Tries to Close Blackwater Loophole

Staff / Truthdig Oct 5, 2007 The House voted 389 to 30 to pass a bill that would make private contractors working for the U.S. government in Iraq subject to United States law. It's the second time Congress has attempted to apply some sense to the legal vacuum created by the Bush administration and its Coalition Provisional Authority, which pushed through what amounts to blanket immunity for mercenaries. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Blackwater’s New Gig

Mr. Fish / Truthdig Oct 4, 2007 Dig deeper

Blackwater Founder Takes a Beating in Congress

Staff / Truthdig Oct 3, 2007 Blackwater USA founder and chairman Erik Prince stubbornly defended his company Tuesday while members of the House Oversight Committee grilled him with questions such as "Why are we privatizing our military to an organization that has been aggressive and in some cases reckless in the handling of their duties?" Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The State Dept.’s Murderous Guardians

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Oct 3, 2007 How did it come to be that the ostensibly best-educated and most refined representatives of the United States in Iraq are guarded by gun-toting mercenaries who kill innocent civilians? More urgently, why did State Department employees and their bosses in Washington tolerate -- and pay to conceal -- the wanton murder conducted on their watch? Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Good News and Bad News from Adm. Mullen

Staff / Truthdig Oct 2, 2007 The freshly sworn-in chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, started his first day on the job with this revelation: "The fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan will one day end." That's a relief, coming from the newest member of Team Bush, but don't get too excited, there's more: "We must be ready for who and what comes after." Oh dear. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Report Points to Blackwater’s Excessive Violence

Staff / Truthdig Oct 2, 2007 According to a devastating new report from the House Oversight Committee, Blackwater USA employees engaged in at least 195 "escalation of force" incidents since 2005, with the private security firm firing 80 percent of the first shots (despite its purely defensive mandate). What's worse, the State Department has provided little if any oversight, instead assisting the company as it carried out damage control. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Waxman: State Dept. Blocked Blackwater Investigation

Staff / Truthdig Sep 26, 2007 Congressman Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, claims his panel's attempts to look into Blackwater USA's recent controversial actions in Iraq were derailed by the State Department. The State Department, on the other hand, denies blocking the investigation and says Waxman's charge is the result of a "misunderstanding." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

More Bad News for Blackwater

Staff / Truthdig Sep 24, 2007 Any lingering question as to whether Blackwater USA security contractors were to blame in the Sept. 16 shootout in Baghdad that left 11 Iraqis dead and 12 wounded may be cleared up by a videotape of the incident, which was reportedly filmed from a nearby police station. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Colbert and Wolf Talk Fascism, Blackwater, Vodka

Staff / Truthdig Sep 22, 2007 For his part, Stephen Colbert doesn't see Naomi Wolf's point about Blackwater USA's recent shameful shenanigans in Iraq somehow heralding a fast-approaching era of fascism in America. Instead, the faux-pundit believes the trend is more toward "a bull market for shooting people" these days. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Privatizing Murder

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Sep 20, 2007 There is no set piece more emblematic of the tragic farce that is the American involvement in Iraq than the grotesque episode of Blackwater USA and the killing of civilians in Baghdad -- at least nine and as many as 28 -- on Sunday. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

U.S. Diplomats Confined to the Green Zone

Staff / Truthdig Sep 19, 2007 The State Department has restricted all U.S. diplomats to the Green Zone in Baghdad while it conducts a security review, presumably inspired by the suspension of its preferred mercenary bodyguards. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )