U.S. Bans Travel of Officials Outside of Green Zone

Fox News ^ | September 18, 2007

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

BAGHDAD — The United States on Tuesday suspended all land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, amid mounting public outrage over the alleged killing of civilians by the U.S. Embassy's security provider Blackwater USA.

The move came even as the Iraqi government appeared to back down from statements Monday that it had permanently revoked Blackwater's license and would order its 1,000 personnel to leave the country — depriving American diplomats of security protection essential to operating in Baghdad.

"We are not intending to stop them and revoke their license indefinitely but we do need them to respect the law and the regulation here in Iraq," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told CNN.

The U.S. order confines most American officials to a 3.5-square-mile area in the center of the city, meaning they cannot visit U.S.-funded construction sites or Iraqi officials elsewhere in the country except by helicopter. The notice did not say when the suspension would expire.

The Iraqi Cabinet decided Tuesday to review the status of all foreign security companies. Still, it was unclear how the dispute would play out, given the government's need to appear resolute in defending national sovereignty while maintaining its relationship with Washington at a time when U.S. public support for the mission is faltering.

[RDTF]

ping

[Anti-Bubba182]

Good move. Without security it is suicide.

[Cicero]

It sounds as if the Iraqi government has managed to stir up a lot of trouble for itself. Even if civilians were wrongly killed, which seems doubtful, the last thing they need to be doing is to help the terrorist propaganda campaign against America.

[shield]

Give me a break...Iraq is way out of line here...good grief...we handed Iraq over to the Iraqis’ way way to fast...I mean look at Japan and Germany...we held on to our control as long as it took to get those countries up and running properly.

[Candor7]

Does anyone know the facts on Blackwater's alleged "ejection" from Iraq, which is spread all over the MSM news sources?

I do not believe anyone with a brain would ask Blackwater to leave. The got the job done the other day, and not one client was injured or killed.

How many "innocent" bystanders were killed? How did they decide who was innocent and who were Islamofascists?

More news on this would be apprecited if anyone has a source.

[RDTF]

other threads here have info:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=blackwater

[Cinnamon]

just watch terrorists squirreling in around the Blackwater free areas now.

[syriacus]

Good move. Without security it is suicide.

I agree. And Islamofascists have a history of causing smaller disturbances in an attempt to make the "good guys" hesitate to react quickly to much more serious attacks which follow. Islamofascists are a treacherous bunch.

[river rat]

Pull all security of Iraqi “politicians”......
Let THOSE bastards handle their own security....

I’m losing all “compassion” for the Iraqi..
I see Iraq now, as nothing but an excellent baited field for killing Jihadists...

It is also nice and close to Syria and Iran......and the OIL.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

"The move came even as the Iraqi government appeared to back down from statements Monday that it had permanently revoked Blackwater's license and would order its 1,000 personnel to leave the country"

Blackwater must have ponied up the baksheesh.

[Candor7]

Thanks for the reference!

Much appreciated.

[Candor7]

Thanks for the reference!

Much appreciated.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Blackwater is among three private security firms employed by the State Department to protect employees in Iraq, and expelling it would create huge problems for U.S. government operations in this country.

Yep, and Condi apparently called Al Maliki this morning and read him the riot act, hence his spokesman's retreat from earlier statements about throwing Blackwater out of Iraq.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Yep, I knew it was a mistake too when Bush pulled Bremer and handed sovereignty back over to the Iraqis just to appease the French, Germans, and Russians, who were all clamoring for it at the time. Now this is what we get.

[txhurl]

Allegra mentioned she’d fill us in when cleared to do so.

[Allegra]

I...can't...say....anything.

Except that there is an exceptional amount of media B.S. floating around this story.

[txhurl]

I think Maliki personally went into a snit on hearing what the IDF did to that Syrian nuke facility and gave the drive-bys acres of material as revenge.

His days are numbered, anyway.

[Candor7]

Its OK!

I understand that happens when an employer is involved in litigation.

The Iraq war will become known as a war of political enforcement of Iraqi law, selectively.

This hardly seems fair to an organization that does a fantastic job, on precious little compared to the US military.

[af_vet_rr]

Give me a break...Iraq is way out of line here...good grief...we handed Iraq over to the Iraqis’ way way to fast...I mean look at Japan and Germany...we held on to our control as long as it took to get those countries up and running properly.

Before you go making comparisons like that, keep in mind we handled those completely different than Iraq. It's not even the same ballpark, let alone game to compare WWII with Iraq.

[shield]

I’m not the first one...there have been several threads were others have done the same....I still say we handed Iraq way to fast over the the Iraqis’. The pressure was put on us by German, France, Russia...so we gave them their sovereignty way to fast.

[mjaneangels@aolcom]

“Except that there is an exceptional amount of media B.S. floating around this story.”

In other words, nothing new here.

[Danae]

Understood, thinking of you, you are in my prayers! Stay safe!

[Allegra]

I understand that happens when an employer is involved in litigation.

Oh, Blackwater is not my employer! LOL

As I said, I can't really discuss this because there are too many things in flux right now.

But I do want to make the distinction that Blackwater is NOT some "innocent victim" here. Not in any way. And the Iraqi government is not out of line.

[LadyNavyVet]

“Blackwater must have ponied up the baksheesh.”

Looks that way, and I doubt it’s the first time.

[UKTory]

“just watch terrorists squirreling in around the Blackwater free areas now.”

I’m sure it was only the visiting diplomats that were keeping them down...

[af_vet_rr]

I understand and came across a bit harsh. The reason why I don't like comparisons to WWII is that Germany and Japan knew they were defeated. We hit them with overwhelming force, and we had extensive plans to cover numerous outcomes. There was no doubt in their minds that they got the **** kicked out of them.

Iraq on the other hand, while some parts (Baghdad, etc.) were hit with overwhelming force, there were large parts of the country that were relatively untouched by us until much later on in the occupation. It's easy to say the 4th ID was held up by Turkey, etc., and I'm not saying we needed to lay waste to everything, it's just that we needed to show the Iraqi people that we were firmly in charge, and that didn't happen in some parts of Iraq until much later on. It's no coincidence that Iraqis in those parts were the first to resist us and lay the groundwork for insurgents to come in and take over. We should have went in with a lot more troops, and after 9/11, we should have boosted the size of the military.

Furthermore, we should have prepared for several outcomes - instead, based on their actions, and comments President Bush and others have made, it sounded like the administration planned on one or two outcomes - with the main being Saddam holing up in Baghdad or somewhere similar, with whatever was left of his military, fighting it out until the end, etc.

I will admit, that had that scenario of Saddam and his military pulling a Custer's Last Stand and being annihilated by us played out, that would have given the Iraqi people the clear sign that we ruled the roost. Instead, the Iraqi military faded away in some cases, with large units (and their bases) being untouched by us for a while. We'll never know how many, but I know a lot of Americans were killed by munitions from bases we didn't secure until well after the initial invasion. A friend's son said they were finding munitions from a specific base that we initially left alone, well over a year after the invasion, in a completely different part of Iraq, with indications that many munitions from several bases were quietly moved all over Iraq well after the invasion was over.

Enough of my ranting and sorry for the off-topic post.

[Danae]

Well, I believe one of the rules of counter insurgency states: People must have confidence in the new government, that it will protect them and provide the things Government is SUPPOSED to provide (in western society), and for sure protecting the lives of its citizens is at the very most basic in terms of services provided. It the people don’t perceive that the Government is doing that, then they will NOT support the government. In order for the US to get out of Iraq, and for the Iraqi Government to stand on its own, the people have to support it. I believe that the “Blackwater” event is all part of that, Blackwater will suffer short term, but in the long run, they will still provide what they do in Iraq, its just going to get toned down a LOT. Ironically I think this will increase the security of the country as a whole.

Too bad the MSM doesn’t see this simple logic, all they see is an opportunity for headlines that exacerbate the situation rather than make it overall better. But what can we expect? Intelligence from the MSM, the Universe would end!

[Romulus]

Blackwater must have ponied up the baksheesh.

No sweat for a cost plus contractor.

[mjaneangels@aolcom]

When you can respond more fully, please ping me.

Thanks.