U.S. Repeatedly Rebuffed Iraq on Blackwater Complaints

This is another example of President who thinks he can do whatever he wants without regard for the welfare of others. He thinks he owns Iraq. Therefore, if mercenaries want to blow away a few Arabs Dubya, and his equally Muslim hating, neocon friends, could care less. The reason we have private security firms in Iraq in first place is because we do not have enough troops over there. The security firms are unaccountable; therefore, we can't control their trigger-happy tactics:

Senior Iraqi officials repeatedly complained to U.S. officials about Blackwater USA's alleged involvement in the deaths of numerous Iraqis, but the Americans took little action to regulate the private security firm until 11 Iraqis were shot dead last Sunday, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.

Before that episode, U.S. officials were made aware in high-level meetings and formal memorandums of Blackwater's alleged transgressions. They included six violent incidents this year allegedly involving the North Carolina firm that left a total of 10 Iraqis dead, the officials said.

The lack of a U.S. response underscores the powerlessness of Iraqi officials to control the tens of thousands of security contractors who operate under U.S.-drafted Iraqi regulations that shield them from Iraqi laws. It also raises questions about how seriously the United States will seek to regulate Blackwater, now the subject of at least three investigations by Iraqi and U.S. authorities. Blackwater, which operates under State Department authority, protects nearly all senior U.S. politicians and civilian officials here.

You can bet some of Bush cronies are making money from the Blackwater contracts. The press might want to look into White House connections to the firm:

In the United States, Blackwater is facing a possible federal investigation over allegations that it illegally smuggled weapons into Iraq that later might have been sold on the black market. The accusation first appeared in the Raleigh News & Observer. The company on Saturday denied the allegations, calling them "baseless."