Quote:

Oct. 15, 2007 issue - The colonel was furious. "Can you believe it? They actually drew their weapons on U.S. soldiers." He was describing a 2006 car accident, in which an SUV full of Blackwater operatives had crashed into a U.S. Army Humvee on a street in Baghdad's Green Zone. The colonel, who was involved in a follow-up investigation and spoke on the condition he not be named, said the Blackwater guards disarmed the U.S. Army soldiers and made them lie on the ground at gunpoint until they could disentangle the SUV. His account was confirmed by the head of another private security company.

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RosettaStoned said:

Zappa? Phred? Any other neo-cons out there? Do you people even pay attention to stories this like this?????

You defend almost every action taken by the neo-con elite. Get your asses in here and defend this one! Oh wait, this is just another story you will ignore or downplay. My bad, I forgot

...muslims...terror...nuke...death...

This doesn't fall into your approved posting guidelines.

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Sounds more like an interest in personality war than a discussion of the topic at hand.

thecornking said:

Victim: Gang-Rape Cover-Up by U.S., Halliburton/KBR

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Phred said:

Linkee no workee.

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Seuss said:

> I mean there are hundreds of blogs and sites all linking to the same place - which returns an error. This article was obviously deleted.

Though probably because whoever owned the original site didn't want to pay (what could be a very large bill) for the surge in bandwidth from the sudden popularity due to cross linking rather than some kind of nefarious conspiracy.

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Penguarky Tunguin said:

Seuss said:

> I mean there are hundreds of blogs and sites all linking to the same place - which returns an error. This article was obviously deleted.

Though probably because whoever owned the original site didn't want to pay (what could be a very large bill) for the surge in bandwidth from the sudden popularity due to cross linking rather than some kind of nefarious conspiracy.

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Newsweek? MSNBC?

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Quote:

By Rod Nordland and Mark Hosenball
Newsweek

Oct. 15, 2007 issue - The colonel was furious. "Can you believe it? They actually drew their weapons on U.S. soldiers." He was describing a 2006 car accident, in which an SUV full of Blackwater operatives had crashed into a U.S. Army Humvee on a street in Baghdad's Green Zone. The colonel, who was involved in a follow-up investigation and spoke on the condition he not be named, said the Blackwater guards disarmed the U.S. Army soldiers and made them lie on the ground at gunpoint until they could disentangle the SUV. His account was confirmed by the head of another private security company. Asked to address this and other allegations in this story, Blackwater spokesperson Anne Tyrrell said, "This type of gossip has led to many soap operas in the press."

Whatever else Blackwater is or isn't guilty of—a topic of intense interest in Washington—it has a well-earned reputation in Iraq for arrogance and high-handedness. Iraqis naturally have the most serious complaints; dozens have been killed by Blackwater operatives since the beginning of the war. But many American civilian and military officials in Iraq also have little sympathy for the private security company and its highly paid employees. With an uproar growing in Congress over Blackwater's alleged excesses, the North Carolina-based company is finding few supporters.

Responsible for guarding top U.S. officials in Iraq, Blackwater operatives are often accused of playing by their own rules. Unlike nearly everyone else who enters the Green Zone, said an American soldier who guards a gate, Blackwater gunmen refuse to stop and clear their weapons of live ammunition once inside. One military contractor, who spoke anonymously for fear of retribution in his industry, recounted the story of a Blackwater operative who answered a Marine officer's order to put his pistol on safety when entering a base post office by saying, "This is my safety," and wiggling his trigger finger in the air. "Their attitude was, 'We're f---ing security; we don't have to answer to anybody'."

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the article continues on to another page, but i can't figure out how to find the archived version.

edit:  'doh!  Just noticed this has already been posted