Blackwater license being pulled in Iraq

Associated Press ^ | Sep 17, 2007 | BASSEM MROUE

[Candor7]

An embassy official provided no information about Iraqi casualties but said no State Department personnel were wounded or killed.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Mission Successful.

A job well done, and what they were hired to do.

[airborne]

I think you said it right.

At least that’s what I’m getting from what I’ve read and heard.

[Southack]

"What's the problem? Sombodys "cousin" was in the ambush with the bad guys and got aired out?"

Ha! My first thought was a politician's nephew must have been splattered attacking that convoy.

[OrioleFan]

Keep in mind this is an AP story.

As evidenced by the editorial comment in following paragraph:

"The contractors, including many Americans and Britons, provide protection for Westerners and dignitaries in Iraq as the country has plummeted toward anarchy and civil war."

[jpl]

I'm not comfortable with a private firm doing what the military ought to be doing.

Me neither, but this is an inevitable outcome of attempting to run and police the world on the cheap, with a military about half as big as it should be for such an enormous job.

[af_vet_rr]

What's the problem? Sombodys "cousin" was in the ambush with the bad guys and got aired out?

More like it's been building up for a while now. Some FReepers posted early this year that Blackwater had caused some problems for some US troops and I had read on private forum that some US military commanders were not happy with them. The implication was that Blackwater did something stupid and the locals tried to take it out on American troops.

To be honest, I've been uncomfortable with us relying more and more on contractors in Iraq for these kinds of functions. I understand that we don't have enough troops there to do everything (and I definitely understand that some of the duties that contractors handle, our troops would not have been trained for).

Still, Blackwater knew the rules, it wasn't like this came out of nowhere.

[af_vet_rr]

That being said, I would also like to see a larger military doing these sorts of jobs, but that is highly unlikely to happen as it would require greatly increasing the overall size of the military and the numbers on the ground in Iraq. Just imagine the screaming from the Dems and their minions in the press.

Bush had that chance for several years, with a Republican Congress. After 9/11, many of us scratched our heads, wondering why he refused to boost the military when it was clear we'd be involved in a war that would go on for years.

For example, one has to dig around a bit to find out how many Blackwater employees have lost their lives in Iraq, while one can get the latest military body count in seconds from any news outlet.

On the other hand, Blackwater and some of the other companies have made it difficult to find out such information. I mentioned that a FReeper was talking about Blackwater a few years ago - they were implying that finding out such counts, as well as how people died, was very difficult to get out of Blackwater.

[mnehring]

Blackwater’s site seems to be down for me, is everyone having the same problem?

[decimon]

Blackwater’s site seems to be down for me, is everyone having the same problem?

Could be overloaded due to the publicity. Or I did a dos on them with this thread. I'm going to go hide now. :-)

[mnehring]

I have two friends who work for Blackwater training policemen in Iraq, I like to keep up with what is happening. It does sound like a lot of people are cutting off a valuable resource.

[LadyNavyVet]

We agree. There were a lot of things that DIDN’T happen after 911 that should have. Increasing the size of the military is one. Now it’s too late. Bush is a lame duck and there’s no way he could get end strength increases through Congress without another 911-style attack.

As for Blackwater’s secrecy, what you say is absolutely true. As a privately held company, it is under no obligation to release personal information on its employees to the press.

[Sarajevo]

Do they pay taxes,or do they come home every 6 months and avoid being taxed?

By current IRS policy, cited in IRS Form 673 (Statement for Claiming Exemption From Withholding on Foreign Earned Income Eligible for the Exclusion(s) Provided by Section 911), a taxpayer must qualify under the Bona Fide Residency Test, or the Physical Presence Test.

 This form allows the company to reduce your Federal tax withholding based on your intention to qualify for the Internal Revenue Code Section 911, which consists of a foreign-earned income and housing exclusion.  For 2008, the annual foreign-earned income exclusion is $85,700 and the annual housing exclusion is $24,720 of which $13,712 is a base amount.

To qualify for the deduction, the taxpayer must physically be outside of the US for 330 days out of  consecutve 365 day period.

That having been said, there are ways around this.

 

From what I’m being told, the system is being taken advantage of, with Blackwater getting preferential treatment.

Eric Prince is a friend of Bush.

 

 

[MilspecRob]

BTTT