Jeremy Scahill: Blackwater's Brothers (tags)
Every day, new revelations emerge in the mounting scandal rocking the Bush Administration and the mercenary company Blackwater Worldwide. Much of the attention focuses on the now infamous shooting spree in Baghdad's Nisour Square on September 16, in which seventeen Iraqi civilians were killed and twenty-four wounded. FBI investigators are now alleging that fourteen were victims of unjustified and unprovoked shooting--some were shot while they were fleeing. Investigators also say they found nothing to substantiate Blackwater's claims of being fired on by Iraqis. This comes a month after a US Army investigation determined there was "no enemy activity involved" and labeled the shootings a "criminal event." But while Blackwater gets hammered in the press, the behind-the-scenes actions of the company's paymaster, the State Department, grow more scandalous by the minute.
Jeremy Scahill: Blackwater's loopholes (tags)
REMINDER: Jeremy Scahill, will be speaking in the Los Angeles area, at the United Teachers of LA, 3303 W. Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA, at 7:00 pm on Friday, Nov. 16th and at the First Unitarian Church of Studio City, 12355 Moorpark, Studio City, CA at 7:00 pm on Saturday, Nov. 17th, each with author Dahr Jamail, Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq. For more information call: 213-309-2713.