Finally the Rubber Hits the Road for Blackwater Security, But Will They Just Ride Away into the Sunset?

posted by Bill Arnett @ 11:30 AM Permalink

Blackwater Security, a security company with what amounts to a mercenary army under contract to the U.S. government, has had their license to operate in Iraq revoked.

This has the potential of being the seminal act of the Iraqi government to stand up to the American government, forcing bush/cheney into some incredibly twisted political negotiations in order to keep Blackwater in country while pretending it is the decision of a sovereign Iraqi government. The Iraqi 's have already alerted the world that Blackwater's license has been revoked, and it may be well-nigh impossible to get Maliki's government to change their position given the latest polls taken that show 70% of Iraqi's want Americans to leave, while almost 60% of them think it's "ok" to kill Americans.

This showdown will be interesting. Blackwater provides security for many Americans and American assets in Iraq for truly exorbitant prices, paying salaries that dwarf the pay of soldiers doing comparable work. The company also frees up thousands of soldiers who would otherwise being doing the jobs Blackwater is doing, and bush/cheney will be loath to lose that many armed men that would have to be replaced somehow.

After all, bush/cheney have to keep control of the oil until the theft of it is completed by forcing an Iraqi government, any government, to sign Profit Sharing Agreements (PSAs) giving American Big Oil 85-87% of all oil profits in Iraq for the next thirty years.

And Blackwater runs their security as well, so Big Oil will also be loathe to losing their favorite security contractor.

So, does the world's biggest mercenary army, Blackwater Security, just walk away? Will the Iraqi government stick to it's ruling revoking Blackwater's license to operate? Can they? Or will bush/cheney pull the strings, get Blackwater's license restored, and prove that there is no sovereign government in Iraq? Or can/will the iraqi government simply levy a stiff penalty and allow them to stay?

Fascinating stuff.

Labels: Bush, cheney, corporate greed, corruption, Iraq, Oil