IG report says Blackwater may lose license in Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) - An internal State Department report says Blackwater Worldwide may lose its license to work in Iraq and recommends that the agency prepare alternative means to protect its diplomats there.

The 42-page draft report by the State Department’s Inspector General says the department faces “numerous challenges” in dealing with the security situation in Iraq, including the prospect that Blackwater may be barred from the country. The department would have turn to other security arrangements to replace Blackwater, officials said.

The State Department had no immediate comment on the report itself, but deputy spokesman Robert Wood said that after the probe is done, officials would look at “whether the continued use of Blackwater in Iraq is consistent with the U.S. government’s goals and objectives.”

It is not clear how the State Department would replace Blackwater. It relies heavily on private contractors to protect its diplomats in Iraq, as its own security service does not have the manpower or equipment to do so. The report suggests that one way to fill the void would be for the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service to beef up its presence in Iraq.

“The department faces the real possibility that one of its primary Worldwide Personal Protective Services contractors in Iraq - Blackwater (Worldwide) - will not receive a license to continue operating in Iraq,” says the recently completely report.

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IG report says Blackwater may lose license in Iraq

Anyone that has been reading here for ANY length of time knows that I am a HUGE fan of Blackwater Worldwide and their fine organization.

I am laughing my ass off, this is rocket science at it’s very best, al-Maliki and the Iraqis are going to force State to replace Blackwater with another security firm?? Genius, sheer genius I tell you, why didn’t anyone else think of that?? Well, I’ll tell you why.

Every one of those guys that works for Blackwater already has a new job waiting for them with the new company, whoever it may be that will be brought in to replace Blackwater. High speed, low drag, 1st class operators are at a premium on todays market, and make no mistake about it, they are a high value item. There are only so many to go around, really competent and trustworthy ones that is.

You can get hired cannons all day, for a dime a dozen, wannabes that can’t think their way through an episode of ‘Are you Smarter than a 5th grader?’, yeah, those guys, literally, a dime a dozen, the ones you wouldn’t want guarding a bank in your home town. But 1st class professionals are a rare and beautiful thing and worth their weight in gold if they really are good enough to keep you alive.

And again I ask, how many diplomats has Blackwater lost under their watch?? Anyone?? That’s right, NONE!!

It will be quite easy for these guys to slip back in under the noses of the Iraqis and go right back to work after a week or 2 off. They can afford to take that week or 2, but can our diplomats and other officials afford to be without them for that long?? Can they afford to have their personal security compromised over some petty BS like this??

I think not, but that’s something the guys at State will have to decide for themselves the 1st time a diplomatic procession that’s NOT being protected by Blackwater comes under enemy attack.

I can’t wait to hear the survivors screaming about lack of firepower or the operators inability to take effective action.

If there ARE any survivors.