WASHINGTON (AP) - The State Department promised Blackwater USA bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its investigation of last month’s deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians, The Associated Press has learned.

The immunity deal has delayed a criminal inquiry into the Sept. 16 killings and could undermine any effort to prosecute security contractors for their role in the incident that has infuriated the Iraqi government.

“Once you give immunity, you can’t take it away,” said a senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation.

State Department officials declined to confirm or deny that immunity had been granted. One official - who refused to be quoted by name- said: “If, in fact, such a decision was made, it was done without any input or authorization from any senior State Department official in Washington.”

This story is incredibly hilarious, I am guessing it’s an inside joke and you would just have to either be a part OF it or know exactly what the punch line is to fully understand the immense hilarity of it, but I have been rolling ever since I saw this one…

It appears that someone in State gave the Blackwater USA guys immunity?? Surely even the most uneducated can see the outrageous humor in THAT statement??

Look, I have known guys that were in the business, and they are rolling right now too, let’s face it, call them what you will, security contractors, hired guns, whatever, if you’re so stupid as to write a carte blanche check to a merc or a spook, you had better damn well believe he IS going to cash it, these guys aren’t out there for their health, they aren’t stupid, they don’t stay alive by being stupid, but someone in State is seriously in need of an education in how real life works…

Officials said the Blackwater bodyguards spoke only after receiving so-called “Garrity” protections, requiring that their statements only be used internally - and not for criminal prosecutions.

At that point, the Justice Department shifted the investigation to prosecutors in its national security division, sealing the guards’ statements and attempting to build a case based on other evidence from a crime scene that was then already two weeks old.

The FBI has re-interviewed some of the Blackwater employees, and one official said Monday that at least several of them have refused to answer questions, citing their constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination. Any statements that the guards give to the FBI could be used to bring criminal charges.

“Sir, I have NO knowledge of that event” or, try this one, “Sir, I don’t seem to recall that particular event”, because we all know that the memory is a fragile thing and can be shattered, at least temporarily, by the post stress of armed combat, and then there’s always the use of American Constitutional Law, my favorite, “I am invoking my rights under the 5th amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America…”, I just love that one, and what the hell, it’s worked so well over the years…

Blackwater’s contract with the State Department expires in May and there are questions whether it will remain as the primary contractor for diplomatic bodyguards. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said his Cabinet is drafting legislation that would force the State Department to replace Blackwater with another security company.

Again, 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 USA 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 USA already has a new job waiting for them with the new company, whoever it may be that will be brought in to replace Blackwater USA, 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 USA lost under their watch?? Anyone??

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, and 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 USA 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…

Full Story Here:
Immunity Deal Hampers Blackwater Inquiry

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USA Today - One of the toughest state laws targeting illegal immigrants takes effect Thursday in Oklahoma, prompting efforts by immigrants trying to block it and work by state agencies to comply.

The law makes it a felony to transport or shelter illegal immigrants. Businesses, which are barred by federal law from hiring illegal immigrants, can be sued by a legal worker who is displaced by an illegal one.

The measure denies illegal immigrants certain public benefits such as rental assistance and fuel subsidies.

“It’s clearly one of the most restrictive policies” in the country, says Cecilia Muñoz of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights organization.

Muñoz says she’s particularly concerned about a provision that gives local police the authority to check immigration status. Such policies create fear among all Hispanics, including those in the country legally, and may contribute to discrimination, she says.

Full Story Here:
Suit aims to stop illegal-immigrant law

Personally, I think it’s a pretty good law myself, ANY law that makes it tougher on the ILLEGALS in this nation is a GOOD law…

And another thing, if the wetbacks, ie: ILLEGALS for all you politically correct tree hugging asshats, I wouldn’t want to offend any of you, if all the damned wetbacks would fight as hard to get LEGAL as they do to avoid being kicked out of the USA for being here illegally, we wouldn’t have the immigration problem we have today…

And this Munoz La Raza moonbat is pissing and moaning about the benefits that might be denied some poor wetback, his public benefits like rental assistance and fuel subsidies, hey Munoz, what part of ILLEGAL did you miss??

That’s the whole point in having restrictive immigration laws, it supposedly keeps the people that aren’t supposed to be here OUT of the country, and as far as this law causing there to be a discrimination against those already here legally, I think that the Social Security card and drivers license and whatever else it is they give naturalized citizens would dissuade that persecution you claim to fear, the local police, county police and Sheriff’s, state police, ALL law enforcement agencies should have a right to ascertain the citizenship or resident status of ANYONE within this nation, if you’re a LEGAL resident or citizen, what have you got to fear??

I seriously think that people like this Munoz character raise all of these concerns out of sheer hypocrisy and a deliberate desire to break the laws of the USA and to add to the confusion of the immigration problems more than anything else, and again, if they spent as much time trying to get their people LEGAL as they do protecting those that aren’t and protesting this nations attempts to secure itself FROM the illegals, well, problem solved…

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BAGHDAD - Twenty decapitated bodies were found dumped near a police station on Monday west of the volatile city of Baqouba in Iraq, police said Monday.

There was no immediate information on who the victims were. Baqouba, about 40 miles northeast of Baghdad, is a mixed Sunni and Shiite city that has been torn sectarian violence.

In Baghdad, a U.S. brigadier general was wounded in an IED attack Monday, the U.S. military reported. He was the highest-ranking American officer to be hurt since the conflict began in March 2003.

Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Dorko was in stable condition and was evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. His injuries were not life-threatening, officials said. A second soldier wounded in the attack was treated and released.

Dorko is commanding general of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Gulf Region Division.

Also Monday, a suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up in a crowd of police recruits, killing at least 29 people, police and hospital officials said. Separately, a group of kidnapped Sunni and Shiite sheiks were freed, a government spokesman said.

Full Story Here:
Police: 20 headless bodies found

Damn the MSM, damn them all to hell, how DARE they make up these stories??

I mean, wasn’t it just a day or so back that the White House and DoD were telling us how things were going so well in Iraq?? 29 Iraqis blown up, 20 more found decapitated, I’d hate to see what Iraq would look like on a BAD day…

Oh, wait, I forgot, that’s the way it rolls now, the White House runs off at the mouth about how successful they’ve been in Iraq and instead of wiping the insurgents off the face of the earth, they apparently leave more than enough of them in place to once again make them look rather foolish for their premature announcement, again…

Maybe a wounded General will get some attention, maybe we’ll have an ACTIVE DUTY General Officer come forward and say the things that need to be said concerning the reality of Iraq, but what the hell, even if he did it wouldn’t matter, it would be written off as ‘an axe to grind’ and the fact that he’s not a COMBAT General, he’s Corps of Engineers, and that’s all different you know…

Yeah, sure it is…

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